Memories of Matsuko

A 2006 Japanese film written and directed by Tetsuya Nakashima, based on a novel by Muneki Yamada.

Young aspiring-and-failing-at-it musician Shou, fresh from a painful break-up, is called to clean out the apartment of a recently deceased aunt he never knew he had. Aunt Matsuko, at the time of her death, was a bloated, miserable bag lady, living surrounded by mountains of trash and filth, with no friends or job. Guided by her belongings and stories told by people who knew her, Shou ventures on a journey through the life and times of Matsuko Kawajiri. He finds a starry-eyed woman who faces more than her fair share of disappointments on her quest to find the prince of her dreams. The film spans several decades, from Matsuko's childhood in the 1930s to the present day in the year 2006.

While the story itself is quite tragic, it's peppered with upbeat musical numbers and colorful fantasy sequences, resulting in high amounts of Mood Whiplash.


 * Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder:
 * Anachronic Order: The story is told via flashbacks that aren't presented in the chronological order.
 * Break the Cutie: Smash the cutie, shatter the cutie, crush her into tiny little bits.
 * The Cameo: Singer/actress Anna Tsuchiya, one of the stars of Nakashima's Kamikaze Girls, has a brief non-speaking role as a prisoner in a montage.
 * Driven to Suicide: Matsuko jumps out of a window after, but pulls herself together.
 * Everything's Better with Sparkles: And flowers. Lots of flowers.
 * Extreme Doormat: Matsuko, who'd rather stay in abusive relationships and let men walk all over her than be alone.
 * Freudian Excuse: Matsuko's desperate longing for love appears to stem from her not getting enough attention from her father, whose affections always seem to be concentrated on her sick little sister.
 * Hot for Teacher:
 * Ill Girl: Matsuko's little sister.
 * Japanese Christian: Shou encounters a tramp who carries with him a tattered copy of the New Testament.
 * Mood Whiplash: Quite a bit -- horrible heartbreaking tragedy strikes, Matsuko sinks into despair... but then pulls herself together and sings with sparkly cartoon birds. Rinse and repeat.
 * The Musical: With a pretty damn sweet soundtrack, too
 * Nice Guy: Kenji.
 * The Pollyanna: Matsuko manages to preserve her starry-eyed disposition and soldier on through an admirable amount of crap before her spirit breaks for good.
 * Painting the Fourth Wall: Blood splatters on the camera lens after
 * Posthumous Character: Matsuko.
 * Tear Jerker
 * Timeshifted Actor: Child/adult Matsuko and teen/adult Ryu.
 * The Unfavourite: Matsuko feels like one since her terminally ill little sister gets a lot more attention than her.
 * Well Done Daughter Gal: See Freudian Excuse above.
 * Wide-Eyed Idealist: Matsuko.
 * The Woobie: Guess who?
 * Yakuza