The Sea of Trees

Plot synopsis:
An American man, Arthur Brennan, (Matthew McConaughey) travels to the "Suicide Forest" (Aokigahara forest) to kill himself at the base of Mount Fuji in Japan, the site of numerous suicides. There he encounters a Japanese man, Takumi Nakamura, (Ken Watanabe) who wants to kill himself as well, and both men begin a journey of self-reflection and survival.
It is revealed through flashbacks that Arthur wants to end his life by drug overdose after his wife, Joan, (Naomi Watts) died. As he is about to take a third pill he hears Takumi struggling. Takumi had slit his wrists for being dishonored at work but misses his wife and child and decides he doesn't want to die. He tried to escape the dense sea of trees but cannot find the trail back. Arthur decides to help him but also ends up disoriented in the forest. They survive falls, flash floods and hypothermia as they try to escape the forest and along the way find others who succeeded in ending their lives. They share their stories together and it's revealed that Arthur is there because of his guilt of how he and his wife treated each other in their marriage. After she becomes sick they rekindle their love and reminisce about a favorite place of hers where she would spend hours amongst the orchids. He says he will take her back there when she's ready to. The doctor tells them she will survive and she is transported by ambulance to a recovery hospital. He follows behind her in his car, talking to her on the phone and jokes with her about not knowing what her favorite color or season is. Before she responds a truck plows into the ambulance killing her. At her funeral he tells the director he didn't really know her even after all the years they were married. He says he overheard her sisters talking and one of them sent her a copy of her favorite book. This is the package Arthur brings with him into the forest.
After a night of talking Arthur separates from Takumi in the morning to try to get help. He found a walkie-talkie from a deceased camper and Takumi is too unwell. He promises him that he'll come back. The park rangers catch Arthur's calls and he dramatically makes his way to help but is too weak to let them know that there is another person in the forest. Almost two weeks later Arthur is being evaluated by a psychiatrist before his release and he says he will go back to the forest to find Takumi even though the rangers could not. They found the tent he spoke of but did not find anyone there. The psychiatrist also reveals that there is no one by the name of Takumi Nakamura who has a wife and daughter by those names. There is a camera at the entrance of the forest and Arthur was seen going in and coming out but no one else was seen going in.
Arthur returns to the forest and makes his own trail with string and later crumpled paper to mark his way back. He finds the package he left in the forest and also the tent and the coat he covered over Takumi but there is no Takumi. He takes away the coat and under it is a beautiful orchid. He remembers what Takumi said about the forest. He believed it is a form of purgatory and that the spirit of your loved ones go there and are closest during your darkest moments. He opens the package holding her favorite book and it is a copy of Hansel and Gretel. Arthur realizes it was Joan's spirit that helped him find his way out and is helping him heal his guilt to go on without her. Arthur returns to America and brings the orchid with him. While helping a student it's revealed that the names of Takumi's wife and daughter are not names but words that mean yellow and winter. He remembers the last conversation he had with his wife about her favorite color and season. The last scene is Arthur planting the orchid in the garden of Joan's favorite place.

Tags: flashback

Review:
The cinematography is beautiful.An American man, Arthur Brennan, played by Matthew McConaughey travels to the "Suicide Forest" (Aokigahara forest) to kill himself at the base of Mount Fuji in Japan, the site of numerous suicides.
There he encounters a Japanese man, Takumi Nakamura, played by Ken Watanabe, who wants to kill himself as well, and both men begin a journey of self- reflection and survival.But more than the suicide theme, there is the story of Arthur Brennan and his relationship with his wife, Joan, played by Naomi Watts, which is told to the viewer with a series of flashbacks.
Ten minutes into the film, I was near ready to give up on it and agree with it detractors, as it was very slow moving at the start, however, as the story developed I became interested in the 'why' and committed myself to discover the answers.
The pacing and writing of the movie is near perfect and the acting only adds to the emotion needed for a film like this.
Finally a movie with a story that has depth and meaning - not just grotty realism or flights of fantasy, no matter how speculative, without a shred of truth.I really enjoyed the performances as these kind of characters wouldn't be easy to portray, yet they were convincing, engaging - even masterful.
I am rather surprised that The Sea of Trees was booed at Cannes mostly because it is a very good movie but also because of the adolescent behaviour of the audience!
