i have to admit that i was recently, casually, & completely blown away by 1981’s Eki / Station.

in this film we have a hokkaido cop who gets sucked into a deep hokkaido winter, a season which is given nearly as much of a character role as the actors.

and, everybody knows that “winter” is a character. it just is.

the least character-y season to me is spring, though i can’t tell if that’s because it’s september and i’m looking forward to winter, or because i’m in a reflective mood, and spring energy doesn’t really feel that appealing right now.

either way, the sheer loneliness in this film absolutely crosses the line.

Eki (yes, that means “train station”) truly plays up the sense of loneliness around the main character to the point where it’s just inescapable.

everyone around him reflects it, absorbs it, casually tosses it around. the landscape, the people, hell, even the bright orange coin-operated TV set in the isolated hotel room.

loneliness is a schedule III controlled substance in this film.

and actually, that reminds me that it’s like that everywhere.

loneliness has addictive properties:

• it forces a return to a focus on the self,
  • which pretty much everybody needs in different ways
• it gives instant protection from self-expression,
  • which also everybody needs
• it provides protection from dopamine,
  • same here – everybody needs that sometimes

if that seems weird to write all those compliments to loneliness, let me just make it clear that this is a bit more of a logical topic for me due to my line of work,

and i’m not here to write an ad for “not being lonely.”

(if you want to resolve some personal loneliness, one thing you do is express yourself. IDK if i’m here to self-help for my readers today though.)

but really, those unique benefits from experiencing loneliness are SOLID.

people will even just automatically DO what loneliness wants them to, because of the subconsciously-understood benefit. those benefits take place from stage 1, moreso the more we are aware of ourselves.

this film is solid in that way. you can use this film’s loneliness to really ask,

“what is WRONG with loneliness anyway,”

because it’s just so damn beautiful.

…within a certain range, amplitude, and frequency maybe, but the same is true with ice cream or anything else.

(again, if praise for loneliness makes anyone uncomfortable – i swear this is not meant to make anyone feel worse! i know i’m also lucky that i can celebrate it a bit here.)

and that’s just one question, but an important one to at least think about,

and i have met a lot of lonely people and wish for all of them that they can find the right place from which to ask it.

Filed in: Thinking /71/ | Therapeutic Practice /148/ | Movies & Films /6/