Social isolation can be about forced loneliness, like the case of losing a husband or wife, versus chosen solitude, like the case of a loner who thinks a man is an island and he does not want to have any friends. An acclaimed screenwriter Robert Zemeckis said, “We don’t function well as human beings when we’re in isolation.”
A lost sense of purpose is a profound state of feeling unmotivated, empty and disengaged, where daily jobs become meaningless, and one cannot find joy or direction in life.
We all get old. Some old people are positive while some are facing sadness due to the above 2 conditions, often plus the other reasons such as health issues and decreased financial independence. These factors may lead to grief and despair.
There have been 2 famous Western movies about driving an old lady who is suffering from aging.
Driving Madeleine (美好走一回) is a 2022 French-Belgian drama film. It follows a 92-year-old woman, Madeleine, who takes a scenic and nostalgic taxi ride across Paris with a disgruntled driver, Charles, sharing stories of her dramatic life before moving to a nursing home.
Driving Miss Daisy (山水喜相逢) is an Oscar-winning film that explores the evolving the 25-year friendship between Daisy, a sharp-tongued elderly widow and Hoke, her good African American chauffeur. It highlights themes of aging and prejudice.
The movie now being shown in Hong Kong is a Japanese one: Tokyo Taxi (東京的士：回憶里程). It is directed by the 94-year-old Yoji Yamada (山田洋次) who has made 91 films and is well-regarded by critics around the world. The film, a remake of Driving Madeleine, stars 2 respectable actors Chieko Baisho (倍賞千惠子) who is 84 years old, and Takuya Kimura (木村拓哉) who is 53 years old. Baisho, because of the film, won the Best Actress award in the 49th Japan Academy Film Prize event.
The story is about a poor taxi driver who takes an 85-year-old woman on a day-long journey across Tokyo, covering streets, roads, avenues, lanes…She just closed down her beauty parlour and was on her way to a nursing home in the faraway Hayama to have a long stay till she dies. The old lady requests several emotional detours to her past memorable places during the poignant journey. She unfolds a touching tale of her story for the past 80 years, inclusive of her love, war, conflict and even a murder case. The fatalistic coincidental encounters move mutually their hearts. Suddenly, her bad news comes…
The old lady prefers talking to a taxi-driver because it offers a judgment-free space, lower emotional stakes and the freedom to be honest. She feels happier after the comfortable sharing of her personal secrets with the stranger on the car that she is fond of. When affection unites these 2 strangers, fate can never separate their souls although physically they may not be able to meet again.
The tempo of the film is artistically slow but the mood is emotionally tense. The wise conversations exchanged between the 2 characters have the power to dissolve an audience into the vast ocean of faint misery and deep thought!
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