MovieChat Forums > Dai-Nihonjin (2007) Discussion > SPOILER: How I interpret the ending. Am ...

SPOILER: How I interpret the ending. Am I kind of right?


Saw BMJ today, and thought it was pretty good, if slow. Needless to say, I was a bit confused by the ending, but thought it was pretty neat in any case.

So basically, BMJ acidentally kills his grandad. And without the benefit of understanding all of the cultural significance that ensues, what I "think" happens from this point is that the demon monster kills BMJ, who's been set up by his agent and the camera crew. The whole ULTRAMAN thing that ensues is essentially in the "heaven" that all of the monsters and heroes go to, where BMJ witnesses how the monster fighters he's been talking about take care of business. He's then taken literally to their place in the clouds, where it's just as dysfunctional as his childhood back on Earth.

So what do you all think? Am I completely off-base here? In any case, thanks for clarification!

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i interpreted the Red baddie that had been beating up Daisato as Japan's fear of Red China. the red-white-and-blue clad "family" of characters who defeat the Red baddie symbolize America.

when the Americans "come to the rescue", the music that starts playing on the soundtrack is a parody of American patriotic music. the tall thin one is a caricature of Uncle Sam. he makes a stirring speech about "justice" and "peace", and then proceeds to (literally) tear the stuffing out of the Red baddie (suggesting China isn't as solid on the inside as it appears on the surface).

in the final scene before the credits, in spite of his misgivings, Daisato is taken forcefully (though gently) by the Americans as they all fly into the heavens together.

this is obviously an expression of Japanese ambivalence at depending upon America for its defense, and the fact that Japan's fate is largely determined by its close alliance to America (a closeness of relationship with another country that is unprecedented in the prior history of Japan).

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I'll definitely buy that. But it's how the film segues IN to this ending. I mean, does this sound like a reasonable explanation as to how it suddenly switches styles?

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the American occupation of Japan from 1945-1955 radically changed styles -- baseball, rock 'n roll, Hollywood, consumerism, etc.

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"consumerism" .... I think Japan had its own "consumerism" issues before 1945 ...

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The CGI budget ran out. That's how I took it.

I thought it was hilarious.

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It's unlikely that the CGI budget 'ran out'... movies aren't filmed in a linear order, the last scene isn't neccessarily the last scene to be filmed so there's no reason why this would be a case of money 'running out'.

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Just an aside, most viewers/critics in Japan saw the Red guy as a symbol of North Korea rather than China.

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The "Red baddie" isn't China, it's North Korea. After Daisato's first encounter with the Red demon, it cuts to a North Korea news report, with the lady in traditional Korean clothing in front of a blue curtain, that's the classic image of the new propaganda broadcasts throughout North Korea everyday. Someone also pointed out in another thread that the Director said it himself that the Red baddie represents North Korea in the film commentary. The red baddie also looks a bit like Kim Jong-il, but that's just me.

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Note, also that the last battle occurs (in both CGI and model city portions) directly in front of the American embassy. Look at the flags flanking each side of the ill-proportioned classical style building in the background.

Mama America is proportioned like a typical Wal-Mart consumer.

They cajole Sato into acquiescing in the chant of "peace".

The filmmakers couldn't have made it more clear that the final battle (and to a large extent, the entire film) was an allegory about Japan's diminished prestige in international affairs since the hey day of the Big Men.

Japan contributed 600 troops to the Bush presidency's "Coalition of the Willing" in 2004, withdrawn in 2006. "Big Man Japan" came out a year later.

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Being a retard in daily life, and a monster in his "special tasks", he succumbed to delusions of grandeur (pun intended) on his last mission, got careless and killed. The end.

Boring movie.

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Same. I think he was killed at the end. The whole "red China" parallel is a bit of a stretch for me.

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Huh. I didn't even think of that. It seems like that's the popular idea of what happened. And it totally makes sense that we would have died. Now hearing that, I would agree that the end sequence is a post-death experience.

I interpreted the end differently. It may be wrong, but go with me for a second. When the movie switched to "live mode," I thought of it as a message from the film makers reminding the audience what kind of movie they were watching. For example, I was surprised by the amount of character development and plot involved in BMJ. I was expecting something less articulate and more absurd. So by the time the Red Devil had returned to fight Daisatô, I was totally expecting some kind of redemptive wrap up ending. Therefore, I interpreted the "live action" fight scene as the film makers saying, "GOTCHA!"

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All good points, but I think one of the reasons for the distinct change in style was because they ran out of money at the end. I mean, with all the CGI, you think they could have rendered something as opposed to watching painted He-Man dolls fly away into the sunset.

