Hanagatami is a 2017 Japanese war film directed by Nobuhiko Obayashi. The film revolves around Toshihiko a sixteen-year-old teenager who moves in with his aunt in Karatsu and develops friendships and romances with the inhabitants of the town as WW2 rages on in the background. Hanagatami is a coming-of-age anti-war film acting as a criticism of the atomic bomb.
The film starts with stating that the author of the book the film is based on was drafted into japan war with china and a lot of people died at a young age and the book is a reminder of people who struggled in war time. One of the main themes of the film is that history is not just nostalgia its heart-breaking as the real-life events were tragic. The film showcases thew idea that this location could be nay fictional at a place in history with the war going on in his youth. The main boy checks and sees he is not in the army and therefore wants to jump as another kid comes into the classroom as the teacher states war has not place into the classroom, as society wants to protect innocent people form the horrors of war. The film states that a coward lacks integrity as people waste their intelligence going to war which defines logic as instead the film preaches to act spiritually and be courageous. The people who go off to war don’t want to be cowards but that this is just an excuse to convince them it is right to die in war. This showcase of the horrors of war is shown as a girl commits out blood and dies near a well as a girl kisses her showing how innocent people die in war.
One of the characters is a sick girl who in house dances and leaks blood as she’s on her period. Her rother was ill and sent to war to die as her sister pours medicine down her throat. She needs to be stronger and her conidian mirrors the horrors of war. Her cancer gets worst as her husband died in war as the family decides to stay as Mina states she wants to live. The film questions why we have war as the boy acts courageously and gets his sister to safety as the mother listen to her dead bothers records linking to the theme that humans still have a lot to learn from each other. The film states that great men start wars and are on a quest like his father as he wants to jump but he is a coward, but he stops when the girl shows him the beauty of the world as the mum has a cancer growth. The class clown of the school brings people together as the people in the film are tragic characters with no skills as some of them are cowards. People ends up going to war with other countries regardless of there culture or art however the film states that people should have no border as because of them people want to fight. The spiritual people see people having fun and see it as a waste, but others see it as they proof of exitance. On e guy hangs another guy’s dog as in war time when people are that hungry, they will eat anything as the film asks who will eats these people as the film promotes the need to help one another, a snake the appears next to the guy and the grave of the dog as he is playing showing how the is of the past and has always been there.
The guy who dog died manages to reach into boiling water for a coin as he doesn’t feel anything anymore. The film states hair is the source of a woman’s life as the sister gets her hair combed her hair falls out as she is losing her life as the film states that people both change and don’t change at all. The childhood friend arrives with photos showing themes of youth, Buddhism, beauty, and romance. A rose flower petal falls as the girl decides to get her photo taken by her fiend as her life will be quick, but she will live together in the photo. Children sing around a scarecrow soldier contrasting the innocence of youth and war. The main guy goes and find his fined in his house as he has given up everything. He is a Cristian who grew up on an island of Christians and Buddhists he had a wired, but love filled relationship with his sister but now they are adults and have grown distance and own with her sitting further away. The locals of the town like the flute but no him playing it. They then watch his friend go swimming as the main guy bathes his hand as he states he lives the innocence of his own friend. The main guy then stubbles across line of his friends who says he should smoke as he has a life and people who quick act like they’re dead as he must fight someone superior to him by inferior to the main guy.
The sick nerd character in the film wants to be useful not a traitor as he is giving away eggs at the school linking into the themes of national pride, as they worry about the castle being hit that was hit during the Korean war lining into the themes of war and Japanese expansion. Wine spills on the guy’s trousers that looks like blood linking to the scene from before as shown as repulse and beautiful as its captured in a photo of youth. The main guy remembers his youth and feels lonely as they talk about the girl’s hometown as she puts a Japanese headband on his headband they make out with the sound of war in the background. This shows how war is everything within the film. The young guys are drunk trying to get with the geishas in a bar as they are in a brothel with the head owner saying to town will be good once war is over and the woman had her kids killed in the war showing the anti-war themes in the film. They then steal a horse strip naked by the beach and ride it. The main guy thinks about his mum and the war as the children sign multiple scarecrows pop up showing the mass dead soldiers as people want to see the old shop as its history.
The film states that soon this young guy will die in war and the young woman will be an adult and the love of his life and he will carry out any immoral order as he decides to come to her on impulse which is that same impulse that starts wars sowing the tragedy of war. The main guy gets his whole family together and tries to heal the bonds of his friends and family. He is drafted and before he goes, he must go home to help them as his brother is a reformed communist who he saw having a breakdown ripping up grass. The teacher guy the decides to go off and die for his country. This is not shown as a celebration but rather a sombre affair as they sing a song about death honour and sadness. He went off to war so he would die for his country in an act of maturity but at the same time doesn’t want to waste his life as death is shown as agonising but honourable, this environment tests peoples honour. The girl characters were jealous of the other girl’s purity as the girl says they should be the girl’s friend as she won’t be around for long. He then looks after a guy that gets sick reflecting the story of two people finding shelter as they all come together for Mini but she’s to ill as symbolical shown by blood flowers.
