Dying at a Hospital, 1993

A film by Ichikawa Jun about what it is like to die in a hospital. It is a very slow and long-drawn film, but that creates the effect of time slowing down at the end... As one of the characters say in the film, "TV shows aren't realistic 'cos the patients in the hospitals get well too fast."

The blurb on Singapore Film Society's website:

This film comprises the stories of various families dealing with death inside a hospital – a young father dying slowly, an elderly couple in separate hospitals who want to be together and a woman who fights to stay alive. Ichikawa deliberately shoots his actors' fine performances from a distance – middle and long shots, no close-ups – painting a realistic picture of people dealing with death. Interspersed with these stories are lyrical montages of life outside the hospital. The end result is a hopeful yet sensitive treatment of life and living. By Ichikawa's own admission, this is “perhaps the closest [he's] come to an Ozu movie”.