Japanese "pure love" movies have two important features:
One: to create an idealized emotional "utopia" for the audience, in this beautiful and romantic image world, in a pure love that does not involve sexual desire, materiality, or even life and death, so that the audience can obtain great emotional satisfaction. Second: Most of the "Pure Love" movies are set in the campus, telling the simple and profound love stories of junior high school and high school boys and girls, mostly ending in tragedy, bringing the audience a feeling of inexhaustibility.
Based on Sumino's novel of the same name, "Commemorative HandKi" is a rare masterpiece of pure love. Behind the pure love of the film, it is also a celebration of life and friendship.
The film unfolds in the form of memories of the male protagonist Haruki 12 years later, and expresses her remembrance and thoughts of Sakura with Kyoko Sakura, who is about to marry. At the hospital, Haruki stumbles upon the secret diary "Comorbidity Library" written by her high school classmate Sakura, and learns the secret of her pancreatic terminal illness. The two people with very different personalities also approached and spent the last part of Sakura's life together.
Without affectionate confessions, no sweet kisses, and even no interaction between couples, the film still maintains director Tsukikawa's consistent Japanese pure love style, providing the audience with a pure love story.
The film was released in Japan on July 28, 2017, and attracted 190,000 viewers in its first week. Although the Douban score is not high, its results are obvious to all, bringing people a sense of inexhaustibility, inadvertently recalling the first love, there is a faint sadness, but also a huge happiness.
Today, I will deeply interpret the charm of this film from three aspects: the narrative structure of the film, the meaning of the names of the characters in the film, and the expression of emotions.
<h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" >, narrative structure: the story of Haruki and Sakura is led by flashbacks, interludes, and memories, interlaced between different time and space</h1>
In terms of structure, this film adopts the structural form of flashbacks, interpolations, and memories, interlacing between different time and space, leading to the story of the hero and heroine, and firmly locking the audience's attention.
"Commemorative HandKi" divides the story into two lines of memory in the form of flashbacks and interludes, one of which is that 12 years later, Haruki, who became a teacher at his alma mater because of a sentence from Sakura, recalls the time spent with Sakura when chatting with students. Second: Kyoko, Sakura's soon-to-be-married friend, reminisces like Haruki about her time with Sakura.
The first half of the film takes the form of flashbacks, with Haruki returning to his alma mater to teach, and when he walks into the library again and strokes the number on the book, all the memories related to Sakura come to his face.
Twelve years ago, Haruki and Sakura attended this school, the two were classmates, and they signed up as library administrators together, and the story began, and the memories began here.
In the middle of the film, kyoko, who is about to get married, opens a flower shop near the school, and by chance, she sees Haruki walk into the school, and her memories of Sakura begin.
Kyoko is Sakura's best friend before she dies, and the two are in the same class, going to and from school together, talking and laughing. Kyoko only has one friend, Sakura, and she is satisfied with this. All she needed was One friend from Sakura.
These two lines of recollection are not narrated separately, but are intertwined. With Haruki as the main line of memories, this line of memories of Sakura's friend Kyoko naturally leads to the middle of the way, and finally because of Sakura's two letters, the two lines merge and intersect.
Twelve years later, Haruki finds two letters left by Sakura in the library, one for him and one for Kyoko. Spanning twelve years, Sakura finally conveyed her true words to the two people who missed her. At this time, Kyoko is wearing a wedding dress and is about to sell into a happy marriage, looking at the letter that Sakura left for her, she is in tears, and she doesn't care about the makeup. Haruki also fulfills Sakura's wish and says the words that she and Kyoko become good friends with. At this point, two lines of recollection naturally intersect.
<h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" > second, the meaning of the character's name in the film: The meaning of the name implies the fate of the character</h1>
Spring tree means tree, and sakura means cherry blossom.
Haruki is introverted and lonely, is a book committee member in the class, has no interest in others, and is always accompanied by books, so he becomes the so-called "rustic" teenager in the mouth of his classmates.
Sakura is an outgoing, smiling candidate, a candidate for the Book Committee, and is very popular in the class, enjoying reading the little prince's book. Suffering from a pancreatic disease, she was sick and no one knew about her except her family and Haruki.
