Red Whale, White Snake

From AsianWiki

Jump to: navigation, search

User Rating

Current user rating: 100/100 (1 votes)

You need to enable JavaScript to vote

Profile

Movie: Red Whale, White Snake
Romaji: Akai kujira to shiroi hebi
Japanese: 赤い鯨と白い蛇
Director: Yoshiko Sembon
Writer: Motofumi Tomikawa
Producer:
Cinematographer:
Release Date: November 25, 2006
Runtime: 102 min.
Language: Japanese
Country: Japan

Plot

On her way to Chikura to live with her son and daughter-in-law, Yasue Amami gets off at the Tateyama train station. "I want to see my old house," she explains to Akemi Tanaka, the granddaughter accompanying her. The compound, consisting of a main house with a thatched roof, a garage and a small, detached building, has a new owner, Mitsuko Kawahara, an absent landlord who intends to demolish the place and replace it with a modern new house. With Mitsuko's permission Yasue enters her old home. Her family had rented it during World War II to escape air raids over the city, and they stayed on for a few years after the war. As Yasue visits the grounds, memories come flooding back. She sees that the small shrine to Lord Tenjin, the god of learning, still stands in a corner of the garden. She remembers looking out over the sea of Tateyama. Mitsuko's schoolgirl daughter, Rika, also has memories of the house. Bittersweet memories of her father who went missing three years ago. As the sun sets over the sea beyond the house, Yasue confesses to Akemi that she came here to recall a promise that she had made years ago. A forgotten promise. She is hoping that her visit will jog her memory...

Extended Plot Description

Yasue Amami (Kyoko Kagawa) was supposed to start her life at her son and his wife's home in Chikura. On her way to Chikura, accompanied by her grand daughter, Akemi Tanaka (Mao Miyaji), they dropped off at Tateyama station, saying "I want to see my old house..." The house was an old rural house with its roof covered with straws. Yasue and her grand daughter were drawn into the house. Soon after sensing that somebody had come, the owner of the house, Mitsuko Kawahara (Miyoko Asada) showed up and told them that she had just moved here on the day before to demolish and rebuild the house.

During the World War II, Yasue's family rented this house to avoid air raids. Because she kept living in the house even for a few years after the War was over, the house was filled with her memories of her younger days. The house consists of the main building, a garage and a detached building. A small shrine enshrining Lord Tenjin, a god for learning, still existed on the corner of the garden. Sea of Tateyama can be seen over the garden. Highly sophisticated house. Then, Mituko's daughter, Rika (Mari Banno) just returned from school. Rika also loved the house stuffed with a memory of her father, who became missing three years ago.

After been shown the house thoroughly, although Akemi asked Yasue to leave for Chikura, she just said "I want to stay here tonight if you allow me to do so.". Akemi was perplexed, but Mitsuko, without displaying any troubling face, consented "You can stay however long you wish."

The sun was setting on Sea of Tateyama. An old well stood behind the kitchen. Watching them as if she were reminding her memories, listening to sounds made by bugs, Yasue confessed to Akemi, "To tell you the truth, I have come here to recall a promise made a long time ago." While her memories were fading year by year, she expected that she could remember what the promise was. That was why she wanted to stay there.

When she happened to cast her eyes outside, she noticed that a strange woman was peeping the house. She was Midori Ohara (Kirin Kiki). She said that she used to rent the house for the time being and visited the house on her way to the workplace because she had heard from Mitsuko that the house would be demolished. However, Mitsuko was in the mist.

Midori frankly asked about Yasue and intruded into Mitsuko's private life. Akemi was a modern girl without reservation. Somehow, women started to talk as if they had known each other for a long time.

Suddenly Yasue said, "A 150-year-old white snake lives in this house, and if you can talk to him, he will bring you a good luck." Akemi gently replied to her grandmother, "Could it be just a dream?" However, in Yasue's memory, the white snake really existed.

Many memories were gradually recalled in Yasue's mind, seeking the white snake as if she were trying to pull her old memories back. Then, she said, "At the night the moon on the Night of Jugoya (Full Moon on the middle of September) looked blue, when I was standing in front of the Lord Tenjin's shrine, my eyesight caught the white and big snake and I was scared to make any move. At that moment, I heard the voice saying "Be honest to yourself". That memory was deeply rooted on an event in her youth, which was deeply coined in her mind...