JAPANESE FILM FESTIVAL: The anti-hero of Miwa Nishikawa's Dear Doctor is Ino (well-known TV comic Tsurube Shofukutei), a country doctor with the kind of face you can’t help but love. With his happy squint, bad-glasses and crinkly features, Doc Ino has the kind of look that inspires trust. It’s like he’s onto some kind of cosmic joke and if you indulge him, he just might let you in on it too. Most of his patients are old and infirm and welcome his regular visits; Ino takes his time, never rushes things. But his good vibes are something of a mask... or perhaps it’s a charade, because Ino’s medicine leaves a lot to be desired.
When he becomes emotionally involved with the widow Kazuko (Kaoru Yachigusa), suffering from chronic stomach pains that point to a condition that’s deadly and urgent, Ino spends his nights swotting over medical books. Soma (Eita), his young intern, a visitor from the city, finds Ino’s personal style inspiring; but he begins to suspect something’s amiss.
Halfway through the film it’s revealed Ino is a fraud; but the tender and fine irony of this really lovely picture, is that for so many of the doctor’s patients, that fact seems irrelevant, since he gave so much hope and comfort to them. Of course, Ino’s behaviour in real world terms is dangerous and irresponsible and Nishikawa doesn’t dodge this implication or mythologise Ino to the point where what he does can be easily forgiven. But what she does convey are the complex emotions that Ino’s fraud give rise to; the narrative is structured as a fragmented flashback beginning with Ino’s sudden disappearance, with much of the second half of the film covering the police investigation into Ino’s past and his 'life’ as a doctor. The cops come away confused and bewildered; if Soma had doubts and his talented and loyal nurse, played by Kimiko Yo, had her suspicions, why didn’t they say anything? Part of the answer, the film says, is that Ino filled a hole in the lives of the people he touched.
Dear Doctor explores the old and unflattering adage that people have a tendency to hide behind a job. Ino did indeed hide behind his role as a doctor, but at the same time he revealed himself. It’s an intriguing paradox that throws the characters here into much soul-searching and self-examination. Still, the movie is far from being a dour piece; it’s often very funny, in a deadpan kind of way, and very moving.
