In the turbulent stream, a few small fish were struggling to move upstream, like a martyr without hesitation.
——It makes people feel very sad, trying to die. After all, it's a death, it's okay if it's not so hard.
- It's a law of nature, they're born that way.
Dawu stared blankly at the scene, and a car horn sounded in the distance. It's the president! Dawu almost fell to the ground like seeing the god of plague. The president came to invite him to dinner, and he scared him like this.
But the work still came.
Being 5 minutes late, the family members of the deceased looked even more dismayed, "You are relying on the dead to eat, right?" the man said sarcastically. The president and Dawu didn't care, they just kept apologizing.
Yes, they know that the profession is not so glamorous, and they silently accept this insult. There is no need for the film to focus on performance, and the audience can fully imagine it. Regardless of the country, people are very secretive about funerals, and people in this industry are also afraid to avoid them. Unclean, unlucky, is a consistent view of people, and it can't even be counted as a prejudice. There is a group of people in Japan called "tribe people" whose ancestors were undertakers or hunters. This group of people has a very low status in society and is discriminated against in all aspects of work and life. After dealing with the corpse, it will become dirty, and the dirty material will contaminate the soul, and if the soul is dirty, the body will be dirty. Inheritance is difficult to get rid of from generation to generation. So later in the film, it is not difficult to understand that Dawu's wife threatened the fetus in her womb to give up her current career.
The relatives of the deceased sat around her body in dejection, and some were already sobbing. The president removed the white cloth from the deceased's face, revealing a pale face. It seems that people can only remember that the film is talking about things related to the dead.
He habitually looked back at the photo of the deceased. This is a face surrounded by white chrysanthemums, with gentle eyes and a bright smile, as good-looking as white chrysanthemums, just like a beauty. This beauty is lying on the tatami at the moment, her limbs are cold, her face is bloodless, the most important thing is that she can no longer smile at the person she loves, death has taken all this, and its cruelty needs no words at this moment.
He covered the face of the deceased with a white cloth, and skillfully used tweezers to stuff the white cotton into the mouth of the deceased little by little. On one side of the camera, the man lowered his head and couldn't bear to look anymore. Pulling off the silk covering the deceased's body, the president picked up a white cotton cloth dipped in alcohol to wipe the deceased's body, and used his warm hand to hold a non-warm hand, making people feel too careful. Then he seriously turned a purple kimono over himself, and then put it on the deceased. His eyes were extremely serious, and he even revealed some pride in his profession.
The hands are folded, folded in front of the body, and wrapped with a string of pearls. If they are in China, it is to hope that the soul of the deceased will be safe during the journey. The next step is to make up the dead. "Rejuvenate someone who has been cold and give her the appearance of immortality. This must be calm, accurate, and tender."
After the president's meticulous care, it didn't take long for the deceased's complexion to turn rosy again. radiate the brilliance of life. We saw her lying peacefully in front of her relatives, as if she had fallen into a peaceful sleep, "Mom!" The daughter couldn't help but pounced on her, as if she could wake up her mother by speaking louder. Hisaishi's strings are soothing and low, and I shed tears for the first time seeing this.
Dawu has been watching carefully, not daring to slack off. He knows that every move in his work in the future will be responsible for this person's life. "At the moment of separation, farewell to the old man, quiet, all the actions are so beautiful." He was born as a cellist, and found the artist's feelings in an unexpected way. It's easy to see that in his eyes, this is more than just an ordinary job, otherwise he wouldn't go on at all costs. Being able to make him ignore the advice of his beloved wife and the indifference of his friends is his incomparable respect for the matter in front of him.
With the assistance of everyone, the deceased was carefully placed into the coffin, and the man remained sitting beside him.
So far, the undertaker has completed his sacred and solemn mission. The sublime sense of ritual displayed throughout the whole process is exactly what makes the film shocking. Japan is a nation that pays special attention to the sense of ritual, and ceremonies such as tea ceremony and kendo are praised by people. In order to drink saliva, lay out a big posture, simmer slowly, wash the cup and make tea, step by step, until the aroma is overflowing and the saliva is still flowing, you must be polite and respectful, and the dance-like movements of the host are full of rhythm and elegance. , So solemn and beautiful, how can such a Zen-flavored ceremony not adjust the body and self-cultivation, so far, the ceremony of drinking tea has become a cultural and artistic activity combined with religion, philosophy and aesthetics.
When it comes to the burial ceremony here, we can also appreciate a thing or two. The extreme solemnity of the ceremony is too complicated, but it conveys the attitude of this nation towards death. Generally speaking, we are always escaping death, and the Japanese Bushido is to face death directly, to think about how to die, to hold the passion of "death madness", and to realize the "aesthetic value" emitted by the moment of death. This kind of death in the aesthetic sense is praised by them as the so-called "beauty of falling flowers", which means that the withered flowers are hidden under the leaves. This unique view of death permeates the blood of this nation. Expressed here, what we see is that the deceased is treated with unparalleled respect.
At the moment when the coffin lid was about to close, the man got up and walked into his wife's side to stare at him in a trance. A feeling that could no longer be suppressed surged out, grief-stricken, and finally he knelt on the ground trembling, a The hand touches his lover with infinite tenderness, making an eternal farewell to him. The soothing strings accelerate, and the mood rises to its zenith.
In the film, Joe Hisaishi's soundtrack often overwhelms the guest and takes the dominant position of the picture. In some clips, the audience can even close their eyes and savor the tranquility and long-distance brought by the cello. The wonderful thing is that when you open your eyes, the picture will continue the development of the story from the place you want, and especially when you need to sublimate the subject. The pieces, music and pictures echo each other and shine with unparalleled moving power. Perhaps this is called the perfect complementation of sound and picture.
After a complete cry, there is a heartfelt gratitude - the wife can accept such a solemn courtesy before leaving, and can say goodbye to the person who loves her so calmly and dignifiedly, which is undoubtedly a great relief to the living. "Today is her most beautiful day, I'm really grateful." Anyone who has experienced such a shocking process of burial, must be in awe of the profession of burial.
Dawu begins to work alone - a pair of paranoid parents remorseful for pushing their children to a dead end; a group of cute children put on stockings for grandma and happily part from grandma; leave a mark on grandpa's face The lipstick seal entrusted the best memory of his relatives to him... He was like an angel, with delicate hands and gentle emotions, he opened the journey to heaven for the dead, and healed the wounds in the hearts of the living.
Whenever we talk about art films, we often mention the four words "humanistic care". The meaning of the four words is abstract, and "The Undertaker" gives us a concrete answer.
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