I knew about C.G. Yung and Joseph Campbell's method of analyzing symbols and mythology and however at the beginning I did not realize it and even thought it might be a horror movie but then slowly by slowly it opened to me like if you see some one and they look familiar but you don't know how you know them and then that aha moment comes.
I have to be fair though and admit that the flash backs could get a bit boring sometimes but I think it is just because the situation the couples were in was boring and nerve racking any way so in the movie they could not change it.it is how it is.At the end I'd say its a clean, honest and truthful story without lies or exaggerations.
There can be a negative mob mentality if a film gets bad press early on, even if people don't really know why.McConaughey's acting was subdued for his character and it fit the role.
The movie had some good pacing and it deals with basically a present and past storyline entwined and both are interesting enough to have you go "no wait, i want to know how it continues" with every switch.The acting was good, the story was perhaps a bit on the "cliché" side near the end, but in all satisfying.
I have to mention the cinematography, because there are some beautiful shots in there, sometimes it felt so strange when shots where done without a steady cam but in ends up feeling more "organic" in the end.So if you want to watch a nice story driven film, give it a shot..
Despite that some aspect of the movie are applicable to any married couples on the personal level, this movie tackles the essential issues of life like keeping the promises, regrets & guilt, loyalty and never surrender.She loved him and he loved her but no one of them has the chance to tell the other and the game continued until the worst happened....
Hot off a streak of films that included The Wolf of Wall Street, Dallas Buyers Club and sci-fi classic Interstellar, the prospect of new lease of life actor Matthew McConaughey and renowned director Gus Van Sant for a powerful sounding drama, we at the time new little factual details about, seemed like an appealing and likely moving film experience.Fast forward to September of 2016 and Sea of Trees, unable to recover from a disastrous Cannes Film Festival premiere in 2015 In which the film became a laughing stock (and a filmed booed at its press screening) of media agencies and film fans the world over, has had a fanfare free release to mostly home video markets around the globe or in the case of America an embarrassing cinema release which has at the time of writing netted the film box office takings of $20,000 off a budget in excess of $30 million that will position the critically lambasted experience (Rotten Tomatoes rating of 10%) to become one of the years, and recent memories, biggest cinematic failings.With all the talk and negativity surrounding this tale of McConaughey's intellectually minded professor Arthur Brennan taking a suicidal sojourn to Japan's suicide forest after the passing of his wife Joan (well played by Naomi Watts), only to find possible redemption after he runs into fellow suicidal Japanese businessman Takumi Nakamura (a disappointing Ken Watanabe), you'd be expecting Van Sant's film to be a new aged The Room or Samurai Cop but while the film is clearly not even half the film it well could've been, Sea of Trees is not nearly as unwatchable as many would have you believe.Filled with pretentiousness thanks to Buried screenwriter Chris Sparling's script, Van Sant's curiously unengaging direction (calling to mind his other recent misfire Restless) that veers frequently into Hallmark movie territory, one of cinemas most misguided musically scores thanks to composer Mason Bates and an overplayed and scene mugging McConaughey performance that fails to capture the form his developed over the last few years, Sea of Trees has many clearly obvious components that open it up to the critical and dagger wielding masses but it also has a heart, whilst often hidden, that carries into a more watchable (if only slightly so) landscape.Whether it's a confronting and open hearted examination of Arthur and Joan's troubled marriage around a campfire, Watt's fine turn as the doomed Joan or an ending that could've really been something handled better, Sea of Trees still bares the tiny remnants and fragmented elements of the film many all hoped for when it was announced.Expectations can be a dangerous thing, Sea of Trees can well and truly bear witness to this and while its far from 2016's worst film, Gus Van Sant and crews misguided and miscued meditation of life, love and loss is unlikely to ever find itself spoken about as a misunderstood masterpiece, rather a film that for whatever reason couldn't find out what it was trying to say or how it was going to say it.2 flash floods out of 5.
Arthur Brennan (Matthew McConaughey) travels to the Aokigahara forest in Japan where people go to commit suicide.
The movie also shows his troubled marriage to Joan Brennan (Naomi Watts).Director Gus Van Sant delivers a ponderous journey of self-discovery.
I don't understand really why so low rating on IMDb. It's beautiful movie with talented actors, with nice soundtrack, with important thought about relationship and how we wast time of our life for quarrels.
