 |
Makoto Shinkai English Fan Forum and Site
 An Unofficial English Fan Site for Makoto Shinkai
|
| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
zitch
Chobi
Joined: 04 Feb 2008
Posts: 191
Location: Louisiana, USA
|
 Posted: Mon Oct 20, 2008 6:45 pm Post subject: The Distance of Japanese Youth via Byousoku |
 |
|
While researching for a topic I was planning on writing here, I had stumbled onto and got distracted by this great essay on the distance themes in 5 Centimeters Per Second.
An excerpt:
| Quote: | Byousoku 5cm – the elegiac loss of emotions in Modern Japan
Released in 2007, Shinkai Makoto’s latest feature film Byousoku 5cm – a chain of short stories about their distance (hereon called Byousoku 5cm) consists of three segments (short stories) inextricably woven together into a film that as the subtitle explains, is about ‘distance’. In contrast to his previous films, which dealt with fantasy and/or science fiction elements, Byousoku 5cm is firmly rooted in reality, thus effectively conveying the problems that the Japanese youth face against temporal, spatial and interpersonal distance. This is reflected in the title of the film, where Byousoku 5cm (the speed of 5cm per second) refers to the speed of which cherry blossom petals fall, being a metaphor for the transient nature of humans, of how despite the slowness of life, people who start at the same origin often drift into their own paths.
The 63 minute film is divided into three parts: Oukashou, Cosmonaut and the eponymous Byousoku 5 Centimetre; all centring around the relationship of three youths: Touno Takaki, the main protagonist of the film; Shinohara Akari, Takaki’s childhood friend who, under uncontrollable circumstances was separated from him; and Sumita Kanae, Takaki’s classmate in high school. The plot spans for over ten years, starting from when Takaki meets Akari in elementary school, till when they are adults. Shinkai compresses, what essentially is a life story between three people, into a compact feature of an hour, and in doing so, perhaps subtly defines the sheer amount of emotional distance present between the characters, that cannot be transcended in either 60 minutes or ten years.
Thus, through the metaphors of temporal and spatial distance, Shinkai creates a sphere upon which the emotional distance between youth is effectively explored – how feelings are kept within the characters themselves due to circumstances ranging from uncertainty of the future, fear of rejection, to an inability to let go of the past. |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Junpei
VNP 46b-512
Joined: 25 Jan 2008
Posts: 834
Location: Australia
|
| Posted: Tue Oct 21, 2008 6:59 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Wow, great find zitch. Beautifully written too. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Janny
Cosmonaut
Joined: 12 Jun 2008
Posts: 141
Location: Romania
|
| Posted: Tue Oct 21, 2008 7:40 am Post subject: |
|
|
It's times like these that make me wish I was Japanese...
Thanks for the link, Zitch, it's a great read.
_________________
Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
gleowine
EZO Tower
Joined: 14 Apr 2008
Posts: 336
Location: Louisiana
|
| Posted: Tue Oct 21, 2008 10:29 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Thanks, zitch. I read the whole essay, and the writer did a good job, even with the word limitations.
The fact that 5 CM struck a chord with so many different people worldwide seems to me a clear indication that this inability to express true feelings that the write speaks of is not just confined to Japanese youth. It just took someone like Shinkai to open our eyes to it.
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Join! (free) 
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
