More on Heavenly Forest
I'm going to babble more on Heavenly Forest. Because I liked the movie so much and I want to get the taste of Epic Movie out of my mind (watched that crap yesterday).
I had a feeling that Aoi Miyazaki was going to die from the beginning.. That Hiroshi Tamaki's character was going to New York to see her, but he wasn't going to get to do so because she was no longer there. This is of course courtesy of Love Collage but the way the story immediately went into flashback mode did keep me guessing all the way..
The kissing scene was, for me, the moment of the movie, you know, after a while when you think back about a film and one scene would stick out in your mind more than others. Other such scenes that come to mind right now are the ballet scene from Hana & Alice, the stunning 'assassination in the rain' scene in the Korean movie Nowhere to Run, the 'Sadako terebi kara detekita!!' scene from Ringu, etc.. The kissing scene was it for Heavenly Forest. Everything about it was so beautiful, and everything about it was perfect. But not long after that Aoi-chan suddenly left Hiroshi-kun without even a goodbye. I have some trouble understanding her choice of action. She knew she was going to die and she wanted to find her own way, she wanted to grow up and finally become a woman. Was she scared she won't be able to leave if he tried to stop her, was it too hard to say goodbye or was it because she didn't want him to know where she was going?
But leaving him just when he'd come to terms with how he feels about her and two years without a word, without even a letter to tell him she's alive is a little bit too cruel, isn't it. After a long time a letter finally arrives, he goes racing to New York all excited and finds out she's long gone and all that's left are her photographs and bittersweet memories. If I were him I'd be devastated (just as he was) but also a tad pissed off as well.
If she had loved him as much as she said she did wouldn't she have wanted to spend the rest of her remaining life, no matter how short it was, with him? Two years is a long time. Perhaps she was afraid she would be a burden for him, didn't want him to see her get weaker as her disease progresses (we weren't how she eventually died but I guess that'd be the case). However she was okay with being Meisa Kuroki's roommate during the last 6 months of her life. Perhaps she thought that what they had for that short amount of time was so special that if they stayed together they would grow apart and maybe someday get into a big argument and split up. So she left at the peak of their relationship, so in their memories it'll stay pure and untainted. But that's a bit cynical.. But then maybe she chose to leave because she wanted to let him live his life without her as she knew she won't be in it, and to do that she had to just pack up and leave before they get too attached to each other... but one word from him might prevent her from doing it.
I find these issues just as interesting as the ones in Ima, Ai ni Yukimasu about whether or not the mother should've gotten married with the main protagonist, knowing about her impending death if she chose to do so. I haven't read either books but the novelist must be really talented. I hope they make more movies out of his novels in the future..
I had a feeling that Aoi Miyazaki was going to die from the beginning.. That Hiroshi Tamaki's character was going to New York to see her, but he wasn't going to get to do so because she was no longer there. This is of course courtesy of Love Collage but the way the story immediately went into flashback mode did keep me guessing all the way..
The kissing scene was, for me, the moment of the movie, you know, after a while when you think back about a film and one scene would stick out in your mind more than others. Other such scenes that come to mind right now are the ballet scene from Hana & Alice, the stunning 'assassination in the rain' scene in the Korean movie Nowhere to Run, the 'Sadako terebi kara detekita!!' scene from Ringu, etc.. The kissing scene was it for Heavenly Forest. Everything about it was so beautiful, and everything about it was perfect. But not long after that Aoi-chan suddenly left Hiroshi-kun without even a goodbye. I have some trouble understanding her choice of action. She knew she was going to die and she wanted to find her own way, she wanted to grow up and finally become a woman. Was she scared she won't be able to leave if he tried to stop her, was it too hard to say goodbye or was it because she didn't want him to know where she was going?
But leaving him just when he'd come to terms with how he feels about her and two years without a word, without even a letter to tell him she's alive is a little bit too cruel, isn't it. After a long time a letter finally arrives, he goes racing to New York all excited and finds out she's long gone and all that's left are her photographs and bittersweet memories. If I were him I'd be devastated (just as he was) but also a tad pissed off as well.
If she had loved him as much as she said she did wouldn't she have wanted to spend the rest of her remaining life, no matter how short it was, with him? Two years is a long time. Perhaps she was afraid she would be a burden for him, didn't want him to see her get weaker as her disease progresses (we weren't how she eventually died but I guess that'd be the case). However she was okay with being Meisa Kuroki's roommate during the last 6 months of her life. Perhaps she thought that what they had for that short amount of time was so special that if they stayed together they would grow apart and maybe someday get into a big argument and split up. So she left at the peak of their relationship, so in their memories it'll stay pure and untainted. But that's a bit cynical.. But then maybe she chose to leave because she wanted to let him live his life without her as she knew she won't be in it, and to do that she had to just pack up and leave before they get too attached to each other... but one word from him might prevent her from doing it.
I find these issues just as interesting as the ones in Ima, Ai ni Yukimasu about whether or not the mother should've gotten married with the main protagonist, knowing about her impending death if she chose to do so. I haven't read either books but the novelist must be really talented. I hope they make more movies out of his novels in the future..