I enjoyed this short-episode series ... the 4 minutes episodes are a little choppy and the production sometimes is a bit "B" Grade, but they had a lot to contend with given Chinese censorship laws in respect of LGBTQ+ material, so I won't hold that against them ...and besides, I really liked the concept of the story very much. They did manage to sneak in some random naughty innuendos that seemed to come out of nowhere LOL ... they were so random that I wondered if I should seek out that novel it was based on and give it a read π.
The concept of the "Zhen Yuan" and "Deluded" I liked alot ... it reminded very much of the "Mono's" and "Probes" in the Korean series "Color Rush" ... they even had the same reference to a dark nefarious underground organisation. To me there were so many points of comparison that I wondered if they were both based on the same novel ... but they aren't ... the series "Color Rush" was based on the Korean web novel "Color Rush" (μ»¬λ¬ λ¬μ¬) by Se Sang (μΈμ).
"A Cornered Mouse Dreams of Cheese". A very apt title for a very thought provoking movie. NSFW warning: consensual, but explicit, gay sex scenes and some rear nudity.
There is a sad melancholic, masochistic kind of desperation about all the characters in this movie. They are all very much 'cornered mice dreaming of cheese' but never actually getting any cheese. It becomes clear in the course of the movie that each character's "dream of the cheese" became more important than actual getting of the real 'cheese', and because of that their lives got 'cornered' and limited by clinging to the dream for cheese, instead of the real thing when it came their way.
Kyoichi doesn't really have any deep connections with anyone. When people latch on to him, he has no objections ... easy come, easy go. Some clung to him as a 'lesser suffering' alternative to their lonely single lives ... they said they 'loved' him but did they really? What was the basis for their love for Kyoichi ... is that really love π€? Wataru tells Kyoichi, "You'll have anyone who loves you, but ultimately you cannot trust that love, so you sniff out the feelings of whoever comes near you."
To one degree or another I think all the characters who wanted to connect with Kyoichi knew that their dream of 'love' with him was futile ... and yet they persisted anyway. As an oblique response to this kind of grasping, Kyoichi gave Wataru a very poignant question and a statement ... one which I think the whole movie revolves around and is relevant to not just Kyoichi but to all the people who were interested in him:
"What do you want? There are a billion things in life more important than suffering for love."
All the characters got themselves completely cornered by clinging to their dreams of cheese, to the point that the actual 'cheese' was no longer their objective. When Kyoichi broke off his engagement with Okamura Tamaki, he tells her it is because his Ex came back and that, even though the Ex walked out on him again and probably for good this time, he wanted to wait for him. Kyoichi time and again lets the real cheese go ... and instead holds fast to the 'dream' of cheese instead. Even the last scene at the beach when Wataru comes back ... again ... Kyoichi lets him go with a "sorry". Kyoichi is on an iterative dream loop ... he will never get the taste of real cheese ... and neither will Wataru who ebbs and flows out of Kyoichi's dream of cheese.
Okamura is dreaming of cheese too and an escape from her real life. She knows Kyoichi isn't the real 'cheese' and yet, despite Kyoichi breaking of the engagement to wait for his Ex to return, she pleads with him, "Can't I stay with you? If she comes back, I will step away quietly." A billion things more important than suffering for a dream of love but that is what she chooses ... she has cornered herself in the dream of cheese that isn't real cheese ... the dream of love that isn't real love at all ... just like the map is not the territory ... the menu is not the food.
Everyone cornered by the dream. We too, in one degree or another, at one time or another, may get cornered by our own "dreams of cheese" and miss the real cheese when it comes to us front and centre ... it is worth thinking about. Dream away but when the real thing comes, don't get cornered by the dream, grab the real cheese and run π§πββοΈπ¨
An excellent thought provoking movie ... I am sure the manga would also be just as poignant if not more so.
I first watched this movie about two years ago. It is one that has stayed in my mind ... it is disturbing, somewhat provocative, fascinating, thought provoking and definitely metaphysical. I thought the production, the cinematography and acting were excellent. Altogether they did a wonderful job conveying with some pretty intense emotional states/events. It is a very loaded movie.
