Subscribe to watch - 14-day free trial, then £4.99 a month
This film is certified
- emotionally intense scenes, bereavement theme, brief nudity
The Mourning Forest
A beautiful and contemplative portrait of grief from Cannes-winning filmmaker Naomi Kawase (Sweet Bean, Still the Water).
Drama 2007 97 mins
Director: Naomi Kawase
Overview
Machiko (Machiko Ono) is a young nurse who still carries the burden of her young son’s death. Shigeki (Shigeki Uda) is an elderly widower and a resident at the nursing home where Machiko works. After celebrating Shigeki’s birthday, Machiko takes him for a drive in the countryside, but their car breaks down and Shigeki absconds into the nearby forest. Machiko has no choice but to follow, and they become lost in the dense woodlands, before their fates eventually become entwined.
Drawing comparisons to the works of Shohei Imamura and Terrence Malick, Naomi Kawase’s The Mourning Forest is a hauntingly beautiful, symbolically rich masterpiece.
emotionally intense scenes, bereavement theme, brief nudityRelated
Drama
A Jester's Tale A Jester's Tale
Period drama 1964 85 mins Director: Karel Zeman
Karel Zeman's astonishing fantasy mixes live-action and animation to tell the adventures of a ploughman and a mercenery during the Thirty Years War.
Cure Cure
Crime 1998 111 mins Director: Kiyoshi Kurosawa
Kiyoshi Kurosawa's a nerve-shredding thriller about the hunt for a serial killer in a bleak and decaying Tokyo.
Journey to the Shore Journey to the Shore
Drama 2015 128 mins Director: Kiyoshi Kurosawa
The living and the dead coexist in Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Cannes-winning meditation on love and loss.
Harmonium Harmonium
Drama 2016 120 mins Director: Koji Fukada
Kôji Fukada's mixture of slow-burn thriller and off-kilter family drama won Un Certain Regard Jury prize at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival.
The Lust of Angels The Lust of Angels
Drama 2014 38 mins Director: Nagisa Isogai
After a schoolgirl is molested on the notorious 'groper train' in their town, a group a schoolgirls band together to emact revenge.
Still Walking Still Walking
Drama 2008 115 mins Director: Hirokazu Koreeda
Koreeda’s subtle, moving account of the tensions within a family is his most Ozu-like film.
21st-century Japan
Sweet Bean Sweet Bean
Drama 2015 113 mins Director: Naomi Kawase
A struggling street food vendor accepts help from an elderly lady with a sensational recipe up her sleeve, in Naomi Kawase's bittersweet drama of culinary redemption.
Nobody Knows Nobody Knows
Drama 2003 141 mins Director: Hirokazu Koreeda
Koreeda’s drama about four children left to fend for themselves is a heartbreaking study of childhood neglect.
Still Walking Still Walking
Drama 2008 115 mins Director: Hirokazu Koreeda
Koreeda’s subtle, moving account of the tensions within a family is his most Ozu-like film.
Departures Departures
Drama 2008 131 mins Director: Yôjirô Takita
A professional cellist gets a new job as an assistant mortician in this delightful and bittersweet drama, winner of the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar® in 2009.
Creepy Creepy
Thriller 2016 130 mins Director: Kiyoshi Kurosawa
Kiyoshi Kurosawa (Cuire, Pulse) makes a triumphant return to the horror genre with this macabre and deeply unsettling thriller.
The Lust of Angels The Lust of Angels
Drama 2014 38 mins Director: Nagisa Isogai
After a schoolgirl is molested on the notorious 'groper train' in their town, a group a schoolgirls band together to emact revenge.
Directed by Naomi Kawase
Sweet Bean Sweet Bean
Drama 2015 113 mins Director: Naomi Kawase
A struggling street food vendor accepts help from an elderly lady with a sensational recipe up her sleeve, in Naomi Kawase's bittersweet drama of culinary redemption.
New
A Jester's Tale A Jester's Tale
Period drama 1964 85 mins Director: Karel Zeman
Karel Zeman's astonishing fantasy mixes live-action and animation to tell the adventures of a ploughman and a mercenery during the Thirty Years War.
The Fabulous Baron Munchausen The Fabulous Baron Munchausen
Animation & Artists Moving Image 1961 85 mins Director: Karel Zeman
Karel Zeman’s wildly inventive and comic take on the surreal adventures of the bragging Baron explodes on to the screen in a riot of colour, visual wit and poetic verve.
Cure Cure
Crime 1998 111 mins Director: Kiyoshi Kurosawa
Kiyoshi Kurosawa's a nerve-shredding thriller about the hunt for a serial killer in a bleak and decaying Tokyo.
Journey to the Shore Journey to the Shore
Drama 2015 128 mins Director: Kiyoshi Kurosawa
The living and the dead coexist in Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Cannes-winning meditation on love and loss.
Harmonium Harmonium
Drama 2016 120 mins Director: Koji Fukada
Kôji Fukada's mixture of slow-burn thriller and off-kilter family drama won Un Certain Regard Jury prize at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival.
The Lust of Angels The Lust of Angels
Drama 2014 38 mins Director: Nagisa Isogai
After a schoolgirl is molested on the notorious 'groper train' in their town, a group a schoolgirls band together to emact revenge.