THE ZEN DIARY

Japan, 2022, 111 minutes, Colour.

Kenji Sawada, Fumi Dan.

Directed by Yuji Nakae.

This is a film adaptation of 1978 book, part fact, part fiction. Its central character, Tsutomu, ageing, widowed, but not having buried his wife after two years, lives alone on the mountaintop, cultivating vegetables. In his young days, he had been committed to a Buddhist monastery but had left at the age of 13. However, a lot of Buddhist principles and practice have remained with him.

While there is the Buddhist influence, the focus here is very much on the cultivation of vegetables, growing, picking, processing, preparing them with accurate in minute detail for cooking. For audiences who enjoy watching food films, there is a great deal of interest in the preparation, the cooking, the serving, the eating, and the explanations for the nourishment.

The film is quietly-paced, the routines of Tsutomu’s life, especially as the emphasis of the screenplay is on the changing seasons in Japan, the particular features, contributing to sowing, growing, harvesting.

Tsutomu is visited by a young woman, a publishing house agent, with whom he is in something of a relationship. Enjoys the visits, as does she, urging him about his writing but also sharing in the preparation of the meals and enjoying the.

He also visits his rather isolated and crusty mother-in-law, friendly, comparing notes, cooking, and listening to her complaints about her other family connections. And is visited by his in-laws who want to offload the problems with the crusty old lady on to him.

There is also the issue of his health, closeness and possibilities for death, his response to them.

The film is an invitation for audiences to enter into Japanese consciousness, Buddhist religious and cultural traditions, courtesies and respect, and the significance all some food and preparation and the effect for a healthy and prosperous life.