The girl decides to take a photo of the sick gurl. So, she can symbolically live forever. As the girl takes photos of the sick girl, she finds her beautiful as the spirit of the husband connects to the mother showing how dreadful the situation is as they share sexual tension before he plays a cello Infront of the house with the sunset in the back. The boys and girls swap partners and kiss as they talk about beautiful the moonlight is. With the moon in the background, he strips her, and she bites him, and they embrace showing the theme of the love of youth. The guy follows a firefly which leads him to girl as his mum chased fireflies when he was younger, as she was gentle but strict making him jump from the roof as the would capture and realised firefalls only keeping one. the flowers and fireflies grow dim showing death and war, as the kids running around a fist laying then dying screaming for their mothers as they died in a pile. The girl who is saying she can’t have romance as it will be lethal to her as he makes a pass on the mum. She refuses and the girl doesn’t want him to see her like this as his dreams will be shattered. He can’t protect her as she lives in his dreams, she loves her life and doesn’t want to die. The idea of an inescapable fate is shown with the spirits of dead soldiers matching off to war.
Everyone is courageous in their own way. The doctor saw a soldier drink a whole bottle of soy source to get out of going to war as well as a woman whose husband died in war. Everyone has their own way to fight meaning her life can be useful to the country as the mum is violating the law by keeping her in the house. In a traditional Japanese festival, the brother slider gets item off and says goodbye to his dad the film asks if war is worth dying for even is people survived. The prostitute does a holy ritual to honour God drinking with the young guy in coming-of-age story with the prostitute as a mother figure as she signs him a lullaby as he states he won’t be killed by the war. The prostitutes mourn the innocent boys killed in war as that states they might as well commit suicide as all they can do is pray. The sick girl seemly bleeds to death as the main guy goes looking for her and friend his fiend with a girl at home and gives the other girl a figure. The main guy decides to quit smoking in the hopes of redemption and purification as the festival has historical significance and is a long and old tradition as the main girl is lost linking into themes of enlightenment, purification, and redemption.
The main guy jumps into the sea trying to purify himself as everyone wants the sick girl to have a good memory and the ill to live and therefore allow her to to go to the festival as the film states that the war started in japan because of pearl harbour. All the friends come together for the sick girl as no one is allowed to talk about the war tonight. They think about the ones they lost in the war as the girl is shown dying with blood on her sleeve as she faints as she always had this condition but got though it because of her husband. They all get together at the party and decide not to talk about the war.
They dance as some of them ask about old relationships as others form new ones as the girl is then shown to be dying with blood oozing from her finger as they talk about the Japanese war as the film states that during war time men are born to die and the girl is no longer scared. The hell of war reflects the characters personal hell as they go off to war as death is all around them as symbolically shown as the sparklers go out as they don’t want to die. Mina faints as they carry her back as from the smashed mirror and petal fall form a rose show that life is over. Th girl talks about not falling in love as the girl makes a bandana for her warrior of love in the hope that people stop killing each other. The soldiers of the dead march along as the two guys meet by the sea and get into a fight. One of them took explicit photos of the girl as they say goodbye and make up as there’s no point in fighting anymore. The girl is going to jump as he is not a hero, he can’t shoot as he is left-handed, he is a traitor. He finds the old walking stick guy who regrets the mistakes of his past as he believes he never loved anyone, but the guy still trusts him as the walking stick guy jumps into the ocean. The girl who feels sick feels that despite dying she loves the boy. The guy commits suicide as well as the girl who is dressed in white like a ghost. She sees him dressed as an officer as she drinks moonlight powder from a white snake as all the people can do now is fade from memory. The other girl strips of a goes into the ocean killing herself and has a breakdown. The sick girl whist dying envisions her deepest fears as deep down in hr heart she wants to live even though she dies.
The festival is shown in a surreal way showing mourning and hope with the ghost soldiers matching of to it. The sick girl then wakes up with the two guys going to war. Dying as she mourns them as the guy who is still alive reads her notes stating that she is not dead, but no one knows where she is as the film sates that even though Japan lost it doesn’t matter what matters is peace. The atomic bomb is then shown as the film fast forwards to the main guy as an old man recounting his past with the memories of that girl. He is the only one who survived, he saw everyone die. Everyone seemingly has a death wish in some way shape or form, the main guy is sad, but he hears his friends of his past comfort him. He returns to the island location of his past and places a flower of Mina’s grave as he mourns and wonder what it means to jump in today’s day an age and if you or himself can even do it.
Hanagatami is a coming of age film criticising the effects of the atomic bomb in world war two and whether or not people can have the strength to take a leap of faith into the unknown to create a better future.