I Want to Eat Your Pancreas (君の膵臓を食べたい) is a live-action
movie adapted from a novel by Sumino Yoru that was released into Japanese
cinemas on July 28, 2017. The movie’s unique title has drawn attention from
many viewers during the time of the screening and prior. Some of the main roles
were played by famous actors and actresses such as Shun Oguri and Keiko
Kitagawa.
Summary
This story is told in the form of a flashback the antisocial
main character Haruki Shiga (in his late 20s) thinks back to his high school
life. It all started from how Haruki accidentally finds a book titled the “Disease
Coexistence Journal” which belongs to a classmate of his called Sakura. From
reading the first few pages of the book before Sakura asks for the book back,
he discovers that Sakura is currently suffering from pancreatic cancer and that
the book serves as a journal to document her days with cancer. Sakura tells
Haruki that she only has less than a year to live, but plans to make the most
out of it. She pleads Haruki not to tell anyone else, thus her pancreatic
cancer is a secret shared among the two. The relationship between two
classmates who have never talked to each other begins after their meeting. At a
certain point, during a time when both the protagonists go out on a trip to the
temple, Sakura tells Haruki about a belief that if you were to eat an organ of
someone who was dying, once they die their soul would still leave within you.
Thus, she jokingly asks Haruki to eat her pancreas after she dies.
Due to Haruki being seen as an antisocial figure with no
friends, Sakura’s best friend Kyoko starts to wonder and feel slightly jealous
of Haruki, as if he was taking away her best friend. Therefore, Kyoko and
Haruki were never on good terms.
As days passed, both Sakura and Haruki bond more and more
with each other. From being close to someone so lively and optimistic, Haruki
starts to change for the better.
The story however, takes an unexpectedly twist. Sakura
eventually dies, not because of her pancreatic cancer but because of being
stabbed to death by a murderer that was currently lurking in the city at the
time. This meant that no one apart from Haruki and Sakura’s family knew of
Sakura’s illness.
Fast-forwarding to roughly ten years in the future, Haruki
displays signs of regret for not really living the life Sakura would have
wished him to (a more positive minded life). He receives a wedding invitation
from Kyoko and makes a last-minute decision to attend her wedding ceremony. Unfortunately,
Haruki did not make it in time for the ceremony, but manages to see and talk to
Kyoko afterwards, explaining to her about Sakura and her conditions back in
their high school days. He then asks to be Kyoko’s friend, which eventually got
Kyoko breaking down in tears. The act of befriending Kyoko was what Sakura had
once asked him for.
Connections to melodrama
Hyperbolic elements
As mentioned by both Ito and Brooks, one of the main
connections a film or novel could make with genre melodrama is the “heightened
and hyperbolic drama”. An example of this is found in I Want to Eat Your
Pancreas through the background of the main protagonist, Haruki. Haruki is
portrayed as an antisocial character who does not fit into society, thus he
does not have any friends. This friendless background serves as an exaggeration
for his isolation and loneliness which evokes an overall mood of pity and sadness
around Haruki.
Excessive build-up of emotions
There is an excessive
build-up of emotion that extends from the beginning to the end of the movie,
mainly through the worsening of Sakura’s health that progresses. The main
build-up of emotion occurs when Haruki is changing for the better by stepping
out of his antisocial box and taking on a more positive look on life, while
Sakura’s health is shown to be getting worse and worse. It is as if Sakura is
slowly passing on her wishes and will of her remaining moments to Haruki so
that he could live a happy life like Sakura.
Crying scene by Haruki
Similar to that of other melodrama movies, there is a breaking point that
comes from one of the characters. Haruki who is depicted as a quiet, stoic
person who refuses to show his emotions, breaks down crying after Sakura’s
death. The fact that a stoic character opens up to his emotions and lets out
his sadness heightens the melodramatic aspect of the movie.
Metaphors and motifs
-Philosophic views
Sakura represents the ‘philosopher’
element that exists in some melodrama. Despite knowing that death is soon to
approach her, she has remarkable views on life and death.
-Connotations
regarding the transience of life and love
This relates mostly to
the title of the movie. Although it may seem gross at first, the context behind
the meaning is discussed in the movie where Sakura talks about a belief
that if you were to eat an organ of someone who was dying, once they die their
soul would still leave within you. This implies that life and love are tied
together.
-Pinky promise
A pinky promise serves
as a symbol of oath or contract between two people. Through the actions of
doing a pinky promise, which is often done by children, there is an element of
purity present within Haruki and Sakura. In the hospital scene where Haruki
pays Sakura a visit, Sakura makes him promise her that he wouldn’t tell anyone
of her disease and that he will stick with her until she passes away. As they
make their pinky promise, it is also noticeable that this is one of the very
first scenes where the characters are making physical contact with each other,
showing empathy and love and flows between the two.
Film aesthetics
Lighting
Lighting is used to interpret
various messages, mostly relating to the character’s emotions. As shown in the
scene below, there is a clear contrast in lighting split between Haruki (darker
side) and Sakura (lighter side). This can be interpreted that Sakura has an optimistic
mindset, whereas Haruki has a more pessimistic mindset. Moreover, the lighting
in this scene can show the bonds that have not completely formed between the
two. This scene happens towards the opening of the movie, thus both the
characters have not quite developed a bond between them; therefore, the break
in lighting can show the disconnection between feelings.
No comments:
Post a Comment