返乡记
这篇影评可能有剧透
返乡记
文/四月
有时，一个人与更多的人命运之所以相联，也许就是从一个不幸开始。
导演以在自家亲历日本311大地震的DV实况纪录作为影片的开场，但很快焦点立刻转移到了一场更大的灾难：由海啸引发的福岛第一核电站的核泄漏事故。
在地震三周后的4月3日，导演第一次跟随运送物资的车队进入疏散区，并走访了一些留守的居民，用最朴实的方式在第一时间作了跟踪和记录。它不同于新闻采访，没有过度的报道与个人诠释，也没有任何总结性的陈辞言论。它所做的，就是注视并说出谁也无法回避的事实，而沉默的真相将比任何一个尖锐的词语更有冲击力。
我想起战地摄影师Robert Capa曾经说过：如果你拍得不够好，是因为你靠得不够近。当全世界都在关注日本大地震，并称赞日本人面对灾难时的冷静与有序的同时，导演却出现在这个物资极度匮乏并充满危险的地带，震后倒塌毁坏的房屋，无人劳作的土地，辐射仍在威胁着每个人的生命安全，满目疮痍。这片几乎被日本政府和东京电力公司放弃的地方，导演却作了很多的努力以接近现场，包括在政府下达命令要封闭疏散区域前，导演回到东京的住处试图以自由记者的身份获得NISA的官方许可进入拍摄，却遭到了拒绝。
松林正树的拍摄不是一种随心所欲的突发奇想，也不是深邃思考下的缓慢沉淀，他更像是在承担起直击现场的责任与义务。影片几乎没有什么精心设定的拍摄和剪辑技巧，也没有细节的刻意表现与修饰，但它将比任何多余的举动都有说服力。
市议员田中京子是此片的重要拍摄对象之一，也正是在她的帮助下，导演得以先后两次进入警戒区域，并采访了她的邻居和家人，留下了很多重要的实录。尽管房屋遭到了毁灭性的破坏，她依旧会仔细检查每个房屋的安全，发现有小偷破窗而入的痕迹，还会打电话报警。我注意到田中京子在地上发现邻居的家庭相簿后，拣了起来，小心地搁在一边的角落。相片比任何一件物品对他们来说都重要，许多重要的辨认和记忆都从保存完好的相片中获得，包括福岛核电站是如何从最初的空军基地变成了今日的罪魁祸首，这些故事都被口述着讲了出来。而在5月份，田中夫妇第一次返回家乡时，久治高兴地展示给大家看他当时从原町市的家中为孙子挽救回来的游戏牌，说这是“孙子的财富”。这些场景真是令人难以想象，也是最让人肃然起敬的地方。《相马看花》有一个更为直白，让人无法拒绝正视的副标题：被剥夺的土地记忆。而被剥夺的，仅仅是土地的记忆吗？恐怕还有活下去的权利吧。核泄漏事件发生后，日本政府下达了以福岛第一核电站半径20-30公里范围内实施呆在室内的保护措施，显然这欲盖弥彰的误导性指令让当地的情况变得十分不明就里，外界媒体都只能通过电话来了解这里的实际状况，而由于物资供给的严重缺乏，交通工具的无法使用，疏散工作不能正常进行，自卫队无法及时到达，许多人因此而丧生。在缺少日本政府任何具体的“疏散指示”下，南相马市政府除了被迫自发组织当地官员尽力对留守的民众提供支援，便只能通过网络的方式向各地志愿者们呼吁救援。
没有什么比对生命的漠视更显无情的了。末永武先生是导演三个主要拍摄对象中相对犀利的一位老先生，老人对新闻媒体关于辐射会在逐渐减弱的说法保持着一种怀疑的态度，并直言不讳地说出东京电力公司的无能以及日本的诟病，有从手册上学习到的常识却缺乏实际的经验。但在一阵沉默之后，他却为自己未曾阻止核电站的建成而感觉羞愧。影片中有一段是沿6号公路回东京的路上，在距核电站11KM的地方，他们遇到了一些流浪狗，便停下来给他们喂食。在这物资匮乏的时刻，还要眷顾被遗弃的家犬，这是对生命多大的一种尊重啊。另一段发生在东京涉谷的街头，许多民众聚集起来举行反核游行，却遭到了警察粗暴的逮捕。日本一直都是以隐忍著称的民族，这些愤怒和不满的情绪，对比电视官方新闻报道的轻描淡写，导演和民众的立场已十分明显。
导演留在避难中心与来自不同町和村的居民们相处，镜头下的他们没有大声的抱怨，吵闹或哭诉。没有人责难大自然带来的这一切重创，他们依旧保持自己的谦卑与恭敬。在祈祷前洗净手，囊中羞涩但仍掏出仅有的一些钱，还要请求神灵的原谅。而回到已无人居住的家时，还是要在进门前说一句，我回来了，并且把脚上的塑料袋取下后才进屋。他们几乎是平静地回忆着亡故的亲朋好友。甚至还偶尔挖掘生活的乐趣，说起有趣的佚事。这些平稳而坦率的记录，普通却温暖，鼓舞着所有流离失所的人，甚至感动到了我。
