Seven Weeks

A beautiful piece of art by Obayashi about how war affects every aspect of our lives. It’s not something you get over, it sticks with you forever, and manifests itself in different ways, affecting one’s art, love, family and most importantly one’s self. 

Perhaps the film is a little overlong but I feel that it justifies its length with how it ties everything together in the end. 

Obayashi wants people to remember the horrors of war and make sure they are never repeated, because if we are always at war we will never be able to find ourselves. 

“We will go on peacefully, it’s the Seventh Seven day in Japan.”

A beautiful piece of art by Obayashi about how war affects every aspect of our lives. It’s not something you get over, it sticks with you forever, and manifests itself in different ways, affecting one’s art, love, family and most importantly one’s self. 

Perhaps the film is a little overlong but I feel that it justifies its length with how it ties everything together in the end. 

Obayashi wants people to remember the horrors of war and make sure they are never repeated, because if we are always at war we will never be able to find ourselves. 

“We will go on peacefully, it’s the Seventh Seven day in Japan.”

Obayashi is truly one of a kind, with his unapologetic approach to filmmaking.

"To live is to be killed ever so gradually. Some, like me, have died long ago"

I went into Seven Weeks expecting it to be the weakest entry in his anti-war trilogy, but it might actually be my favorite of his so far. In this film, his unconventional style and a structured narrative are more balanced than ever. The result is engaging, mystical, and even romantic. While there are still lengthy scenes filled with political commentary and historical lessons, which might not appeal to everyone, that's exactly what these films are about—the poetic ways Obayashi conveys such complex ideas.

"Because you render an object's proportions into lines. Lines to represent a living thing. You made Ayano two dimensional. the same method is applied to war. War is beautiful drawn justice. But in reality war is a cruel and barbaric hell. We're made of blood and flesh and we have a soul""Death isn't art!"If that doesn’t say something about Japan’s history and its relationship with warfare, I don’t know what does.

... it is a little too long tho

Obayashi is truly one of a kind, with his unapologetic approach to filmmaking.

"To live is to be killed ever so gradually. Some, like me, have died long ago"

I went into Seven Weeks expecting it to be the weakest entry in his anti-war trilogy, but it might actually be my favorite of his so far. In this film, his unconventional style and a structured narrative are more balanced than ever. The result is engaging, mystical, and even romantic. While there are still lengthy scenes filled with political commentary and historical lessons, which might not appeal to everyone, that's exactly what these films are about—the poetic ways Obayashi conveys such complex ideas.

"Because you render an object's proportions into lines. Lines to represent a living thing. You made Ayano two dimensional. the same method is applied to war. War is beautiful drawn justice. But in reality war is a cruel and barbaric hell. We're made of blood and flesh and we have a soul""Death isn't art!"If that doesn’t say something about Japan’s history and its relationship with warfare, I don’t know what does.

... it is a little too long tho

Compared to Casting Blossoms to the Sky, Seven Weeks feels a lot more reflective and reflexive in part due to the framing device of the funeral of a family’s elderly patriarch. As his life is examined we are intercut between present day and past with scenes that blend the line between narrative and abstract. The more grounded scenes tend to cut frenetically, oddly enough, centering individual character reactions in quick succession. The repeated visual motif of a funeral march decked out in bright colours peppers the various segments, sometimes as standalone shots or as background visual, not acknowledged by the cast of characters as they talk about the nature of life and death and peace and war. Obayashi’s artistic flair here feels both storybook-like and not all too dissimilar from a stage play at times while not at all diminishing the somber attitude even when more surreal imagery takes center stage.

Compared to Casting Blossoms to the Sky, Seven Weeks feels a lot more reflective and reflexive in part due to the framing device of the funeral of a family’s elderly patriarch. As his life is examined we are intercut between present day and past with scenes that blend the line between narrative and abstract. The more grounded scenes tend to cut frenetically, oddly enough, centering individual character reactions in quick succession. The repeated visual motif of a funeral march decked out in bright colours peppers the various segments, sometimes as standalone shots or as background visual, not acknowledged by the cast of characters as they talk about the nature of life and death and peace and war. Obayashi’s artistic flair here feels both storybook-like and not all too dissimilar from a stage play at times while not at all diminishing the somber attitude even when more surreal imagery takes center stage.