A sensitive and nuanced exploration of motherhood and adoption, Naomi Kawase’s “True Mothers” tells the story of two women whose lives collide.
We’re first introduced to Satoko (Hiromi Nagasaku) and Kiyokazu (Arata Iura), a middle class couple excitedly preparing for parenthood. Aware of the fact that a baby will irrevocably change their adventurous, comfortable lifestyle but undeterred by the sacrifices they’ll have to make, Satoko and Kiyokazu are stunned to realize that deciding to start a family doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll be capable of doing so. Kiyokazu has a medical issue that will require him to undergo painful surgical procedures for the couple to have any hope of conceiving.
Eventually, the couple decide to remain childless: out of town medical appointments, procedures, and the emotional cost of the undertaking prove too much to bear. But immediately after resigning themselves to this fate they see a TV episode focused on adoption — a viewing experience that encourages them to think about parenthood in a new light. They can be parents without being biological parents.
An adoption agency introduces Satoko and Kiyokazu to Hikari (Aju Makita), a 14-year-old mother with a baby boy. After a brief interaction with a highly emotional Hikari, the couple take the boy, whom they name Asato, home.
It’s difficult to watch Hikari’s story play out. An idyllic romance culminates in the middle schooler becoming pregnant before she’s even had her first period. By the time she learns she’s pregnant, it’s too late for her to get an abortion, and her parents decide she’ll give the baby up for adoption, despite her protests. Hikari wants to keep the baby and raise him, but her feelings are barely acknowledged, let alone respected. Her parents offer little emotional support and send her away to housing run by a non-profit for the duration of her pregnancy. When she returns, she will pretend she was sick. It will be like the pregnancy never happened.
Hikari does as her parents say, but when she returns home after giving birth, she can’t forget all that she’s experienced — and won’t get to experience — with Asato. She’s changed, but the expectation seems to be for her to go back to normal. No one is invested in hearing her thoughts or feelings — they just want her to put the past year or so of her life behind her, and to spare the rest of the family further humiliation and discomfort.
Satoko and Kiyokazu have one another throughout their fertility struggles, but Hikari, who is barely into her teen years, is very much on her own. It’s not long before she decides to leave home entirely and start life anew.
Years later, a desperate Hikari contacts Satoko and Kiyokazu — she wants her baby back or cash, and threatens to expose the fact that Asato is adopted.
What sounds like a melodramatic premise plays out much differently. Contrary to her expectations, Satoko and Kiyokazu haven’t erased their son’s biological mother. Unlike her own parents, Satoko and Kiyokazu recognize her role in bringing a child into the world — a child they’ve loved and cared for ever since.
“True Mothers” is a tribute to both mothers, and while Satoko and Hikari’s stories are equally compelling, the film is most moving when the women are brought together. Their reunion comprises “True Mother’s” emotional core, and it’s both painful and beautiful to witness.
“True Mothers” is now in virtual cinemas.
