This is director Tomoaki Fujino's document of the last 20 years of the life of his sister who was diagnosed with schizophrenia. The film is a nonjudgmental document of what she was going through as well as a portrait of how he and his family dealt with the illness.
This film is not your typical illness documentary. This is a film which is much closer to the subject. The video picks up some 20 years after the diagnosis and it examines not only his sister's life but also how the family and society view the patient and the illness. There is a lot to take in. More importantly the presentation and the closeness of the director and subject obliterate the normal distancing we get in documentaries. We are there and in the thick of it. We are experiencing everything as a family member not as dispassionate outsider.
I was rocked. It kicked up a lot of stuff in my own life and how I dealt with some of the manias my mother would sometime experience. There is so much here that several says on I'm still processing the film.
This is heady and challenging and an emotional experience and as such it's recommended.
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