The Sacramento Japanese Film Festival closed its run of Japanese cinema Sunday with Tetsuya Nakashima’s “Memories of Matsuko,” a brilliant and terrible film that told the life story of a woman named Matsuko, played by Miki Nakatani, destined for sadness and exile.

The film acted as a sort of melting pot of genres, the cinematography being reminiscent of Japanese big-budget cinema and also a touch of Baz Lurhmann thrown in for color and majesty.

“Memories” opens with a young man named Sho, played by Eita, talking about the nature of life and the struggles and dreams of individuals. Spasmodic words flash across the screen throughout the movie, eerily stamping key words like ‘dream,’ ‘love’ and even ‘Wednesday’ into the viewers’ subconscious.

The film tells the story in bitter montages, displaying the hardships and relationships surrounding the title character. Much like “Citizen Kane,” the true identity of the protagonist is difficult to pinpoint, and the two movies draw startling parallels. For instance, both feature a life story within another narrative, both ending with the person in question dying under mysterious circumstances.

The epic nature of the movie is apparent from the stylized opening credits, done as an exact mimic of the famed “Gone With the Wind” credits filled with reddened clouds at dusk and golden letters.

The audience was right along with the characters, engaged in every emotion, reaction and revelation.

“Memories of Matsuko” is not an easy watch. It is a visionary film done by one of the most revolutionary Japanese directors, many say, since Kurosawa. This is a film you will watch and never forget. It is a wonderful, colorful, joyful, awful, honest telling of a humanist story.

MAX’S RATING: A SILENT TEAR, AN INTROSPECTIVE FEELING AND A FRESH APPRECIATION FOR LIFE