The third film in a loose trilogy, “Echoes of Motherhood” from Ryutaro Nakagawa addresses, like his 2015 “Tokyo Sunrise” and 2017 “Summer Blossoms,” themes of loss and grief. Starring Naomi Kawase and Momoko Fukuchi as Kanako and Michi, an estranged mother and daughter, the film is lyrical, allusive and minimalistic. The story flashes back and forth between the present and Kanako’s distant past with no narration or visual clues.
Meanwhile, Kanako’s experiences overlap with a play that Michi’s theater director husband Toshizo (the single-named Kanichiro) is rehearsing. This storytelling style may be confusing at times, but it also aptly expresses how the past can live in the present and how art and life can be entwined. The film, however, leaves plot holes that perplex.
How did mother and daughter fall out? It’s up to us to imagine.
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