Toward the Wilderness

Directed by Takayoshi Watanabe

Morimura Tomomi is a housewife scorned by her husband and two sons, and yet she continues to protect the family. On her 46th birthday, she leaves home in disgust and embarks on a 1,200 km journey. It is Tomomi’s first time driving onto the highway and she speeds along to the west. On the road, she encounters a series of traumatising episodes. She detects her husband’s affair, is faced with a truck driver who mistakes her for a prostitute housewife, and finally her car gets stolen. While Tomomi is at a loss, a good-looking young man and an elderly person give her a ride, and she arrives in Nagasaki. As she meets various people in this town which was once transformed into a wasteland because of the atomic bomb, she becomes aware of a “wilderness” within her and starts to explore the path to rebirth