A Kaijyu Theater Presents
A Shinya TSUKAMOTO Film
Starring: Tadanobu ASANO
VITAL
Doctor?
Mr. Takagi?
Mr. Hiroshi Takagi?
So, you don't remember? Not even my face?
I see.
Never thought you'd forget this mug.
I...
I think everything's mixed up.
You had an accident.
You were out driving.
A truck crashed into yours. The driver admits it's his fault.
I had you taken to my old university hospital.
We were the ones who ruined it.
After all this time.
He said himself that he'd never make it as a doctor.
I wonder why.
Ever since he was young he told us he wanted to be a doctor.
But somewhere along the way he became lost to us.
He's forgotten all that now.
You okay?
"Doctors and Medicine"
"Dissection"
Come and see!
You remember about this?
Do you understand this?
Well, take your time.
No need to rush.
Medical College Admissions Ceremony
Congratulations on entering medical college!
What do you want to live here for?
Do you have to move out?
Ah, and there's your college?
I suppose it is near.
Look, I'm worried.
Does it have to be here?
The ovum, a product of almost pure chance...
...by means of cellular growth, divergence and migration...
...creates an organism.
This person experienced trauma to the frontal lobe section.
This area is responsible for personality and memory.
From this we can conclude the following:
Human character is not a constant...
The brain and spinal cord form the central nervous system.
Nerve cells are concentrated in this area.
I wonder, then...
where the soul lies...
Beneath this, however...
...there is the vast realm of the unconscious.
It is here that our suppressed desires...
...can cause deep mental conflict as they strive to realize themselves.
Hey!
I, err...
When streaking the petri sample take your time, or you'll contaminate it.
Very good, Mr. Takagi.
Wow! Yours is excellent. How do you do it?
How's mine?
What a mess!
It's contaminated!
What are you lot up to? Back to your places.
Stop joking around.
Why are you telling me this on the phone?
And how can you say it so lightly?
So my Ms. Yoshimoto is after Takagi?
You can't take your eyes off him.
Scary. So you've been spying on us?
What's wrong with you?
Is it about the entrance exam?
About Takagi being top?
That's why you changed tack, eh?
Or you approached me only to know the result?
For the price of sweets you should be more careful.
You sneaky BITCH!
I understand you want to be alone.
But don't brood too much.
I had some of your furniture taken there, and put In the same place.
I thought it would help you remember.
First: Ikumi Yoshimoto Second: Hiroshi Takagi
I'm third. Ikumi beat me again.
Hiroshi, you're second.
Excellent!
How did you do it?
Tell me your secret.
Hey, everybody!
Dr. Nakai has been found, dead.
He hanged himself.
It's still not officially announced yet.
But I heard it in the research lab.
Who's Dr. Nakai?
The microbiology teacher.
No, you're kidding.
So, dissection classes are starting, eh?
It's like a doctors' Initiation ceremony.
So far, what you've done has been a walk in the park!
Come this far In 3 years, and that's the best of all.
Since you started medicine
I swear granddad's picture has started smiling!
Medical history stems from wanting to understand the body's mechanism.
Dr. Genpaku Sugita was amazed by the similarity in Dutch anatomical texts...
and his texts. So he worked on translating them.
Eventually "Kauai Shinsho" was published in 1774 in Tokyo.
Trust your own eyes. This is the key point, whatever the century.
The truth is there for you to see. You must embrace this concept.
As students of medicine you are very privileged.
You have the opportunity to explore the bodies before you.
Treat them with respect at all times. We owe thanks to them and their families...
First, take off the vinyl sheet.
Only remove the cover from the area to be dissected.
It protects the cadaver from drying.
For today, remove the whole cover.
Inspect your subject.
Are there any operation scars?
Make a thorough inspection.
Make a long vertical incision here.
Then make a lateral incision.
Take this corner piece.
Is it usual for a subject to be so young?
No, it's very rare.
I wonder how she died.
You'll find out as you dissect.
What's wrong?
Because it's her neck?
No.
Don't peel too thickly.
The tendons will stick to the skin.
