The past and the future, joined by the hinge of the present. At each level of humanity, this hinge is predicated on an everpresent evaluation of the past. The human social landscape, at both a proximal and global level, necessitates a judicial paradigm.
Whether the scale is global, measuring tolls of world wars, or the scale is micro, judging choices in life and love, each judgement must consider the infinitude of nuance which came before. There is an immense responsibility carried with these judgements.
In Reikichi, we see the consequences of rash and selfish judgement. He pays a self-destructive cost by not considering the bigger picture of Michiko’s life. He represents the cracked facade of a former Japanese soldier and with it a hypocritical clutch upon morals and honour.
The juxtapositions between new and old world are compounded by the complex moral aftermath of Japan’s role in the war. The nation, at a macro and micro level, is transforming. This means a simultaneous death and judgement of the past.
Internally, the nation must judge itself with respect to its own past. Reikichi must judge himself. Externally, Japan will be judged by victorious nations. Reikichi is judging Michiko. The complicated relationships between Reikichi, the women for whom he writes, his own role in the war, and Michiko visualize the complicated web and resulting reverberations of all judgements.
By its end, Tanaka beautifully visualizes the melodrama of postwar Japan while highlighting the delicacy of big picture issues.
The past and the future, joined by the hinge of the present. At each level of humanity, this hinge is predicated on an everpresent evaluation of the past. The human social landscape, at both a proximal and global level, necessitates a judicial paradigm.
Whether the scale is global, measuring tolls of world wars, or the scale is micro, judging choices in life and love, each judgement must consider the infinitude of nuance which came before. There is an immense responsibility carried with these judgements.
In Reikichi, we see the consequences of rash and selfish judgement. He pays a self-destructive cost by not considering the bigger picture of Michiko’s life. He represents the cracked facade of a former Japanese soldier and with it a hypocritical clutch upon morals and honour.
The juxtapositions between new and old world are compounded by the complex moral aftermath of Japan’s role in the war. The nation, at a macro and micro level, is transforming. This means a simultaneous death and judgement of the past.
Internally, the nation must judge itself with respect to its own past. Reikichi must judge himself. Externally, Japan will be judged by victorious nations. Reikichi is judging Michiko. The complicated relationships between Reikichi, the women for whom he writes, his own role in the war, and Michiko visualize the complicated web and resulting reverberations of all judgements.
By its end, Tanaka beautifully visualizes the melodrama of postwar Japan while highlighting the delicacy of big picture issues.
