Impermanence

A sweeping magical realist tale and poetic meditation of men’s desire to defy the impermanence of life.

Team

synopsis

Hokkaido, Japan. A Malaysian reporter, Wei, lies in the snow, his life slowly seeps away in a blizzard. His years-long search for the elusive Japanese artist Zeshin Ogawa is coming to an end. Images, memories and imaginary landscapes flow into one, revealing the origins of his journey… Somewhere in time, a boy lives with his dying grandfather in a village. He sees strange, beautiful apparitions at night. When his grandfather dies, the boy sleeps under a tree and dreams the merging of past and present. The boy is Zeshin, he grows up to be an artist. Zeshin moves to Malaysia and shuts himself away to create an artwork. His girlfriend, Rina sinks into melancholy. Three gallery curators meet Zeshin and view his artwork. Few days later, two of them commit suicide. Zeshin disappears. Rina meets Wei. A friendship leads to a tentative love affair, yet she is lost in her past. One night she dies in her sleep. A heartbroken Wei begins to investigate Zeshin’s artwork. The story comes full circle. The impermanence of life creates constant pain, but also bittersweet memories.

Director’statement

As a Buddhist, I believe in the concept of “Impermanence” that expresses the notion that all of conditioned existence, without exception, is in a constant state of flux: the cycle of birth and rebirth, the aging process and the experience of loss. The development of my country, Malaysia embodies this. Its urban landscape and infrastructure have been rapidly transforming in the past two decades due to the political leadership’s desire to become a global player. Yet its human and cultural development are often neglected. People either become obsessed with an idealized past, or yearn for an unattainable future. What about the present? With its multiple characters and narrative strands, my film is intended to provide a sweeping portrayal of contemporary Malaysia and its people. But this isn’t a social commentary. At its core, this is a love story set in such an environment, and a meditation in humanity’s paradoxical relationship with fate and memories. The visuals will be lyrical and poetic. If Zeshin’s artwork were a method to defy the impermanence of life, would one give up on his current existence to embrace a personal Nirvana where all things remain unchanged? Just let a fleeting memory stretch to an eternity…

TFL PROGRAMME:

ScriptLab 2010

Discover more details here:

PDF

TFL Catalogue 2010

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