Pool 2009

Chiang Mai, Thailand. The story of five people over six days, gathered around a small pool. Leaving behind her daughter and her mother four years ago, Kyoko (Satomi Kobayashi) moves to Thailand and begins working at a guesthouse in the outskirts of Chiang Mai. Her daughter, Sayo (Kana), arrives in Chiang Mai Airport to visit her mother before she graduates from college. But she's picked up not by her mother but by her helper, Ichio (Ryo Kase). At the guesthouse (which features a small pool), Sayo meets a young Thai boy named Bie (Sittichai Kongpila) and the owner, Kikuko (Masako Motai), who has a mysterious aura about her. Seeing her mother for the first time in a while, she struggles to come to terms with the sight of her enjoying a life among these strangers. Meanwhile, Bie hopes to one day reunite with his long-lost mother, Ichio's attempt to help find Bie's mother ends up backfiring, and Kikuko lives with the knowledge that her days are numbered. Each person faces their reality and accepts it, all while continuing to think of those around them. Meeting them, Sayo soon finds her heart opening up, little by little. On the fourth night, while eating a hot pot dinner prepared by Ichio, Sayo confronts Kyoko with the question that has been eating at her: Why did her mother abandon her to go to Thailand? The landscape of their hearts reflects off the glistening surface of the pool water. By the time Sayo heads to the airport to return to Japan, she encounters with these people - all of whom live in a place they enjoy, living a free and modest life - has slowly but surely changed something inside her.