这里有另一个重要的拍摄对象就是Kume夫妇，导演和他们相遇在警戒区域内的家宅内。他们没有去避难中心，因为妻子Yoshiko行动不便，Tadashi先生决定留下来，要照顾到她到最后。由于缺水和食物，他们作息更改为四点晚饭五点睡觉，到了晚上则用煤取暖。Tadashi非常喜欢喝清酒，当听到导演说下次拜访会带酒给他，他高兴极了。无论身处多大的困境，生活都还要照常进行，正是这样的信念支撑起了一个自尊心很强的民族。Tadashi先生曾在核电站当了11年的安全主管，对于核泄漏事件却没有吐露太多自己的观点，更多的人应该像Tadashi那样吧，是只知道勤恳工作的人。但谈到自己的两个孩子时，Tadashi先生却神情黯然地说他们已和自己没关系了。“The older they become, the less involvement. That’s how the country works now. There used to be a notion of‘devote yourself to your parents’. Not anymore.”比衰老更让人难过的是遗忘，这也是在这场灾难面前，日本政府和东京电力公司失信于民的根源了。这是一台不会撒谎的摄影机。
由于警戒区域的犯罪事件越来越多，日本政府下令封锁警戒区。于是，京子的丈夫久治请导演拍一些樱花盛开的场景。在谈论地震和海啸袭来的场景，没有人哭泣。但来到神社面前，祈祷每个人都能尽快回家的心愿时，久治却不由自主地流下了清泪。每个被拍摄者最大的心愿都是能够早日回家。像是被连根拔起的树，时时刻刻惦记的都是重回这片土地。这样的决心足以让他们克服所有的恐惧和疑虑。
影片的拍摄在7月份结束，小高神社千年来一直是举办“相马野马追”节日的场地，这个节日也是影片标题所指的一部分。灾后陆续返乡的居民依旧保留着这个重要的传统风俗，只是除了祭奠外，竞马的活动已无法按往年的惯例照常举行。核电站建成后，大家都开始不再用马来耕作。从前，马是人们生活的一部分。但是后来，耕马被耕土机取代，人们停止了农业和渔业，更多的年轻人都离开了土地，放弃了耕耘，进了办公室办公和操作机器。没有什么证据比这些活下来的老人们所亲历的事实更好了。
稻田里的野草蓬勃地生长着，四月的樱花也如期绽放，仿佛灾难从未到来过。墙上的钟的指针永远指向灾难发生的那个时间点，但没有人想再重复这样的时光。而这片哭泣的土地早在这些到来前就已分崩离析，那是这些思念成疾的人们所回不去的故乡。
The roots
Sometimes, the connection of lives among one another might results from a misfortune.
The director begins his film with a DV record of Japan 311 earthquake at his own apartment, but immediately focuses on the more devastating disaster: Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant experienced full meltdowns at three reactors in the wake of an earthquake and tsunami.
On April 3rd, three weeks after the earthquake, for the first time, the director entered the evacuation area with relief goods. There he visited and recorded some left-behind residents. This documentary will only focus on the inevitable facts. It’s different from official news interview, no excessive coverage and personal interpretation, nor any conclusive remark. However, true facts are more powerful than any words.
