Arquivo

The life, the work, and the dramatic existence of celebrated Japanese writer Toshio Shimao, who died in 1986, are portrayed through his wife, Miho Shimao. The narrative revolves around Miho who is now living alone with a mentally handicapped daughter on an island in Japan. Russian Director Alexander Sokurov knows that the only means of entering this world is to be able to perceive exquisite flavor and perverse pain therein, translated here in a film that is, in fact, affective - truly dolce, as in a passage from an opera. All of the tenderness that the screen touches on would never have been there, were it not for the power in protagonist Miho Shimao who has conveyed what would have been impossible for a professional actor. According to Sokurov, "by means of the exertion from her soul, she has created an artistic image of a real person, only in this case, she is referring to her own life and feeling. Incredibly difficult it is, to be at the same time subject and object of a work of art. Her sincerity merits acknowledgement, her belief in God is profound and is the basis for existence".