Kei Chika-Ura Talks Toronto Title ‘Great Absence’: Japan’s Ageing Society & How A Surprise Phone Call Led Him To Make The Film
deadline.comGreat Absence, the second feature film from Japanese director Kei Chika-ura, is receiving its world premiere in Toronto International Film Festival’s Platform section.
Inspired by Kei’s real-life experiences, the film tells the story of an actor living in Tokyo who is forced to travel home when the police call to say his father is suffering from dementia and has lost touch with reality.
Making matters worse, his father’s second wife appears to be missing. The actor makes the trip home with his own wife, full of conflicted emotions over a man who left the family when he was still a child, and starts an exploration into the mysteries of his father’s life.
Along the way, the film touches on themes including time and memory, familial obligation and the role that women play in male-dominated Japanese society.
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