Recently, I was lucky to find Yue Michaelis's blog. This member of MyDramalist has written informative posts on many Japanese movies and series. I really like her posts. At least I find her view in line with my taste, so I started to watch films based on her suggestions. I highly recommend you have a look at her extensive list!
One movie I watched after her recommendation was My So Has Got Depression (2011). You can read Yue's comments on the movie, but I'd like to add two things:1. It's about a couple: The husband, Mikio, got major depression and his wife, Haruka, tries her best to help him. It's not unusual, I can see that everywhere in the world, especially in countries that family plays a big part, this might happen. However, what I find interesting is that here, we have a beautiful combination of emotional investment and scientific approach in Mikio. At least I can say that the second element is more or less lacking in my country: people would show lots of emotions in such situation, but it's not backed with some scientific knowledge. In fact, many times, bare emotions produce more harm than benefit. (Don't tell anyone, but exactly for this reason, I hated to tell my mom that I was sick when I was a kid). I think Japan is one of the best in combining heavy emotions and exact science. The conclusion is that be ready to learn one thing or two about depression while you watch a romance. It doesn't happen everyday!
2. We all know how much the Japanese emphasize hard work. In any occasion, whether it's called for or not, you can see them saying Ganbarre! Otsukaresamadeshita! ... I like this, as it gives me, a lazy person, some motivation to work harder. However, this movie gave me an interesting insight. Unlike her husband, Haruko is not that hard-working, but she has a good reason for that. She thinks that putting too much pressure on yourself can be problematic. This makes her husband mad, but Haruko knows better! And in fact, it's her husband's approach that makes problems: He feels so much responsibility at work that at some point he has no energy to keep going. Like many hard-working Japanese people, he got depression and the rest of the story. Working hard can be counter-productive.
So, it was interesting to me to hear for the first time in a Japanese film this: "Do not work hard"! "I don't work hard!" and things like that. This should sound weird to Japanese ears!
All in all, I'd recommend this beautiful movie with two memorable moments: When Haruko finds Mikio kind of trying to commit suicide in the bathroom and when in church and before their friends, they talk about life with depression: Mikio's speech is amazing.
