De manier om je tegenwoordig (op een film) te orienteren is internet. Kijk bv hier maar eens naar wat you tube materiaal met trailers van deze Japanse film. Of op de site van DailyMotion. Naast de beroemste filmsite IMDb geeft ook de site Rotten Tomatoes , behalve een overzicht van recensies, goede mogelijkheden om door te linken naar de spelers etc.
Op dat sort sites vind je ook vaak aardige discussie, in dit geval bv over de achtergrond van de manier waarop de dode lichamen behandeld worden. Zo stelde iemand de vraag:
Do they really do ritual preparation of the body as shown in the film? Is this done by people of all faiths, or only certain ones?
Met o.a. de volgende antwoorden:
Loosely based on Aoki Shinmon’s autobiographical book Coffinman: The Journal of a Buddhist Mortician the film was ten years in the making. Motoki studied the art of ‘encoffinment’ at first hand from a mortician, and how to play a cello for the earlier parts of the movie.The director attended funeral ceremonies in order to understand the feelings of bereaved families.While death is the subject of great ceremony, as portrayed in this movie, it is also associated with great taboo in Japan, so the director was worried about the film’s reception and did not anticipate commercial success
Yeah, the bodies are prepared for the wake within their homes, and then they take the coffin to be cremated. I find it much more comforting that the American tradition of churches and flower arrangements, actually.
Most of Japan has a mix of Shintoist and Buddhist beliefs. Shintoism is concerned with nature and living, and Buddhism, while it has many other uses in the culture, is used with death. I’d imagine that a good amount of funerals are held this way.
hi I’m Japanese. I’ve never seen such a ceremony. I think it’s a very old tradition which people are forgetting and remains only in Yamagata area, or it’s a custom of Yamagata.
Wat ouderwetser zijn filmrecencies uit kranten of tijdschriften. Gelukkig staan die ook op internet. NRC,
En natuurlijk interviews met spelers of de regisseur.
Een (paar) internet quotes(s)
“The idea actually came from Motoki himself,” says Takita. “Through his travels in India, he had grown a very strong consciousness about life and death. The idea of the encoffineer was somewhat an unusual ritual, even for Japanese, but we were all fascinated about this occupation which acted as a bridge between the deceased and the living.”
Veteran Japanese director Yôjirô Takita may set his drama around the Asian tradition of “encoffination,” the little- known ritual of washing, dressing and preparing the deceased in front of the family as a way to say goodbye to a loved one, but the movie is very much a global celebration of life, family and new beginnings.
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