Japanese Drama (and Movie) Addict

On the day of a procession in which Kou took part in, Natsume was led away by a family friend, who convinced her that her grandfather was in trouble. He turned out to be an obsessed fan and tried to rape Natsume. Kou went to her rescue but was ultimately unable to do anything, until the other villagers came and rescued her. Since the incident, Natsume blamed Kou for not being able to save her, while Kou blamed himself as well for being unable to protect Natsume.

A new term in school began, and Natsume had fallen from grace. A movie that she had previously been invited to act in was no more, and she became the target of gossip. Kou began mixing around with bad company and was getting nowhere in his life. Each at a standstill in their lives, Natsume and Kou, now broken up, drifted apart from each other.

Ultimately, what I got from this film is that there is always this special someone who you’ll go back to no matter what. Kou was a free-spirit, but aimless in life. Yet, Natsume, who regarded him as her “god”, refused to let go of him. All she ever wanted was to have Kou look only at her. 

Kou wanted Natsume for himself as well. Both of them are imperfect in their own ways, but ultimately they can’t let go of each other.

Both Suda and Komatsu have put up a pretty convincing performance in their film. I felt their pain, their loss, and their attraction to each other. Like all teenage love, their portrayal of their respective roles conveyed the feeling of fleeting romance very well. Suda was especially charismatic in this film, truly living up to his reputation as one of the most talented young actors in Japan.

The devil then decides to erase phones from the world. This reminds the protagonist of how he met his ex-girlfriend. They came to know each other after a misdialed phone call from his ex-girlfriend. As phones are erased from the world, so is his memory and relationship with his ex-girlfriend.

Having prolonged his life for a day, the devil proposed once again to erase another object in exchange for a day more for the protagonist to live. This time, the devil took away movies. The protagonist then recalls his best friend Tatsuya, who is a movie buff. Tatsuya would lend a DVD every day to the protagonist. At this point, we can come to the conclusion that Tatsuya was the one who led the protagonist into becoming an item with his ex-girlfriend, who happens to be a movie enthusiast as well. But as movies are erased from the world, so is his friendship with Tatsuya.

The third object the devil erased from the world is clocks. The protagonist’s father, a watch repairman, is a taciturn person, and it is hinted that the father and son do not share an amicable relationship.  With clocks erased from the world, so is the protagonist’s relationship with his father. At this point, the protagonist starts to wonder what will happen if he disappears instead?

Anyway, having lived for another day, the devil makes his last proposal. This time he is going to erase cats from the world. Unlike the previous three times, the protagonist shows a greater reaction this time. Earlier in the movie we see the protagonist rescue an abandoned kitten when he was younger and was ultimately allowed to keep the kitten by his mother, who is actually allergic to cat fur.

Here we can deduce that cats signify the protagonist and his relationship with his mother. The fact that he showed such great reaction to the thought of cats disappearing from this world shows that he values his relationship with his mother the most. The thought of losing his relationship with his mother scares him so much that he tells the devil not to erase them.

It is then revealed that the devil did not exist, and is, in fact, the other side (or the inner devil) of the lead. All this time he was talking to himself because he couldn’t accept his condition, and was coming up with ways and scenarios to prolong his life. He had placed his life as above everything else but finally realises that there are certain irreplaceable things. Coming to terms with the other side of him made him also come to terms with his impending death.

With that, the protagonist reverts to his normal life. As he approaches the final day of his life, he writes a letter to his father as an attempt to reconcile their relationship. He also meets his ex-girlfriend and Tatsuya for the last time.

The film ends with the content of the protagonist’s letter to his father, which basically reflects the feelings of the protagonist about his existence in the world. However insignificant his presence was to the world, he believes that there is still a difference between the world where he exists and the world where he vanishes. To him, however small the difference may be, it is still proof that he has once lived.

As Kawata wails while hugging the motionless body of Shiraki, the director steps in—we now know that everything up till this point has been a movie. The “Shiraki” we knew up to this point is actually played by the real Kawata—now Kawatori Dai, whereas “Kawata” is actually played by Naruse Ryo, an actor. “Sally” is also played by actress Mikami Rei.

