Cinemalaya 15 Visions of Asia: Taking a glimpse of Japanese family dynamics with Nojiri's Lying to Mom

This year's Eiga Sai offering for the 15th Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival, an allied festival since 2016, is Lying to Mom, the directorial debut of Katsumi Nojiri, who graced the Philippine premiere of his film during the festival.

Prior to the screening, Nojiri met with a few members of the press to gain more insight on the film, the director, and eventually on Japanese society and family dynamics.

Lying to Mom, written and directed by Nojiri tells about how a Japanese family deals with a suicide of one of their own, a situation very familiar to him as he also lost a brother to suicide.

Director Katsumi Nojiri

The film begins with the suicide of Koichi, the reclusive middle aged son of the Suzuki family. This suicide, along with an apparent suicide attempt of the mother Yuko, rocks the Suzuki's to the core. The father, Saicho, tries to seek solace and comfort with the most unimaginable person while the daughter Yuki, deals with her own grief by attending a grief group although she finds it hard to open up.

When Yuko regains consciousness with no memory of Koichi's suicide, Fumi concocts a lie, that Koichi finally got out of his room and is now working overseas, to protect her mother's fragile state. Soon after, the rest of the family, including Saicho's sister and Yuko's brother along with other accomplices elaborate upon the lie with various schemes to the delight of the mother. But lies unravel and soon enough, at the most inopportune time, the family has to face the truth and come into terms with everything no matter how it hurts.

Katsumi Nojiri

The film gave a glimpse on Japanese family dynamics, on how they are not demonstrative of their feelings even though underneath it all, it is undeniable that they truly love each other. It also shed light on the hikikomori, a reclusive Japanese male who locks himself in his room and shuns interaction with the rest of society. Based on a Japanese government census in 2016, the number of hikikomori has reached 540,000 although actual figures could be higher since the stigma with this condition has forced others to remain hidden. The Suzuki family gave insight on the strict, competitive, and homogenous Japanese society that drive these men (like Koichi), who feel that they are failures, to become hikikomori and also why it is particularly hard for them to get out of this condition.

Translator Yumi Calderon and Katsumi Nojiri

Just like what Nojiri said during the interview, he is not a professor nor a politician who offers solution on how to solve these problems. He is a filmmaker who just shows a family as it is while entertaining people with his directorial debut.

Japan Foundation, Manila Director Hiroaki Uesugi
and Katsumi Nojiri at the Cinemalaya 15 Opening

Lastly, what Nojiri wants people to take away from his film is to realize the value of one's own family. Prior to his brother's death, he viewed his family as "air" which is simply just there. But when this tragedy struck, he came to value his family, along with the good and bad that comes with it.