Kei Chika-ura's "Great Absence" is a deeply intimate and thoughtful work, minutely dissecting a theme many can relate to - the slow decay of a parent. Chika-ura's film presents a profound yet unpretentious narrative, its charm enhanced by the stellar performance from esteemed actor Tatsuya Fuji. Fuji, known for his iconic work in "In the Realm of the Senses," was honored with an acting award at San Sebastian this year, a testament to his ability to infuse the intricate narrative of "Great Absence" with life, transforming it into a sorrowful saga of a father and son grappling with the inevitability of time's limited offer of reconciliation.
"Great Absence" introduces a narrative framework via an avant-garde production of Ionesco's Exit the King, orchestrated by an actor named Takashi (Mirai Moriyama), and his producer and wife Yuki (Yoko Maki). The play reflects Chika-ura's storyline, mirroring the vanishing kingdom and its leader with the patriarch's waning mental faculties and eroding relationships.
The plot thickens when Takashi and Yuki are summoned back home after the police report an incident at his father's house. They find his father Yohji in a disoriented state, uncertain of his identity and reality, caught in a thorny maze of diminished mental capabilities compounded by unconfirmed news of his longtime partner Naomi (Hideko Hara) committing suicide.
Chika-ura's unique storytelling style doesn’t aim to create tension, but instead confusion, keeping the storyline partially hidden and letting it unfold in fragments, much like the memories of someone at life's end. Takashi uncovers old diaries that reveal hidden aspects of his father's life, Naomi and his birth mother, truths that he cannot fathom now due to his father's compromised mental state.
Chika-ura's narrative is ripe with symbolism, unearthing family secrets and at the same time dissecting their transformation due to the relentless onslaught of time. However, even amidst Chika-ura's occasionally meandering narrative pace, the performances by Moriyama and Fuji anchor the film, bringing it back from the precipice of drifting aimlessly into oblivion. Fuji beautifully captures the shift in Yohji's character from a hard-hearted man to a vulnerable one drowning in a sea of incomprehensible emotions. In conclusion, "Great Absence" is a powerful portrayal of the bittersweet reality of life, flavoring the narrative with bursts of anger and frustration that are synonymous with the heart-wrenching disease of dementia.