Observant viewers will also realise that the screen has turned gray. This is important, and I will give my analysis on what this symbolises.

Up till before the greyscale, we see colours— vibrant, lively. Because I had no prior knowledge about this film, I didn’t know what I was in for, so imagine my shock when the director walked in. The title of the film then comes to mind—Pink and Gray. The colours of the film takes centre stage in the story.

Scenes shot in colour, or “Pink”, depicts the vibrant lives the two main characters supposedly have. Shiraki is depicted as a helpful friend, while Kawatori is the loyal, supportive one. The movie is adapted from a biography written by Kawatori for Shiraki, which is actually one of the instructions from the six wills left behind by Shiraki. Kawatori chose it because he thought this would be what Shiraki wants best.

However, on the pretense of fulfilling his best friend’s last wish, neither the movie nor the book was ever about Shiraki. Instead, they are used by Kawatori to showcase himself. He wants to show the audience how great and supportive of a friend he was—in other words, his good side. The movie is nothing but full of self-praise.

This explains why Naruse later tells Kawatori that the film is “boring”. He also observes that the movie may not have reflected the reality fully. I believe that his keen observation stems from him being an actor, and he is spot-on—the film is not the truth.

So what is the truth? The answer lies in the scenes in “Grey”. Here we finally see the kind of person each character really is. Naruse is a jerk, Sally is meek, and most importantly the fact that Kawatori is not as loyal and supportive a friend he portrays himself to be. Instead, Kawatori loathes being outshined by Shiraki and hates that Shiraki wants to run his life. Kawatori is not grateful for the chances Shiraki gave him and instead finds them burdensome. His frustration towards Shiraki is later shown when he slashes and destroys Shiraki’s portrait.

Shiraki is not that pure either. As Kawatori would later discover, Shiraki was a regular patron at a strip club, and even more shocking was that he, as hinted in the film, was in an incestuous relationship with his older sister. In the beginning when Shiraki’s sister commits suicide, I wondered why this is even important. It is then revealed that Shiraki had specifically chosen to die on the same day as his sister.

This begs the question. Why grey? I noticed that the scenes shot in greyscale were very dark with minimal lighting. A lot of details in the scene were hidden. These reflect the fact that Kawatori has things to hide—his true personality.

Both Pink and Grey tell the same story but from a different point of view. Pink is a lie weaved by Kawatori to fool the audience into believing that he is a kind person, but as Naruse pointed out, this is not true. Grey shows the ugly truth, and this is something Kawatori doesn’t want to own up to.

It is interesting to note that Kawatori is seen smiling most of the time in Pink, but he has never even smiled once in Grey. He wanted to believe the lie he has fabricated, but alas it didn’t work, as shown by how unhappy he truly is in Grey—in reality.

Kawatori later mentions that he didn’t want to be Shiraki anymore, and yet we see him attempting to hang himself the same way Shiraki did. Kawatori has always believed that Shiraki is the cause of his misery, but I think that on the contrary, he is the one making himself miserable—he claims to not want to live in Shiraki’s shadow any longer, yet he couldn't resist the temptation of becoming Shiraki—successful and famous. If he were really resistant of living under Shiraki’s shadows, why would he agree to take on the role of Shiraki in the movie?

What Kawatori fails to see is that Shiraki had his own set of problems as well. He is not happier than before he made it big, but Shiraki only saw the glamorous side of his life.

In the end, Kawatori reconciles with the truth after facing Shiraki in his hallucination, and as Shiraki tells him, it is okay that they do not understand each other. The film then gradually turns from grey to pink, signifying that Kawatori is no longer hiding the truth, and is now brave enough to show his true self. Truth has come to light.

Nakajima, Suda and Yagira have all served up pretty solid acting this time round. In particular for Nakajima and Suda, who had to switch up their characters in the second half of the film, and they made it convincing enough. Nakajima went from the confident “Shiraki” to the unhappy Kawatori, whereas Suda went from the supportive “Kawata” to the evil Naruse. Props to both actors for being able to transition smoothly from one character to another.

Verdict: Pink and Gray is a compelling piece with an awesome plot twist. Recommended!

(Note: some nudity, depiction of suicide and sex. Not suitable for younger audiences)