Slow in parts but every little detail is folded into an intricate story line and explained at the end in several moving flashbacks.The film really makes you rethink your life and how you treat those you love with the time we have been given.I definitely recommend everyone give it a chance.
Even reading the bad reviews I still couldn't get a gasp of how this turned out bad and it only made me want to see the movie even more.And I finally got a chance to watch it and while I don't think it's as awful as people have said, but this is unfortunately a messy film that could have easily been good.
And in this movie I would say that McConaughey did a decent performance and in the scenes where the character is having a breakdown I thought he was pretty good.
But I personally think that this is Gus Van Sant biggest misfire, because there's nothing special in the film making and a lot of things felt like it was missing something.
But instead we get lazy flashback scenes with him and his wife (played by Naomi Watts) that makes it very clear straight away of what he's motivation are for ending he's life, because it's that predictable.This movie is so predictable that I saw a lot of things coming.
This really hurts the movie in terms of the emotional elements, because when there's tragic or emotional happening, I'm not really feeling it as I saw it coming miles away.For a premise like this, that involves two suicidal people lost deep in the Forrest that's known for people going there to take their own lives, should at least been interesting.
-The Sea of Trees is a 2015 American drama mystery film directed by Gus Van Sant and written by Chris Sparling.
The film stars Matthew McConaughey, Ken Watanabe, Naomi Watts, Katie Aselton, and Jordan Gavaris.-The film is about an American man who attempts suicide in Mount Fuji's "Suicide Forest", where he meets a Japanese man who is there for the same reason.
At its May 2015 debut at the Cannes Film Festival, the film was met with harsh critical reception; it was loudly booed and laughed at by an audience of critics, with critic Scott Foundas calling it a film "for nobody." Some critics were more impressed by the film; Pete Hammond wrote "Their film deserves a better fate" and he praised its "paired sentimentality." While Hammond was also impressed with the "beautiful lush score", others found it "cloying" and "ever-present." -Further critical dissatisfaction with the film has been attributed to the fact that "the twists and turns of this narrative fail to ring true with too many implausibilities in the plotting to give any credibility" and with its "complete lack of narrative momentum, it all adds up to a film that's easily Van Sant's worst, and is a sad black mark on McConaughey's mostly excellent recent run.
Set in the Japanese lands of Aokighara, The Sea of Trees tackles the ideal of suicide in a man's life, who thinks it's over for him in this modern and grown world.
Matthew McConaughey plays a man who goes to Japan's Aokigahara - aka Suicide Forest - with the aim of ending his life, only to meet a man (Ken Watanabe) who has his own story.This movie is not a masterpiece, but is an interesting story in its own right.
In addition to the flashbacks showing events with the main character and his wife (Naomi Watts), I like the cinematography in the forest.
These two men have a lot to deal with in this forest, but their experiences force them to persevere.So, while it's far from Van Sant's best movie, I still recommend it.
Matthew McConaughey is Arthur Brennan a man who comes to a famous forest in Japan for suicide to do so himself.
His perception is changed when he meets a man named Takumi Nakamura played by Ken Watanabe who needs his help getting out of the forest.The movie starts off as a culture clash between the American and the Japanese as they discuss their reasons for being in the forest.
In the end, The Sea of Tress is a decent small vehicle for Matthew McConaughey to drive, showing off his acting chops behind the wheel as a lead actor, but I've seen him do just as good of a job in far better small vehicles.http://cinemagardens.com.
In those moments while the both guys travel through the forest and look for a way out, the husband deals with his grief, and lots of guilt from his life and marriage, and finds solace in the company of his fellow lost man.It was pretty darn slow, but the cinematography was good.
Not the best from Gus Van Sant, as I think, this movie didn't do justice to the majestic forest we know as Aokigahara, and it's story as the "Suicide Forest".
The acting,the story and the cinematography especially at the End of the movie are beautiful!
As much as I wanted to like it, "The Sea of Trees" is not a very good film.
I was attracted by the two principle actors (McConaughey and Watts), both of whom I generally like, and by the director, who has some excellent work in his resume, but after watching I have to join the group of people saying this film simply is not worth your time.This film fails mostly for technical reasons.