“If your pictures aren’t good enough. You are not close enough. - Robert Capa” When the whole world was concerned about the earthquake in Japan and appreciated its people for their calm and order when facing the disaster, the director himself came to the quake-hit area in spite of those dangers and extremely shortage of materials. Collapsed houses, deserted lands, threatening radiation, all things were ruined. This area seemed almost abandoned by the Japanese government and the Tokyo Electric Power Company. During shooting, Yojyu Matsubayashi has tried to get a NISA (Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency)’s permission to approach the evacuation area as a free journalist before the government ordering to close it, unfortunately, NISA said Sorry.
Yojyu Matsubayashi’s shooting is not resulted form any arbitrary imagination or deep thinking, he is more like to shoulder a responsibility and obligation to record the scene of the earthquake. There is no well-set shooting or editing skills, nor any deliberate expression of details in the film. But it is more persuasive than using any decorations.
The city councilor Tanaka Kyoko is a main character in this film. It was with her help, the director got the opportunity to enter the warning area twice. There he interviewed some of her families and neighbors, and recorded many real stories. Houses were damaged heavily, but she would still check the safety conditions of each one, and if she found the track of burglars, she would still call the police. I noticed in the film, when Tanaka Kyoko found her neighbor’s family album on the ground, she picked it up and put it away carefully. Photos were the most valuable to them; they provide them with important recognitions and memories. From those photos, stories were told, including how the Fukushima nuclear power plant was turned from originally an air force base to today’s cause to the disaster. Later in May, the Tanaka couple returned to their hometown for the first time after evacuation, Hisaharu was glad to show their grandson’s game cards which were rescued from their house in City Haramachi. He said it’s the “wealth of grandson”. These scenes are so out of imagination, but they make us can’t help being respectful to them. The film “Flowers in Soma” has a simpler but more irresistible subtitle: Memories of the Lost Landscape. However, does the lost only limited to memories of lands?
I’m afraid what they lose is also about the right to live. Right after the nuclear leakage accident, the Japanese government implemented the staying indoors protection measures in the area within the radius 20-30 kilometers of the Fukushima first nuclear power plant. Apparently, this misleading order made the situation there even more obscure that it could only be touched through telephone by the outside media. Due to the server shortage of supplies and the paralysis of transportation, the evacuation work could not be continued smoothly, nor could the self-defense team arrive timely, and many people died. Since there was no specific evacuation order given by Tokyo, the government of the Soma had only to organize its local officials to provide supplies to its left-behind residents, and appealed for rescue through network.
There is nothing more ruthless than ignorance of lives. Mr. Suenaga Takeshi is a sharp elderly man among the three main characters. In the film, he doubted the media about their news that the radiation was gradually weakening, and criticized directly the Tokyo Electric Power Company and the Japanese government for their incompetence. He said they only had the common sense learnt from manuals, but lacked real experience. However, after a while of silence, he said he was shamed of not being able to stop the building of the nuclear power plant. There is one scene in the film that the directing group met some homeless dogs 11 kilometers away from the plant on their way back to Tokyo, they stopped and fed the dogs. Through in this severe moment extremely short of materials, they could still be sympathetic to these dogs. What a respect they have for lives. Another scene in the film happened on the streets of Shibuya, Tokyo. Residents there launched an anti-nuclear campaign, but got arrested brutally by the police. Japan is a nation noted for its tolerance, but through comparison of these angers and dissatisfactions to understatement of the current situation by the official news media, the attitude of the director and the citizens are already very clear.
The director stayed at the refuge center with the residents of Cho village. There was no complain or cry, they didn’t blame nature for this calamity, but remained humble and respectful as always. They would wash their hands before praying, took out some money even they barely have, and asked for forgiveness of the god. When returning to their empty houses, they would say I am back and took off the plastic bags on their shoes before they stepped in. They would recall their lost families and friends calmly and even tried to find back their joys of life by telling some anecdotes. These quiet but real records, ordinary but warm, encouraged every homeless individual and even moved me.
