Ken Mihara (Hidetoshi Nishijima) is an actor at the top of his game in 1965, on the set of his latest film with co-star Keiko (Yumi Aso), who is due to retire as soon as the film is wrapped. 35 years later Ken (Johnny Yoshinaga) finds himself back on the set of the “Doctor Samejima” movie, based on a popular television series. The role is small, the film’s director and crew display a stunning disregard for quality, yet it gives Ken a final chance to perform on screen.
Famed for his horror fare, director Hideo Nakata (Ring, Dark Water) delivers a more subtle and intriguing drama with “Last Scene”. Beginning with what seem’s like a 1960’s Nakata-esque horror, we pull back to see that we are on a film set. What follows is a meta-drama, showing us behind the scenes of two productions in the 60’s and the 2000’s. Alongside Ken seeing visions of his deceased wife, who encourages him through his alcoholism and difficulty in performing, the film also suggests a curious connection between artifice and reality, occasionally blurring the lines between Ken’s life on screen and off. These moments, the inexplicable blaring of a car horn that is parked on set presaging a car accident, or the apparent coincidences in the characters he plays and Ken’s own story, are the strongest part of the film, and create a subtext that is deeply poignant hidden beneath the ofttimes farcical proceedings on set. Both Nishijima, as the arrogant star, and Yoshinaga, as the jaded elder actor, deliver excellent performances.
“Last Scene” is a rumination on life and legacy, as the protagonist comes to terms with both the final days of his career and his life. As Ken struggles to deliver his lines in his final scene, we sense that he is dealing with a far greater worry, of how to let go of this life and move on to the next. We also have a lament for the faded glories of film-making, being slowly taken over by television, losing the magic of grand narratives to the economies of fast-productions and smaller budgets. It is an emotional eulogy to the past, considering what is left when the lights have gone out and our last words have been spoken.