In short: The movie takes you into Tam's life and into his state of mind. Both his real world and his mind are pretty horrific places. I wouldn't call the movie a romance by any long shot but there is definitely something "other worldly" and surreal about it. Tam's life is definitely not aspirational. His family constantly told him he was defective because he was gay, that he couldn't be trusted, that he needed to make them proud and care more for them, even though they couldn't care less about him. Having to live with that all your life and to then have the shit kicked out of you at school is enough to do anyone's head in.
Tam was literally caught between a rock and a hard place with no escape ... except to escape into his own mind ... it is his safe haven, but it is so distorted in there ... is what he sees in his mind a reflection of outside reality? Is the 'reality' outside the only 'real' reality π€ ... is the 'reality' inside one's mind fake even though it is 'so real' to the owner of that mind π€. Tam's mental reality and the reality of the outside world is so blurry ... so much so that at the end of the movie, I think the only "real" things were Tam himself and the murder of Tam's family in the lounge room ... the rest ... well that is the proverbial metaphysical question isn't it ... which reality is the 'real' reality for Tam π€
More detailed: The imagery / symbolism throughout the movie were very evocative and beautifully captured the essence of an altered mind state. There were quite a number of images/scenes that really left an impression on me (I have put the old "Spoiler" cover on as you may want to see the movie first) and influenced the conclusions I arrived out watching the movie:
(1) The algae on the pool walls and in the washroom - so many of them looked like human images to me ... it was kind of like a Rorschach ink blot test. Were these representatives of people in Tam's life? He tried to scrape off one ... I wondered who that might have represented to him ... his Father ... it was right in the centre of the pool wall? Towards the end in the washroom, I really thought the algae on the wall was Phum and as Tam walked back into the wall and rested next to it I thought wow ... is Phum even real? Was the pool facility some kind of giant Rorschach ink blot test for Tam?
(2) The clouds. The clouds in the movie were magnificent and there were a lot of scenes where they formed the major portion of the scene. There was one significant cloud panorama where this massive cloud had hidden the sun and all you could see were the striking crepuscular rays coming through ... it gave the impression that I was on the dark side of something and the light was trying to break its way through the clouds. Was this the case for Tam's mind?
(3) Looking up at the sky while underneath the water. Again this was fascinating ... like the clouds, the water was a barrier to being able to see clearly. Water is a distortion of light and therefore the images scene through it. Also all the waters that Tam sunk beneath were dirty - there were bits of muck floating around and mosquito larvae swimming about. I don't know about where you live but where I live Mosquito larvae are harbingers of disease e.g. Dengue, Ross River etc. Does all of this suggest a "diseased" perspective of Tam?
(4) The blue light. I think there is a connection with this blue light and the name of the movie. The blue hour is the period of twilight in the morning or evening when sun has dipped below the horizon and the sunlight becomes a blue shade of colour due to "Rayleigh Scattering". People who have spiritual beliefs say that the "blue hour" is the moment between dreams and awakening. It is also known medically that blue light affects/has caused depressive moods in people. That is why the medicos advise to have less screen time before you sleep and why companies like Apple have an option to decrease blue light emission on phones etc. So was most of the movie just a strange dream in Tam's mind? Was there any part of it that was real? Which lead me to the next point ...
(5) The Fight Club. Because of all of the above elements, I thought of the protagonist in the Hollywood Film "The Fight Club". Was Tam the equivalent of Edward Norton's character and Phum was the equivalent of Brad Pitt's character?
At the end of the movie, I think Phum was imaginary. I think the only "real" things in the movie were Tam himself and the murder of Tam's family in the lounge room. His family constantly told him he was defective because he was gay, that he couldn't be trusted, that he needed to make them proud and care more for them even though they couldn't care less about him.
Having to live with that all your life and to then have the shit kicked out of you at school is enough to do anyone's head in. He was literally caught between a rock and a hard place with no escape ... except to escape into his own mind ... and to get rid of the "ink blots" who had hurt and betrayed him so much when they should have loved and nurtured him and cared for him.
Aside from his most likely imaginary lover Phum, he could have developed a multiple personalities as well π€ ... the one that kicked back against the oppression, the one who stole the Buddha, who stole the gun, maybe even one was the murderer?
Who knows. What we do know is the final scene of the movie ... he and Phum both sunk beneath the very dark waters of the river and looked up. Against the light of day, he saw bits of muck floating in the water ... mosquito larvae and the blurry images of the blue sky and clouds ... the delusion continues to be his 'safe haven'.
