Great Absence
Description
An emotional depiction of father/son estrangement, a decades-long love story that takes on multiple shades, and, most centrally, a portrait of dementia, Kei Chika-ura’s remarkable drama begins when police raid elderly Yohji’s home before shifting forwards and backwards through time to explain the circumstances that led to the crisis. Though it starts with a bang, the film is more interested in the quieter shocks that permeate the lives of Yohji, his actor son Takashi, and Naomi, the woman Yohji’s lived with since the departure of Takashi’s mom. Unraveling the nuances of these relationships is part of the pleasure of watching Great Absence, but its essence is Yohji’s decline into senility, enveloping everyone around him. Tatsuya Fuji is unforgettable as the alternately raging, wounded, and confused patriarch and deservedly won the Best Actor prize at the San Sebastian Film Festival.
Kei Chika-ura studied economics and film history at the University of Osaka and learned filmmaking on the job, working for different production companies. His short films include Empty House (2013), The Lasting Persimmon (2015), and Signature (2017), winner of the Grand Prix at the Sapporo International Short Film Festival and Market. He made his feature debut with Complicity (2018), recipient of an audience award at Tokyo FILMeX.
Film Details
LanguageJapanese
Original Language Title大いなる不在
Year2023
PremiereUS
Runtime152
CountryJapan
DirectorKei Chika-ura
ProducerKei Chika-ura, Miho Horiike
WriterKei Chika-ura, Keita Kumano
EditorKei Chika-ura
CinematographerYutaka Yamazaki
MusicKoji Itoyama
CastMirai Moriyama, Tatsuya Fuji
Closed CaptionsClosed Captions are not yet confirmed for this program
Audio DescriptionAudio Descriptions are not yet confirmed for this program
American Sign Language (ASL) InterpretationAmerican Sign Language Interpretation is not currently scheduled for this film
