MovieChat Forums > Hana to Arisu (2004) Discussion > Snail symbolism?

Snail symbolism?

posted 17 years ago by davyboone
3 replies | jump to latest

I love this movie, and I got most of it, there is just a small part int he movie I didn't quite get, I asume some of this might have to do with certain symbolism things have in Japan that western people are not aware of.

In the movie, Masashi talks about a dream about how he is beeing chased by a snail, and when he turns around it's changed into Hana, so he asks her who she is, and then she's a snail again. Afther that scene, hana washes her hands, but becaus there is no more watter, she has to leave with soap on her hands, and that seem to freak out Masashi.

The soap on her hands is most likely freaking him out becaus it makes him think about how Hana is that snail (the soapy residue looks a bit like the slime of a snail maybe), but I don't get the whole snail thing, anyone who could help me out here? :)

[–] juveniledelinquentk 17 years ago

I don't think it was supposed to be symbolic, it's just a comedic moment in the film

I've got knives in my eyes, I'm going home sick

[–] 17 years ago

[deleted]

[–] rooprect 10 years ago

On the DVD "Making Of", Shunji Iwai says a lot of the film was ad-libbed. In a later clip we see everyone sitting at a table talking about the snail/slug dream (on my DVD the subtitles say 'slug'), and 2 people insist that Shunji had told them he actually had that dream once. But Shunji doesn't seem to recall it.

So, according to the DVD, it didn't seem to have a lot of symbolic significance, except that maybe most people regard slugs as sticky & gross, and so Masashi's dream would symbolize him trying to escape from Hana because he's subconsciously repulsed.

But I stumbled on something interesting... slugs have one of the most intricate courtship/mating rituals of all the animals (including, as you might guess, an exchange of slime). It's possible, if not probable, that Shunji was alluding to this in Hana's elaborate pursuit of Masashi and of course the exchange of slime in the rain.