The biggest controversy over this movie is the heroine Matsuko. There are two main points of view on Matsuko, summarized in a simple and rough way: one is that she is poor and lovely, and should be sympathized with; the other is that she is pathetic and deplorable, beautiful and sexy, and obviously can live a better life, but have to find a man, foolish, self-inflicted. In fact, I think whether you watch the movie or read the book, you are watching yourself. If you are touched, then you must have seen something of yourself in the movie. The movie is so moving because all of us need to be loved and all of us desire to be loved. But this love between people is not as pure as we think it is, because people create civilization, and civilization is often passed on to erase your love. Instead of Matsuko being forced by circumstances, it is more likely that man and the civilization created by man are in opposition to each other, and man goes to his death in the civilization he creates.
? There are so many things to say about this movie, such as the colors of the movie, the composition, the costumes, the words of Ah Lung, the words of Ah Sheng, the river where Matsuko is always silently fuming and weeping, and the Bible that keeps appearing at the end ......, and the places that touched me the most are mainly three small details. Although Matsuko was not loved as a child, nor suffered too much, I believe that everyone will experience either deep or shallow trauma from the family in childhood. And Matsuko was already an adult when she became a teacher. Childhood experiences are very important in Freud's view, but adults are already able to take responsibility for their own lives, and it is too far-fetched to keep using childhood experiences to explain the events of adulthood. The reason why Matsuko is more miserable than ever is to a greater extent: she doesn't understand the rules of society, she is a person with pure joy and sorrow, and social civilization often can't tolerate the existence of such a person, otherwise wouldn't civilization or something be a piece of shit.
The first detail: the bath triggered the tragedy. Matsuko's life trajectory change event is so small, is so absurd, is so "ridiculous". She would not have thought of the serious consequences of admitting to stealing money. Our civilization demands that people must be of high moral character. Matsuko says she's sorry that there are no morals in her world, and that she just wants to take a shower. If you think Matsuko is ridiculous, then stop laughing now and think about how hypocritical you should be to think Matsuko is confused. Is morality to disregard the human need to take a bath? What does taking a bath symbolize? Washing away filth cleanses one's self. Matsuko wants to keep herself pure, but is not able to, and from here she takes a step into a dirtier world.
The second detail: the tragedy caused by the child. When we think of children, we label them as pure; kind; innocent; hopeful and a host of other positive and wonderful words. But in this movie, the change Matsuko is precisely the child. First of all, it is Aaron's lie, which leads to Matsuko being forced to quit her job, run away from home, wander around, and meet her first scummy guy. In the end, when Matsuko finally finds the courage to make a change, it's another group of kids who beat her to death with baseball bats. Her tragic beginning and ending were caused by children, and what caused these evil children? Just like The Hunt, people believe in children because in our culture children are innocent and pure, and even if it were known that a child killed Matsuko, the group of children would not be punished because our civilization does not allow it. How ridiculous that the world was originally cluttered and people have hardwired a series of orders that if you fall out of line you will be left behind.
The third detail: the wrong "junior" self-positioning. After spending some time with her lover, Matsuko made a smart move to find his wife, and after seeing her, Matsuko was convinced that she would win. Because in her world, there is only the simplest comparison of appearance, there is no ethical concepts, and she does not think that she is so ashamed of being a "mistress". She doesn't understand at all that her lover lives strictly according to the rules of the world, and that's why her lover is jealous and envious of Hachimokawa's freedom to write without going to work. His wife is legitimate in the secular world, Matsuko is the illegitimate being, and he will never give up his legitimate identity because it is a relationship recognized by civilization.
The only people who bring Matsuko love and warmth in the movie are her sister and Megumi Sawamura. One is a girl who has never been in contact with the world, and the other is a woman who has already been punished and developed by her own body. It is not to be ludicrous that the ones who make us feel no despair should be completely unrelated to our civilization. It is an insoluble paradox that man creates the great cage of civilization and survives unharmed, but the real man is either terminally ill, banished from civilization, or headed for death.
If you say you feel sorry for Matsuko, then you are actually feeling sorry for yourself. If you feel sorry for Matsuko, you are actually feeling sorry for yourself, because there is no place to put the best part of a human being, not even "home".
To the disappearing "pinecones".
To the disappearing "pine nuts".