A Last Note (午後の遺言状)

A Kindai Eiga Kyokai production

A Last Note

Starring: Haruko Sugimura

Nobuko Otowa

Hideo Kanze

Kyoko Asagiri

Toshiyuki Nagashima

Mitsuko Baisho

Yutaka Matsushige

Tomomi Seo

Katsumi Kiba

Koichi Ueda

Masahiko Tsugawa

Directed by Kaneto Shindo

It's her.

You've grown big.

Such a long time!

Some shortcakes for you.

I'm out of breath.

It's cool up here.

Tokyo's hot, I bet.

Ma'am, may I leave?

Take care on the way.

Have some coffee.

No, thank you.

Why not rest?

We drove slowly, he rested then.

Didn't we?

When will you leave?

Maybe in ten days.

Goodbye, then.

I'd rather have water.

The water here is very good.

Something's wrong with me.

I tend to cry so easily.

When I saw you...

you were late, weren't you?

The police blocked the way.

The traffic was all jammed up.

It took us an extra hour.

Nice man, isn't he?

He joined our troupe recently.

I was surprised.

She used to be skinny, but not anymore.

How old is she?

Twenty-two.

I wish I could stay here and rest for two whole weeks.

What are they?

Columbines.

I want to forget about plays, films and TV,

and just eat and sleep all day.

I'll purify myself.

Thanks for minding this place.

It's thirty years old but still serviceable.

The altitude here?

1,500 meters.

That's why it's so cool.

I'm free from that awful air conditioner.

White birches are nice.

They remind me of Chekhov's plays,

like "The Seagull."

White birches near the Moscow airport.

They're beautiful.

The garden here is full of weeds.

Hasn't Rokubei...

tended to it this year?

He's no longer among us.

It was last November.

He's dead?

He said he'd see a hundred.

He killed himself.

Why?

His last note.

What did it say?

"It's over."

What?

On the back of a bargain sale flier,

he wrote, "It's over."

A bargain sale flier? How old was he?

Eighty-three.

"It's over." only that? It's too short.

It was like him. He disliked talking.

Was he too poor to live?

He had money. 25 million yen in cash.

That much?

What was his problem?

He thought it was over.

He saved money working as a carpenter.

He hanged himself.

That's how oldsters do it.

He'd made his coffin himself.

He was a very thoughtful carpenter.

He left his last note on the coffin.

A rock was beside it.

A rock?

"It's over."

A rock from the riverbed. This size.

So big? What was it for?

That was a mystery.

None of us could find the answer.

If he thought it might blow away,

he'd have put it on the note.

Rokubei lived by himself.

His son and wife lived in a separate house

with their first-grader son.

The boy said the rock was for nailing the lid of his coffin.

All the grownups nodded agreement.

Yes, it was just like Rokubei.

Why?

We use only a small rock to drive the last nails.

His was such a big one. We were amazed.

So am I.

His last words, "It's over," were good.

So was picking such a big rock.

He died even more bravely than an old samurai.

His neighbors were impressed, not by the rock

but by the amount of money he'd had.

A rock, eh?

Where did he get it?

At token gorge, where the cuckoos chirp.

Is it near?

A ten-minute walk.

Let's go there.

They say he found it here.

How can they be sure?

His grandson said he came here with him.

How big was it?

Show me.

I'll keep this.

Plan to kill yourself?

To drive the last nails of my coffin.

You're very rational.

It's heavy, pleasantly so.

Carry it for me.

What happened to his money?

They bought a car.

Then what?

A new TV set.

And?

They bought new clothes.

And?

The whole family took a trip in their new car.

Telephone!

You take this.

She's a good girl.

Yes. I love her. I was thirty-eight when I had her.

It's for you.

I wonder who it is...

I must be old. My heart is weak.

Old people shouldn't panic and run.

Hello? Morimoto speaking.

Your name is Ushikuni?

Mr. Ushikuni?

Tomie's husband? I'm sorry.

You're at the station? No, I don't mind.

Tomie's with you? I want to see her.

Please come.

There are buses, but a taxi's better.

Just tell the driver "Morimoto." He will know.

I'll be waiting for you.

An old friend of mine is coming.

I wonder how many years it's been.

Will you cook something special for supper?

She was my fellow actress.

Mother, I think I'll go now.

Okay.

Goodbye, ma'am.

See you again.

What are you doing?

Fishing for trout. What are you doing?

I got all sweaty cleaning the house.

Show me.

Gee! Pit vipers!

A big catch. I'll eat their livers raw.

Silly!

Tomie!

She's not quite herself anymore.

It's miss Morimoto. You've missed her, right?

I asked at your troupe office.

They said I could find you here.

I was afraid our sudden visit might annoy you.

Not at all. Let's go inside.

We'll catch one later. Lots of dragonflies here.

She started to be like this five years ago.

She's been getting worse.

Sometimes she regains herself and acts normal.

At such times she remembers her past clearly.

Three days ago she announced the desire to see you.

The water here is excellent.

Tomie.

Tomie. Oh, I'm starting to cry again.

I'm sorry.

It's me, Yoko.

Yoko who shared the dressing room with you.

You know me. Sure you do.

We ate sweet-bean frappes there.

We baked rice cakes together.

We took double casting, too.

We competed, trying to memorize the lines of...

Chekhov's "The Seagull."