A Last Note

1995 ‘午後の遺言状’ Directed by Kaneto Shindō

A retired actress whose husband has recently died visits her summer home. There she has encounters with old friends and acquaintances who bring various stories and news of death and the past

Haruko Sugimura Nobuko Otowa Hideo Kanze Kyoko Asagiri Toshiyuki Nagashima Mitsuko Baisho Yutaka Matsushige Katsumi Kiba Masahiko Tsugawa Seiyo Uchino Akaji Maro Masaru Baba Jun Fukunaga Ken'ichirô Hoshino Kentarô Kaji Zengoro Mamiana Takuya Muramatsu Hidaki Oikawa Hayao Okamoto Masami Okamoto Yoshiko Tanaka Kinya Tsuruyama Kôichi Ueda Tomomi Seo

Alternative Title

Gogo no yuigonjō

drama

110 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by Filipe Furtado ★★★

Kaneto Shindo's Voyage to the Beginning of the World. Nowhere as good as Oliveira's but one can sense evrt bit of a life long lived and its regrets all over the screen and Shindo packs it with interesting imncident and detail.
Review by Vivek_

A Last Note (1995) - This has to be one of the best films made on old age
An old actress Yoko goes to stay in her summer house where another old lady Toyoko is seen who takes care of the people in the house. Soon after the actress settles down there, she has two visitors. Another old couple, an actress Tomie and her husband. Tomie is noe senile and is under the care of her patient husband. So the film mainly revolves around these 4 people.
The subject sounds serious and is perfect for a melodrama but the film maker has other plans. Even though it starts off as a melodrama, the screenplay is handled well not to bore…
Review by Alfredo ★★★★

《午後的遺言書》明顯就是老人戲了，不再回望童年記憶也不再有對上一輩的心結，更多是對當下和一生的總結。杉村春子和乙羽信子這對算是主僕關係的老友，在山上避暑小屋假期中碰到已然失智的舊日好友與丈夫來訪，短暫的假期有如柏格曼室內劇，輕描淡寫的交鋒中不但透露出隱藏一輩子的秘密，也直視了死亡的命運和找尋活下去的堅定。劇本的戲感很有趣，還有許多令人發噱的幽默，和前作的厚重完全不同。年輕一輩的自由奔放也是充滿作者的眼光。

Recent reviews

Review by Filipe Furtado ★★★

Kaneto Shindo's Voyage to the Beginning of the World. Nowhere as good as Oliveira's but one can sense evrt bit of a life long lived and its regrets all over the screen and Shindo packs it with interesting imncident and detail.
Review by Oscar Lau ★★★½

In A Last Note, Kaneto Shindo contemplated the meaning of life and aging. Could it be called ‘living’ when one’s suffered from dementia? And how painful it would be for the partner? What kind of ‘achievement’ would we acquire before dying, perhaps a lustrous career if one prefers to work till death, or having offspring even illegitimately? What kinds of death would we expect, an assault by a deranged man or simply picking your time of expiration by committing suicide? The film has four main characters, played by renowned actors from the golden age of Japanese cinema. This is also Nobuko Otowa’s last film before she passed away in 1994. The plot has an unpredictable flow (for instance, a sudden…
Review by Vivek_

A Last Note (1995) - This has to be one of the best films made on old age
An old actress Yoko goes to stay in her summer house where another old lady Toyoko is seen who takes care of the people in the house. Soon after the actress settles down there, she has two visitors. Another old couple, an actress Tomie and her husband. Tomie is noe senile and is under the care of her patient husband. So the film mainly revolves around these 4 people.
The subject sounds serious and is perfect for a melodrama but the film maker has other plans. Even though it starts off as a melodrama, the screenplay is handled well not to bore…
Review by Alfredo ★★★★

《午後的遺言書》明顯就是老人戲了，不再回望童年記憶也不再有對上一輩的心結，更多是對當下和一生的總結。杉村春子和乙羽信子這對算是主僕關係的老友，在山上避暑小屋假期中碰到已然失智的舊日好友與丈夫來訪，短暫的假期有如柏格曼室內劇，輕描淡寫的交鋒中不但透露出隱藏一輩子的秘密，也直視了死亡的命運和找尋活下去的堅定。劇本的戲感很有趣，還有許多令人發噱的幽默，和前作的厚重完全不同。年輕一輩的自由奔放也是充滿作者的眼光。