Upon reaching the train station to the other world, a rather depressed soul is told that he is 'lucky' and will have another chance at life. He is placed in the body of a 14-year-old boy named Makoto Kobayashi, who has just committed suicide. The only condition is that the soul must figure out what his greatest sin and mistake in his former life all before his time limit in Makoto's body runs out. He must also adjust to being this person he knows nothing about (dealing with Makoto's own personal issue that led him to commit suicide) and is thus guided by a neutral spirit named Purapura. This all is very interesting because on one hand the soul must assume and fit into a life that he feels is not his all while trying to figure out itself from its past life.
Throughout the film many moral and philosophical issues are dealt with. The main issue that the film deals with is happiness. Throughout the film we are reminded Makoto committed suicide due to a sudden but huge state of depression, as he finds out his crush is a prostitute and his mother is an adultress on the same day. Throughout its "internship" the soul must deal with the same depressing issues and not slip into the same saddened state. Purapura even tells it (the soul)9 to just live in the moment and have fun. How does it do this however? How does it overcome what Makoto could not? Well simple, it finds a friend. Makoto never had a friend, he never had a companion to journey with, to enjoy life with. The soul finds this in Saotome. Saotome is neither smart, rich nor good-looking, but he does have something that makes him special, he is friendly. He is described as treating no one differently. He is happy because of his friends. In fact Makoto seems happiest when he is with Saotome, sharing a bun and some pieces of chicken. This simplicity is in contrast to Hiroka who wants happiness through expensive items (but does not find it). Purapura both praises Makoto and is envious of him, because he can find such happiness with such simple things. But it is not the chicken and the bun that bring happiness, it is the fact they are being shared between friends.
Nice fanart of Makoto. http://www.zerochan.net/1123891#full
At the end of the film Purapura says how happiness is truly brought to us by friends and family, just as we bring them happiness. Of course we cannot be happy all the time. The symbolism of art as an expression of feelings within us is a huge part of the film. When looking through Makoto's sketchbook we can see how it changes from bright pictures to rather confusing and almost disturbing, indicating his depression before suicide. There is a discussion between Makoto and Hiroka where he muses that we are all like paintings: made up of dirty colours and bright colours. It is up to us to try and show off these bright colours and live a colourful life, and try not to pay attention to the dirty colours. Makoto's picture of the horse underwater (swimming from the dark depths to the bright surface) is the main symbol throughout the film. It shows how we must try for this bright happy place. At the end of the film a figure is painted leading the horse. This obviously representing Purapura who helps Makoto (the horse) and leads him to the correct way to find happiness. However, for us the audience Saotome is the real exemplum. Despite his intelligence, appearance and wealth he seems to be the happiest character throughout Colorful, simply because he is the friendliest. He is able to make friends and share things and be happy with what he has. When Makoto says he feels like he does not belong to the present time period (implying he wants to escape) Saotome replies he thinks that he would be suitable for any time period because he is grateful and happy with what he has. We should follow what Saotome does. As Purapura says, we only have a short time on earth, we must be thankful for it and enjoy it whilst we can.
Other than the idea of afterlife and reincarnation, crime and sin is the first real philosophical issue that is dealt with. The soul is informed it cannot be reincarnated due to some horrible crime it has committed in its past life and it must figure out what this crime was. This is reminded throughout the film, and it is revealed to be suicide. In fact more crimes or sins (I don't think we should distinguish these two words) are dealt with. Prostitution (even underage prostitution it seems) is also addressed. Hiroka, the girl Makoto has a crush on, willingly goes to a love hotel with a much older man. When confronted she reveals she does this quite regularly in order to buy the clothes and accessories she wants (doing "it" three times to save up for one thing she wants, as she likes expensive things). Mugging is shown, when Makoto is beaten up for his shoes, but not hugely delved into. Bullying is shown in more detail and the trouble it causes is talked about by Shoko. As is pornography, which the soul shows to Shoko to show how Makoto was not so pure and has human desires, which is then followed by implied rape, as the soul then forces himself on top of Shoko. However, adultery is dealt with in more detail. Makoto's mother committed adultery with some gypsy dancer. She supposedly was somewhat neglecting her family during this time and only changes after Makoto's suicide. Makoto/the soul mistreats her when he finds out. When his father talks to Makoto about it, he blames himself and his job for not giving his wife enough attention. The true motivations are not revealed and this, I think, is one of the ideas about crime/sin that is put forward by the film (that only the committer knows the motivation for a crime). Hiroka has to reveal why she prostitutes herself. Makoto's father can only guess as to why his wife cheated on him, as he did not know about he depression pills caused by her mother's passing. Likewise, Makoto's teacher guesses his bad grades caused his suicide, but really only Makoto knows it himself.
