Forest Island I Directed by Ryosuke Handa – Review

“Forest Island”, a short film directed by Ryosuke Handa is set in the times of World War II. It follows a story of a soldier who had escaped from an enemy plane that had broken down and crashes in the Boso Peninsula. A woman, who lives in a cottage nearby, notices this and brings him to his house and takes care of him.

After quite a long while of caring, he wakes up, coming to his senses to realize the new surroundings around him, noticing a cello in the room that the woman’s long dead son had made. He asks the woman if he can play it, and she gives her the cello. He plays the Sarabande from Bach Suite’s no.3 with his scarred and flesh swollen hands.

The film tells us that the ghost of the woman’s dead son wanders the forests and nearby the cottage. The woman or anyone has never seen the ghost around, but it is said that the birds see him passing by. We as viewers, see an egg suddenly flying in the air, probably the ghost of her son is holding it. One day the woman hears the sound of the kettle of her ghostly son. What I feel, is that the music played by the injured soldier on his guitar brought back his son’s ghost to give a small sense of hint of his existence in the forest to her mother.

The film is a good watch and has a strong and emotional story attached to it. A beautiful description through the eyes of nature, birds and a cello.