Director: Banmei TAKAHASHI
Cast: Tasuku EMOTO / Maki SAKAI / Kimiko YO / Naoko OHTANI / Ryudo UZAKI / Eiji OKUDA

Genre: Drama

Theatrical Release in Japan: September 2020


[2020 / Color / HD / Stereo / 109 min. / 1.78:1 / Japanese with English subtitles]

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[Festival Record]

Official Selection - Shanghai International Film Festival 2020

 

[Synopsis]

Kawada, who is a home medical doctor, sees patients, have terminal illness, with visiting their houses.  He gets phone calls from family of patients on a 24/7 basis and does what he needs to do.

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He visits Toshio Inoue, a terminal lung cancer patient because Toshio and his daughter, Tomomi, want to have painless end-of-life care at home in stress-free circumstances, so Toshio returns from a hospital to home.  However, Toshio suffers and painfully dies at home.  Tomomi blames herself for whether she had left Toshio hospitalized as before, or whether she brought him home from the hospital and killed him.  Kawada also feels very helpless.

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Kawada consults with Nagano, a senior at-home physician, about Toshio’s death.  In Nagano's view, Kawada is pointed out that emphysema should have been suspected and treated rather than lung cancer.  In the end, Kawada suffers remorse for whether Toshio had to continue suffering unwillingly and die due to his final misdiagnosis.

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Kawada visits the treatment spots as a home physician under Nagano to seek out what a home doctor should be.  He learns the crucial differences between specialists in large hospitals and home physicians.  Two years later, he is in charge of Honda, the same late-stage lung cancer patient as Toshio.  Kawata treats patients completely differently than before.  He realizes that in addition to diagnosing and treating the patient's illness, home physicians look at the patient's "life" and stay with.

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[Director's Statement]

When I was 65 years old, I began to be aware of death.  How I want to die…  At that time, I came across the word “home medical care” and hit my heart.  This movie, was supported by ideal casts and staffs, is my “proposal for how to die.”  It is a work with a heavy theme, but I hope you enjoy it and think deeply.  I think this is my last work.