We use those when we say "ee".
There, beneath the skin in the neck.
She's hopeless.
Remember her "spectacular" speech in class?
"Human body as being an antenna and such?" What a joke.
You want this?
How many times did this heart beat?
Seventy times a minute is 4200 times an hour.
So in a day? Well, 24 times that. Then times 365 for a year.
How many times if you live to 80?
And yet my TV broke after 6 years.
Was anything wrong with this heart?
There's something wrong in the lungs.
See, I can't get my hand in very far.
There are 2 or 3 white lumps in the liver.
And look at the colon.
This person had a colostomy.
Cancer of the colon can easily move to the liver.
Why did this person die?
Mr. Takagi?
I don't know.
We can't tell by the organs alone.
We'll find out later.
I wonder what she was like.
Shame to die so young.
I must have dozed off.
I had an awful dream.
I nearly remembered the dream.
And why did I think of that?
Who told me?
That story about Martian robots.
You want to hear?
Do it to me.
Me too.
Most men are so fierce.
You're better for me.
Today was relaxing.
Don't get me wrong.
I'm not as easy as you may think.
What's up?
You're so distant after class today.
It was me who killed Dr. Nakai.
I dated him before college.
An older friend introduced us. I was asking about this school.
He had a family, but he was kind to me.
But things got wrong, and I grew apart from him.
He left no will, and no one knew about us.
I tried to think it wasn't my fault.
My parents were always happy to see me.
Some funny-looking reporters were telling us about war and such.
In our house the sun was always shining.
So after a while...
The fact that Dr. Nakai was dead...
just didn't bother me.
I wonder what it was like for him.
Harder.
Do it harder.
What's up?
Nothing. I'm okay.
Watch this.
What?
"Bye bye"
Leave it!
I thought I'd get something from drawing.
Turns out I got nothing.
They look real to me though.
As for me, I'm not sure if I am 'real'.
It's like as if I am sleeping and dreaming.
So, you liked drawing.
Are you going to be a doctor?
Everyone thought I would be a doctor.
My parents, relatives, even me.
When I dozed off here the other day
I felt like I'd slept for a long time.
What?
I'm remembering something else.
I can't quite grasp it.
I wonder what it is.
When you're "there" can you remember things from "here"?
But if that were the case...
I see.
Look...
I know we have to take things slowly.
But she died in the car crash that day.
Don't worry. It was not your fault.
Her name was Ryoko.
She passed away before you woke up.
The body that I'm dissecting is...
Ryoko's body.
I don't think it can be a coincidence.
I did hear she wanted to leave her body to science.
Other than that, I don't know.
If what you think is true...
That would be surprising.
Thank you so much.
Why have you come here?
Just go away.
Your parents were very sincere about their grief.
What I really want to see is your sincerity.
You were driving when it happened.
I still feel you murdered my daughter.
If you want to mourn her...
...do it when you truly remember her.
I'm starting to remember already.
Right now, at college...
I'm doing my dissection practice.
There is something I need to know.
If you can tell me...
Ryoko is on the dissection table.
I don't quite understand it.
Are you serious?
Well?
Tell me it's not true.
You want to know if it's her?
Right?
You heartless FUCK!
How the hell should I know?
Just before she died she told us.
Leaving her body to science.
We didn't know you even could.
And now you think you're poking around inside her?
What kind of a quack's school is that?
I'm getting on the phone.
It's despicable!
In fact, fuck the phone.
I'll go there in person.
Dr. Kashiwabuchi.
Yes?
What is it?
Sorry, nothing.
Sir.
May I dissect my subject alone?
Why?
The others are making such a mess.
No, you can't. It's our first attempt.
There are bound to be mistakes.
What's the matter?
What's wrong.
Nothing.
Today we will observe the facial muscles.
Take off the head covers.
Where're we heading?
Hiroshi.
What would it be like to smash into something?
Would it hurt?
I remembered the dream I had.
You hate me!
Well, why then?
You've not made love to me yet. Why?
Is there someone else?
Is there?
Dancing?
