MovieChat Forums > Tonî Takitani (2005) Discussion > i know this seems like a dumb question

i know this seems like a dumb question

posted 18 years ago by jma9000
9 replies | jump to latest

firstly, i really enjoyed this film. they way it flowed sucked me in...it was about 2 am when i started it, and had no intention of actually sitting thru the whole thing. by the end, i was very glad i did; the feelings it left me with were both beautiful and terribly sad at the same time. the direction style was spellbinding, as was the ambient music and the sound of the narrators japanese (though i couldn't understand=). i also enjoyed how the actors cut in with parts of the narration. subtle yet so important to the work.
one thing was lost on me, however, and i will risk sounding a fool to have this ignorance remedied. how the hell did she die? i remember when she turned the car around to go back for her coat and dress, and hearing tires squeal in the rain. i thought even then, something bad may happen. but i know she made it home, b/c she collapses on her bed...did i miss her taking some pills or something? i was nearing exhaustion as this was towards the end of the movie which puts it at roughly 3:30 am...since i was watching it on tv i couldn't rewatch the scene...i don't think i got up for any reason but still, i feel missed a crucial part. unless it was one of those where, intentionally, the death wasn't ever fully explained (her illness simply consumes her) and thats why i'm left wondering a bit. it doesn't change much in the story for me, i'm just very curious. thanks!

[–] 18 years ago

[deleted]

[–] jma9000 18 years ago

it happened to be on again the other night, at that exact part, and as i watched i realized my mistake....i just messed up the sequence in my head...thanks!

[–] monicomedia 18 years ago

I was uncertain she had actually died until much later in the movie. He never straight up said "She Died", it was more eluded to by the way he said she was simply "gone". I think it really added to the lonliness and tension that built through out. This was a quiet,sad, lonely movie - quite beautiful and stirring actually.

[–] InsanelyQuiet 18 years ago

Yeah Tony never actually says she died, however the narrator says she died when the person he hires to be his assistant is trying on his wifes clothes.

[–] g6birdman 18 years ago

In the scene after the squealing tires, when he comes home with the white box and then grabs the spray bottle - the white box contains the ashes/bones of his cremated wife - and is the sign that she did actually die. A Japanese cultural thing, I didn't know, but my wife(Japanese) pointed it out to me.

[–] Hamster 18 years ago

Indeed, my Japanese wife also knew immediately the wife had died when she saw that scene of Tony bringing home the white box.

[–] ericjia 17 years ago

Tony's wife died in a collision when she was rushing back to the store in the rain. She is dead for sure. Now the more interesting question is is this death accidental or intentional?

[–] saelaenc 17 years ago

I have read the short story and the death was accidental: a truck barely ran a red light and hit her because she took off as soon as the light turned green - she hadn't been paying much attention because she had been thinking about the clothes. So in a way the clothes killed her by taking over her mind.

[–] cloudsponge 14 years ago

That white box that he brought into the room was holding an urn with her ashes and alongside was a memorial photo of her from the funeral ceremony. You could confirm that he had been to a funeral by his wearing a black suit and a black tie—mandatory funeral dress for men in Japan. But, yes, how she died was never specifically mentioned. It really isn’t necessary, is it?