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Out of all the random thoughts that running through my mind when I am watching the movie, there is one that made me sit long enough to contemplate.
How will people remember me after my death?
Death is certain, indeed. We gonna face it either sooner or later. Life is like a ticking clock, an existence we never know when its gonna end.
'Blank 13' left me empty at the end when the credits rolled over. A feeling when I am coming back from entering one small lonely void. The film itself is rather simple. Nothing grand on the opening or even the setting. The 70 minutes running time works well on me who happened to have quite a low attention span at the moment. Everything slowly fall into places, the transition from back to present is quite clear. Yet, there's one blank question when it ended, the real intention or reason on why the father (Lily Franky) suddenly left his wife (Misuzu Kanno) and two sons; Koji (Issei Takahashi) and Yoshiyuki (Saito Takumi) for 13 years long until they meet again.
We can see how dysfunctional the relationship is between Matsuda (Lily Franky) with three of his family members. Among the three, Koji shares a special bond with his father which made him decided to meet his father at the hospital. The memories of him playing and spending time with his dad always passing by his mind.
I believe that among us there are those who despise someone for certain reasons that we can't fully forgive them. We are getting hurt by it, that we keep trying to push them over. But there will be time when the good memories come that would make it hard to erase them all completely.
The cinematography is something that I fond of. There are few details that I like, the background music as well as the colors that play an important part in setting up the entire mood of the film.
The 'dinner table' scene was one of my favorites. It's the only time that shows where all the family gathers in one place. It may seems normal for some people but in my small Asian family, the dining room would be the area where all of us would sit together to eat and talk about the day. It indirectly play a significant role in tighten up our family bond.
In each person that we met in this world, there will be a different 'you' in their eyes. The 'you' who are always giving a smile, the 'you' who are very mature in giving decisions, the 'you' who act like a child and countless of 'you' that we might never know even exist. I could say that the funeral scene in 'Blank 13' is something that I didn't really expect would happened. The priest asked them to share some memories of the deceased before the cremation being done. It was quite awkward in the beginning but toward the end it somehow makes me feel at ease.
To know that there are always a different side of someone. The good and the bad of a person. A reminder that we are all imperfect. The person we thought never hold such good things in them, might gonna face their death with a happy and better ending than any other. The beginning is surely important, but ain't the way we end it counted as important as well? That makes me wonder, undoubtedly.
Overall, I am pretty much enjoyed and recommend the film. The casts did an outstanding delivery, although there are some who only had the chance to appear for a while. Mayu Matsuoka undeniably bringing the best in her presence as Koji's girlfriend, Saori. Gentle expression and natural gesture are shown in her performance. It was comfortable to watch her acting in the film and this applies to most of the casts too. 'Blank 13' offers the viewers a short experience over the subject of death, funeral, family and acceptance.
I'll end my review with a line from Haruki Murakami's Norwegian Wood;
“Death is not the opposite of life, but a part of it.”
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