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The Film's Message: Never Arrive! (Spoilers, BTW)

posted 20 years ago by drn5
24 replies | jump to latest

I love this film so much, and the ending is one of my favourites ever. I got irritated, though, when reading various reviews that mentioned criticized the lack of resolution at the end and claimed the film was too bleak. Talk about missing the point!

Chiyoko dies never having found the Man with the Key and it looks as though the film's message is 'at last, she will find her lover in Heaven and her life will be complete.' But it isn't anything so cheesy! Instead, Chiyoko, in her spaceship, announces "It's the chasing that I really love!" and hurtles off into infinity and beyond.

Dreaming of a future lover is more fun than actually winning their love. Playing a game is more fun than winning. Researching an essay is more fun than handing it in. Seeking the meaning of life is more fun than finding it.

Go Chiyoko! Keep dreaming and chasing! But never, never arrive!!

[–] hho_chh 20 years ago

I cannot agree more! I guess this is just not one of the typical hollywood movies some mediocre critic want to see. For me, this ending is much more poetic and moving than a "happy ending."

"A thing is a hole in a thing it is not." - Carl Andre

[–] LotusSlinger 20 years ago

Yes!Nicely said,drn5

A little madness in the spring is wholesome even for a king

[–] rainbow_blight 20 years ago

I definitely agree. Chiyoko was kept alive and young by her search for him; her transition as a middle-aged woman probably came about because she lost her key.

Still, that didn't stop me frow bawling my eyes out when the old police man told Genya that he had killed the Man with the Key.

[–] Crystal (534) 5 years ago

Well young at heart. She still would had grown old if she had the key.

[–] aridice 20 years ago

I still think this dream is problematic... Why base your life on something that does not exist? I wonder when a goal becomes problematic and unhealthy and an obsession. Have you seen utena the movie? it's got nearly the very exact premise but a VERY different story.

[–] dont_b_so_BBC 19 years ago

The ending is only problematic if you're the "practical" kind of the person who need to live/work for something practically/ immediately within reach. The first humans to dream about flying/ going to space can't be seen as failures even though they didn't realise their dreams. She merely looked back on her life and concluded the chase (for love/ etc.) had been worth her while...

[–] disconinja 19 years ago

I couldn't agree more, drn5. Well put!

[–] ncsumikey 18 years ago

Wow very nice.

And I wonder if people were upset with the ending because maybe... it ended? I really did not want the movie to end when she went in her spaceship. I so wanted to see what that would have looked.

[–] alf-79 18 years ago

and the pursuit of happiness! (Thomas Jefferson)

[–] fasta 18 years ago

I agree! Chasing is the most interesting part (at least in the movie)! This leaves a romatic feel to the whole story. If Chiyoko had in fact found the man with the key and married him, they will turn out just like any other couples in the world. How plain for a movie.

[–] Minos24 18 years ago

I had mixed emotions about the ending. I really enjoyed the film. Yet, people can get a little swayed by the conclusion.

I did. I was really sad that she never got to meet the man with the painting. At the same time, I enjoyed how each film had the same theme of persistence and love that goes beyond measure. But was it an unhealthy obsession that robbed her of life?

Yet, is it safe to say that her love was a passion, not an obsession. A passion is an emotion that comes from the heart, an obsession comes from the mind, two different ways you can interpret her love. That's your judgment call.

I believed in some ways she should have moved on, and she did to some extent, like when she mentions to the older man in the beginning that she put that incident out of her mind for a long time. So it seems like life was going on, until the man brought back the key and her lost memories.

So, definitely pesistence is a key theme in this film. The chase is as thrilling, but some people mentioned above that the chase is more thrilling than the goal. That can't be the case, because if there was no goal, then why do anything? The film really makes you think, is the hunt worth it? She did get married, which is a good thing, because sometimes some situations can go out of an individiual's hands.

Interesting comparison, Chiyoko's story is very similar to Memoirs of a Geisha's Chiyo (Sayuri), whose dedication of becoming a geisha had the sole purpose of seeking a forbidden love in the chairman. She used her talents as a geisha as a means to try to reach for the Chairman. For Chiyoko, she mentions that she did not really care for making films, she saw it as a means to find the mysterious man.

[–] lilbubbles78 18 years ago

"Dreaming of a future lover is more fun than actually winning their love. Playing a game is more fun than winning. Researching an essay is more fun than handing it in. Seeking the meaning of life is more fun than finding it. "

This is certainly mixed. You are absolutely wrong about dreaming for a future lover is more fun than actually winning their love. Companionship beats the chase 100% of the time. That's why you're chasing. Seeking the meaning of life and never finding it is not preferable to finding the meaning of life. Finding it is far better. Your other metaphors are true, but don't really apply to this film. Chiyoko was searching for a lover. To prefer to chase that over achieving it doesn't ring true, which is why this film is lame. Never arrive? If you've never going to arrive, don't bother leaving.

[–] 18 years ago

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The Film's Message: Never Arrive! (*Spoilers, BTW*)

The Film's Message: Never Arrive! (Spoilers, BTW)