The Witch of the West Is Dead (2008) - full transcript

She's unconscious.

It doesn't look good.

Mom, the wipers...

Thanks.

Now it all came back.

Two years ago, about now, when

I couldn't go to school any more...

... I spent a month with Grandma,

just the two of us.

THE WITCH OF THE WEST IS DEAD

I'm not going back to school.

It just makes me feel terrible.

All right.

Take some time off, then.

It hasn't even been a month

since you started Grade 7.

You don't have to

decide anything now.

I've got to go.

I'll be back at 6, all right?

Yes.

Arguing will only make her

more stubborn.

The reason?

I don't know...

She's always been

overly sensitive.

She must have had

her feelings hurt.

She's always walked

to a different drum.

She just doesn't fit in.

Anyway, I'm thinking of sending her

to my mother's for a while.

I've heard of other kids

dropping out of school.

I never thought my own daughter

would be one of them.

So how are things with you?

'Doesn't fit in'...

Maybe because she was half-Japanese,

my mother never fit in at school.

Still, she made it through university.

And here I was dropping out of

middle school.

What was my grandmother

going to make of that?

You're looking well.

Mai...

Hello, Grandma.

You're here...

Nothing's changed.

In here?

It's so nice and green

here now.

Yes, it is.

They've widened the road up here.

I was surprised.

They have?

You didn't know?

Thank you.

That's a nice breeze.

Masao says hello.

The new factory's starting up,

so he couldn't get back.

You've got more herbs.

How many kinds do you have now?

I don't know...

That's lavender, isn't it.

About Mai...

I don't think

it's all that big a deal.

She's always been very sensitive.

I think that's the reason.

Out here she can get over it.

It might be hard for you, though...

'Doesn't fit in'...

I'll be glad to have Mai here.

I'm happy we have a girl

just like her.

I've always loved my grandma.

'Grandma, I love you'

I'd say sometimes...

... and she'd give a little smile

and answer...

Mai...

What?

Go pick some lettuce and

nasturtium for making sandwiches.

OK.

Is this OK?

Yes.

Please wash them and

put them in here.

How many leaves?

Oh, three or four.

Thank you.

Mai, bring a plate

from the cabinet, please.

This one?

Yes, we'll use those plates

at most meal-times.

Go get your cup from the car.

I have cups.

She brought her own.

Oh.

And bring the luggage.

By myself?

Use the cart.

Hello.

Who are you?

This is my grandma's house.

Here for a visit?

I'm staying a while.

I'm sick.

Well, ain't you something!

What's your problem?

A weird man was looking in the car.

That's probably Genji-san.

Genji-san?

Did he come back?

Who is he? Where does he live?

Mai, why don't you sit down?

That's a nice cup.

Genji lives in the house

at the foot of the lane.

He does odd jobs for me.

The place with the dogs barking?

That's right.

So he's divorced?

I don't know. He seems to be

living there alone, though.

Does he come here a lot?

Not that often.

Anyway, which bedroom

would you like?

Grandpa's room, or your mother's?

I'll take Mom's.

Is it still how I left it?

Yes.

I'd better go tidy it up.

Right now?

I can't keep Mai waiting...

She's gone...

...to put away things

she doesn't want you to see.

You've got things that you don't

want people to see, don't you?

As one grows up, there are

more and more of those things.

That's the room

your mother grew up in...

...so she has a lot of them in there.

Is Grandpa's room

still full of rocks?

Yes. It's just the same.

He loved rocks, didn't he.

I loved this picture of Grandpa.

He was a science teacher

at a middle-school.

Grandma had come from England...

... all alone, to be

an English teacher there.

They got married....

... then had my mother,

which is why I'm here.

Somehow that's amazing.

Mom?

Good morning.

Your mother left early.

She said she had to get to work.

Yeah.

This is too much.

Today we will be working

up on the hill.

Doing what?

First eat your breakfast,

then take a walk up there.

A walk?

Wow!

For now, 'escape'.

Mai!

Let's get picking!

Mai, open your mouth.

It tastes of the hill.

Your grandpa loved

wild-strawberry jam.

He'd put it on anything.

The only time he ever gave up

was when he tried it...

...with cucumber.

Cucumber?!

And he never put it

on green vegetables again.

Did Mom help you here?

No.

There weren't any strawberries

here then.

They only started really growing here

the year after Grandpa died.

Like a present from him.

It really was.

Because that day...

