Sunday, April 24, 2011
The Tunnel
After watching "The Tunnel" section of the movie Dreams it first made me think of that in Shinto the human spirit is eternal. The tunnel it self was imagery to represent the passing of the spirits between the after life and real life. The video beings with the commander walking along train tracks towards a tunnel. Out of the darkness of the tunnel emerges a dog, which begins barking at the commander. After easing by the dog, the commander then continues into the tunnel. Just after exiting the tunnel the commander he begins to hear footsteps. These footsteps turn out to be a soldier that has died in his arms. Blue in the face to indicate he is dead, the commander tries to explain to the solder that he is daed. The soldier does not understand at first but soon returns to the tunnel. Next, a whole platoon of soldiers exits the tunnel and salutes the commander. They too are dead and do not realize it. The commander then apologizes for his actions and their resulting deaths. He then tries to explain that they are dead and should return. He asks them to return to the tunnel but they do not out of loyalty. They only leave when ordered. The commander was heading back to reality and the soldiers wanted to follow their commander back to reality. Also, this section of the movie made me think of the Bushido or the "Code of the Warrior" in Shinto. I felt that these men were also following out of a sense of loyalty and honor to their commander and callings as soldiers. They treated each other with respect even when confronted with the idea of their being dead.
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I agree with your opinion on how the fallen soldiers wanted to stay with their commander even though he lead them to their deaths. That definitely stress the "Code of the Warrior" as you stated, that is a prime example of loyalty and honor.
ReplyDeleteI really liked this segment from the movie, even though it was a little bit of the trip and makes you really sit back and think. I liked how you described the scene, if someone did not see it they could imagine it perfectly, and this clip being all about cerebral thought, your description leaves more to thought about what really is Shinto and the afterlife
ReplyDeleteI absolutely agree with your point about the Code of the Warrior, and the soldiers following out of a honor. I didn't see this video, but it definitely sounds like it has a great Shinto aspect about it. Like the comment above me, I agree in you doing a great job in explaining the scene!
ReplyDeleteI think the Code of the Warrior is still alive in Japan today despite the downfall of Samurai culture. After the Earthquake in Japan, the footage of CNN showed how in some schools/businesses/etc instead of panicking after the devastation. The people automatically organized and took instructions from their superiors in a selfless way. One scene stuck out in particular. It was at a movie theater. The roof collapse crushing some of the audience. Within minutes, they other movie-goers encircled the fallen ceiling and lifted it together as a single unit.
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