Although the tree is lonely, it is also tenacious, can withstand the wind and rain, and is deeply rooted in the ground, which also indicates the fate of the male protagonist Spring Tree. 12 years ago, he was so humble in school, he had no friends, only books. After becoming a "good classmate" with Sakura, Sakura suggests that he become a teacher in the future. After 12 years, he really became a teacher, taught for 6 years, taught at his alma mater for a year, opened his heart to communicate with others, and lived well with Sakura's share.
Cherry blossoms symbolize romance, purity, and weak resistance to wind and dust, which also indicates the fate of Sakura. Suffering from pancreatic disease, he had little time to live, but he was unexpectedly killed by a serial killer.
Most of the Japanese pure love movies will have cherry blossom scenes, and this film is no exception. The flower language of cherry blossoms is: I will only love you for a lifetime, smile at you, and be warm. It also hints at Sakura's pure love for Haruki.
There is a concept of 'momentary beauty' in the Japanese consciousness of beauty, that is, to praise 'the ephemerality of beauty'. Cherry blossoms appear many times in many Japanese pure love movies, which is a typical Japanese aesthetic of mourning.
For "material grief", this film can be divided into three levels. The first level: it is touched by Sakura's pure love for Haruki, haruki only understands her feelings for her after Sakura's death, which is a kind of mourning; the second level: it is a touch of friendship, Sakura's friendship with Kyoko spans life and death, 12 years later Kyoko reads the letter left by Sakura and bursts into tears; the third level: it is a sadness for Sakura's death, suffering from pancreatic disease, which has not had much time, but was prematurely ended by a serial killer.
Sakura didn't see the cherry blossoms blooming, and her life ended with a smile on her way to her beloved. Also known in Japan as the "Flower of Death", the cherry blossoms generally last for a week or so before they wither, the cherry blossoms choose to wither at their best, and the director also chooses to let Sakura end his life in the joy of running to his lover.
For Sakura's death film is not too much rendering, a heavy rain, the cries of classmates, the film uses a sad background to deal with Sakura's departure, bringing the audience infinite sorrow.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > third, emotional expression: Behind pure love, is the celebration of life and friendship</h1>
This film is not simply about love, behind pure love, it is a celebration of life and friendship, which has aroused many viewers to think.
Sakura's love for Haruki is pure and euphemistic. Sakura suffers from pancreatic disease, there is not much time left, the last time of her life is accompanied by Haruki, I think she is regretless and happy.
Sakura and Haruki travel, eat ramen together, make wishes at temples, draw lots, share a room at a hotel, and play Truth or Dare with cards. Sakura uses the way of the game to understand Haruki, secretly confiding in her heart, when Haruki loses because of the game, she picks up Sakura, who is sitting on the floor, to the bed, and the short distance is the only intimate contact between the two.
Sakura's love for Haruki is hidden in the details.
Only Haruki was told about the illness. The fact that she was ill was unknown to anyone but her family and Haruki. She had said before she died that she hoped that after death, Haruki could eat her pancreas, because the soul would remain in that person's body and live with the important people.
The love for Haruki is written in the diary "Comorbid Disease Library". The diary is full of Sakura's secrets, including his illness and his love for Haruki. Every bit of the record, feelings, feelings are written in this diary. After his death, the diary was only allowed to be read by Haruki alone.
Two letters interspersed in the book. Two letters allow Sakura to span twelve years to convey her true words to the two people who miss her, one to Kyoko and one to Haruki. One was her best friend and the other was the person she loved the most.
Touched by the pure love of Sakura and Haruki, he is also touched by the friendship between Sakura and Kyoko. Kyoko was inferior and introverted when she went to school, and it was Sakura who smiled and talked to her over and over again, opening up Kyoko's long-closed inner world, and the two became good friends.
In addition, in the few days in the film, Sakura's optimistic attitude and love of life also bring a lot of thinking and inspiration to the audience.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > written at the end:</h1>
"Commemoration of the Hand" is a pure love movie, the pure love of the male and female protagonists is touching, the friendship between Sakura and Kyoko is also impressive, and Sakura's optimistic attitude towards life is worth learning.
Sakura said, "To live is to be in touch with someone's heart." For example: recognizing someone, liking someone, hating someone, being with someone, holding his hand, hugging him, missing him, this is "living".
Alone, you can't feel life.
For Sakura, although life is short, it is good to get along with Haruki in the last time, and every moment with Haruki is the most precious treasure for her.
When Haruki looked at the letter that Sakura had written to herself, the tears in the corners of her eyes were so touching that people unconsciously followed the tears.