She never danced when she was alive.
Your memory is still mixed up.
It isn't a memory.
I was there with her.
Not a memory of myself.
I mean the real me. I was there.
And what kind of "dance" was it?
The one that Ryoko did.
You make sure you take good care of Ryoko's body.
If not, the school will be in trouble.
And I'll kill you.
I carry a big knife all the time.
Hey.
My wife is ill.
You should keep coming round.
Tell us about your time with Ryoko.
I'm going now.
Do you have to?
But where do you go?
I'll see you again.
Stay with me a little more.
But we can't, right?
Hiroshi!
I'll come again soon.
What is it?
May we be moved to another group?
Why?
It's just that...
Mr. Takagi?
Yes.
The other 3 haven't complained.
It's just a matter of time.
What?
What's your problem?
Mr. Takagi, put your gloves on.
Mr. Takagi.
Sir, I think there's an operation scar here on the head.
I see.
And a blood clot on the other side.
That could be the direct cause.
A gradual hemorrhage, probably.
Do you think she regained consciousness?
Between the operation and the blood clot?
It's quite possible.
Our 4-month dissection program, like the rainy season, will end soon.
Make sure your inspection has been detailed and thorough.
You're making fine progress.
I suppose studying hands-on helps you remember.
I guess.
That's good. I'm happy for you.
But try not to get too absorbed.
Dr. Kashiwabuchi was a little worried.
You're becoming more distant as time goes by.
Dad...
...when I saw her on the dissection table...
I couldn't understand at all.
But now I know much more.
It's like... she made her own way there.
Hiroshi.
Please come back to us.
Ryoko?
You strangle me too.
Grab me!
Please, Hiroshi.
You want to die, right?
Let's do it together!
Strangle me!
Do you have to go?
I'll come back soon.
No.
No! No!
Please don't go.
What's the matter?
I'll be back soon.
You'll see me soon.
No! No! Don't go!
Hello. Mr. Hiroshi Takagi?
Yes.
This Is the police station.
We have a young woman here...
She won't tell us anything, not even her name.
All she gave us was your name and phone number.
I'm sorry we had to call so late.
You are Mr. Takagi?
So, you turned up.
What's got into you?
Why are you chasing a dead woman?
What about those of us still living?
All your happy, false memories. What chance do I have against all those?
Mr. Takagi.
Please, Mr. Takagi.
Please, step back!
Be careful!
Mr. Takagi!
Look out!
I'm confused about "time".
What is my consciousness?
Is it like the story of the future robots?
That's it.
People programmed robots with their memories.
After that...
...all the humans died out.
A robot was stranded on Mars.
Before the end there was a huge, electrical memory surge.
So, me being here, and the times when I meet Ryoko...
...it's like the robot is showing me.
An electrical broadcast of my final moments.
Hiroshi.
It's because your memory is returning.
They're memories.
As for Ryoko.
Well, she's gone now.
No, that's wrong.
They aren't memories.
It's not as clear-cut as that.
I think...
No good to think too much about her.
And the dissection.
You should stop doing it.
No way.
You've done your best.
But it's time to give up.
No!
I don't care what you say.
I'll tell Dr. Kashiwabuchi to take Ryoko's body away.
You do that, and I'll kill you.
I wanted to think you had killed her.
But the light had gone from her eyes long before that.
It was when she was in high school.
She was fine before then.
Why did she lose it, I wonder.
Even we didn't know. And we'll never know now.
I only saw the light one other time.
Just after the accident.
It was after the operation at the local hospital.
Your dad suggested she be moved to the university hospital.
That was it.
She was fully conscious f or 5 or 6 hours.
It was then she mentioned leaving her body to science.
After she died...
...her body should be taken to the university hospital, she told.
I've never seen her so serious.
But that wasn't easy to accept for me.
No way.
Why should she want to inflict more wounds, even after she died?
I couldn't understand why she wanted this.
How could I agree to that when she was still there, alive, in front of me?
Soon after that she lost consciousness.
A vegetable, according to the doctor.
She was moved to a private room.
My wife and I were beside her.