I can say that the ending made up for all the painful studdering dialoge that we were subjected to over the course of the film.

Oh, and what ever happened to the eggs that the first monster laid in the basment of that building?

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In the commentary for the making-of DVD featurette, someone (can't tell who, since it's a subtitled comment) says that the ending is just an over-the-top parody sketch they decided to throw in, to be different.

It's also stated that The General -- the big red monster -- is North Korean.

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I'm not sure myself what to think, but theres actually some kind of evidence to support all three theories.

There's a brief news segment where a newscaster from another country says "it seems one of our monsters escaped to neighboring Japan"...I didn't catch whether it was in Korean or Chinese (it may have been in Japanese for all I know) because I was also checking my facebook at the time >_> but I remember thinking "oh thats why they couldn't figure out where the red guy came from"

also he gets the snot kicked out of him, so dying is a pretty good way to look at it too.

and maybe he ran out of budget and thought this would be an awesome way to end it.

But the theory I also really like is the bit more "in the know" that reality is costumes and silly props, not cgi.

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that part made a mention of "dear leader" (at least in the translation I watched), so i assumed that it was north korea.

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Perhaps we're going a bit deep here. Personally, the way it hit me was this: you have an actor that winds up playing Big Man in a kid's action show, and the documentary scenario was simply a daydream. He feels inadequate because of his position in life so he inserts his grandfather into a similar situation; his grandfather having led a successful yet alien (to the actor) life.

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That is very interesting, I had not even thought of that. I saw it as more a commentary of authority figures.

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I just finished the film and this is what I was thinking as well. Was hoping to see if anyone else had the same view on it. After seeing the featurette though, it seems like it was just a joke with no extra meaning. Just for a laugh, which is was. Biggest laugh of the film for me.

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Uh....I didnt think any of that. I figured the ending was just to show that the main character wasnt really a super hero. He was just a super hero in a kids show. Hence why they kept talking about ratings the entire movie. There was a disclaimer saying "watch the rest live". Meaning none of the actors reharsed, which is why the battle was so un organized....

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I dont think I have been this confused by a work of fiction since I watched evangelion.

I honestly dont have any idea about what the ending is supposed to mean.

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The theory that it's a kids show is kind of sound when you think about the general public's complete disinterest in Big Man. I mean, if it WERE real, even if they didn’t like him, you know, they might think the monsters have to be stopped somehow, and he’s doing it. I love this theory. It fits in perfectly.
Though how the stink monster section got onto a kids show... haha

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no no no no no. no one has gotten the ending like i have. why would most of the movie be made up inside the main character's head? i think it's too cool for that. what i took away from it is that, yeah, he does kill his grandfather, and he gets beat up by the general. after that, i'm pretty sure he just runs away like he does before. the segment that you see afterwards i took to be where he ends up. i'm confused a bit by how it said "watch the rest live," but i think that, seeing as the television show is clearly a parody on many different other japanese shows, daisato ends up as a guest star on this crappy children's show. that's why the main character greets him with that "nice to meet you," and then daisato goes to hide behind a building. basically, it's the ultimate shame for him, having to play himself on TV. it shows just how far the image of the BMJ has been reduced; that's what i took the entire movie to be about. BMJ, of course, represents japan and how the traditional japanese way has waned during the 20th century since america has become so influential to japan. as you remember, "the fourth" was really big in his day and then eventually was reduced to a national joke (ex "big man japan salutes the sun!!"). therefore, i guess the last segment was also a nice way for the director to get his points about america and north korea across. although i don't know that much about north korea, i can assume from the portrayal of the general that it's the big, bad enemy that no one wants to mess with, although america, with its attitude about policing the world, will make sure to come and squash it. altogether a great ending.

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OK, just watched it, and my wife is mad at me now.

Here's my take on the ending: it's just some *beep* up Japanese *beep* They have a way with that you know . . .I wanted to like this movie WAY more than I did.

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Hilarious man,

I too just finished this and my wife is also very upset about this.

I do think the social commentary theories are most likely what the filmmakers intended but having seen tons of asian movies and anime, often times endings are cracked out. I figure that when a filmaker doesn't know how to end it, they just say *beep* it and make stuff up.

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I agree with most of your points. There was definately a lot of double meaning in the film but alas it fell short of anything really meanigful. It was a 'Mokumentary' it was a 'spoof' it had a 'hidden agenda'.. I think not. It had no real depth, it lacked quality, it lacked presence.

I also really wnated to like this movie and looked forward to watching it. It failed on so many levels and just becomes the 'B' movie it was trying so hard to imitate.

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