A Celebration of Life. Review on Not Yet Movie

All Akira Kurosawa films work, because they celebrate the human spirit. Kurosawa’s films have characters you can relate to, and the theme though central to Japan is almost always universally understood. So I expected nothing less when I picked the master director’s last film, Madadayo (Not Yet).

A touching film about an ordinary man who touched many lives, it opens at a classroom, where Uchida announces that he is retiring. His students love the witty professor and they pay their tribute to the man who not only educated them, but generations before them. They know Uchida will be missed and remembered, but they’re just as excited about his new life as a writer. Uchida explains that he can now make a living out of writing, and that is an option he has decided to pursue. With the help of some of his students, he and his wife shift to a new home, and celebrate his new beginning.

During the course of several glasses of sake and beer, he entertains them with stories, and funny anecdotes. Hospitable and friendly (despite posters against visitors), the household soon becomes a regular haunt for the man’s students. However, happiness is short-lived. The war is on, and in one air-raid, the teacher and his wife lose their house. From living in a spacious house, they now find themselves in one room. But the students continue to visit them, bringing with them food, drinks, and a willingness to listen to Uchida’s tales. Over time, they build the man a house, with a garden and a doughnut shaped pond. But that is not all. They also begin the first of many Mahda-Kai rituals. Held on the Uchida’s birthday every year, the ritual begins when the students ask him, Mahda-Kai meaning “Are you ready.” In response, Uchida gulps down a huge glass of beer and emphatically declares, Madadayo, meaning “Not Yet.” With this word, the teacher acknowledges the fact that death night be near, but life goes on. This tradition is continued for years, during which the students see their teacher through his highs and lows.

The most dramatic moment in Uchida’s life is marked by Nora, a pet cat, who goes missing. Uchida mourns the cat's disappearance, as he’d have mourned the death of a child. He never truly recovers from that shock, but returns to his normal witty self with the entry of another tom cat. Uchida then continues to entertain him stories with funny anecdotes, through several other Mahda-Kai ceremonies.

Even at 77, he gulps down another tall glass of beer (which he claims has become small). Mischievously he taunts death once more, by saying, Madadayo. Perhaps a tad bit sentimental, the film reminds you about teachers who have influenced you. This special eulogy to a teacher, ends in a rather interesting way. Towards the end, we're taken to the beginning. We see Uchida in shorts, hiding from his friends who're playing Hide n Seek. In unison they yell Mahda Kai, to which Uchida responds Madadayo, indicating that he hasn't hidden as yet. But soon he is distracted by bright clouds, indicating that perhaps he is in the presence of the almighty.

A definite must-see for Kurosawa fans, you'll love it even more if you enjoy symbolism!