"Phantom Light" is the 1995 film debut directed by Hirokazu Koreeda. The protagonist of the movie is named Yumiko. When she was a child, her grandmother often put away her burden and insisted on returning to the countryside from the city to die. After leaving home once, she never came back. Growing up, Yumiko always felt that she blamed herself for not being able to dissuade her grandmother, and she would never return. Later, Yumiko got married and had children, and her husband was Yufu, whom she met that night in search of her grandmother. Although she was poor, she lived a simple and happy life. One morning, Yumiko watched her husband leave for work as usual, but at night she waited for the news of his passing. The cause of death was a tram accident between accident and suicide.
The child was only three months old when her husband died. After being a widow for many years, Yumiko remarried to a beautiful seaside fishing village far away from her hometown. The winter here is extraordinarily long. The days go by, and the children grow up carefree and carefree. In this remote village facing the sea, Yumiko lives a plain and stable life. She is courteous to her relatives and neighbors, diligently manages the housework, meticulously takes care of the daily life of her two children and her father-in-law, and gets along well with her current husband Minxiong, but Yumiko seems to be coping with perfunctory life like this. When looking at the two innocent children, when looking at the boundless sea through the small gray window, when she was suddenly in a daze while doing housework, her face was full of loneliness and alienation.
When he was just married to his first husband Yu Fu, his bicycle was stolen, so he wandered to the wealthy area and stole another one. Yumiko said that this was not good, so she would repaint it green with him. In that accident, Yu Fu was run over by the train, and the police officers only gave her the keys of the bicycle with the bell and one of Yu Fu's shoes. Years later, the son was fascinated by the little green bicycle at the market, exactly like his father. When she was alone, Yumiko often took out the car key with the bell, and it took a long time to see it. Yumiko learned from her neighbor's mother-in-law that her current husband came back to this small fishing village to marry his ex-wife. She felt that she was being deceived and asked Minxiong why he had such a beloved wife and could marry her again, more like He asked himself why he loved Yu Fu so much, why he could remarry someone else. Minxiong said that Yumiko had a few new freckles on her face. Yumiko retorted that they were freckles. She remembered that she once sat on the back seat of Yufu’s bicycle and told him that looking at those freckles in the mirror made her face look strange, and Yufu was angry. Laughing at her no wonder she spent so long in the bathroom.
Because her younger brother got married, Yumiko returned to her hometown for the first time since she remarried. Walking on the streets of my hometown when I hear a cyclist ringing the bell, I will think of Yu Fu; when I go to the printing and dyeing factory where he used to work, I can still see him smirking at himself through the window glass; Yumiko goes to the place where Yu Fu often goes. In that noodle shop, the owner told her that on the night of the accident, Yu Fu once came to eat noodles by himself and forgot to bring the money, and said that he would return the money tomorrow; it turned out that the radio of the old widower who lived next door was gone, thinking of Yu Fu. It has been said that he actually turned his voice so loud to let others know that he was still alive. Yumiko's life seems to be frozen at the moment when Yu Fu leaves home with a smile. Time is passing, and the new life in the seaside fishing village seems to be quiet and peaceful, but she has stayed in place.
The neighbor’s mother-in-law in the seaside fishing village is in her 60s or 70s. She always has a smile on her weathered face. She is always hunched over and wears a black hat that protects her head. From time to time, she can go to the beach alone. Catch crabs and fish. Once, when her mother-in-law was out fishing, she encountered stormy weather. Yumiko was very afraid. Her grandmother and Yu husband both left home and never came back. She wept. The father-in-law and Minxiong reassured her mother-in-law that she would be safe and sound. No one knows the sea better than her, and she can even swim back if she can't. Sure enough, the mother-in-law did swim all the way back, and said nothing about the hardships and dangers in the storm. Life is very fragile, and sometimes life is really tenacious, and there is really no answer. After returning to the small fishing village from her hometown, Yumiko couldn't bear the sudden despair and loneliness in the gaps in her life. She tried to escape, the bus had already left the station and she was still sitting there blankly, where could she escape to. At this moment, she was attracted by the funeral procession with the sound of bells from far and near, as if it was some kind of call, Yumiko silently followed behind the funeral procession, between the horizon and the sea level.
Minxiong found Yumiko at the seaside, watching her body burn and billowing black smoke, and just looked at her from a distance. Come and give her a hug. Immediately afterwards, Yumiko stopped and asked the question that had been buried in her heart and tormented her for many years, why did Yufu end his life by suicide. Yumiko can't understand, whenever she thinks of this, she can't control herself. Minxiong was silent for a moment, and answered her with what his father had seen and heard: In the past, my father used to go to sea, and whenever he felt lonely, he would often see a beautiful beam of light, which seemed to be calling him in the distance. Can happen to anyone.
It is unknown why Yu Fu committed suicide. The legend of the phantom light is a comfort and tenderness to the living. Another long winter passed, and Yumiko changed into bright clothes, and she could finally say "What a nice weather".
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