Tokyo International Film Festival – Winner: Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor

Gisuke is a retired French literature professor and a widower. He spends his days tending to his house and garden and enjoying visits from former students, especially Yasuko, for whom he cooks elaborate meals. With only six years of savings left, he quietly plans to eventually take his own life, leaving just enough money for his funeral. One day, Gisuke finds a post on the internet stating, “An enemy is coming from the north.” He ignores it but the more he sees it, the more he feels an ominous feeling growing.

With a sly sense of humour and arresting visuals, Yoshida’s film is a brilliant literary adaptation and a poignant character study that defies easy definition.