Daibyonin (大病人, Daibyōnin, literally "patient in serious condition"), also known as The Last Dance and more rarely The Seriously Ill, is a 1993 Japanese film directed by Juzo Itami about the final year of a successful film director suffering from cancer.
The film can be seen as a criticism of the traditional attitudes of Japanese doctors to their patients, especially the withholding of information from patients with terminal illnesses, which Itami saw as "a violation of human rights".[1] It also touches on other end-of-life issues for the terminally ill, and how Japanese society deals with both life and death.
During a May 1993 showing of the film in Japan, a cinema screen was slashed by a right-wing protester.[2]
PlotEdit
Buhei Mukai is a successful actor and film director, and is making a film about a middle aged married couple, both of whom are dying of cancer.
After he vomits blood when he is with his mistress, Buhei's wife takes him to the hospital, where the doctor diagnoses him with terminal cancer and operates on his stomach. However, he withholds this information from Buhei, and tells him he has an ulcer.
After a remission, Buhei again becomes ill, is operated on for a second time, and is confined to hospital. Gradually he guesses that he must be suffering from cancer, despite constant reassurances to the contrary from his wife and doctor.
After a suicide attempt, the doctor and wife decide to tell him the truth. After wrestling with his conscience, Dr. Ogata also allows Buhei to direct the final scene of his film, even though the effort will shorten his life, and agrees not to administer drugs that would prolong his life at the cost of more pain and suffering.
Buhei completes his film. He tells the doctor how grateful he is that he was honest about his condition and could live his final weeks to the full. In the last scene, he dies, surrounded by his wife, doctor, nurse and members of the film production crew.
ReferencesEdit
^"A Master at Mixing Comedy, Commentary : Movies: Director Juzo Itami has been thinking about death. The result: 'Daibyonin,' which lashes out against the priority that science has won over human beings in Japan". Los Angeles Times. 1993-05-31. from the original on 2022-10-21.
daibyonin, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, december, 2012, . This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Daibyonin news newspapers books scholar JSTOR December 2012 Learn how and when to remove this template message Daibyonin 大病人 Daibyōnin literally patient in serious condition also known as The Last Dance and more rarely The Seriously Ill is a 1993 Japanese film directed by Juzo Itami about the final year of a successful film director suffering from cancer DaibyoninDirected byJuzo ItamiWritten byJuzo ItamiStarringRentarō MikuniMasahiko TsugawaNobuko MiyamotoProductioncompanyItami ProductionsDistributed byTohoRelease date1993Running time116 minutesCountryJapanLanguageJapaneseThe film can be seen as a criticism of the traditional attitudes of Japanese doctors to their patients especially the withholding of information from patients with terminal illnesses which Itami saw as a violation of human rights 1 It also touches on other end of life issues for the terminally ill and how Japanese society deals with both life and death The film s cast includes Rentarō Mikuni Buhei Mukai the film director Masahiko Tsugawa Doctor Ogata and Nobuko Miyamoto Buhei s wife Mikuni was nominated for Best Actor at the 1994 Japanese Academy Awards for his role in both Daibyonin and Tsuribaka nisshi 6 During a May 1993 showing of the film in Japan a cinema screen was slashed by a right wing protester 2 Plot EditBuhei Mukai is a successful actor and film director and is making a film about a middle aged married couple both of whom are dying of cancer After he vomits blood when he is with his mistress Buhei s wife takes him to the hospital where the doctor diagnoses him with terminal cancer and operates on his stomach However he withholds this information from Buhei and tells him he has an ulcer After a remission Buhei again becomes ill is operated on for a second time and is confined to hospital Gradually he guesses that he must be suffering from cancer despite constant reassurances to the contrary from his wife and doctor After a suicide attempt the doctor and wife decide to tell him the truth After wrestling with his conscience Dr Ogata also allows Buhei to direct the final scene of his film even though the effort will shorten his life and agrees not to administer drugs that would prolong his life at the cost of more pain and suffering Buhei completes his film He tells the doctor how grateful he is that he was honest about his condition and could live his final weeks to the full In the last scene he dies surrounded by his wife doctor nurse and members of the film production crew References Edit A Master at Mixing Comedy Commentary Movies Director Juzo Itami has been thinking about death The result Daibyonin which lashes out against the priority that science has won over human beings in Japan Los Angeles Times 1993 05 31 Archived from the original on 2022 10 21 Associated PressExternal links EditDaibyonin at IMDb Daibyonin at Rotten Tomatoes nbsp This article related to a Japanese film of the 1990s is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Daibyonin amp oldid 1167620692, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
