In the end we see the mountain with the bird people flying around it....
The ending is supposed to carry a message, but it's not made clear (of course).... can the bird people really fly? What does the last scene mean to you? What are your interpretations?
~Laugh and the world laughs with you. Weep and you weep alone~
Does it really matter? This movie was just generic art-house escapism. A poor man's "Brazil", if you will.
shareI don't know Ali but I wondered the same thing. The biggest message I carried was about the inexorable rise of modernity and industrialism, especially with him being on the train at the end back in Tokyo. I think the people flying was maybe not meant to be taken literally, but instead to suggest that "flying" (which is a mythical ability in many mythologies across the world), as in myths and traditions, will still remain in some corners no matter what level of industrialism comes. You can see in this film Miike playing out many of modern Japan's (and other countries) desire to "progress" but also fears of losing the traditions and stories that make up their culture. You could substitute the story of the bird people with a million other similar myths in many places across the globe and it would carry the same message. That is why I love this film so much. Even though the themes are specifically Japanese, the messages are universal. Sorry to answer your post three years after you posted it, but I just saw the movie recently lol.
shareDidn't flying symbolize an impossible dream somehow? So flying here is like a metaphor for the dream to remain pure in a world that becomes more amd more poisoned by "progress". In the end the flying symbolize that the dream is somehow kept alive by the people, the dreamers.
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