MovieChat Forums > Bushi no ichibun (2007) Discussion > SPOILER:about the ending.....

SPOILER:about the ending.....

posted 17 years ago by yimmyyimmy2005
16 replies | jump to latest

I was watching this movie on a flight back to SF and my flight ended before I could finish watching the movie.

At the very end of the movie Tokuhei tells his master Shinnojo Mimura that he wants to hire a new girl to cook for him since he divorced Kayo. Shinnojo says something like "fine whatever you wish". What happened after that? Did I miss a lot? I suspect that Kayo came back but I really don't know. Any help would be greatly appreciated (the more details the better).

[–] kazukokaneda 17 years ago

You didn't miss a lot(of time), but the most important and impressive last scene.
I recommend you to see it again in someway.
I can tell you all, but it's better not, you know?

[–] yimmyyimmy2005 17 years ago

Someone told me what happened in another message board but I wish I knew more details about that last scene. How did his face look and how did her face look and things like that. Unfortunately, I live in the USA, and the DVD for this movie probably won't be available for a while.

[–] tsaarni 17 years ago

Loved the ending, it was touching. I also recommend seeing it yourself as any description won't do justice (especially mine) :-)

Anyway, here's my try...

Tokuhei tells Shinnojo the dinner is served. Shinnojo tastes the food. You could tell from his expression that he recognizes it is prepared by his wife.

Shinnojo ponders how he regrets putting Tokuhei to tail Kayao and how things would be different did he not do that. However he then says it would not been honorable.

He asks Tokuhei who prepared the food. Tokuhei tells it was the new girl. Shinnojo tells the girl to bring him more water. Kayo comes from the kitchen looking scared. She pours the water to the cup. Hesitating she takes his hand and gives the cup. Shinnojo grabs her and with smile on his face he says he'd recognized her cookings. Kayo cries. Tokuhei has tears on his eyes. Shinnojo welcomes Kayo back home.

Still holding her, he tells Tokuhei to get a new birdcage. He adds they also need two birds to put into the cage. Picture zooms out the house as Tokuhei goes to get the birds.

[–] Suzume-san 17 years ago

OK, spoiler city, but anyone who's read this far has probably seen the film.

The ending was touching, yes, but it does strike me that the problem has not been resolved - what is Shinnojo going to do for the rest of his life? Sit and listen to the birds? I was hoping for some sort of a solution.

Kambei of the Descending Gormful Bedafter Gumi.

[–] geode 17 years ago

Well, he does have Kayo around, a very lovely lady. That alone should occupy some of his time. He also has shown himself to still be adept with a sword, and I would guess could have some success with the kendo school that he dreamed about. He does not have to worry about an income, as that is being maintained for life like a pension.

Oh Lord, you gave them eyes but they cannot see...

[–] Suzume-san 17 years ago

Wouldn't it be great to have a sequel? A kendo school run by a blind master with controversial ideas about fitting the style to the pupil, and teaching townsmen's sons as well as samurai - it's just begging to be written. If only...

BTW, did anyone notice any reference to the date? The first two of the trilogy are full of references to the approaching end of the Edo period and the samurai world, but I didn't get that feeling in this one, so perhaps it's rather earlier. We seem to be much further south, too - heat and fireflies and a lot of rain!

Kambei of the Descending Gormful Bedafter Gumi.

[–] cadoras99 15 years ago

As for the date question earlier, the aunt character mentioned something along the lines of "you can't rely on the sword for a living these days, it is important to have education". IIRC, this was when she brought her... grandson?... to Shinnojo's home and told him the "rumor" of Kayo. As such, I would surmise that it is of a similar time frame (end of Edo, beginning of Meiji).

As for blind swordsmen movies, well I guess there's always Zatoichi. I personally like the way the movie ended. How he fills his days is immaterial. To me, that was one of the points of the movie. Shinnojo needed to find joy in what he had, and those that he loved. He needed to regain hope and confidence and this closure was provided. Now that he has these things, his life is open for anything and we the audience gain that sense of hope as the movie ends.

This "trilogy" was fantastic. Any other recent samurai movies worth watching? I feel like I'm running out.

[–] c11y 15 years ago

BTW, did anyone notice any reference to the date? The first two of the trilogy are full of references to the approaching end of the Edo period and the samurai world, but I didn't get that feeling in this one, so perhaps it's rather earlier. We seem to be much further south, too - heat and fireflies and a lot of rain!

One of the reasons why fans of novelist Shuhei Fujisawa and the first two movies of the trilogy hate this movie is how Yoji Yamada "butchered" Fujisawa's stories in order to accomodate Takuya Kimura's (a.k.a., KimuTaku) diva-like demands and lack of serious acting ability (he couldn't handle the regional dialect that's used in the other films, etc.).

The time line and the setting should be the same as the first two films, that is, the period right before the Bakumatsu era in the Shonai region in present-day Yamagata prefecture -- which is the exact same location as the Oscar-winning Okuribito/Departures.

[–] Suzume-san 15 years ago

Well, many thanks for the input, clly, that's very interesting. I knew that Kimura is a pop star, not an actor, though I think he does OK. Nonetheless, the reason why Tasogare Seibei is still the best of the trilogy, IMO, has a lot to do with the presence of Hiroyuki Sanada in that film.