The final two episodes around Xun An's abuse really soured the series for me. I am more than disgusted with how the parent's abuse of Xun An was completely glossed over in the final episode ... it was made out as if the abuse of Xun An was an acceptable trade off so they could get the father's approval of them as a couple, so Bai Lang could have "parents" in place of those he lost.
That vile abusive father was all about control ... there was no genuine love in his heart for his son ... he was totally enjoying himself watching everyone's ingratiation and unease toward him. After getting his fill of beating and seeing his son's submission to him AND seeing Bai Lang go along with it without so much of look or word of protest, he finally gives them his breadcrumb acceptance ... after all, Xun An and Bai Lang had both 'proven' to him that they would subject themselves to his tyranny and that they would continue to dance to his tune of control ... just like everyone else in that family. Daddy's job is done ... SMH and everyone enabled him to do that. Happy family ... not in the least ... it is all feigned happiness ... it is a family of victims.
The mother giving Xun An a pillow to kneel on ... that is supposed to be an example of a mother's love? NO it isn't ... and never will be ...not even if she herself is a 'victim' . Such token action is just her making herself feel better, less "guilty" for enabling the abuse of her child by her husband.
Bai Lang telling Xun An that if he had of known what his father was doing, he could have been there for him so he didn't struggle alone ... OMG SMH ... I just thought WTH ... when did watching the man you love submit his heart and body to the abuse of his father become an acceptable trade off to get approval so you all could play 'happy families' with a Mummy and Daddy ???? That was so twisted!!
Different horses for different courses I guess, but if I was Xun An's boyfriend and I saw the results of his father's "love" to him ... I would be having a conversation with Xun An about what his priorities were ... the price for that father's acceptance is NOT ACCEPTABLE AT ALL AND NEVER WILL BE ... I would rather have no parental acceptance, no parents, than to see the one I love being flogged and treated like that. That old man needs a flogging ... hope he chokes on his chess pieces ... b@stard.
So many different sides to the story of unrequited love ... the human drama behind each story was fascinating but also sad ... the lasting regret or sad memory of what might have been remained with them for years after. Despite the lessons of life behind each story, the collection overall was sad ... some of the characters were less than likable ... though one story did provide a break from the sadness and angst of the others.
The story that wove between the play of all the other stories ... Toru Misaki the radio DJ ... concluded the omnibus of stories. The last scene was very poignant and to me symbolised all the stories present, including Toru's ... a beautifully boxed surprise of something wonderful ... never given but abandoned in the night ...
I loved this movie. For me, it had some very thought provoking themes of identification of self and the role that…
I finished binge reading the manga ... I definitely recommend reading it. It is a really wonderful story and beautifully drawn. The themes are the same and from my point of view, the scriptwriter and actors of the movie did the story justice. I am a happy camper for having watched this movie and read the manga "Hana wa Saku ka" (θ±γ―ε²γγ).
I loved this movie. For me, it had some very thought provoking themes of identification of self and the role that the legacy of family and social conventions plays in that process.
Despite Yoichi's parents dying when he was young, he has felt the intense burden and presure of his parents' legacy. He has been caught in a kind of "Hamlet" conundrum (to be, or not to be) ... should he take up their legacy and be molded by it even though he is not comfortable with it OR should he separate from that legacy and become his own kind of individual π€ ... and what if you have parts of you that are just like your parents ... do you reject that outright or do you embrace it because it vibes with the 'real' you π€. You can his struggles in his art work ... in the symbolism of flower seeds ... the old seeds kept in his father's drawers and the new seeds Sakurai brings ... it is even in his unspoken sexual orientation.
Then serendipitously, 37 year old Sakurai comes along ... he sees Yoichi painting 'flowers' when no one else could, and he sees Yoichi's happiness painting those 'flowers'... he allegedly is 'straight' but is none the less attracted to Yoichi. I don't think this movie was ever about the age gap of 37 vs 19 of the MLs ... I think this is a story about the meeting of hearts and minds, the 'seeing' of the 'real' person underneath all the layers of social convention and family legacy ... and falling in love with that essence of a person's 'being'. It is a story that is beautifully told through symbolism, imagery, words and 'negative spaces'.
