The short film – Farewell to the Ark represents a complicated story about family relations, Japanese manga culture, music and basic interactions between real life and virtual friends. One and only thing that will be clear to the most of the public is the obsession of Japanese people with the world of Manga.
Some people seek refuge in the virtual reality, in social networks, comic books, fictional characters and video games. They refuse to have any contact with the outside world and can see people only through pixels, through screens. Closed in their shells, they slowly start destroying their lives for the sake of imaginary one. Many of us could find some of their friends in this story, maybe even themselves.
Two virtual friends Shizuko and Jie are two withdrawn and reclusive young people that stay almost whole day at their homes playing video games or doing nothing. They form a strange “online bond” so strong that Shizuko made Jie to steal one of the really expensive Manga figures. This act made a reaction that actually at the same time brought them closer than ever and separated them forever.
Each actor played their part very well and, in a way, helped us understand better the mysterious, strange and philosophical fabula of the film. The drama was intense in the beginning but later it softened and started looking more like teenage hysteria. As the film is getting closer to an “end” we start to understand the actual sophomoric nature of the characters. At some points, there is an impression that the story is spinning in circles, or maybe even better description would be that there are multiple circles in the story and it is jumping from one to another all the time.
The style and design of the films background leaves a wonderful impression to the watcher. At the same time, there are and there are no colors, everything looks old and gray but still in some ways modern.
As many of the Japanese films, this one is also very complex. The philosophy in Japanese films is extremely deep and there are not many people who completely understand it.
To get the real and meaningful answers on the questions that public created, we would have to make the director of this short film to answer them himself. The Japanese culture is a huge enigma to the rest of the world, and that is actually a thing that makes this film wonderful.
Many will be disappointed with the ending of the film and will be left in wonder. Is this film really finished? That is the question that every watcher will demand answer to? Actually, there isn’t an ending. It was probably a director’s way to leave us even more in wonder.
Loss of willpower, sadness, depression and numbness are present throughout the whole film. Wonderful idea and the realization were unique. We may be disappointed by some matters, but one thing is for sure, many watchers will be having a debate among themselves after the film finished.