Sleeping Forest -ending
Andrew Lau
I've just finished watching the videotapes of "Sleeping Forest",
which is one of the best Japanese TV drama series I've ever seen.
but its ending has left me in a puzzle. Could you kindly suggest
to me your interpretations on it so that the last piece of the
jigsaw puzzle can be put in its place?
Forgive me since I am not able to put down the English names of
the actors/actresses. The ending is: The actor boards the train
with a lily and a few clementines, intending to meet the actress
in the forest. Then a young girl looking the same as the actress
15 years ago gets on the train. Both the girl and the actor go to
the same station. However, when the train arrives at the station,
only the girl alights, holding on her hand a clementine which
the actor gives her earlier. The actor remains sleeping on the
train, with tears streaming gracefully on his left chin. Then the
lily falls on the ground. There "Sleeping Forest" ends.
You are kindly requested to furnish me with your suggestions on:-
1. How can the ending be possibly be interpreted?
2. The actor intends to meet the actress. Why doesn't he alights
at the train station?
3. Any implications on the young girl resembling the actress 15
years ago?
4. Knowing that the actress is his sister, why the actor still
wishes to stay with her as lovers?
Looking forward to your illuminations.
Regards,
Andrew
et...@fkym.daiichi-net.or.jp
> I've just finished watching the videotapes of "Sleeping Forest",
> which is one of the best Japanese TV drama series I've ever seen.
Awesome, huh? Too bad I suspected the real killer
from early on. Was it predictable for you, too?
> 1. How can the ending be possibly be interpreted?
It is a happy ending for the lovers, kind of
unusual for a serious, as opposed to comedic
Japanese drama. Too often, something tragic
seems to happen to important characters.
> 2. The actor intends to meet the actress. Why doesn't he alights
> at the train station?
He fell asleep after his long ordeal and missed his
stop. He can get off and catch a returning train.
> 3. Any implications on the young girl resembling the actress 15
> years ago?
A bizarre coincidence. Did you see "Stalker?" How
about THAT last scene? How about "Aoi Tori
(l'oisseau bleu)?" What is the implication of his
own daughter looking exactly like her mother, the
child he loved and later married?
> 4. Knowing that the actress is his sister, why the actor still
> wishes to stay with her as lovers?
Because they DO love each other after all they've
been through together. As their relationship was
not yet physical, it could be platonic. Happens in
dramas. Or, they have gotten over the earlier
shock at the revelation they are siblings and no
longer care. How many know their secret to judge
them?
Eric Takabayashi
Fukuyama, Japan
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Takashi Takimoto
My wife is a fanatic to the drama and I also watch it from the beginning to
the end eagerly.
Andrew Lau wrote in message <36BFE5E2...@cuhk.edu.hk>...
>1. How can the ending be possibly be interpreted?
The actor died of the injury caused by the fight against the Santa Clause =
a real killer.
The implication of it appeared in the scean the actor fell on the street
without any cause.
>2. The actor intends to meet the actress. Why doesn't he alights
>at the train station?
Because he was dead.
>3. Any implications on the young girl resembling the actress 15
>years ago?
I've no idea. I don't think it was necessary for her to appear.
>4. Knowing that the actress is his sister, why the actor still
>wishes to stay with her as lovers?
I think he'd like to be with her not as lovers but as a family. He had been
a guard for her, and he wished to protect her as a brother against her very
bad memories. At the very last chapter, they (father, daughter and son) got
together as a family, the frist real family to her.
>Looking forward to your illuminations.
>
>Regards,
Sorry for my poor English
Takashi Takimoto
Joe Petrow
beginning to end!
On Tue, 9 Feb 1999 et...@fkym.daiichi-net.or.jp wrote:
: andrew lau wrote:
:
: > I've just finished watching the videotapes of "Sleeping Forest",
: > which is one of the best Japanese TV drama series I've ever seen.
:
: Awesome, huh? Too bad I suspected the real killer
: from early on. Was it predictable for you, too?
Not until around the seventh or eighth episode. I was kind of hooked
on Minako herself being the killer for awhile.
: > 1. How can the ending be possibly be interpreted?