Matthew McConaughey, Naomi Watts, and Ken Watanabe are really the Only Players in this Downbeat Display of some "Cheery" Things like Marital Dysfunction, Alcoholism, Brain Aneurysms, Tragic Accidents, Depression, Guilt, and just for Kicks, the "Meaning of Life" and the "Afterlife".It is Ripe with Organic Displays of the Natural World taking place in that "Theme Park" near Mt. Fuji in Japan well known as "The Suicide Forest".
I've liked most all of Gus Van Sant directed movies, so I was more than curious to view this film.
Oscar winning actor Matthew McConaughey and Oscar nominated Naomi Watts and Ken Watanabe also guarantee the production will provide fine performances and they did, superbly.Arthur Brennan played by McConaughey, is having marital problems; his wife Joan a borderline alcoholic yet successful business women resents the low paying job of Arthur, a science professor, who cannot contribute a fraction of what income she generates, but it's her lack of trust in him ever since he had an affair that fuels her alcoholism.The movie toggles between current time and what lead to Arthur's near demise.
He finds the best place to die searching the web, Aokigahara Forest in Japan, also known as suicide forest, and heads there.Now keep in mind that the story is non linear and we watch his adventure in the forest whilst we see the marriage deteriorate and the love of the couple rise above it.
As I mentioned, you can't miss a minute.Arthur is in the forest when he encounters a man, Ken Watanabe, who is trying to find his way back to civilisation, having changed his mind about suicide; they are lost now in this sea of trees.
Arthur, hopelessly trying to deal with the memory of his love/hate relationship with his wife Joan (Naomi Watts), seeks out Japan's famed Aokigahara Forest, the "suicide forest".
You might want to read this AFTER you've seen the movie.I thought the film was put together very well.
Excellent movie that makes you really think about how life has many twists and turns and sometimes can be pretty rough for a while, and yet as we persevere we eventually see why things happen in our lives the way that they do.
Our lives are really a series of unique tests that are individually tailored to each of us so that we can gain useful and crucial experience that helps us grow and be able to deal with each next step we take on our journey of life.The movie has a lot of parallels with Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life: Think of the Japanese man, Takumi Nakamura, that Arthur Brennan meets in the forest as It's a Wonderful Life's Clarence the Angel who jumps off the bridge right as George Bailey is almost ready to jump off, because he knows that George will instinctively jump off to save him, instead of taking his own life.
Takumi and Arthur's subsequent conversations and journey trying to find their way back to the trail/parking lot is a lot like George Bailey in the end wanting to get back to his life that he hadn't previously thought of as being anything close to a wonderful life.
" No man's life is a failure who has friends." Near the end of Sea of Trees Arthur receives the book Hansel and Gretel in which there is a message from the Takumi that has the season and color that is Matthew's wife's favorite season and color..
There's a haunting mystery (a forest where people voluntarily come to kill themselves), a shot at emotionally compelling drama (a husband and wife not getting along but coming together over the latter's impending demise), some damn fine actors (McConaughey, Watanabe, Watts, need I say more?) and lots of wonderful cinematography.
Let life happen to you some more then come back and watch this movie.
Following a grief-stricken widower who wanders around an isolated forest with a mysterious stranger, the film takes a hard look at what led our protagonist to where he is and also gives insight into accepting death, love and the process of grief.With only three core players in the cast, the setting of the forest, Aokigahara, in Tokyo we really spend most of the time with the characters of Arthur Brennan (Matthew McConaughey) and Nakamura Takumi (Ken Watanabe) while we are provided with flashbacks that outline the relationship between Arthur and his wife, Joan (Naomi Watts).Matthew McConaughey's performance as Arthur is an enigma when we first him as we follow him when heading into Aokigahara.
The film's climactic reveal of Joan's passing absolutely packs an emotional punch as McConaughey pours his heart out in how Arthur feels that he did a disservice to his wife while she was alive, but learns from Watanabe's Takumi that Joan's spirit is with him despite how upset he had been with her in the past and with himself.Supporting players Ken Watanabe and Naomi Watts also bring their best to the story as they are integral to the Arthur's journey.
The audience gets to share in Arthur's grief at losing Joan, but also get to see him change and feel a closeness to his late wife that didn't exist while she was alive.The narrative does take some time to get moving as the camera tracks Matthew McConaughey through the forest and little of the plot is revealed.
Once Ken Watanabe's Takumi is introduced and also the flashbacks to Arthur and Joan's marriage commences, the story does get more interesting and gets to the heart of why McConaughey's Arthur is in Aokigahara.