When the soul learns of his mother's crime/sin, that she cheated on her husband, he instantly treats her differently. He is constantly angry at her, even more so when she tries to make up for it by being a dedicated mother, who know handmakes side-dishes. This however really hurts Makoto's mother, to the point of breaking. It even causes his father to take him on a fishing trip and confront him on the issue, during which we get a very poignant scene of the mother absent-mindedly filling up a gas can and spilling it all over the place before crying in a heap. We feel real emotion and sympathy for her despite what she has done. On the otherhand we do not feel the same emotion when Hiroka reveals how she despises herself due to her crime. But why? Not because her crime/sin is any different (they are very similar intend) but because of the treatment she receives. She is not shunned for trying to do the right thing, in fact she is comforted by Makoto. The film shows we should not pile on the sinner, because we do not know their motivations (even if they are not a reasonable excuse), but we must be supportive. Just as Purapura says that friends and family bring us happiness, it is reciprocal: we bring them happiness too. They need us just as much as we need them. Makoto does not truly realise how he is treating his mother is the same way he was being treated at school. No one in the class talked to him for fear of being ostracised. It is not because they were not his friends in the first place, but because he did something wrong or a rather shameful thing in committing suicide. They are ignoring him due to what he did, just as he ignores his mother for her adultery. When Makoto finally eats his mum's cooking (showing his acceptance of her again) we feel like the family is truly happy and together. At the end of the film we see he has taken all he has learnt on board from Purapura, not only with the modifiation to his painting, but because he is cycling with his friend Saotome and wearing the jacket his mother got him (the one he rejected before his fishing trip with his father).
You should always listen to Purapura.http://www.zerochan.net/574235#full
So the one question I was faced with in this film was: is suicide really a crime? Obviously this is an especially relevant topic for many teenagers, and teenage suicide is well documented in Japan, and this film truly tries to deal with this issue. The film's writer and director explicitly say that suicide is a crime as this is the big realisation of Makoto at the end of the film: that his past crime was that he killed someone, himself and he was actually Makoto the whole time. We are reminded throughout the film he must find out his past crime to pass his "internship" and this crime is revealed to suicide. Why is this a crime? Well I can find two reasons from this film. First, it is not following the teachings of Purapura and how to be happy. We must find be grateful for what we have in life. We must be happy with what we have (specifically in terms of friends and family). But there is more than this, we must try to make them happy too. They are a support for us and at the same time we are a support for them. Just as Saotome was a support for Makoto in his life, Makoto finds out he was a support for Shono as she saw him suffer and how he dealt with it was an inspiration for her. The same goes for family, humans must have a symbiotic relationship and if this is broken (by suicide) it is not fair. The scene in the hospital, when the spirit is put into Makoto's body, shows the sadness, not for oneself but for others, suicide creates. I think especially about the older brother punching the wall, who otherwise seems so Stoic and unemotional. In this way it is a sin (even if it is not technically a crime).
Although Purapura was Makoto's guide and we should learn from him he did not always act like it. http://www.zerochan.net/1123887#full
So I think Colorful was a great film, not only because of its very interesting story but also the way it dealt with many issues head on: pornography, adultery and most thoroughly teenage suicide. It was a truly courageous and inspirational film that I urge everyone to watch. It is by no means boring but still has the substance of a compelling philosophical doctrine. The film wants us to live a "Colorful" life, not for our own sakes but also others too. We should try to live with Purapura as our guide and with his teachings and musings in mind.
Another fan art of Purapura. http://fc09.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2013/189/0/0/purapura_by_vikab-d6cmm1e.gif
Thank you for your deep insight!
ReplyDeleteThank you very much.
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