Here the director found the Kume couple, another two main characters in the film. The director met them at their house in the warning area. They didn’t go to the refuge center for the wife, Yoshiko was handicapped. Mr. Tadashi decided to stay with his wife. They didn’t have much water or food, this made them have dinner at 16:00 and sleep an hour later, and they would burn some coal to get warm in the evening. Tadashi likes sake, he was very happy to learn about that the director would bring him some next time. Whatever difficulties they are in, life has to continue. It is this kind of belief that has always been supporting the whole nation of extraordinary self-esteem. Mr. Tadashi has worked for the nuclear plant as a security chief for 11 years, he didn’t tell much opinion about the leakage. I think most people are just like Tadashi who only knows to work hard. But when referring to his two children, he was so down to answer that they had not contacted each other anymore. “The older they become, the less involvement. That’s how the country works now. There used to be a notion of devote yourself to your parents’. Not anymore.” Forgetting is more frustrating than aging, it is also the root cause for the Japanese government and the Tokyo Electric Power Company losing the trust of the residents. This is a camera does not lie.
Due to the increasing crime rate, the government ordered to close the warning area. Therefore Tanaka’s husband Hisaharu asked the director to shoot some scenes of the cherry blossom. They didn’t cry talking about the earthquake and the tsunami, but when they came to the shrine and prayed for returning, tears couldn’t help dropping from Hisaharu’s eyes. This is the wish of every individual in this film. They were like uprooted trees, always hoping to return to their lands as soon as possible. Such a determination has helped them overcome any fears and doubts.
Soma-Nomaoi Festival is also part of the implication in the title of the film，Odaka Shrine has been holding this festival for thousands of years. Those returned residents still kept this tradition, while just not be able to hold horse racing but only the ritual this year. After the completion of the nuclear plant, horses were not used to plough any more. Before, they were part of life, but now were replaced by plough-machines. Young people left for being workers, they would rather sitting in the office and operating machines than doing farming and fishing. The shooting was finished in July, these realities experienced by the surviving elderly are more convincing than any evidence.
Weeds grow and cheery flowers blossom, it seems the disaster has never been here. The pointers of clock on the wall stopped at that time when the earthquake happened, but no one would like to go through again. This weeping land had already been shattered before all the disasters happened, it is the place where homesick residents can never return.
Translated by Dong anwu
文/四月
有时，一个人与更多的人命运之所以相联，也许就是从一个不幸开始。
