MovieChat Forums > Japón (2003) Discussion > Decoding the title...

Decoding the title...


Myself being a Mexican, am very proud of this movie. Although, the fact that many people here do not like it is understandable, sadly. While there isn't a myriad of mexican movies released a year, the ones that are, are without question shameful. Why good movies from this country are so ebbed away? We seem to have filmschools somewhere, i think... Anyway, while speaking to a Japanese foreign student, i brought the title of the movie in case and informed me that in the XIX century, people who were already in the elderly stages of their life(commonly women), were taken to the mountains so they could die there. Legend says, such thing was done by the eldest son in the family, who often was also in charge of killing him/her. The mountain where this act was held was called "Ubasute-yama", which translates in something along the lines of "where is thrown away old people".

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Wooo great note... i always wondered why Reygadas got this name to his movie.

Saludos Paisano!

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I've read that the title refers to Japan's flag, specifically to the image of the rising sun. But I think the insight you've shared seems much more accurate, and poetic.

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If you rent the DVD you can see a lengthy interview with the director where he reluctantly explains the title. He said he preferred works of art to remain unnamed, but with a film even calling it 'Untitled' would be pretentious, so he had to name it something. As with his other works, he named it at the very end of filming. He didn't want a very obvious name. The film is about how there's always a new day, and the sun rises in Japan, so he decided to call it that. He did say the sun also rises in Taiwan and Korea, but the associations with those two countries don't hit the right note for him (for instance when he thinks of Taiwan he thinks of electronics).

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^^^ this is the correct answer, which I can say with 100% confidence, as I just now watched the interview being cited


The ironic thing is that coconuts are, in fact, migratory.

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Wow now i understand the part of the man and the dead horse at the top of the mountain, btw what does it means the aprt when a lot of boys pass infront of he?

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You are describing the brilliant "Narayama bushiko" (The Ballad of Narayama), which won Cannes Palme d'Or in 1983.

(thanks IMDB, I just found out that there was an 1958 version of that story!)

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Just accept that the director felt his urine was worth drinking, and that the film could have easily been called:

Earth,
Manure,
Grass,
Taxi,
Dunnhart,
Beetle,
U.N.,
Gas,

I mean... this guy is from a rich family, and he's been know to be intensely addicted to marihuana. People... don't try to guess what the director is trying to say, when he himself doesn't even know or care.

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The story of the movie is "universal". I mean, can occur in the mountains of Mexico or can occur in the mountains of "Japón" (Japan).

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I dont think i actually "understood" this movie, but i liked it. the more i watched the more intrigued i was. like a lot of people said in these treads, i was waiting 4 something to happen, and that was not the strange ending, imo, but it was all the movie that have happened. kind of like a crude, sad joke. just like how death ends life.
hey, talking about decoding the title, how bout this? ive read in various treads valid (if vague) reasons as 4 why the name, mostly related to the oriental feel, the motif of the rising sun, peculiar japanese traditions regarding the elder, a tribute to other directors, or no reason at all. maybe the title references all this matters in a tangential way, just like the movie references its contents (life-sex-death) tangentialy. i mean, its nothing concrete, it is a description of the place from wich u could get an image of it all. too metaphoric? maybe i didnt get it, but as i said, i liked it.
Ever heard the story of why Lennon became interested in Yoko (hehe, a japanese, by the way)? He went to her art exposition in London, saw a tall stair up to the ceiling, climbed on top and there was a magnifying glass attached to a cord, and a tiny word written just above the stair. He looked through the glass and it read "yes". This movie is just like that, but when u read the word, its "maybe" (or possibly "theres nothing here 4 u to read").

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<<He looked through the glass and it read "yes". >>

I wish it would have read 'dont leave the beatles and youll live to be an old man'



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Maybe he likes the movie "Brazil."

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yeah
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