Talking About Movies Through Memories of 'Wonderful Life' [Joohee Kang's Video Prism]

Editor's Note 〓How do you remember that scene? Have you ever suddenly recalled a moment from a movie? This is likely because films are closely connected to our lives. Movies offer another perspective on reality. We present various viewpoints on reality by highlighting a single scene from a film. Please note that there may be spoilers during the depiction of scenes and descriptions.

Movie 'Wonderful Life' / Photo by Andamiro

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Juhee] "If you could forget all your memories and remember only one moment, which would you choose?"

The intermediate station between life and death, 'Limbo.' Hirokazu Koreeda's film Wonderful Life is set in a liminal world where the deceased stay for seven days before going to heaven. The dead are asked by the staff here to "choose the most precious memory from your life." The selected memory is made into a short film by the staff, and the deceased watch this recreated memory before departing for heaven?this is the system of this place.

As the movie begins, a bell rings and the camera focuses on an entrance flooded with light. Those who have just left the living world enter Limbo through this entrance. They must choose one memory within three days. This is a mandatory procedure before moving on to the heavenly realm.

Few answer this question readily. Most people tilt their heads or hesitate, falling into deep contemplation. Some do not respond at all and instead gaze distantly out the window. Perhaps this question is as fundamental as "Who am I?" or "What is life?"

In any case, since choosing a memory is a rule of this world, people begin to trace back their lives bit by bit. Those who initially wore troubled expressions soon recall happy memories and, like children, show innocent smiles as they open up about past events.

The scent of skin when lying on their mother's lap while having their ears cleaned, memories of swinging in a bamboo forest during childhood, the thrill of dancing in red shoes in front of someone they liked?these memories are fragmentary and vague, but the tender feelings of the person recalling them shine through vividly. Just as each life lived is different, so too are these memories unique to each individual.

Movie 'Wonderful Life' / Photo by Andamiro

On the other hand, some find it difficult to choose a memory easily. Yamamoto, a man in his 50s, avoids recalling memories, saying, "I don't want to look back on the life I've lived," while Watanabe, a man in his 70s, questions the rule that only one memory must be chosen.

For Watanabe, who viewed his life as rather ordinary, selecting a single special memory was an extremely difficult task. Both men eventually choose a memory, but only after much reflection on their lives.

In his 20s, Iseya is a young man who openly expresses resentment toward Limbo's rules. He argues that choosing an unfulfilled dream is far more meaningful than recalling the past. He then challenges the staff, saying, "Why don't you reconsider the system here?"

Iseya decides not to choose a memory as a way to take responsibility for his life. Could not choosing also be a form of choice? In fact, the staff members of Limbo themselves are people who never chose a memory and thus remained in this intermediate world. Mochizuki and Shiori, the protagonists of this film, also became Limbo staff after ultimately failing to select a memory.

Movie 'Wonderful Life' / Photo by Andamiro

The film is shot in a style that records the stories of the deceased almost like a documentary. The audience, like the staff, takes the position of an interviewer, listening to the stories of the dead.

What matters is not which memory they choose, but the very process of recalling the memory itself.

So why must such a difficult choice be made? What is the meaning of the process of recalling memories? One of the themes of Wonderful Life is the question, "What are memories to a person?" However, this question inherently acknowledges that "people are beings who forget."

The rule in Limbo that only one memory can be chosen presupposes that "all other memories will be forgotten." This implies that human memories inevitably fade. No matter how vivid a memory is, it becomes faint over time.

Therefore, recalling a single memory and recreating it on film can be seen as an effort to hold on to what is being forgotten. It is a process of reflecting on what has sustained a person throughout their life and recalling what makes them who they are.

Wonderful Life is a film about memories, but also a film about films. Limbo staff carefully recreate the memories chosen by the deceased and preserve them on film, which is a depiction of the filmmaking process itself. In other words, film is a medium that brings forgotten memories into the present and makes them exist forever.

The initial question can thus be reframed: "What is the meaning of recalling memories for beings who forget?" This film suggests that the role of cinema is to collect fragments of memories, present them to the audience, and guide them in finding answers to this question.

Movie 'Wonderful Life' / Photo by Andamiro

At the end of the film, the deceased watch the recreated memory and, holding only that happy moment, embark on their journey to heaven. Mochizuki also decides to choose a memory. He learns that Kyoko, his fianc?e who died before him, chose the moments they spent together as her single memory, and he realizes that he too can be a happy memory for someone.

Mochizuki selects the moment when he was sitting on a park bench with Kyoko. The other staff film the recreation of Mochizuki's memory. Mochizuki sits on the bench in the recreated set, watching the staff filming him with their cameras.

Of course, the completed film will only show Mochizuki looking straight ahead. However, his eyes are clearly focused on something beyond the frame. Will he forget everything that happened in Limbo after going to heaven? Even if so, he will forever remember the last scene he saw.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.