导演以在自家亲历日本311大地震的DV实况纪录作为影片的开场，但很快焦点立刻转移到了一场更大的灾难：由海啸引发的福岛第一核电站的核泄漏事故。
在地震三周后的4月3日，导演第一次跟随运送物资的车队进入疏散区，并走访了一些留守的居民，用最朴实的方式在第一时间作了跟踪和记录。它不同于新闻采访，没有过度的报道与个人诠释，也没有任何总结性的陈辞言论。它所做的，就是注视并说出谁也无法回避的事实，而沉默的真相将比任何一个尖锐的词语更有冲击力。
我想起战地摄影师Robert Capa曾经说过：如果你拍得不够好，是因为你靠得不够近。当全世界都在关注日本大地震，并称赞日本人面对灾难时的冷静与有序的同时，导演却出现在这个物资极度匮乏并充满危险的地带，震后倒塌毁坏的房屋，无人劳作的土地，辐射仍在威胁着每个人的生命安全，满目疮痍。这片几乎被日本政府和东京电力公司放弃的地方，导演却作了很多的努力以接近现场，包括在政府下达命令要封闭疏散区域前，导演回到东京的住处试图以自由记者的身份获得NISA的官方许可进入拍摄，却遭到了拒绝。
松林正树的拍摄不是一种随心所欲的突发奇想，也不是深邃思考下的缓慢沉淀，他更像是在承担起直击现场的责任与义务。影片几乎没有什么精心设定的拍摄和剪辑技巧，也没有细节的刻意表现与修饰，但它将比任何多余的举动都有说服力。
市议员田中京子是此片的重要拍摄对象之一，也正是在她的帮助下，导演得以先后两次进入警戒区域，并采访了她的邻居和家人，留下了很多重要的实录。尽管房屋遭到了毁灭性的破坏，她依旧会仔细检查每个房屋的安全，发现有小偷破窗而入的痕迹，还会打电话报警。我注意到田中京子在地上发现邻居的家庭相簿后，拣了起来，小心地搁在一边的角落。相片比任何一件物品对他们来说都重要，许多重要的辨认和记忆都从保存完好的相片中获得，包括福岛核电站是如何从最初的空军基地变成了今日的罪魁祸首，这些故事都被口述着讲了出来。而在5月份，田中夫妇第一次返回家乡时，久治高兴地展示给大家看他当时从原町市的家中为孙子挽救回来的游戏牌，说这是“孙子的财富”。这些场景真是令人难以想象，也是最让人肃然起敬的地方。《相马看花》有一个更为直白，让人无法拒绝正视的副标题：被剥夺的土地记忆。而被剥夺的，仅仅是土地的记忆吗？恐怕还有活下去的权利吧。核泄漏事件发生后，日本政府下达了以福岛第一核电站半径20-30公里范围内实施呆在室内的保护措施，显然这欲盖弥彰的误导性指令让当地的情况变得十分不明就里，外界媒体都只能通过电话来了解这里的实际状况，而由于物资供给的严重缺乏，交通工具的无法使用，疏散工作不能正常进行，自卫队无法及时到达，许多人因此而丧生。在缺少日本政府任何具体的“疏散指示”下，南相马市政府除了被迫自发组织当地官员尽力对留守的民众提供支援，便只能通过网络的方式向各地志愿者们呼吁救援。
没有什么比对生命的漠视更显无情的了。末永武先生是导演三个主要拍摄对象中相对犀利的一位老先生，老人对新闻媒体关于辐射会在逐渐减弱的说法保持着一种怀疑的态度，并直言不讳地说出东京电力公司的无能以及日本的诟病，有从手册上学习到的常识却缺乏实际的经验。但在一阵沉默之后，他却为自己未曾阻止核电站的建成而感觉羞愧。影片中有一段是沿6号公路回东京的路上，在距核电站11KM的地方，他们遇到了一些流浪狗，便停下来给他们喂食。在这物资匮乏的时刻，还要眷顾被遗弃的家犬，这是对生命多大的一种尊重啊。另一段发生在东京涉谷的街头，许多民众聚集起来举行反核游行，却遭到了警察粗暴的逮捕。日本一直都是以隐忍著称的民族，这些愤怒和不满的情绪，对比电视官方新闻报道的轻描淡写，导演和民众的立场已十分明显。
导演留在避难中心与来自不同町和村的居民们相处，镜头下的他们没有大声的抱怨，吵闹或哭诉。没有人责难大自然带来的这一切重创，他们依旧保持自己的谦卑与恭敬。在祈祷前洗净手，囊中羞涩但仍掏出仅有的一些钱，还要请求神灵的原谅。而回到已无人居住的家时，还是要在进门前说一句，我回来了，并且把脚上的塑料袋取下后才进屋。他们几乎是平静地回忆着亡故的亲朋好友。甚至还偶尔挖掘生活的乐趣，说起有趣的佚事。这些平稳而坦率的记录，普通却温暖，鼓舞着所有流离失所的人，甚至感动到了我。
这里有另一个重要的拍摄对象就是Kume夫妇，导演和他们相遇在警戒区域内的家宅内。他们没有去避难中心，因为妻子Yoshiko行动不便，Tadashi先生决定留下来，要照顾到她到最后。由于缺水和食物，他们作息更改为四点晚饭五点睡觉，到了晚上则用煤取暖。Tadashi非常喜欢喝清酒，当听到导演说下次拜访会带酒给他，他高兴极了。无论身处多大的困境，生活都还要照常进行，正是这样的信念支撑起了一个自尊心很强的民族。Tadashi先生曾在核电站当了11年的安全主管，对于核泄漏事件却没有吐露太多自己的观点，更多的人应该像Tadashi那样吧，是只知道勤恳工作的人。但谈到自己的两个孩子时，Tadashi先生却神情黯然地说他们已和自己没关系了。“The older they become, the less involvement. That’s how the country works now. There used to be a notion of‘devote yourself to your parents’. Not anymore.”比衰老更让人难过的是遗忘，这也是在这场灾难面前，日本政府和东京电力公司失信于民的根源了。这是一台不会撒谎的摄影机。
由于警戒区域的犯罪事件越来越多，日本政府下令封锁警戒区。于是，京子的丈夫久治请导演拍一些樱花盛开的场景。在谈论地震和海啸袭来的场景，没有人哭泣。但来到神社面前，祈祷每个人都能尽快回家的心愿时，久治却不由自主地流下了清泪。每个被拍摄者最大的心愿都是能够早日回家。像是被连根拔起的树，时时刻刻惦记的都是重回这片土地。这样的决心足以让他们克服所有的恐惧和疑虑。
影片的拍摄在7月份结束，小高神社千年来一直是举办“相马野马追”节日的场地，这个节日也是影片标题所指的一部分。灾后陆续返乡的居民依旧保留着这个重要的传统风俗，只是除了祭奠外，竞马的活动已无法按往年的惯例照常举行。核电站建成后，大家都开始不再用马来耕作。从前，马是人们生活的一部分。但是后来，耕马被耕土机取代，人们停止了农业和渔业，更多的年轻人都离开了土地，放弃了耕耘，进了办公室办公和操作机器。没有什么证据比这些活下来的老人们所亲历的事实更好了。
稻田里的野草蓬勃地生长着，四月的樱花也如期绽放，仿佛灾难从未到来过。墙上的钟的指针永远指向灾难发生的那个时间点，但没有人想再重复这样的时光。而这片哭泣的土地早在这些到来前就已分崩离析，那是这些思念成疾的人们所回不去的故乡。
The roots
Sometimes, the connection of lives among one another might results from a misfortune.
