Two things, one really quick.
Lately I've been having vivid olfactory dreams - dreams where I can smell things. The other night in a dream I could perfectly smell scallops simmering in melted butter. A few nights before that I could smell fresh eucalyptus. A few nights before that the sweet sweaty smell of sex.
I've really been interested in old Japanese movies lately. Movies about the lives of adults and the issues they have to deal with. Last week I watched Juzo Itami's The Funeral. You may recall this film because it's been remade twice - once as a British film and more recently as an American film. It's technically a comedy, but it's not terribly funny and what humour there is is awfully dry. It's terribly interesting though. Basically, it is about the death of the main character's father-in-law and all the things he must do in preperation as the new patriarch of the family. It's not sad though because even though the family clearly has it's issues they come together as a family. While watching it you get the feeling that the life of the son-in-law parallels that of the father-in-law thus completing the cycle of death and rebirth. Perhaps most interestingly, it shows the practices for modern, but traditional funerals in Japan. Traditionally, funerals in Japan are done under Buddhist rites. This is because in Buddhist death is seen as a natural, neutral to positive thing. However, in Shintoism death is an evil defiling thing. Consequently, Shinto funerals are eschewed in favour of Buddhist ones. Interestingly though, weddings are performed under Shinto rites. The film depicts the major rites from Buddhist monks chanting sutras, to lighting incense to the final cremation. It's a fantastic, but bitter-sweet film.
Tonight, by pure coincidence, I watched another Japanese film about death called Tokyo Story. Tokyo Story is ancient being released in 1953 (The Funeral was released in 1984). The story is about an old couple who live in a remote fishing town in south-western Japan who go to visit their adult children in Tokyo. You get the impression that they do no regularly see their children. Throughout the movie the children don't seem to have much time for their parents and pass off responsibility from one sibling to another. It's not that they do not care for their parents only that they are too busy with their professional lives. The only one who does seem to give them much attention is their daughter-in-law Noriko. While Noriko's husband - their son - died in WW2 eight years previously, she has not remarried and is very dedicated to them. When the parents get back to their home the mother becomes ill and dies shortly. Before she dies, however, their children are able to come and visit and be there for their mother's death. However, after her funeral (the ritual for which is the same in the film above) the children decide to take a train back to Tokyo that night. Only Noriko remains. I've really abridged the plot here pretty significantly, but I think those are the main details.
I've not mentioned it yet, but Tokyo Story is one of the most critically acclaimed films of all time. Watching it I can see exactly why that is. The brilliance of the film is that is shows a significant transition period in Japanese society. It's not that the children are entirely uncaring it's that modern life demands so much of their time and they have been swept up in it. Noriko says as much at the end of the film.
I think the two films are a great juxtaposition. In both, dysfunctional families come together, but in The Funeral the family uses the death as a way to bring themselves closer together, while in Tokyo Story the death shows just how fragmented the family really is. But perhaps those differences are a result of the times they happened in. Tokyo Story takes place during the reconstruction following WW2. The Funeral takes places during they heyday of Japan's economic dominance. Maybe by the time The Funeral takes place society had calmed down, was no longer in a transition period, and as a result, sufficiently caring for lost loved ones seemed obvious again.
