MovieChat Forums > Fukushû suru wa ware ni ari (1979) Discussion > The title (possible spoilers)

The title (possible spoilers)

posted 13 years ago by birthdaynoodle
1 reply | jump to latest

What do you make of the title of the film? Michaek Atkinson explains in his essay, Vengeance Is Mine: Civilization and Its Discontents (on the Criterion Collection's website) that it's inspired from the Bible (Romans 12:19):

Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord."

Does the film suggest that all people eventually pay for their own sins and crimes? The story's infested with sleazy characters and most of them end up killed.

[–] kunoavatar 12 years ago

I kind of felt it tied into Iwao's conversation with Haru's mother on the way back from the boat races. She describes the positive feeling she'd felt when she'd committed murder years before. Iwao says he hasn't felt that at all. Haru's mother laughs, and says something to the effect of, "you just haven't killed the person you want to kill yet."

Of course, neither Haru or her mother really fit that bill, either, but his unborn child might. He speaks with a bit of disgust when he describes a "small version of himself" - it's somewhat a reflection of the self-destructive, hate-filled nature he's harbored his whole life. So, perhaps, ridding the world of a future Iwao, or taking his frustrations out on something so like himself, was the "vengeance" he ultimately wrought.