The director begins his film with a DV record of Japan 311 earthquake at his own apartment, but immediately focuses on the more devastating disaster: Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant experienced full meltdowns at three reactors in the wake of an earthquake and tsunami.
On April 3rd, three weeks after the earthquake, for the first time, the director entered the evacuation area with relief goods. There he visited and recorded some left-behind residents. This documentary will only focus on the inevitable facts. It’s different from official news interview, no excessive coverage and personal interpretation, nor any conclusive remark. However, true facts are more powerful than any words.
“If your pictures aren’t good enough. You are not close enough. - Robert Capa” When the whole world was concerned about the earthquake in Japan and appreciated its people for their calm and order when facing the disaster, the director himself came to the quake-hit area in spite of those dangers and extremely shortage of materials. Collapsed houses, deserted lands, threatening radiation, all things were ruined. This area seemed almost abandoned by the Japanese government and the Tokyo Electric Power Company. During shooting, Yojyu Matsubayashi has tried to get a NISA (Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency)’s permission to approach the evacuation area as a free journalist before the government ordering to close it, unfortunately, NISA said Sorry.
Yojyu Matsubayashi’s shooting is not resulted form any arbitrary imagination or deep thinking, he is more like to shoulder a responsibility and obligation to record the scene of the earthquake. There is no well-set shooting or editing skills, nor any deliberate expression of details in the film. But it is more persuasive than using any decorations.
The city councilor Tanaka Kyoko is a main character in this film. It was with her help, the director got the opportunity to enter the warning area twice. There he interviewed some of her families and neighbors, and recorded many real stories. Houses were damaged heavily, but she would still check the safety conditions of each one, and if she found the track of burglars, she would still call the police. I noticed in the film, when Tanaka Kyoko found her neighbor’s family album on the ground, she picked it up and put it away carefully. Photos were the most valuable to them; they provide them with important recognitions and memories. From those photos, stories were told, including how the Fukushima nuclear power plant was turned from originally an air force base to today’s cause to the disaster. Later in May, the Tanaka couple returned to their hometown for the first time after evacuation, Hisaharu was glad to show their grandson’s game cards which were rescued from their house in City Haramachi. He said it’s the “wealth of grandson”. These scenes are so out of imagination, but they make us can’t help being respectful to them. The film “Flowers in Soma” has a simpler but more irresistible subtitle: Memories of the Lost Landscape. However, does the lost only limited to memories of lands?