But I had no idea that feelings ran so high over Bushi no Ichibun; I like it a lot. I don't have a copy of the Fujisawa story on which it's based, so I have no opinion on any 'butchery'. And it does have to be said that Tasogare Seibei is only very loosely based the short story "The Bamboo Sword", which I do have and have read. Nobody's called that into question, as far as I know. So what's the difference?

On another matter - you're the first person I've met on these boards who might be able to give me some pointers on regional accents - are you able to do that? I'm trying hard to learn the language, but as far as accents are concerned I'm only up to noticing that some people are easier to understand than others!

[–] c11y 15 years ago

I don't have a copy of the Fujisawa story on which it's based, so I have no opinion on any 'butchery'. And it does have to be said that Tasogare Seibei is only very loosely based the short story "The Bamboo Sword", which I do have and have read. Nobody's called that into question, as far as I know. So what's the difference?

First of all, full disclosure -- I'm not a fan of Fujisawa's novel or a purist, and I'm only repeating the opinions expressed by his hard-core fans on various Japanese websites and message boards. They are angry that Yamada overstepped the bounds of creative license by making a mish-mash of 3 different stories, essentially making a standard-issue Japanese revenge jidaigeki instead of a film that resonates with Fujisawa's voice and perceptions. I think the questions you posed earlier sum up their objections -- Fujisawa's stories are very specific in terms of time and setting and you couldn't "get" that from this film because of they didn't speak the Shonan dialect nor any hints of the pending Bakumatsu period can be felt. In addition, KimuTaku's character was portrayed as a middle class samurai (he didn't want to get "dirty" and ruin his pop-idol image) while Fujisawa's characters usually hover at borderline poverty -- the couple lived in a nice house and was nowhere near destitute, so the wife "selling" herself really doesn't pack much of an emotional punch as a result.

I am a huge fan of Hiroyuki Sanada and Tasogare Seibei and I'm very happy to share your opinion! :)

Although I'm no expert on Japanese regional dialects, I have native-level fluency in Japanese so I'd be happy to assist you any way I can.

[–] Suzume-san 15 years ago

Mm'm. On the matter of poverty, all three characters in the three films are rather better off than Fujisawa's Bamboo Sword hero, in that they all have quite comfortable houses, at least one servant and a regular source of income; plus they all have family who would presumably keep them from actual starvation. (The Bamboo Sword chap, when we first meet him, is a ronin, wandering about with his wife and daughters sleeping in temple porches and begging for a living, like Yogo in Tasogare Seibei before he found employment with the clan.) OK, they're all scraping to make ends meet, but they're not exactly destitute.

On the matter of accents - my sensei is from Fukuoka, in the south, and I've notice that she pronounces 'n' more like 'm' - kombamwa - and 'r' sometimes sounds more like 'd' - bendi for benri - is this typical of the region? Our assistant teacher is a Tokyoite and seems to speak more or less as the language is written. Someone else was described to me as having a 'thick Shikoku accent' - what might that be like? It's a place I would particularly like to visit, am I going to have frightful trouble understanding what's said? I'm English; the idea of a learner as terrible as I am trying to understand a Liverpudlian or a Glaswegian with nothing but basic polite English is alarming, if the same applies to Japanese.

All great fun, however!

[–] yimmyyimmy2005 17 years ago

Thanks! I really appreciate such a detailed description.

[–] fundaquayman 16 years ago

He asks Tokuhei who prepared the food. Tokuhei tells it was the new girl. Shinnojo tells the girl to bring him more water. Kayo comes from the kitchen looking scared. She pours the water to the cup. Hesitating she takes his hand and gives the cup. Shinnojo grabs her and with smile on his face he says he'd recognized her cookings. Kayo cries. Tokuhei has tears on his eyes. Shinnojo welcomes Kayo back home.

I'm no native Japanese speaker, but the best part to that scene to me was the sense of humor that was injected into that very somber and touching scene -- as Shinojo speaks to Tokuhei and the new servant girl (which at this point the audience is not fully aware of who the girl actually is, unless they picked up on the dish of sauteed taro he was tasting), he explains how he regrets having Tokuhei tail Kayao, and how miserable he has become without her... the best line in that monologue is when Shinojo says with a straight face, "I've really had enough of Tokuhei's disgusting culinary experiments..." This line appeared as subtitles, and I'm not sure if home-video versions to the film in different countries also shows a similar line of subtitle... In my opinion, having that line added so much to an otherwise typical melodramatic feel-good ending.

Out of Yamada's samurai trilogy, TWILIGHT SAMURAI is by far the best, and LOVE & HONOR being my 2nd favorite.

[–] ryulu999 15 years ago

the best line in that monologue is when Shinojo says with a straight face, "I've really had enough of Tokuhei's disgusting culinary experiments..."

In the version I watched, the sybtitles were:
"I've had enough of Tokuhei's horrible cooking"

[–] fundaquayman 15 years ago

In the version I watched, the sybtitles were:
"I've had enough of Tokuhei's horrible cooking"

either way, it was very funny to me.

[–] HoppingBunny 15 years ago

I would say you didn't miss much. The Twilight Samurai made a big impression on me and expected something similar, but it never reached that level. This is an average Samurai movie with a silly ending with too many lose ends.

My life isn't any better than yours.