The most intuitive keywords in this movie are probably these, nuclear damage, intergenerational communication, family affection, Japan-US relations, and anti-war. Probably the easiest thing to impress the Chinese audience is the feelings and attitudes towards the director of the nuclear explosion or the Japanese. No one looks at everything without politics, because this is culture. But this is not the main point here, and I will mention two more words at the end. What I want to talk about here is the inheritance of cultural memory or the spiritual exchanges between generations.
The plot is not complicated. The grandmother who lives in the countryside of Nagasaki lost her husband in the nuclear explosion. She has a son and a daughter under her knees. One year, there was a contact that my grandmother had an older brother who had developed in Hawaii, the United States. Before he died, he wanted to find his roots, so his children went to Hawaii to visit. The four grandchildren went to the grandmother to cool off, and by the way, persuaded her to visit relatives in Hawaii. In the process of living with grandma, grandchildren learned about the history of nuclear explosion, the composition of grandma's family and some legends. The grandmother, who could not forgive the "conquest"/lost memory of her brother, was reluctant to go to Hawaii, so the Japanese-American nephew went to Nagasaki to visit her grandmother and reached a settlement in the nephew's apology. In the weather that seemed to reproduce the nuclear explosion that year, the grandmother and grandchildren in the heavy rain completed the cultural heritage.
The story has two lines. The main line is the transition in the lives of grandchildren and grandma, and the dark line is the reconciliation of grandma to the United States. In the beginning of the main line, the grandchildren secretly despised grandma, not only did not know how to take the opportunity to go to Hawaii, but also used the horror stories to scare themselves, and the cooking was not delicious. However, as we learn more about the facts that nuclear explosions and legends originate from personal experience, the more we understand that it is not easy for grandma to pull everyone alone, and completely stand on the side of grandma and condemn the uncle and grandfather who surrendered to the enemy. At the same time, it is in sharp contrast with the parents' attitude that only benefits and face. Finally sublimated the running and forging ahead in the shocking torrential rain.
In the movie, there is a scene of a group of ants stepping on nectar on a tree. I understand it this way. The uninterrupted ant line symbolizes endless life. The ant-like life is fragile in the face of disasters such as nuclear explosions. Pass the position one by one, eventually more and more ants will be able to taste the beautiful nectar.
It is also very reasonable to think about why it is the grandmother who passes the strength and optimism of life to her grandchildren. Parents are busy with work all day and dare not take good care of them (social animals are sad here for a quarter of an hour), in order to pursue the maximization of interests, there is no extra thought to precipitate their own feelings and let their children empathize. After all, they have also experienced the difficulties after a nuclear explosion, and they also have personal feelings, but the feelings must be understood by everyone who has experienced similar experiences. Grandma has this time, energy, or motivation. The entity of this opportunity or feeling is the nuclear explosion in Nagasaki. The horror of the nuclear explosion, in understanding the interpretation of that eye, I realized that the fear of the snake’s eyes extended to the tremor of the nuclear explosion scene. At the same time, the most important thing is that even if it is so unfortunate and people are so fragile, people still have to work hard to live. I think that Akira Kurosawa was already 70 years old at the time of shooting. Isn't it his own feeling? I hope that his works can pass on universal values to children who are more malleable. What is commendable is that in the process of reconciliation with the Americans, grandma and grandchildren have grown up together.
This is how the subject feels. Finally, let me talk about the Japanese attitude towards nuclear explosions. My feeling is that, as the only country in the world that has suffered a nuclear explosion, they feel cruel and innocent, and hope that nuclear explosions will not happen again. They think that the reason lies with the Americans, who decided to let so many civilians die tragically. Previous Japanese news reports hoped that the President of the United States would personally apologize for the nuclear explosion. Regardless of right or wrong in the war, especially the indiscriminate massacre of civilians (the Nanjing Massacre, the Japanese balloons across the Pacific Ocean were originally intended to kill American civilians), and Japan has never avoided investigating who initiated the war. Not to mention, so the Japanese have not yet reached the self-reconciliation that recognizes objective cause and effect, and war is still inevitable in the times. I am also a war victim, and I also need to be self-anaesthetized by condolences. It is with this attitude that the political inaccuracy of this film cannot be washed away.
View more about Rhapsody in August reviews