I’m afraid what they lose is also about the right to live. Right after the nuclear leakage accident, the Japanese government implemented the staying indoors protection measures in the area within the radius 20-30 kilometers of the Fukushima first nuclear power plant. Apparently, this misleading order made the situation there even more obscure that it could only be touched through telephone by the outside media. Due to the server shortage of supplies and the paralysis of transportation, the evacuation work could not be continued smoothly, nor could the self-defense team arrive timely, and many people died. Since there was no specific evacuation order given by Tokyo, the government of the Soma had only to organize its local officials to provide supplies to its left-behind residents, and appealed for rescue through network.
There is nothing more ruthless than ignorance of lives. Mr. Suenaga Takeshi is a sharp elderly man among the three main characters. In the film, he doubted the media about their news that the radiation was gradually weakening, and criticized directly the Tokyo Electric Power Company and the Japanese government for their incompetence. He said they only had the common sense learnt from manuals, but lacked real experience. However, after a while of silence, he said he was shamed of not being able to stop the building of the nuclear power plant. There is one scene in the film that the directing group met some homeless dogs 11 kilometers away from the plant on their way back to Tokyo, they stopped and fed the dogs. Through in this severe moment extremely short of materials, they could still be sympathetic to these dogs. What a respect they have for lives. Another scene in the film happened on the streets of Shibuya, Tokyo. Residents there launched an anti-nuclear campaign, but got arrested brutally by the police. Japan is a nation noted for its tolerance, but through comparison of these angers and dissatisfactions to understatement of the current situation by the official news media, the attitude of the director and the citizens are already very clear.
The director stayed at the refuge center with the residents of Cho village. There was no complain or cry, they didn’t blame nature for this calamity, but remained humble and respectful as always. They would wash their hands before praying, took out some money even they barely have, and asked for forgiveness of the god. When returning to their empty houses, they would say I am back and took off the plastic bags on their shoes before they stepped in. They would recall their lost families and friends calmly and even tried to find back their joys of life by telling some anecdotes. These quiet but real records, ordinary but warm, encouraged every homeless individual and even moved me.
Here the director found the Kume couple, another two main characters in the film. The director met them at their house in the warning area. They didn’t go to the refuge center for the wife, Yoshiko was handicapped. Mr. Tadashi decided to stay with his wife. They didn’t have much water or food, this made them have dinner at 16:00 and sleep an hour later, and they would burn some coal to get warm in the evening. Tadashi likes sake, he was very happy to learn about that the director would bring him some next time. Whatever difficulties they are in, life has to continue. It is this kind of belief that has always been supporting the whole nation of extraordinary self-esteem. Mr. Tadashi has worked for the nuclear plant as a security chief for 11 years, he didn’t tell much opinion about the leakage. I think most people are just like Tadashi who only knows to work hard. But when referring to his two children, he was so down to answer that they had not contacted each other anymore. “The older they become, the less involvement. That’s how the country works now. There used to be a notion of devote yourself to your parents’. Not anymore.” Forgetting is more frustrating than aging, it is also the root cause for the Japanese government and the Tokyo Electric Power Company losing the trust of the residents. This is a camera does not lie.
Due to the increasing crime rate, the government ordered to close the warning area. Therefore Tanaka’s husband Hisaharu asked the director to shoot some scenes of the cherry blossom. They didn’t cry talking about the earthquake and the tsunami, but when they came to the shrine and prayed for returning, tears couldn’t help dropping from Hisaharu’s eyes. This is the wish of every individual in this film. They were like uprooted trees, always hoping to return to their lands as soon as possible. Such a determination has helped them overcome any fears and doubts.
Soma-Nomaoi Festival is also part of the implication in the title of the film，Odaka Shrine has been holding this festival for thousands of years. Those returned residents still kept this tradition, while just not be able to hold horse racing but only the ritual this year. After the completion of the nuclear plant, horses were not used to plough any more. Before, they were part of life, but now were replaced by plough-machines. Young people left for being workers, they would rather sitting in the office and operating machines than doing farming and fishing. The shooting was finished in July, these realities experienced by the surviving elderly are more convincing than any evidence.
Weeds grow and cheery flowers blossom, it seems the disaster has never been here. The pointers of clock on the wall stopped at that time when the earthquake happened, but no one would like to go through again. This weeping land had already been shattered before all the disasters happened, it is the place where homesick residents can never return.
Translated by Dong anwu
