JF Theatre (Film screenings) in August 2016: Mother

The peaceful days of Toshiko with her retired husband takes a sharp turn when he dies suddenly from a heart attack. After the funeral, she discovered many things he had hidden from her. These events make Toshiko, who has so far been an ordinary housewife, gradually awakens to a sense of independence.

Editor Miwako Kijima hears from her aunt about her mother’s illness. The mother, Kanako worked as a teacher, and raise Miwako as a single parent. Life was hard for Kanako, and she was cruel to Miwako. Her mother became very ill, which surprise Miwako as she has not contacted her mother since starting university. Miwako is told that her mother suffers from Alzheimer’s disease, and she reluctantly accepts to go back and live with her. The days are full of stress and yelling at her mother. She feels bad because she’s doing the same as what her mother did to her. She starts to see her ex-boyfriend Sawaki to relieve the stress. However she feels as if no one understands her.

This is a biographical film focusing on the mother of the Japanese microbiologist, Hideyo Noguchi who discovered the spirochete culture of syphilis and gained world-wide fame.