VACATION (Japan, 2008)
Directed by: Hajime Kadoi
Starring: Kaoru Kobayashi, Ren Osugi, Nene Otsuka, Hidetoshi Nishijima
Prisoner #350 Shinichi Kaneda (Hidetoshi Nishijima) doesn't know it yet, but he's going to die in two days, and stalwart, kindly-faced guard Toru Hirai (Kaoru Kobayashi) is going to walk him through it.  Hirai has taken up the responsibility of holding Kaneda's legs during his final death spasms as he is hanged, and seeing to it that his neck breaks.  In return for his intestinal fortitude, Hirai will receive a rare gift: A week's vacation so he can go on his honeymoon with a bride he barely knows.  The job terrifies Hirai, who has been a "support person" before and was scarred by the experience, but he needs the money, and we all have responsibilities.

VACATION is the sophomore effort from director Hajime Kadoi, a stark, unrelenting, yet distinctly humanistic drama about life, death, and the obligations in-between.  The film is based on a short story by Akira Yoshimura, who penned the novel which inspired Shohei Imamura's arthouse classic THE EEL, and despite bleak subject matter, it's become an unexpected box office success in Japan.  In VACATION, Kadoi presents a dual-track tale about people in difficult situations: On the first track, we follow Hirai and the rest of the prison staff (including the legendary Ren Osugi) as they struggle to keep the facts from Kaneda and arrange the logistics of his routine, "by the book" execution without losing their nerves in the process.  On the second, we watch as middle-aged, lonely Hirai prepares for his impending arranged nuptials to a young, divorced single mother, Mika (Nene Otsuka).  Bride and groom don't know quite what to make of each other, but Mika's young son Tatsuya (Shusei Uto) has already made up his mind about his "new daddy" and wants no part of him.  Like the quiet, artistic Kaneda in Cell 3, who has detached from outside life and won't even speak to his sister, all Tatsuya cares about is scribbling in his sketchbook.  As the wedding preparations grow increasingly awkward, and the guards squabble over ethics, morality and the banal cruelties of the job, Hirai can do little more than face front, eyes forward, moving one footfall at a time towards destinations which were never in doubt, regardless of a troubled heart.  When the hour approaches and Hirai begins final preparations, we will be treated to every excruciating second of the execution process - we will know his pain.

It's VACATION's matter-of-fact, spartan honesty about the bureaucracy of death that sets it apart from Hollywood "death row weeper" fare like DEAD MAN WALKING or THE GREEN MILE; Kadoi denies us the swelling strings, tearful confessions, and cathartic prisoner/guard clinches we have been trained to expect.  The guards don't coddle Kaneda, remaining terse and at arm's length, and those that break from protocol in a minor show of sympathy are revealed to have only exacerbated a bad situation.  The introverted Hirai does not share heart-to-hearts with a prisoner he clearly has empathy for, as it's outside his job description.  What's more, the men are all human - none of the guards are cruel sadists or death-crazed authoritarians.  When the moment is upon them, the entire guard staff is on edge, traumatized.  They've been here before, and they'll be back again as long as their trying work pays the bills.  Kaneda may be in a cell, but in the penal system, these unthinkable responsibilities have their own sets of bars, and before Hirai can marry Mika he must face the interminable wait for a metal hatch to open, and the horrifying intimacy of being the "support person" for a dead man.  Yet after all the quiet horror, Kadoi has a clear and distinct sympathy and understanding for all his characters, refusing to judge them or the death penalty, merely examining their struggles in a series of closed systems.  And in the end, there are always moments of hope and tenderness, as Hirai faces his new life and embraces Tatsuya, telling him, "I'm sorry."  For what, who knows.