Interpretation
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — As the Gods Will
GuineaPig — 10 years ago(September 12, 2015 09:23 AM)
This movie left me thinking. It is definitely inspired in Battle Royale/Hunger Games and, possibly less obviously, on the movie Cube. So the meaning of the whole thing has to do with adapting to an unjust and ruthless society where competition and individualism rule the day. It's also a criticism on capitalist values which are basically those. One of the survivors represents the perfect competitor, he lacks empathy and acts solely in his own benefit. He is the perfect predator (he likes meat) and everyone else is his prey. The other guy is more interesting and I think here is where Miike added his own theme to the otherwise already treated topics. By adding God in the middle Miike is showing us his interpretation of Cain and Abel's myth. The predator is Cain from which the rest of humanity evolves, he's the new beginning. Abel is the loser but he doesn't accept the rules of God. Remember when the God figure fixes the radio? This is showing how God can show us acts of kindness while at the same time condemning us all unless we follow his rule. So God is ultimately a figure of evil even though he shows kindness in a way to lure us towards his rule and convince us that it is the righteous way.
What I still don't understand is who is the hoarder guy who stays inside his room. Is he Lucifer, the fallen angel? He separated himself from society (or God's rule) seeing how he can't adapt to it. He's similar to the mentally challenged guy in Cube. He can't adapt to the rules so he prevails and survives. Everyone else must face judgement.
So what do you think? Am I unto something or do you think I'm missing something?
I would love to read other people's interpretations of the story.
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cesarecesarini — 10 years ago(September 15, 2015 08:20 PM)
First of all, I was impressed that you derived such deep meaning from a pure entertainment popcorn movie like this.
So the meaning of the whole thing has to do with adapting to an unjust and ruthless society where competition and individualism rule the day. It's also a criticism on capitalist values which are basically those.
I like this part. However,
The other guy is more interesting and I think here is where Miike added his own theme to the otherwise already treated topics. By adding God in the middle Miike is showing us his interpretation of Cain and Abel's myth.
As the English title, As the Gods Will, indicates, Kamisama referred to here is not God in Christianity, Judaism and Islam, but gods in polytheism Japanese envision, so has nothing to do with the Bible, I'm afraid.
Remember when the God figure fixes the radio? This is showing how God can show us acts of kindness while at the same time condemning us all unless we follow his rule.
That scene is to show the audience that the homeless has some supernatural power so in the end of the movie
he is introduced as a god
.
What I still don't understand is who is the hoarder guy who stays inside his room.
The movie explains nothing about him, so we don't know who he is unless we read the original manga and even then we still don't know if the filmmakers would have depicted his character faithfully to the original.
Just my thought.
Never throw away a chance for happiness too quicklyit can get to be a habit.