The memories of World War II grow dimmer in the Japanese collective consciousness, but, as the month in 1945 that the war ended, August is a time of remembrance and of sharing stories among family or in the media. Of these, love stories come few and far between, primarily because love affairs were taboo under Japan's military rule.
Which is why such a film as "Remembrance" will strike a chord that other WWII films simply can't. It's about a romantic relationship that blossoms in Auschwitz, withers at the end of the war and blooms anew in 1976, when the protagonists are in their 50s and have each long given up on finding the other alive.
Directed by Anna Justice, "Remembrance" is a powerfully intimate portrayal of passion and deliverance from the past. It's also a tribute to a time when relationships seemed to have monumental meaning and memories haunted the consciousness long, long after the world chose to forget and move on.