I loved the symbolism of the seeds. Even though Yoichi had previously failed to get the old seeds from his parents to germinate, Sakurai has a go at trying to germinate them. Again, despite all the attention, the old seeds did not germinate. This is rather symbolic. Yoichi could not 'bloom' with the legacy of his parents ... and he could not bloom if that 'legacy' was used by other people like Sakurai ... he also could not bloom with social convention legacy's around 'age' associations (e.g. Fujimoto). Sakurai, who saw the real Yoichi, gets over his own struggles with social conventions and comes bearing new seeds ... Hibiscus (such a huge and totally out there vibrant flower) ... and Yoichi 'blooms' in the light of Sakurai's love and attention ... in fact they both do ... and what is not to love about that ... two individuals who 'see' each other and love what they see ... π
I loved how Yoichi's cousins/roommates - Yoshitomi, Shota, Takeo - all accepted him and his 'withdrawal' and had his back. Yoichi was never 'invisible' to them, even though they did not know what was going on in his heart and mind, they were always alert to the first signs of Yoichi's 'awakening' and they are there to gently support Yoichi's further 'awakening'. How wonderful to have such people in your life.
Here is to SERENDIPITY ... may it come your way. I did not know this was adapted from the manga series "Hana wa Saku ka" (θ±γ―ε²γγ) by Hidaka Shoko (ζ₯ι«γ·γ§γΌγ³). I might see if I can find it ... see if my interpretation is changes.
Loved the imagery in this production ... lusciously rich and visually delicious ... for me the story at times was a bit of a mind bender but there seemed to be a theme to it which I find really fascinating ... along the lines that no matter what you do to 'avoid' life situations or sacrifice yourself to 'save' someone from their own difficulties and challenges ... both you and them ... as the saying goes ... will still meet your destiny on the road you (and they) took to avoid it. Having watched the 2013 series and this 2022 movie, I really need to read the anime to see more of the story.
WOW ... this movie will definitely not be everyone's cup of tea but I found it absolutely fascinating and the ending was amazing, it was perfect. The cinematography and score and sounds were just brilliant ... the colours, the lights and shadows, the focus points where the out-of-focus was as important as the in-focus, the sets ... all just amazing and mind bending. There was just so much in this little movie ... it was kind of ethereal and yet had a touch of "Flight Club" about it ... the concepts of 'separation' and 'alienation' were palpable. There were touches of humour in amongst the all that philosophical confusion, angst and pathos.
There are some very deep concepts embedded in this movie ... time and waste of time ... life and death ... 'alive' but 'dead' ... 'dead' but 'alive' ... futility ... the purpose for 'being' ... alienation from self and from others ... social vandelism ... the 'system' vs chaos ... mind vs mindlessness ... there was even a 'cult' feel in the aggregation of social 'misfits'/'rebels' ... Marvel Comics' supervillian Thanos ... Nietsche and his concepts of master and slave morality, nihilism, death of god, affirmation of life, perspectivisim et al ...
"Everyone is betting their lives on something." "All humans who do not think and act with their own heads are our targets of attack. Getting on the system of the rotton world and doing well, it's the same as reproducing the system."
The 'war' against some 'thing' ... or betting your life on someone/thing is always interesting to me ... embedded within those concepts is you/what you want against the 'other'/what they want and yet one has no meaning without the other, cannot exist without the other ... both 'sides' are eternally bound together ... 'up' has no meaning without 'down', 'shadow' has no meaning without 'light' ... 'system' has no meaning without 'chaos' ... indeed is not chaos a system in itself π€ ... and in the end we all die anyway π ... human consciousness is such a mind bender lol. Loved this movie.
The concept of the "Zhen Yuan" and "Deluded" I liked alot ... it reminded very much of the "Mono's" and "Probes" in the Korean series "Color Rush" ... they even had the same reference to a dark nefarious underground organisation. To me there were so many points of comparison that I wondered if they were both based on the same novel ... but they aren't ... the series "Color Rush" was based on the Korean web novel "Color Rush" (μ»¬λ¬ λ¬μ¬) by Se Sang (μΈμ).
There is a sad melancholic, masochistic kind of desperation about all the characters in this movie. They are all very much 'cornered mice dreaming of cheese' but never actually getting any cheese. It becomes clear in the course of the movie that each character's "dream of the cheese" became more important than actual getting of the real 'cheese', and because of that their lives got 'cornered' and limited by clinging to the dream for cheese, instead of the real thing when it came their way.
