‘Teki‘, the 2024 film by Japanese director Daihachi Yoshida, is a film about the old age. I don’t know to what extent contemporary Japanese cinema addresses this topic, but it seems natural to me that it would in a country that ranks second in the world (after the principality of Monaco) in the percentage of elderly people. Adapting a novel by Yasutaka Tsutsui, it’s a beautiful and sad film, in which, in addition to the main theme, another obsession of Japanese society is also addressed: the fear of invasion, whether it is a foreign power or mysterious monsters coming from the North. It is an interesting and original cinematic combination that works simply and effectively.
The main hero of the film is a former university professor of French language and literature. He has been retired for ten years and not only does he feel that age catches with him, but his profession and specialty are also of less and less interest in today’s materialistic world. Remained alone after the death of his wife, he lives decently and frugally in the house where he probably lived for his entire life or for most of it. The first part of the film describes the routine of his life, with the passing of the days, with the traditional food that he prepares himself, with the small pleasures such as a glass of drink at home or with friends, with the visits of former students, with the occasional and increasingly rare articles and conferences. Life seems to slow down in pace, but still, somehow, continues. Disturbing signs begin to appear. Computer messages about a possible invasion from the North. Spam or censored reality? Signs of illness. Dreams that sometimes take on the appearance of nightmares. Regrets and long-buried memories. Presences and ghosts. As we move from summer to winter, these intensify. What is real and what is a nightmare?
The film is loaded with metaphors, but refuses to become cryptic. Daihachi Yoshida proves, in my opinion, courage and inspiration, presenting the decline of the film’s hero from his perspective – with the small joys and repressed disappointments, with the memories, the forgotten hopes, the nightmares and the real or imagined threats. The actor who plays the main role is Kyôzô Nagatsuka, one of those formidable Japanese actors who combine on screen dignity and internalized expression, restraint and depth of feelings. The use of black and white and the camera – static or with minimal movements and focuses – create a visual atmosphere that reminds the classic Japanese films of Yasujirô Ozu. Divided into four episodes titled after the seasons of the year, ‘Teki‘ does not end with a rebirth in the cycle of life, as in other stories or films inspired by Buddhist philosophy. The fourth season this time seals the end of the cycles. Life will go on, but what once existed will fade into oblivion.