...when I first found

a carpet of strawberries here...

...was my birthday.

Your grandpa never once...

...forgot my birthday.

You must have been really happy.

I was so happy...

...I squatted down here

and I cried.

You're stronger than you look.

Isn't all that sugar bad for you?

It's fine.

You never eat that much jam

all at once...

...and the sweeter it is,

the longer it keeps.

Mix that slowly, will you?

You're good at that.

Mai, trade with me.

Having you help me this year...

...made things a lot easier.

I'll come and help next year,

and every year after that.

The jam we made

had all the bittersweetness...

... of the plants in the woods

behind the house.

You have a good sense of color.

This mint green is beautiful.

What are you sewing?

An apron for someone.

This is one of

your mother's old nightgowns.

I'll make the top

into a smock for you.

And the hem can be

an apron for the kitchen.

Grandma, I love you!

Do you know what a witch is?

A witch?

Someone who rides on a broom?

Not quite, but that's the idea.

I've seen them on TV...

They really do exist.

My grandmother was one.

She could see into the future,

and she was clairvoyant.

My grandfather came to Japan once,

more than a hundred years ago.

My grandmother was only 19 then.

They were engaged.

One afternoon

she was crocheting...

...some doilies for when

they were to be married.

Then suddenly,

right in front of her...

...she saw the sea at night,

and my grandfather swimming...

...all alone.

Something made her call out,

'Go right! '

At that very same time,

my grandfather had been on a ship...

...and he'd slipped somehow

and fallen overboard.

But the ship just kept on going.

There was nothing else to do

but start swimming after it.

After a while he began to think

he was lost...

...and he called out Grandma's name.

And right then...

...he suddenly heard her dear voice

calling out to him.

'Go right! '

He turned to his right

and started swimming.

Soon he reached the shore,

and he was safe.

He told my grandmother

about this experience in a letter.

She wrote back saying she was happy

he was safe, but nothing else.

Why not?

She should have said

'it was me who saved you.'

That's what those times were like.

Grandma, do you think

the witch thing runs in our family?

Absolutely.

But...

...I don't have power like that.

Oh?

That night I had a dream.

Go west!

'Morning, Grandma.

Good morning, Mai.

Tum off the water, please.

Mai, come over here.

Do you know what these leaves are?

Narcissus?

Not quite.

What is it?

Garlic.

Garlic? Where are the cloves?

You have to dig them up.

If you plant garlic

between rose bushes...

...it keeps bugs away,

and the roses smell better.

I love it here.

I wonder if I have witch's blood...

... like Grandma

was talking about last night....

Grandma...

...could I get

supernatural powers...

...if I try hard?

No, forget it.

It takes a lot of work, you know.

You'd have to do

basic training first.

I'll try.

How do you do 'basic training'?

Well, for sports, you have to

strengthen your body, don't you.

In the same way...

...to do magic or work miracles

you need strength of spirit.

Training to strengthen

your spirit...

Zen?

It's a bit early for that,

I think.

So how?

Well...

First, early to bed and early to rise.

You eat properly,

and get lots of exercise.

Good, regular habits.

Right away you're disappointed

at a very simple thing.

But for you that very simple thing

will be the hardest to overcome.

Yeah. I'm really bad

at things like that.

To become a witch...

...the most important thing

is strength of will.

The power to make up your mind...

...and do

what you've decided to do.

Until you can overcome

that most difficult part...

...you might not get what you want.

But give it a try anyway.

I'll try...

...to give it a try.

I'm glad to hear that.

All right, now decide

how you'll spend your day...

...from the time you get up

till when you go to bed.

Write it on a piece of paper

and put it on the wall.

What time do you wake up?

6 o'clock.

I'll never do that. I'll try for 7.

Then we can have breakfast together.

That means going to bed at 11.

But will I sleep then?

What's your usual bedtime?

2 or 3 am.

I decided on a schedule.

Mornings were for exercise:

laundry and cleaning.

Afternoons: study or reading.

And then, bed at 11.

Good night.

Mai...

...l've never once thought

you were weak-willed.

I think I am.

Mai?

Come in...

What's that?

A charm to help you sleep well.

Thanks. Good night, Grandma.

Onions?

Mai!

Yes?

It's 7 o'clock.

OK!

Get dressed

and go get the eggs, please.

Thus began

my training as a witch.

It was a lot different

from what I'd expected...

... but it was new,

so it was fun.

Time to eat!