Kyoichi doesn't really have any deep connections with anyone. When people latch on to him, he has no objections ... easy come, easy go. Some clung to him as a 'lesser suffering' alternative to their lonely single lives ... they said they 'loved' him but did they really? What was the basis for their love for Kyoichi ... is that really love π€? Wataru tells Kyoichi, "You'll have anyone who loves you, but ultimately you cannot trust that love, so you sniff out the feelings of whoever comes near you."
To one degree or another I think all the characters who wanted to connect with Kyoichi knew that their dream of 'love' with him was futile ... and yet they persisted anyway. As an oblique response to this kind of grasping, Kyoichi gave Wataru a very poignant question and a statement ... one which I think the whole movie revolves around and is relevant to not just Kyoichi but to all the people who were interested in him:
"What do you want? There are a billion things in life more important than suffering for love."
All the characters got themselves completely cornered by clinging to their dreams of cheese, to the point that the actual 'cheese' was no longer their objective. When Kyoichi broke off his engagement with Okamura Tamaki, he tells her it is because his Ex came back and that, even though the Ex walked out on him again and probably for good this time, he wanted to wait for him. Kyoichi time and again lets the real cheese go ... and instead holds fast to the 'dream' of cheese instead. Even the last scene at the beach when Wataru comes back ... again ... Kyoichi lets him go with a "sorry". Kyoichi is on an iterative dream loop ... he will never get the taste of real cheese ... and neither will Wataru who ebbs and flows out of Kyoichi's dream of cheese.
Okamura is dreaming of cheese too and an escape from her real life. She knows Kyoichi isn't the real 'cheese' and yet, despite Kyoichi breaking of the engagement to wait for his Ex to return, she pleads with him, "Can't I stay with you? If she comes back, I will step away quietly." A billion things more important than suffering for a dream of love but that is what she chooses ... she has cornered herself in the dream of cheese that isn't real cheese ... the dream of love that isn't real love at all ... just like the map is not the territory ... the menu is not the food.
Everyone cornered by the dream. We too, in one degree or another, at one time or another, may get cornered by our own "dreams of cheese" and miss the real cheese when it comes to us front and centre ... it is worth thinking about. Dream away but when the real thing comes, don't get cornered by the dream, grab the real cheese and run π§πββοΈπ¨
An excellent thought provoking movie ... I am sure the manga would also be just as poignant if not more so.
In short:
The movie takes you into Tam's life and into his state of mind. Both his real world and his mind are pretty horrific places. I wouldn't call the movie a romance by any long shot but there is definitely something "other worldly" and surreal about it. Tam's life is definitely not aspirational. His family constantly told him he was defective because he was gay, that he couldn't be trusted, that he needed to make them proud and care more for them, even though they couldn't care less about him. Having to live with that all your life and to then have the shit kicked out of you at school is enough to do anyone's head in.
Tam was literally caught between a rock and a hard place with no escape ... except to escape into his own mind ... it is his safe haven, but it is so distorted in there ... is what he sees in his mind a reflection of outside reality? Is the 'reality' outside the only 'real' reality π€ ... is the 'reality' inside one's mind fake even though it is 'so real' to the owner of that mind π€. Tam's mental reality and the reality of the outside world is so blurry ... so much so that at the end of the movie, I think the only "real" things were Tam himself and the murder of Tam's family in the lounge room ... the rest ... well that is the proverbial metaphysical question isn't it ... which reality is the 'real' reality for Tam π€
More detailed:
The imagery / symbolism throughout the movie were very evocative and beautifully captured the essence of an altered mind state. There were quite a number of images/scenes that really left an impression on me (I have put the old "Spoiler" cover on as you may want to see the movie first) and influenced the conclusions I arrived out watching the movie:
(1) The algae on the pool walls and in the washroom - so many of them looked like human images to me ... it was kind of like a Rorschach ink blot test. Were these representatives of people in Tam's life? He tried to scrape off one ... I wondered who that might have represented to him ... his Father ... it was right in the centre of the pool wall? Towards the end in the washroom, I really thought the algae on the wall was Phum and as Tam walked back into the wall and rested next to it I thought wow ... is Phum even real? Was the pool facility some kind of giant Rorschach ink blot test for Tam?
