I'm wondering, does anyone know if Ryo's voiceover at the end of the film was added for Western audiences? It was so unnecessary, and so heavy-handed -- in stark contrast to the beautiful subtlety and nuance of the rest of the film. It was almost enough to ruin the film for me.
shareI thoroughly agree with you. The voiceover affected the serene tone and the poetic quality of the film and I too wonder if it was added afterwards. The final sequence wasn't really needed, either.
shareI'm with both of you. I didn't like the last part at all, with the voiceover and the last brief scene following it, and I felt the movie could have done much better to cut that bit out and let it end right before the voiceover began. I felt it just broke with the feel of the film and negatively affected it.
"The comfort of the rich depends upon an abundant supply of the poor."
- Voltaire
Someone else mentioned this around these parts "it allows us to see that even if the son was prodigal during his parents' lifetime, in the end, he is still carrying on their legacy. He says the same words his mother said earlier while tending the grave and then repeats the story about the butterfly. So there's something magical--and maybe even more poignant--about the ending as it stands."
So to me its bittersweet. There are regrets yet his parents spirit is "still walking" ...just inside him.
I don't like voiceovers in general. In some movies they are OK, if they really add something. But oftentimes, the voiceovers just repeat what is quite obvious anyway. This movie certainly did not need that voiceover.
shareDisagree, I think the people creating the film knew what they were doing and the last scene had value. For me, it showed the brutal reality of life and not taking anything for granted.
shareAgreed, I found it jarring in a bluntly down-to-earth way at first but it does make sense when you see it that way. It got me wondering if the setting, very much alien to me (I'm not exactly familiar with countryside Japan), got me in a whimsical mood I wouldn't have felt so strongly if it was more familiar, more "real" to me.
shareThe bitterness of the family was beautifully symbolized by the boat run aground in the beach scene. They were stuck in the moment when Junpei died and could not move forward. I think it was necessary for the audience to learn that the parents died in that stubbornness while Ryo, although still honoring his roots, managed to break away from them by having a daughter with his wife. This symbolized his separation from every expectation his parents had for him -- his career, his choice of partner, his choice to have child with her in spite of his mother's passive-aggressive interference.
share