Synopsis
Noriko Oi, a Japanese Canadian who has lived in Montreal for more than 20 years, is preparing to return to Nagasaki, her hometown, to help her siblings clear out the family home that will soon be sold. Within the walls of this old house lie fragments of the Oi family’s history. Noriko decides to reconstruct the past of her mother, Mitsuko, an atomic bomb survivor, in the hope of coming to terms with her family legacy and healing the dark echoes of a tragic cultural heritage. The task proves daunting. Mitsuko, who passed away more than 30 years ago, never shared her story. As her search unfolds, Noriko meets various allies who help her uncover her mother’s past and reveal unknown details about that period in her native Japan.
A word from Tënk
Filmmaker Laurence Lévesque joins her mother-in-law, Noriko Oi, a Québécoise by adoption, on a return trip to Japan to close the family home. This process of letting go, which we witness, is also a moment of reconstruction for Noriko.
Indeed, the protagonist retraces the thread of her mother’s life, who miraculously survived the immense human tragedy of August 9, 1945, the day the American army dropped the atomic bomb on Nagasaki, killing 80,000 people.
Although she survived, Noriko’s mother was, of course, deeply scarred by this event. We discover this in subtle layers throughout the documentary. This return to Nagasaki also gives Noriko Oi the opportunity to meet survivors of the bomb, who recount their memories of that day, experienced when they were just children. Their testimonies are heartbreaking.
The filmmaker has chosen to tell Noriko’s journey through long takes with magnificent framing. The camera patiently captures the gestures of the protagonist as she gradually strips the family home of its memories. The soft, rich, and enveloping light reveals Nagasaki’s extraordinary landscapes—its nature, its horizons. The music, like a veil laid over these images, subtly recalls the bomb alert sirens. The film thus radiates both gentleness and tension.
In our time, when we are witnessing an alarming rise in hatred, Laurence Lévesque’s documentary reminds us of the perils of war and the immense, immense, need to fight for peace.
Okurimono is a film that takes its time. The time it needs.
Christine Chevarie
Filmmaker
