"Love Letter" is the famous work of Japanese director Shunji Iwai, and also one of the representative works of "Iwai Aesthetics", the film uses aesthetic pictures, mourning and not hurting tone, implicitly telling us a story of forgetting and remembering, love and pain.
<h1 class="pgc-h-decimal" data-index="01" > death evokes buried memories</h1>
There is no present and no future, only the past, played over and over again – Eugene O'Neill
"Love Letter" can be said to be a film based on memories, Fujii (male) fiancée - Hiroko, two years after the death of Fujii (male), sent him an envelope, but was received by Fujii (male) junior high school classmate, a woman with the same name and surname, Fujii (female), the story unfolds.
The film uses a narrative that intersects reality and the past, and through Hiroko's almost forced exploration, asks the tree (female) to "tell more about him (the male Fujii tree) and share memories about him", forcing the tree (female) to constantly dig up past memories.
Interestingly, in the film, the real life of the tree (woman) is mostly in a warm yellow tone of warm nostalgia, but the memories are bright and clear, as if the deliberately forgotten youth has never faded.
Through the memories of the tree (woman), we see the awkward and green interaction between two men and women with the same name, for the tree (female), this is just a small annoyance of youth, nothing special, until the tree (woman) learns that the tree (male) is dead, the suppressed inner pain, when facing death again, it will surface.
It was the pain of the teenager losing his father, the tree (female) dressed in a black mourning suit, gliding lightly on the snow, all the way down, the camera close-up on a frozen dragonfly, the close-up at this time is also the subjective shot of the tree (female), the body of the dragonfly makes her really feel the loss of life, "Daddy is dead, right? When she truly realized that her father had left her, another special male in her life, Shu (male), also transferred away.
Acknowledging this fact is too painful for a young girl, so with this "all the way down" tree (female) slides this painful memory into the depths of memory, buried in snow.
The sharp pain of death allows the tree (female) to bury the past and live a seemingly fulfilling life, until the shadow of death comes again, especially when the protagonist of death is one of the protagonists of that dusty memory, which will inevitably lead to the melting of snow and the recovery of memory.
<h1 class="pgc-h-decimal" data-index="02" > imprisoned by love, but freed by the brokenness of love</h1>
Death is not really gone, forgetting is the eternal demise - "Dream Quest"
"Love Letter" begins with a 13-second close-up, Hiroko lying in the snow, the wind whistling, the picture seems to be still, until she suddenly takes a sharp breath, accompanied by the sound of inhalation, we suddenly understand why the picture of the 13 seconds just now looks strange - she is not breathing.
There is no doubt that she was simulating death, on the death day of the second anniversary of her fiancé's mountaineering death, away from the noisy crowd, lying alone in the snow, imagining a martyrdom, trying to go to Huangquan with her lover.
On the second anniversary of the death, the parents and friends of the deceased have accepted that the deceased is dead and have begun to forget, only Hiroko, standing in front of the tomb, with his hands folded and his eyes affectionate.
Hiroko's simulated death, sending a letter to a deceased person, and the ambiguous attitude towards Akiba Sensei's pursuit are all proof that she has never forgotten. The beauty of the past imprisoned her like a cage, and the tree (male) lived in her heart, and for two years, it never disappeared.
Is love a prison? Or is it a freedom? --Kieslowski
Similar to Kieslowski's Blue, White, Red, and Blue, this cage woven by love is not opened by love, and Akiba-sensei cannot open the door of Hiroko's closed heart, just as Oliver cannot get close to Julie's broken heart.
In the end, it is the lies and betrayals of love that tear the cage, and Julie accidentally discovers that her husband has a mistress who has been friends for many years, and the other party is pregnant, "I was happy before, I loved them, they loved me", what if this happiness is based on deception? Isn't this love the only one? What do you think is not perfect, is it glass slag disguised as sugar cubes?
"Blue, White, Red and Blue" reports on Julie's husband's past through television, direct violence, leaving no room for cheating photos, while "Love Letters" has the subtle tact of orientals.
Hiroko first learned from the driver that she and the previous passenger (played by Miho Nakayama in the film) look very similar, and in the dark, she thinks that it is Shu (female), her fiancé's junior high school classmate.
With this suspicion in mind, she met The Tree (female) on the street, and she stared at the woman who was exactly like her riding a bicycle, crossing the road, and passing by her again, and she subconsciously shouted "Miss Fujii? ", the camera hit back, the tree (female) confused parking look back, after the camera switched three times, Hiroko drowned in the crowd, the tree (female) did not find the existence of Hiroko, just as the tree (male) did not really face the existence of Hiroko, she has always existed in this relationship as a phantom of the tree (female).
When she desperately pointed to the tree (female) on the graduation photo and asked, "Like me?" In fact, I already know the answer, which is the reason why the tree (male) fell in love with Hiroko at first sight: through the same look as the tree (female) Hiroko to compensate for the first love that could not be opened.
The affection of the past and the sharp pain of the death of their lover make them close themselves, but ironically, the obsession is deception and illusion from beginning to end, allowing them to break through the cage and regain their freedom is the opposite of love - betrayal and deception.
<h1 class="pgc-h-decimal" data-index="03" > reconciled with life</h1>
It is also a story about "searching", Hiroko looks for the returner, looks for the truth of "love at first sight" of the tree (male), tree (female) looks for repressed memories, fortunately, Shunji Iwai gives us a happy ending, and they are all redeemed.
When Hiroko faced the mountain where the tree (male) was killed, she shouted over and over again, "How are you?" I am fine! Then she was truly free.
How are you? I know the reason for your love at first sight, I'm fine, thank you for the good memories you left behind, how are you? I know the reason why you are reluctant to propose, I am fine, I am going to forget you.
At the same time, the picture switches to the tree (female) on the hospital bed, and she whispers "Dear Fujii Tree, how are you?" I am fine! ”
How are you? Turns out you used to like me, I'm fine, I remember everything about you, how are you? I'm sorry that my dullness has made you unable to let go of your nostalgia for so many years, I'm fine, in fact, I like you too, are you? I'm sorry you loved you until you died I didn't know, I'm fine, I'll always remember you.
The camera switches back and forth between Hiroko and the tree (female), and finally completes a replacement, the tree (female) succeeds Hiroko to begin the mourning of the tree (male), Hiroko walks out of this unrepeatable love, and the tree (female) finally realizes the feeling of being loved, and also calmly accepts the cruelty of life and begins to live truly.
<h1 class="pgc-h-decimal" data-index="04" > conclusion</h1>
Love and death are the themes of human immortality, in the face of death, we remember with love, or because of love to suppress and forget?
William Faulkner wrote in The Nun Requiem: "The past never dies, it doesn't even pass." ”
The wounds that we think we have forgotten will appear in our lives in various other ways, writing our lives in ways we are unaware of.
Until one day, some accident, touches our memory, that is, the moment of healing.