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Hioki graduates from university, and has to return to his parents' home, where his father is on his deathbed. It's at this time that the Meiji Emperor's death is announced, heralding the end of an era, and a period of mass mourning. Prompted by these events as well as his increasingly heavy conscience, Sensei pens a confessional letter to his young protge, but without hope of redemption.
Kon Ichikawa's film is a rich and careful if depressing portrait of a transitional period in Japan's history. Ichikawa deftly manipulates the elements of the story to give a sense of threat and danger, with the second half of the film, played out mostly in flashbacks, building up the tension very successfully. Sensei's university friend, Kaji, is dark and brooding, his mere presence giving a sense of foreboding. Shizu, Sensei's wife-to-be, is gentle, sunny and carefree in the flashbacks, and in the present-day scenes stark straight-on close-ups of her face seem to declare a sort of defiant openness and honesty in spite of her husband's mistrust. In this respect, she and Hioki are allies, both determined to turn the older man around. watch Korkoro online
The conflict in the story is one of outlooks, and also one of generations. One historical event an aftershock of the Emperor's death is given great importance in the film, and is emblematic of the old mindset: the death of General Nogi. Nogi was a key figure in the Russo-Japanese war, but was deeply troubled by the loss of many thousands of men in a particular campaign. He asked the Emperor permission to commit suicide, but was refused; the Emperor held that he had only carried out his orders. However, after the death of the Emperor there was nothing to stop him, and he and his wife committed ritual suicide.
This fatalism and exaggerated sense of one's responsibility is echoed in the Sensei and Kaji, who see their struggle as purely their own. Ultimately, this sort of conception of responsibility starts to look very narcissistic. In looking at themselves so hard, the characters are unable to really see themselves. Kaji is too obsessed with understanding Buddhist scriptures to the letter, to show kindness or forbearance to those around him. Sensei is t watch Korkoro online
