Kenzaburo (Lily Franky) loses his wife Akiko to a degenerative neurological disease. Her last wishes as communicated in a letter given to Kenzaburo at her funeral ceremony requested that the family scatter her ashes in the waters of Lake Windemere in the Lake District of England, the home of Peter Rabbit and his sister Cotton-tail. Akiko had spent time in England when her father had been transferred there from Japan and she kept and cherished a 1966 photo of her family at the lake. Akiko loved Beatrix Potter’s “Peter Rabbit” so her ash scattering request is grounded on literature and earlier family memories.
Kenzaburo expresses his wishes to go on his own to England but says indifferently have it your way to son Toshi (Ryô Nishikido) when he expresses interest in taking his family, a daughter and his wife, to England. Kenzaburo does not dislike Toshi but is indifferent and lost in his own world. Death can rip apart a family or heal it and that is part of the spiritual journey in the film riding on the back of the physical journey to England. The spiritual journey is punctuated by many flashbacks of Kenzaburo and Akiko’s relationship covering a wide range of human emotions. As the movie progresses the flashbacks become increasingly darker perhaps prompting the question does the fanfare of love turn into poison when grieving for the loss of a loved one?
Inpatient, selfish or perhaps stunned Kenzaburo heads off to Lake Windemere ashes in his JAL travel bag. He has left behind Toshi and his family in their London hotel despite the last wish of his wife the entire family be included in the process. But he is on the wrong train. Stealing a bicycle, he traverses deeper into the English countryside becoming increasingly lost. Stumbling onto an English farm owned by John (Ciarán Hinds) and his daughter Mary (Aouife Hinds) who take him in for a day before driving him to Lake Windemere. John recently lost his wife, like Kenzaburo, and had scattered her ashes with Mary. Having been told by Mary that Kenzaburo is heading to Lake Windemere to spread his wife’s ashes John queries that isn’t this something you should be doing with your family.
Kenzaburo meets Toshi and his family at Lake Windemere and having found the right spot to spread Akiko’s ashes be prepared either for a nuclear meltdown of the family or a grand healing. The appearance of the rabbit at the movie’s conclusion will send shivers down your spine. Akiko is watching the human condition.
Directed and written by Patrick Dickinson.
You may watch the trailer here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELut6U6XsK0
RKS 2024 Film Rating 90/100.
A limited engagement in North American theatres 7June2024 and on 9July2024 on demand.
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