Synopsis
Memories of Matsuko (嫌われ松子の一生, 2006) is a Japanese drama-musical you can watch online on iFILM. Director Tetsuya Nakashima opens on a young man tasked with clearing out his dead aunt's squalid apartment — and gradually reconstructing a life he never knew existed.
Miki Nakatani plays Matsuko, a woman who spent every decade chasing affection and losing each time. Nakashima shoots the story in acid-bright colours, spontaneous song-and-dance numbers and storybook fantasy sequences — a jarring contrast to what Matsuko is actually living through. Ko Shibasaki appears in a supporting role, but the film belongs entirely to Nakatani, who holds the whole contradictory tone together.
An adaptation of Yasushi Watanabe's novel, the film plays like a fairy tale that forgot to have a happy ending. What makes it linger is the tonal paradox: the more exuberant the style, the more devastating the content underneath. Stream Memories of Matsuko (2006) online on iFILM.
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