By Lee Hyo-won
Staff Reporter
Ken Watanabe, the hero of ``The Last Samurai,'' ``Memoirs of a Geisha,'' gives an unforgettable performance as a forgetful Alzheimer's patient in his latest film ``Memories of Tomorrow.''
Saeki Masayuki (Watanabe) is a successful workaholic at the peak of his career, having just won a huge deal for his advertising company. He is also just about to turn 50 and become a potential grandfather, though marrying off his only daughter.
Yet things start to slip little by little for the perfectionist, like missing a business meeting for the first time in his 27-year career. What seemed at first to be a harmless sign of aging turns out to be Alzheimer's.
Memory is most crucial to human existence in almost every way, from biological necessity to philosophical questioning. To be diagnosed with Alzheimer's, a disease that eats away one's ability to recognize loved ones and even oneself, would probably seem like the end of the world.
Yet, ``Memories of Tomorrow'' shows that, though one might lose control over one's circumstances, life still goes on. Expect both the expected and unexpected in this well-rounded love story.
Audiences may be familiar with melodramas dealing with Alzheimer's disease, such as ``The Notebook'' and ``A Moment to Remember'' (starring Jung Woo-sung, Son Ye-jin).
But ``Memories'' stands apart in its exploration of full the effects of the illness upon a man and his family _ in a way that is credible. It depicts the reality of living with the disease, both on a daily basis and in the long term.
Emiko, who played by the beautiful Higuchi Kanako, is the impressively devoted wife who stands by her husband. Though strong, she is no superwoman; she is fearful and breaks down from time to time.
Watanabe's Saeki is a complete departure from the charismatic samurai or refined chairman we saw hitherto on the silver screen.
It is worth noting the Golden Globe and Oscar-nominated actor's own personal experience. Seventeen years ago, when Watanabe's acting career had just started blossoming, he had to give up his very first leading role because of cancer.
Twice having miraculously survived, Watanabe injects life into his character, chillingly and hauntingly. He expresses the unfathomably complex state of accepting Alzheimer's, from slight grimaces to raging outbursts.
The film attempts to portray the effects of the disease upon Saeki, from both internal and external standpoints. There is something charmingly tragic about his degeneration from a necktie-clad boss to an emaciated patient helplessly and listlessly staring out the window.
Some of the surreal scenes depicting Saeki's troubled mental state, however, are excessively drawn out and disrupt the flow of the film, rather than providing insight into his experience. It's also rather painful and nauseating to watch the twisting images that seem so out of place amid the pure drama.
Furthermore, dramatic moments are sometimes too formulaic. Though the actors' performances alone could easily strike an emotional cord in the audience, the film's wonderfully melodramatic musical scores ironically and unfortunately deflect the process.
But in all, the film is beautifully woven together. Each and every character, no matter how minor the role is, has a specific persona and function. The story loops smoothly from the ``future'' to the past and back again to the future, with flashbacks to memories of tragic, mundane and happy moments
Above all, ``Memories'' shows that life does go on. Amidst the tragedy of losing one's memory, comical moments reflect the virtue of forgetfulness _ husband and wife fight rather terribly, but a minute later they're eating dinner as if nothing happened.
The movie is based on a best-selling novel of the same title, written by award-winning Japanese writer Ogawara Hiroshi.