I don't often talk about films that aren't part of the Deep Hurting Project in this thread, but the most recent movie I saw in full was Akira Kurosawa's Dreams, and the last scene had a huge effect on me. Maybe it's just because my grandma died less than a month ago.
For context, Akira Kurosawa's Dreams is a movie about, well, Akira Kurosawa's dreams. There's eight segments, and after two separate dreams dealing with nuclear holocaust, the movie ends with a scene where a man comes across a quaint village. How quaint? There's no electricity, and, indeed, no technology more advanced than a water mill. And, as a result, these villagers live in accordance with nature. And they live long lives. This parade? It's a funeral. Why does it seem so joyous? The old man explains "But a funeral is actually a joyous occasion. It's good to live well and work hard and then be congratulated on a job well done. We have no temple or priest, so all the villagers gather and carry the deceased to the cemetery on the hill." Admittedly, it's different on the off chance that a younger person dies, but that doesn't happen often. In this case, the dead person is a woman of 99 who died peacefully. The old man, on the other hand, is 103. "A pretty good age to leave the human race." And now I find myself wishing that when I went to the wake, I'd went up and talked about that scene, and put Grandma's passing at the age of 91 into perspective. Maybe if I remember this when Grandpa passes on, I will.
There's no subtitles on this video, but here's what the old man said (transcribed from a srt track of the subtitles on the Blu-Ray): "Listen, people go on about how hard life is, but that's just a lot of talk. Honestly, it's good to be alive. It's quite exciting." For the record, I checked five or six English subtitle tracks for the film, and not one translated the chanting during the funeral parade.
For context, Akira Kurosawa's Dreams is a movie about, well, Akira Kurosawa's dreams. There's eight segments, and after two separate dreams dealing with nuclear holocaust, the movie ends with a scene where a man comes across a quaint village. How quaint? There's no electricity, and, indeed, no technology more advanced than a water mill. And, as a result, these villagers live in accordance with nature. And they live long lives. This parade? It's a funeral. Why does it seem so joyous? The old man explains "But a funeral is actually a joyous occasion. It's good to live well and work hard and then be congratulated on a job well done. We have no temple or priest, so all the villagers gather and carry the deceased to the cemetery on the hill." Admittedly, it's different on the off chance that a younger person dies, but that doesn't happen often. In this case, the dead person is a woman of 99 who died peacefully. The old man, on the other hand, is 103. "A pretty good age to leave the human race." And now I find myself wishing that when I went to the wake, I'd went up and talked about that scene, and put Grandma's passing at the age of 91 into perspective. Maybe if I remember this when Grandpa passes on, I will.
There's no subtitles on this video, but here's what the old man said (transcribed from a srt track of the subtitles on the Blu-Ray): "Listen, people go on about how hard life is, but that's just a lot of talk. Honestly, it's good to be alive. It's quite exciting." For the record, I checked five or six English subtitle tracks for the film, and not one translated the chanting during the funeral parade.
Comparing the Universal Oneness of All Life to Yo Mama since 2010.
I was born with the gift of laughter and a sense the world is mad.
I was born with the gift of laughter and a sense the world is mad.