The issue with the caretaking of the elderly in Japan has been one of the most significant, particularly since the country is the one with the oldest population in the world. Takeshi Kogahara deals with the issue through an approach that exhibits both realism and a kind of ambient lyricism, in a style quite close to Naomi Kawase's.
“Birdland” is screening at Japan Cuts 2020
The “protagonist” of this 20-minute short is Koji, a bedridden man who has been left by himself after repeated fighting with this son, with only a caretaker visiting him during the day, to change his diaper, feed him and clean him up. The presentation of this part holds no punches in what the situation with such people is, with the large bedsore in his bottom providing a rather eloquent point of focus. Even if his situation seems impossible, however, there are some rays of hope, as the sound of birds on the outside reminds him of the times he spent with his chair-ridden wife in a park in the past.
At this point, the film changes style, and although the issues of the elderly are still presented, there is also a ray of hope deriving from love, with the beauties of the forest as captured in the film, adding to this sense even more. At the same time though, this moment of beauty, when compared with the first part, also shows the fact that sick elderly people can find some happiness when they are together, but not so much when they, inevitably, are left alone. Koji's few words also highlight this concept in the most eloquent way.
Takeshi Kogahara seems to know his theme pretty well (his own grandmother is bedridden and has difficulty communicating), and his presentation is excellent both contextually and visually, with the quality of the production and the artful camera work intensifying this element. In that fashion, “Birdland” is a film that manages to showcase a significant issue in all its glory, without, though, overdramatizing it, in an approach that definitely benefits the narrative. Lastly, the 20-minutes of its duration are used in the best way, in a short that is so filled, that it would be difficult to think how it could improve in feature-length.
