Nezunoban

Michael Beets (Those Left Waiting and Artefacts, MIFF 2021) depicts an elderly woman enacting the titular Japanese death ritual for her husband.

In Japan, the passing of a loved one is marked by ‘night watch’: staying up all night with the deceased, incense burning throughout, to ensure their safe passage to the afterlife. In Nezunoban, this experience is portrayed in patient detail – both comforting and confronting in its meticulousness – with a richly expressive, emotive central performance from Meiko Kaji of Lady Snowblood (1973) fame.