It feels like a dream now.
Just when I thought "It's all over"...
I saw Ryoko sitting up in bed.
I thought she had recovered.
My wife was asleep.
I saw the curtain at the window.
It was moving gently in the wind.
Ryoko looked so refreshed.
She looked out of the window.
Then she turned slowly to me.
"Don't forget my request", she said.
She spoke as plain as day.
She died that same evening.
When she's finally laid out...
Put these in her coffin.
It's okay now.
You can forget about her.
You must be tired, too.
Not at all.
I still have a long way to go yet.
It's not right.
I don't care that his memory was affected.
It's not natural.
It's unforgivable.
In a way...
...it reminds me how you were when they brought you here.
How could they refuse when you were so serious.
All the memories of you came flooding back.
It was frightening.
I have to finish up now.
Just another minute.
Well?
All right, you can take her.
No, hold on. Just another minute.
Why putting it off?
I think it's better that I take her now.
We'll take good care of her here.
If I'd known this would happen, I wouldn't have asked you to bring her here.
It's just coincidence...
that she became Hiroshi's subject.
Makes no difference you asked or not.
I can't change the rules.
I didn't want to die
Where do I go?
I'm scared.
I'm scared to be alone.
I'm sorry.
I'm really sorry.
I won't leave you.
I'll always be by your side.
I won't leave you alone.
This is reality.
This is real.
I'm going to stay here.
And we'll have a baby.
Yes!
Yeah!
Ryoko?
Hey!
Our 4-month dissection program is now over.
Check that bones and organs have been replaced.
Check the kidneys are on the correct side.
Put the sash next to the hands.
The hose and sandals go by the feet.
The triangular cloth and the headdress go by the head.
Drape the kimono over the body.
Place the cane next to the right hand.
The laying out is now complete.
Lay the flowers inside.
Now place the lid on the coffin.
I'll give out the coffin labels now.
Group 1, number 796. Mr. Satoru Kamata.
Group 2, number 797. Ms. Tamae Sugawara.
Group 3, number 798. Mr. Shuji Kinuta.
Group 4, number 799. Ms. Ryoko Ohyama.
We will now close our eyes and pay our last respects.
The coffins will be taken now.
Listen for your number carefully.
There must be no mistakes.
I'm sorry.
Thank you.
There is still some time.
Please wait in the reception room.
Let me take you to the room.
Let's move.
This way, please.
We're ready, Mr. Ohyama.
Okay.
It's time.
Is Hiroshi here?
How's his memory?
Much better.
So will he be giving up medicine?
We told him it's his own decision.
And he said...
he'll continue.
It's time.
It is time to lay the body to rest.
It's okay. You have to be brave.
It is time to part.
Let us pray.
You know, I often think...
If you could see some part of your life again, years after you die...
...which part would you choose?
The last images of the last Martian robot.
Mankind�s final memory.
You still have so long to live, so you can't answer properly.
As for me...
Ah, it smells wonderful.
Cast:
Tadanobu AS ANO as Hiroshi Takagi
Nami TSUKAMOTO as Ryoko Ohyama
KIKI as Ikumi Yoshimoto
Kazuyoshi KUSHIDA as Hiroshi's father
Go RIJYU as Dr. Nakai
Jyun KUNIMURA as Ryoko's father
Ittoku KISHIBE as Dr. Kashiwabuchi
Staff:
Directed by Shinya TSUKAMOTO
Producers: Shinya TSUKAMOTO Keiko and Kouichi KUSAKABE Shinichi KAWAHARA
Script, Camera, Artistic Direction and Editing by Shinya TSUKAMOTO
Sound Recording: Yoshiya OBARA
Camera Operation: Takayuki SHIDA
Lighting: Keisuke YOSHIDA
Plastic remodeling of human body and parts: Takashi ODA
Music: Chu ISHIKAWA
Assistant Directors: Takeshi KOIDE, Hisakatsu KUROKI
Ending Theme Song: 'blue bird' Written, composed and sung by Cocco
Foreign Affairs: Kiyo JOO 562