"Canis Island" is ostensibly a story about a dog owner who embarks on an adventure to rescue his dog, but the whole film actually condenses the history and social issues of the whole of Japan.
In the film, due to the outbreak of dog flu, the Japanese government exiled them to a garbage island to fend for themselves. The little boy Atta Kobayashi flew to the island by himself by plane. He was fortunate to get the help of several dogs. He avoided the pursuit of the authorities while looking for his dog.
First of all, seeing the smoke rising from Kobayashi's plane when it fell, resembled the shape of a mushroom cloud, which had to be reminiscent of the historical fact that the United States used atomic bombs on Japan during World War II.
Secondly, at the end of the movie, the mayor has given up his plan to kill all the dogs, but the big housekeeper does not agree and even wants to snatch the gas switch. This obviously implies that in World War II, the cabinet headed by the civilian group only controlled the situation on the surface, and the military department really made the decision. At the end of World War II, even if the cabinet wanted to surrender, it was still obstructed by the military department.
American students can make a difference
The human language in the film is Japanese, and the dog's language is English (there is a Chinese dubbed version when it was released in my country), except for one person - an American student. And the investigation into the mayor's conspiracy to slaughter the dogs was also led by the yellow-haired American female student.
It implies that only the United States can bring changes to Japan, just like the American occupation and transformation of Japan after World War II in reality. From September 1945, the U.S. military began to occupy Japan, and then the Japanese political system and other advanced reforms were made. The entire framework of Japan is now formulated at that time.
Another interesting point in the film is the names of the dogs who are on the island with the hero. They are - monarch, chief, boss, duke and king, all names of nobles. This seems to imply that dogs were actually nobles with freedom and dignity before they were tamed.
But is there no harvest after being tamed? Of course not, they formed a closer relationship with Kobayashi, which shows that the director's attitude towards domestication is complicated. Before Kobayashi arrived, these so-called free dogs were actually fighting over a bag of garbage, at least Kobayashi gave everyone a goal to fight for.
chilling ending
This film is the director's ambition, and it can be seen from the handling of the ending. When the mayor was sent to prison, and Kobayashi became the mayor as his heir, when someone asked him what punishment should be imposed on those who abused dogs, his first reaction was a shocking two words - death . (of course later changed)
This is from the extreme dog abuse of the original mayor to the extreme dog love now! It is implied that Japanese society has only been transformed on the surface, but in fact it is now a transformed "four dissimilarities".
What is even more frightening is that the portrait of the former mayor of every household has been replaced by the portrait of the current Mayor Kobayashi. Has the whole of Japan changed in any other respects except that the mayor himself is a newcomer?
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