(2) The clouds. The clouds in the movie were magnificent and there were a lot of scenes where they formed the major portion of the scene. There was one significant cloud panorama where this massive cloud had hidden the sun and all you could see were the striking crepuscular rays coming through ... it gave the impression that I was on the dark side of something and the light was trying to break its way through the clouds. Was this the case for Tam's mind?
(3) Looking up at the sky while underneath the water. Again this was fascinating ... like the clouds, the water was a barrier to being able to see clearly. Water is a distortion of light and therefore the images scene through it. Also all the waters that Tam sunk beneath were dirty - there were bits of muck floating around and mosquito larvae swimming about. I don't know about where you live but where I live Mosquito larvae are harbingers of disease e.g. Dengue, Ross River etc. Does all of this suggest a "diseased" perspective of Tam?
(4) The blue light. I think there is a connection with this blue light and the name of the movie. The blue hour is the period of twilight in the morning or evening when sun has dipped below the horizon and the sunlight becomes a blue shade of colour due to "Rayleigh Scattering". People who have spiritual beliefs say that the "blue hour" is the moment between dreams and awakening. It is also known medically that blue light affects/has caused depressive moods in people. That is why the medicos advise to have less screen time before you sleep and why companies like Apple have an option to decrease blue light emission on phones etc. So was most of the movie just a strange dream in Tam's mind? Was there any part of it that was real? Which lead me to the next point ...
(5) The Fight Club. Because of all of the above elements, I thought of the protagonist in the Hollywood Film "The Fight Club". Was Tam the equivalent of Edward Norton's character and Phum was the equivalent of Brad Pitt's character?
At the end of the movie, I think Phum was imaginary. I think the only "real" things in the movie were Tam himself and the murder of Tam's family in the lounge room. His family constantly told him he was defective because he was gay, that he couldn't be trusted, that he needed to make them proud and care more for them even though they couldn't care less about him.
Having to live with that all your life and to then have the shit kicked out of you at school is enough to do anyone's head in. He was literally caught between a rock and a hard place with no escape ... except to escape into his own mind ... and to get rid of the "ink blots" who had hurt and betrayed him so much when they should have loved and nurtured him and cared for him.
Aside from his most likely imaginary lover Phum, he could have developed a multiple personalities as well π€ ... the one that kicked back against the oppression, the one who stole the Buddha, who stole the gun, maybe even one was the murderer?
Who knows. What we do know is the final scene of the movie ... he and Phum both sunk beneath the very dark waters of the river and looked up. Against the light of day, he saw bits of muck floating in the water ... mosquito larvae and the blurry images of the blue sky and clouds ... the delusion continues to be his 'safe haven'.
A fascinating film on a whole lot of levels.
That vile abusive father was all about control ... there was no genuine love in his heart for his son ... he was totally enjoying himself watching everyone's ingratiation and unease toward him. After getting his fill of beating and seeing his son's submission to him AND seeing Bai Lang go along with it without so much of look or word of protest, he finally gives them his breadcrumb acceptance ... after all, Xun An and Bai Lang had both 'proven' to him that they would subject themselves to his tyranny and that they would continue to dance to his tune of control ... just like everyone else in that family. Daddy's job is done ... SMH and everyone enabled him to do that. Happy family ... not in the least ... it is all feigned happiness ... it is a family of victims.
The mother giving Xun An a pillow to kneel on ... that is supposed to be an example of a mother's love? NO it isn't ... and never will be ...not even if she herself is a 'victim' . Such token action is just her making herself feel better, less "guilty" for enabling the abuse of her child by her husband.
Bai Lang telling Xun An that if he had of known what his father was doing, he could have been there for him so he didn't struggle alone ... OMG SMH ... I just thought WTH ... when did watching the man you love submit his heart and body to the abuse of his father become an acceptable trade off to get approval so you all could play 'happy families' with a Mummy and Daddy ???? That was so twisted!!
Different horses for different courses I guess, but if I was Xun An's boyfriend and I saw the results of his father's "love" to him ... I would be having a conversation with Xun An about what his priorities were ... the price for that father's acceptance is NOT ACCEPTABLE AT ALL AND NEVER WILL BE ... I would rather have no parental acceptance, no parents, than to see the one I love being flogged and treated like that. That old man needs a flogging ... hope he chokes on his chess pieces ... b@stard.
