Still Grieving: mobility and absence in post-3/11 mourning films

Abstract

ABSTRACT Post-3/11 mourning films have thus far gained little scholarly attention. This paper aims to correct that imbalance by analyzing a novel and three films that deal with loss and absence: Tendō Arata’s The Mourner and its film adaptation by Tsutsumi Yukihiko, as well as Nakagawa Ryūtarō’s films Calling and Tokyo Sunrise. While the type of loss in each film differs, all three films focus on mobility and absence in the process of mourning. This paper aims at expanding the scope of the study of so-called shinsaigo eiga (films dealing with the 3/11 tsunami and its aftermath) to include the role of mobility and absence in cinematic mourning as well as offering an analysis of a rare representation of male mourning in Japanese film in the wake of the recent spate of disasters that have afflicted Japan.