Among my favorite movies in recent years, there must be "In This Corner of the World". Katabuchi has only three films before, "In This Corner of the World" continues the fantasy part of childhood in "Fantasy New Son", and the background of World War II makes personal life more intense.
Let’s start by talking about the whitewashing of Japan’s World War II. According to my point of view, although Urano angrily shouted resolutely not to surrender after the emperor announced her surrender, but for an ordinary person who was brainwashed by militarism , surrender means her inner faith collapsed. All her sources of information came from radio and narration, and she didn't know what the war meant to her. She lost so many things, but in the end she got this result. This is actually an anti-war movie, although in the There is no sympathy as a whole, but from a personal point of view, war is a victim of civilians.
1. The accumulation of life elements
"In this Corner of the World" has very full elements of life, and it's not just a movie that tells a story about a private person. Instead, it includes a lot of history at that time and the customs and knowledge of a certain region. For example, from Hiroshima to the grandmother's house in the countryside, they have to wait until the tide ebbs, and their family passes through the sea pit at the low tide. During World War II, how to make "nanmu rice" to increase the amount of rice when prices rose, and to go to the sea to pick up the dead fish after the bombing... It is these extremely detailed life details that we can be very kind in the movie. Feeling the breath of life brought by the times is also an important source of understanding the life of Urano.
Although most of the movie talks about the "hell" life of Zhou Zuo and the Urano family during World War II, in the first 20 minutes, we see more of Urano's childhood life. It may be that the character of the girl Urano is too confused, so we can only see the content of her fantasy. For example, she fell asleep with the monster that caught her, or met a legendary character while taking a nap at her grandmother's house. Although this has nothing to do with the movie's main theme, it can also show that Urano is a great An imaginative person, these contents are also her rich and splendid heart. Even if I watch it so many times, every time I see such a beautiful fantasy scene, I feel very touched, and I always remember that I did similar things in my childhood. The director is very able to grasp the feeling of private memories.
2. Difficulties of small people in a big environment
With the care for the details of life in the film, we can know that in Japan, the amazing speed of price increases, the lack of materials, the study of recipes, the repeated wartime radio... It can be said that the common people in Japan at that time life is not easy. But people have to stay strong. The title of the movie "In this Corner of the World", "corner" is a good word, because unlike the bloody and brutal battlefield depicted in most war films, it does not belong to the bombed, representative "Hiroshima" , Urano Rei lives in a small armament harbor, isolated from the main battlefield, as if in a corner of the world.
Most of the elements of warfare they were exposed to were indirect, but the main one: air strikes, coming slowly over the never-ending sound of air defense sirens. For ordinary people like Urano, her daily tasks are cooking, washing clothes, cleaning the house, and receiving subsidies. But in this way, there is no way to eat enough, and the sound of air defense sirens is heard day and night, it is hard not to say that it is mentally damaged.
The family bore a great burden psychologically, and suffered the most fatal injury in their lives. The sister-in-law's daughter, Harumi, died. What impressed me most during this period was Urano's fantasy fragment. Talking about all kinds of possibilities, and at the same time, the picture of the movie is constantly changing the stream of consciousness. Although there is a very chaotic feeling, this way of dealing with sad emotions is really in line with Urano's own complex emotions. Such a tragic thing turned into a sadness that could not be expressed in action in Urano's heart. The more she fantasized, the heavier and tragic the reality was. This is a heavy price paid by these little people in the war.
For such a difficult situation, the movie also gave an attitude: "forbearance".
But this choice is out of your own hands. After Urano's right hand was blown up, she had no time to grieve, so she had to continue to work because the family needed her. There is no way to feel excessive sadness for the loss of her daughter. When she vented her sadness, it was only after the emperor declared defeat, and Urano left her to cry in a small corner.
When dealing with major events in history, Wu City, where Urano was located, only glanced at the white light of the nuclear bomb, and death was all over, so she didn't know that her sister Xiao Cheng was terminally ill, and she was still joking with her. It is somewhat understandable why Urano said those words to the emperor angrily. She has gone through too much of this kind of patience and suffering. She doesn't know why she has to bear these things, they can't bear it anymore.
