Suzaku is an elegy to the gradual dissolution of a family and life in a remote timber village. When the economic downturn hits a small mountain village, many people leave, and the construction of the train tunnel that connects the village to the city is suspended. Beginning in the days when the village was full of people and conversations, the film depicts the daily life in a gradually fading village after 15 years. Those who are left realize that life in the village is coming to an end. However, for Michiru, life is shining moments of passing glances, moving emotions, the majestic forest scenery, and the lingering sound of the wind rustling the trees. With a focus on conveying emotions rather than developing a plot or constructing a narrative, the film captures the feelings of a perishing time, like the 8 mm film in the camera owned by Kozo, who leaves home one day never to return home. (HONG Soin)