It was certainly exciting to have Naomi Kawase to be present for Q n A sessions at the festival. But I’m in other ways wearied of the occasion also, I think because some of the questions from the audiences are too “rude” or “out of point”; or the way some people shouts out questions without even bothering to introduce themselves; or the way some overtly passionate people spillout their heartfelt emotions that is just too… err… embarassing? Or how the Kawase was circled by both these crazy audiences at the front booth, all too busy to get a picture with the big director with their newest gadget fresh from their purchase at Comex. It made me disappointed with both myself and the people around me, especially when I too wanted to get her autograph on her documentary DVD-box set originally; but watching all that crowd surround-attacking her got me disillusioned, that I certainly do not want to be part of this group; maybe watching too much Japanese films in a week made me appreciate the polite way Japanese people carry themselves in the movies, which made ugly Singaporeans uglier, I think.

Okay, enough of ugly Singaporean style complaining – I just cant shrug off my roots, can I? Heh. Embracing and Kyakarabaa was especially heartfelt to watch. I can never forget when I first watch Embracing a few months ago, I cried when kawase talked to her father. Prowling through all that childhood photographs, looking at the sky, and clouds, the plants around her – this endless searching, in a sense is rather universal. I think that everyone to a certain extent have this empty something within them that they need to fill, and perhaps, its what makes us human.

Shara was great. The festival scene was pure ecstasy, my body almost swayed with the way the camera move along with the dancers. It was that engaging. At that moment, I understood what Tulapop (my Chicago Roommate) meant when he said Mogari No Mori was very different from Moe No Suzaku and Shara. Shara and Suzaku are very down to earth films. They depict a certain group of people, living in a certain place at a certain time, and their simple and yet complicated life – the feeling of the everyday, the sense of how everything fall into place naturally, is so strong – it is something missing in Mogari No Mori.

In general, Moe No Suzaku is still my favorite Kawase film every, it is just so great (refer to my previous posts). For Shara, I really wished the film ended at the courtyard with the voices of the two boys talking about indian ink on their skin when they were kids – a perfect circle. Yet the director chose to move the camera out onto a helicopter, and fly it around the town. My little illusion is broken, I feel more distant from the place I just spent 2 hours with. It is little disappointing.

The amazing thing about Mogari No Mori, is that although I watched it before at the International Film Festival Rotterdam earlier this year with dutch and french subtitles, neither of which I can read, when I watch it today, I feel that I learned nothing new about the film. Which goes to say that I really had understood everything I need to understand visually – which I think speaks good about the strong visual language of the film. One thing I feel can be improved in Mogari No Mori, is the story about Machiko’s son’s death. It was lightly brought by, though we can all feel the magnitute of the incident in the female protagonist, but the scene with the husband is too much a mere exposition scene. I wish I can understand her pain better  by having scenes about how she had been dealing with this pain by herself – which is not to say I want everything clarified and nicely laid out before me, but I want to comprehend her pain better, especially when the pain of losing a love one is a common bond between the two protagonists in the 2nd half of the film. It was still a great film nontheless. I love the music, it just chimes and remains deep in my mind for a long long time.