MovieChat Forums > Hazard (2006) Discussion > Narrator

Narrator

posted 9 years ago by Grethiwha
3 replies | jump to latest

I've watched two translations of this now – in one, in the first 30 seconds of the movie, the narrator refers to Shin as his father, but on the DVD the subtitles say no such thing.

I've also noticed that the narrator, who we see at the very beginning of the movie, is the same kid who plays the younger Shin (including the bandage on the face). Implying the narrator is the younger Shin, or isn't really meant to be anybody. But if he's supposed to be Shin's young child, born in the ten years since the movie took place, that opens up a whole new set of implications.

I'm definitely inclined to better trust the DVD subtitles – they also sound much more accurate to my ear. But could anyone who's fluent in Japanese confirm if the narrator actually does say something to the effect of Shin being his father, at the very beginning of the movie?

--- grethiwha -------- My Favourite Films:
http://www.imdb.com/list/Bw65XZIpkH8/

[–] Cuisine 8 years ago

This is entirely besides the point, but I've been using your favourite films list as a reference point to find some great films for about 3 months now -- and I thank you a lot for that -- but today I saw that this film overtook Heart of Glass as the number 1 on that list.

So, I was wondering, for what reason has this become your favourite film? Sorry if this is out of the blue and/or random as *beep*, but it was jarring to come back to the list and see a new movie as your favourite and was just wondering for what reason it overtook Heart of Glass.

Thanks in advance!

[–] Grethiwha 8 years ago

Thanks! I'm super happy and flattered you like my list!

Hazard immediately jumped to #11 on my list after I first watched it in early 2014 and was pretty steady there; I was hesitant to break it into my top 10, while meanwhile my other favourite Sion Sono movie, Love Exposure, was slowly climbing my top 10, and was in my #3 spot for a while last year... But after rewatching both Love Exposure and Hazard in the last few months, I've decided Hazard is the more personally important movie to me of the two, and perhaps the most personally important movie to me period.

My 'top three' now are all pretty neck and neck... All are pretty equally good answers to 'what's my favourite movie?' though for completely different reasons. Heart of Glass is just the most hypnotic, beautiful, and perfectly funny movie to me. Even Human Condition though I haven't seen it for some years now, I still think is the most powerful and important movie ever made.

Hazard though is the most immediate in my actual life, you know? I see it basically as a movie about how to live, now, in this age and generation, and it is enormously inspiring to me. Hmm... I'd like to explain it more... I've actually been thinking in the last few days of writing a full 'user review' for it.

But anyways, check it out if you haven't. Of course your mileage may vary, especially with this movie. I'd actually sorta recommend checking out some of Sono's other movies first, like Love Exposure, to get a sense of his preoccupations and style, and whether it clicks with you.

--- grethiwha -------- My Favourite Films:
http://www.imdb.com/list/Bw65XZIpkH8/

[–] Cuisine 8 years ago

Thank you for your incredibly fast reply; I will definitely delve into Sono's filmography in due time, so thanks for the recommendation.

And to what you said about writing a user review on Hazard, do it! You are very well-spoken and it'd be fascinating -- to me at least -- to hear your thoughts on the film in full. It'd definitely make a great read.

Again, thanks for the detailed reply, I will keep you posted on my thoughts on the film once I've seen it!