QCinema 2020: True Mothers

 

If I had to pick someone to adapt Mizuki Tsujimura's novel True Mothers, I can think of few people better suited to the job than Naomi Kawase. And it's not just due to the gentle emotionality of her other films, either: Kawase was raised by her grandmother/great aunt after her parents' divorce, giving her first-hand experience of what it feels like to be raised by someone other than one's biological parents. Kawase's earlier works such as Katatsumori (1994) reflect on her relationship with her grandmother, put into context years later in Tarachime (2006) which contrasts her relationship with her grandmother with her own impending motherhood.

True Mothers tells the story of the Kuriharas, a family who wants to raise a child, but cannot due to a number of factors. They learn of an adoption service after seeing a feature on TV, and they decide to try it out. They eventually find a young mother-to-be, Hikari (Aju Makita), the exchange is made, and they part ways. But as we find out in the beginning of the film, that decision came with a lot of baggage, and the Kuriharas and Hikari find themselves reunited, albeit in vastly different circumstances for Hikari.

The original novel focuses on the mystery of Hikari's appearance, but in this film Kawase focuses more on the characters instead. There are strong societal pressures that influence Hikari's decision to give up her baby, and arguably there are different societal influences that push the Kuriharas towards adoption. The film finds its place in mundane, day to day activities, especially in the first half with young Asato, the child at the center of the film. Like in her previous works, Kawase finds the value in each of those shared memories. For Kawase, she once said that, to her, movies are a way for people to relive those precious moments that would otherwise have been forgotten.

While the movie goes through the motions, oftentimes delving into melodrama, and a lot regrettably remains unexplored at the end, what's more important in True Mothers is the emotional connection these characters make with each other, and the journeys both mothers undertake for their child (adopted or not) and themselves.