I thought the ending was very satisfying indeed. Only in death is he liberated from the shackles that society puts on people, from the inordinate compromises national duty puts on those who hold themselves accountable to their conscience. You say you wanted an ending that befitted the story, but you don't suggest what you believe would have been more fulfilling. It felt like a cop-out for you, but I thought it harmonised well with the preceding tone of the piece, apt considering the inexorable, nihilistic texture of the narrative. In fact, I think just about anything else would have been incongruous.
Apropos the comment made by imsatisfied, what was so unbelieveable about Kaji's moral objections, what was so seemingly impossible about his abortive attempts
to vindicate himself before his conscience? Clarify. History is full of people like Kaji who try to subvert authority, and like Kaji they fail. His plight is a universal one, and your observation seems a trifle obtuse, and random in the extreme. Maybe next time you should delineate just what your criticism is predicated on, because it leaves the reader far too much meaning to infer for himself/herself. The same goes for you Kafkaesque panda. What's unbelievable about the characters? It's very difficult for people to discern your meaning when you do nothing to elaborate on the logic informing that assertion.
Concerning the comment made by Bill about it feeling exaggerated, once again I feel I can only assume that you don't really know what you're talking about, as you have done nothing to substantiate your claim. Maybe you felt that the film was immoderate in regards to the bleak tone of it all, but it behooves you to remember that there was probably intent in the prevailing misery of the narrative, the almost unpunctuated desolation of the imagery, and also that Kobayashi had been in the imperial army at the time of the conflict depicted in this film, so he probably experienced the kind of barbarism and utter degradation that war engenders, therefore he wanted to make his film as uncompromising as possible to allow it's audience no escape from it's message, which might also justify the film's length, which I found only served to augment my apprehension of it. By allowing scenes to repeat as they do, he demands more attention from the viewer, and by extension of that it gives the viewer time to crystalise their emotional and intellectual understanding of what we are being confronted with, not, obviously, that the film has a slow tempo, I'm just referring to the repetitive patterns you alluded to.
As that other great humanist Jean Renoir once said, to say that a film is exaggerated is usually the commonplace response of people who find the verity of the message unpalatable, therefore they negate it. I have no reason to question the veracity of Kobayashi's vision, seeing as he has experience of these things on his side.
As for the scenes of people endlessly trudging about the place, I mean, come on, use your imagination. Maybe the next time you view it you should try to overcome your irritation and intellectualise what you see. As for the repetitivity of the images, in the third film, obviously, once again I would say it is imperative that you remember that Kobayashi was probably endeavouring to preclude any feeling of relief on the audiences behalf, to constantly shove it in our ignorant faces, to multiply the effect. I think that's what makes this one of the most imperishable statements I've seen in the cinema, the fact that Kobayashi makes no concessions to audience expectations, which is what exalts this film to the level of a work of art, to my mind anyway. It may be pure, unadulterated nihilism, apart from some of the more saccharine moments in the first part that makes it inferior to the other two, in my opinion, but it would be insincere to show it any other way.
Finally, I thought that the third film was the pinnacle of the trilogy, where Kobayashi's themes and techniques crystalised, and the abundance of low-angle shots of the crepuscular sky as the characters move endlessly over the unaccommodating plains, created some of the most portentous, apocalyptic visions I can ever recall seeing committed to celluloid, something that no amount of CGI could ever capture. Just a side note.
reply
share