Sequel to “After Spring, the Tamaki Family…” which focused on the birthday celebration of grandma Tamaki in 2015, “After Winter” sheds its light on her death in 2022, essentially concluding the homage/tribute to a the matriarch of a family descended from Taiwanese immigrants who live on Ishigaki Island, Okinawa Prefecture.
“After Winter, the Tamaki Family…” is screening at Osaka Asian Film Festival
Starting with some footage from the previous film, the documentary then moves to a few moments before the death of Tamayo Tamaki, with the family members essentially waiting for her to die, although not in eagerness, but in complete sadness, as the tears of one of her relatives talking to the camera highlights. The actual funeral and the rituals involved follow next, in the lengthiest part of the 17 minute short, with the placement of her remains in an urn being probably the most impressive moment in the movie. The narrative then takes a step back, just before her death, when her wish not to die in the hospital but in her house was granted, with her spending her last moments in her bed among relatives.
Evidently, this is a rather personal film, but the documentary elements regarding the funeral on the one hand, and the love the family shows for Tamaki throughout the movie will resonate with any kind of audience, even more so those who had spend time with loving grandmothers.
The way Huang Yin-yu presents the aforementioned is also interesting, with the back and forth it time, the songs and the images of the fields adding a very pleasant relief from the rather dramatic main subject, essentially deeming the movie not one dealing with death, but with memory and the concept of family, which, for once, is not presented as a problem.
As such, Huang definitely manages to put a smile on the face of the viewer, even if a bitter one, while the quality of the production, as dictated by the cinematography and the aforementioned editing approach, deems “After Winter, the Tamaki Family…” a short that definitely deserves a watch, even for those who have not seen the prequel.
