余命10年 The Last 10 Years

The movie 余命10年 (The Last 10 Years) opens in cinemas in Japan today. The title sounded like something that I would like, so I finished all my work by last night, and got myself a ticket for the first show at the local cinema this morning.

And spent the next two hours crying, on and off.

First, a little bit more about the movie. The story is based on a novel written by Kosaka Ruka (小坂流加), who actually suffered from a lung disease, and died 10 years after her novel was published. I have not read the novel so I am not sure how different the story is from the movie, although someone sitting behind me commented that the movie is totally different from the story after the movie ended. But it is a very emotionally grasping movie. Bring a towel for the tears. The conversations... it just hits you.

Music was scored by RADWIMPS, and I must say the music was really amazing. Film scoring means every piece of music was written for that particular scene, and each piece enhanced the emotions being portrayed. The music is meant to be enjoyed WITH the movie, together with the conversations, and the actors expressions.

 

I won't spoil the movie. Actually, there isn't much to spoil, since the title of the movie says it all.

If you are told that you only have 10 years left to live, how will you spend those remaining years?

Will you fall in love and get married, and even have kids, knowing that you will leave them behind someday, breaking your partner's heart and never getting to see your children grow up?

Will you even try to get a job, knowing that most companies are unlikely to hire someone who may have to suddenly stop working due to health issues?

10 years... not very long, at least, not as long as a normal lifespan, but not really short too. Short enough that it is hard to make lifetime commitments. Long enough that you cannot just drop everything and go off living without a care in the world. Long enough that, sometimes, you just want to escape from it all. But short enough that you know you should treasure every moment left.

If you only have 10 years left to live, how will you live your life?

Official movie website

Wikipedia entry about the novel the movie was based on (in Japanese)