carolinesteele Review of Hachi-ko

Hachi-ko (1987)

This is really not a heartwarming and touching pet story

[9/10 · 14 March 2024]

This is really not a heartwarming and touching pet story. If the American version of the movie is praising the loyalty of the dog, the Japanese original version of the "life of the despised little eight" is accusing such a story of a cold society. As a famous left-wing director and screenwriter for this film in Japan, Shinto Kenji's script is not simple, slapping the faces of Japanese people who appear gentle, respectful, and frugal on the surface but are actually hypocritical in their hearts. In the final long shot, at Shibuya Station in the tenth year of the Showa era, Hachiko finally died in the snow, but passersby ignored him. A group of Japanese soldiers marched through the calm streets of Tokyo, representing the death of Hachiko, a symbol of love and sincerity. A bloody era of national madness is about to begin.