3. Full emotional moments
I've rarely seen a cartoon that tries so hard to describe a family as "In This Corner of the World", and it even reminded me of "Never Stop". When I say "try my best", I mean that the characters are portrayed in every detail in the film. The older ones are Urano and Kyoko, the younger ones are grandmother, and classmate Tetsu Mizuhara, each of them has very rich emotions.
For example, Jingzi, she always made things difficult for Urano at the beginning, because she was too strong, she always felt that such a clumsy daughter-in-law was not worthy of her brother's woman. But after the death of her daughter, after experiencing great grief, she apologized to Urano again. In the past, she always felt that her life should be controlled by herself, so she looked down on a girl like Urano who had no idea of her own. But such a difference is just a difference in character, what is the difference between right and wrong? So she hoped that Urano would consider it clearly and respect Urano's own decision, and this stubbornness was reconciled like this. The movie talks about so many big things, but the director talks about these inconspicuous things like branches and leaves. It's really not easy.
I also like the story of Urano's classmate Mizuhara visiting her house. Suwon obviously likes Urano, he left flowers for Urano in the haystack (according to the later progress, Urano must not have noticed it), and he never forgets the "Rabbit's Wave" painted by Urano, but due to his youthful spirit Well, he never confessed to Urano when he enlisted. So what Zhou Zuo did to this guest was very stable. He not only exercised his position and did not let Suwon take over the host, but then asked Urano to chat with Suwon, knowing the relationship between the two, and let them talk for a night. This is where the preciousness and fascination of human nature lie.
After turning around, we still have to talk about Urano Ling. I think her marriage to Zhou Zuo was an afterthought. Urano is a rather confused person. She doesn't have a clear concept of many things. She doesn't know what it takes to be someone else's wife, and she doesn't know what it means to be forced to go back to her parents' home. But she is not stupid. She has been tortured by Zhou Zuo's sister Jingzi for so long without saying a few complaints, but she is aware of this in her heart, this is not her home. So after Sumiko came, she desperately wanted to go home. It wasn't just her desire to return to a place where she was recognized and could escape the "stupid appearance" of being married off in a confused way. There was a power in her to free herself from being dominated by others, and that passion didn't die until the moment Hiroshima dropped the atomic bomb.
In the end, Urano Ling and Hojo Zhou Zuo completed the real "marriage". They recognized each other's life, and Urano Ling really recognized Wu Shi and accepted her family. Since then, they have only found their married life. Although they are only a corner of Japan, such ordinary people have finally gained their own existence value. In the continuous growth, they have experienced hardships and pains, and finally found the brilliance of their own humanity and continued to live tenaciously in the family. . This sense of recognition is really touching.
4. Attitude of rejoicing in hardship
People during the war were very depressed, but this did not prevent people from having their own happiness.
Zhou Zuo's mother once said, "Aren't the days of laughter better?"
But in fact, their lives are not very good. As we mentioned earlier, their families lost their relatives, and Urano also lost his arms and parents. So why is there any need for joy?
I think this is the most important sentence in "In This Corner of the World". It defines two kinds of "joy", the first is optimism in the face of difficulties, and the second is the desire to live tenaciously in the world.
In the movie, Urano is always looking for the reason for "happiness". There are often a lot of laughs in the movie, but in fact, it is also preparing for this kind of emotion of having fun in the midst of suffering. Urano Ling was also confused after experiencing some things: everyone said "great", but what's so good about it? But without these optimistic attitudes, it is impossible for people to experience hardships: even if Urano Ling did not meet before her family died, she must live well; even if Jingzi lost her husband and children, she still needs to live well Go on; no matter how much fear there is, you need to live well. We laugh, not because we don't have pain, but because we need to persevere, and even the most humble person has the right to have the capital of happiness.
As for the desire to survive, even if they are defeated, they need to live well, so Urano Ling and Zhou Zuo formed their own family, which is a kind of tenacity of life. They are resilient against difficulties and are not afraid of the future. In Katabuchi's thoughts, this may be the reason for "laughing and laughter". People need to live fearlessly. The power of this kind of person really shocked me. There are so many quiet emotions in "In This Corner of the World", I think this is the biggest feeling this movie can bring me.
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