The story that wove between the play of all the other stories ... Toru Misaki the radio DJ ... concluded the omnibus of stories. The last scene was very poignant and to me symbolised all the stories present, including Toru's ... a beautifully boxed surprise of something wonderful ... never given but abandoned in the night ...
Despite Yoichi's parents dying when he was young, he has felt the intense burden and presure of his parents' legacy. He has been caught in a kind of "Hamlet" conundrum (to be, or not to be) ... should he take up their legacy and be molded by it even though he is not comfortable with it OR should he separate from that legacy and become his own kind of individual π€ ... and what if you have parts of you that are just like your parents ... do you reject that outright or do you embrace it because it vibes with the 'real' you π€. You can his struggles in his art work ... in the symbolism of flower seeds ... the old seeds kept in his father's drawers and the new seeds Sakurai brings ... it is even in his unspoken sexual orientation.
Then serendipitously, 37 year old Sakurai comes along ... he sees Yoichi painting 'flowers' when no one else could, and he sees Yoichi's happiness painting those 'flowers'... he allegedly is 'straight' but is none the less attracted to Yoichi. I don't think this movie was ever about the age gap of 37 vs 19 of the MLs ... I think this is a story about the meeting of hearts and minds, the 'seeing' of the 'real' person underneath all the layers of social convention and family legacy ... and falling in love with that essence of a person's 'being'. It is a story that is beautifully told through symbolism, imagery, words and 'negative spaces'.
I loved the symbolism of the seeds. Even though Yoichi had previously failed to get the old seeds from his parents to germinate, Sakurai has a go at trying to germinate them. Again, despite all the attention, the old seeds did not germinate. This is rather symbolic. Yoichi could not 'bloom' with the legacy of his parents ... and he could not bloom if that 'legacy' was used by other people like Sakurai ... he also could not bloom with social convention legacy's around 'age' associations (e.g. Fujimoto). Sakurai, who saw the real Yoichi, gets over his own struggles with social conventions and comes bearing new seeds ... Hibiscus (such a huge and totally out there vibrant flower) ... and Yoichi 'blooms' in the light of Sakurai's love and attention ... in fact they both do ... and what is not to love about that ... two individuals who 'see' each other and love what they see ... π
I loved how Yoichi's cousins/roommates - Yoshitomi, Shota, Takeo - all accepted him and his 'withdrawal' and had his back. Yoichi was never 'invisible' to them, even though they did not know what was going on in his heart and mind, they were always alert to the first signs of Yoichi's 'awakening' and they are there to gently support Yoichi's further 'awakening'. How wonderful to have such people in your life.
Here is to SERENDIPITY ... may it come your way. I did not know this was adapted from the manga series "Hana wa Saku ka" (θ±γ―ε²γγ) by Hidaka Shoko (ζ₯ι«γ·γ§γΌγ³). I might see if I can find it ... see if my interpretation is changes.
There are some very deep concepts embedded in this movie ... time and waste of time ... life and death ... 'alive' but 'dead' ... 'dead' but 'alive' ... futility ... the purpose for 'being' ... alienation from self and from others ... social vandelism ... the 'system' vs chaos ... mind vs mindlessness ... there was even a 'cult' feel in the aggregation of social 'misfits'/'rebels' ... Marvel Comics' supervillian Thanos ... Nietsche and his concepts of master and slave morality, nihilism, death of god, affirmation of life, perspectivisim et al ...
"Everyone is betting their lives on something."
"All humans who do not think and act with their own heads are our targets of attack. Getting on the system of the rotton world and doing well, it's the same as reproducing the system."
The 'war' against some 'thing' ... or betting your life on someone/thing is always interesting to me ... embedded within those concepts is you/what you want against the 'other'/what they want and yet one has no meaning without the other, cannot exist without the other ... both 'sides' are eternally bound together ... 'up' has no meaning without 'down', 'shadow' has no meaning without 'light' ... 'system' has no meaning without 'chaos' ... indeed is not chaos a system in itself π€ ... and in the end we all die anyway π ... human consciousness is such a mind bender lol. Loved this movie.