:
: It is a happy ending for the lovers, kind of
: unusual for a serious, as opposed to comedic
: Japanese drama. Too often, something tragic
: seems to happen to important characters.
And this was also the case.
: > 2. The actor intends to meet the actress. Why doesn't he alights
: > at the train station?
:
: He fell asleep after his long ordeal and missed his
: stop. He can get off and catch a returning train.
No, he can't, because he is dead. If you watch as he's buying the
flowers, he stumbles and falls. From weeks before, we knows he's
taken some tremendous beatings and blows to the head, and he's been
warned that if he must take it easy...which of course he didn't.
: > 3. Any implications on the young girl resembling the actress 15
: > years ago?
:
: A bizarre coincidence. Did you see "Stalker?" How
: about THAT last scene? How about "Aoi Tori
: (l'oisseau bleu)?" What is the implication of his
: own daughter looking exactly like her mother, the
: child he loved and later married?
If you watch this story carefully (and understand the Japanese...or at
least have a wife nearby to explain things to you. :-) you'll
understand that there were NO coincidences in this series. Everything
happened for a reason.
I don't know the exact symbolism of the "child Minako", other as
perhaps some final vision that he sees before dying.
: > 4. Knowing that the actress is his sister, why the actor still
: > wishes to stay with her as lovers?
:
: Because they DO love each other after all they've
: been through together. As their relationship was
: not yet physical, it could be platonic. Happens in
: dramas. Or, they have gotten over the earlier
: shock at the revelation they are siblings and no
: longer care. How many know their secret to judge
: them?
Could have been. But, wasn't. That's why this is such a tragic and
upsetting ending (many Japanese I have talked to have agreed, that
they wish they had never watched the last 20 minutes)
: Eric Takabayashi
: Fukuyama, Japan
Joe Petrow
poyo...@gol.com
Joe Petrow
: Hi, Andrew
: My wife is a fanatic to the drama and I also watch it from the beginning to
: the end eagerly.
:
: Andrew Lau wrote in message <36BFE5E2...@cuhk.edu.hk>...
: >1. How can the ending be possibly be interpreted?
:
: The actor died of the injury caused by the fight against the Santa Clause =
: a real killer.
I thought the Santa Claus was his best friend? (the one that killed
his girlfriend and them jumped off a building to commit suicide)
: The implication of it appeared in the scean the actor fell on the street
: without any cause.
:
: >2. The actor intends to meet the actress. Why doesn't he alights
: >at the train station?
:
: Because he was dead.
I'm not sure exactly when he died though. Was he dead when the train
stopped, or in some comatose state? And, if he was dead when the
train pulled away from the station, why was he crying? Did he know he
was about to die?
: >3. Any implications on the young girl resembling the actress 15
: >years ago?
:
: I've no idea. I don't think it was necessary for her to appear.
Maybe it was just some extra imagery that the producer wanted to cram
in? As if he didn't make the ending depressing enough...
: >4. Knowing that the actress is his sister, why the actor still
: >wishes to stay with her as lovers?
:
: I think he'd like to be with her not as lovers but as a family. He had been
: a guard for her, and he wished to protect her as a brother against her very
: bad memories. At the very last chapter, they (father, daughter and son) got
: together as a family, the frist real family to her.
That sounds right to me.
: Takashi Takimoto
Joe Petrow
poyo...@gol.com
Andrew Lau
particular, Joe's proposition on the final vision of "child Minako" seems
to me a probable interpretation. Otherwise, the actor wouldn't have been
that calm and easy when he first sees her on the train. The ending is
truly tragic and depressing. I also wish that I hadn't watched the last 20
minutes.
Thanks a lot, Takashi, Joe and Eric.
Regards,
Andrew
Joe Petrow wrote:
I don't know the exact symbolism of the "child Minako", other as perhaps
some final vision that he sees before dying.
> That's why this is such a tragic and upsetting ending (many Japanese I
> have talked to have agreed, that they wish they had never watched the
> last 20 minutes)
>
>
>
> Joe Petrow
> poyo...@gol.com
BDunn
I noticed: If you watch the opening credits closely, it foreshadows the
whole show and the fate of the characters (girl falling, guy jumping from
tree, guy sliding down tree holding stomach, killer smiles and turns).
Anybody else notice this?
BD