Kelsey Summarell

Period 1

1. Title of Film: ​In This Corner of the World

2. Released: ​2016
3. Language of the Original Film: ​Japanese
4. Director: ​Sunao Katabuchi
5. Actors: ​Non, Kira Buckland, Christine Marie Cabanos, Barbara Goodson, Todd
Haberkorn, Megumi Han, Yoshimasa Hosoya, Natsuki Inaba, Nanase Iwai, Minori Omi,
Daisuke Ono, Jason Palmer, Laura Post, Tengai Shibuya, Mayumi Shintani, Kirk
Thorton, and Shigeru Ushiyama..
6. Summary: ​In This Corner of the World ​follows Sumi who lives in Eba with her family.
Sumi is very artistic and this causes her to get lost in her own little world. Sumi soon gets
married to Shusaku and moves in with her in-laws in Kure. In Kure, Sumi takes over
most of the responsibilities of the household because her mother-in-law has a bad leg.
Shusaku and his father work for the Japanese Navy. While in Kure rationing becomes
more strict and air strikes occur more and more frequent. While living in Kure Sumi
becomes really close with her niece, Harumi. Sumi becomes depressed after her niece is
killed and she loses her hand and is even further depressed after most of her family is
killed when the Atomic Bombs are dropped. When the Emperor announces the war is
over Sumi does not know how to deal since, her whole goal was keeping her family alive
and she will now have to come to terms with the losses she faced during the war. Sumi is
able to slowly able to gain purpose in life after she and Shusaku adopt an atomic bomb
orphan.
7. Analyze: ​In This Corner of the World ​addresses the philosophical issue of what life is
like during war. In the film Sumi and her in-laws have to go into town each week to get
their rations and as the war continues the rations get smaller and smaller. Sumi comes up
with different dishes that use less of the rations so that they can last them all week. Also
Sumi and her in-laws have to go into their underground shelter they made every time
there's an air strike. As the war progresses the air strikes become more and more frequent.
The air strikes come at all times of the night and day and this causes Sumi and her
in-laws all to be exhausted and tired the next day. ​In This Corner of the World ​addresses
the social issue of who is friend and who is foe. In the film Sumi went up to the house
garden which overlooked the sea. Sumi began to draw the shoreline with the boats when
two navy officers saw her drawing the shoreline and suspected her of being a spy and
traitor. When the officers go to Sumi’s in-laws to interrogate them about Sumi being a
spy. After the officers leave, Sumi’s in-laws burst into laughter at the thought of Sumi
being a spy because she gets lost in her world so easily. Another philosophical issue that
the film addresses is finding purpose in the world. Sumi finds purpose in being Shusaku’s
wife and taking care of the house for her in-laws and she finds purpose in drawing things.
But after she loses her hand she is not able to draw anymore and she can barely take care
of herself or help around the house. Sumi loses her sense of purpose and does not know
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what her purpose is until she and Shusaku adopt an atomic bomb orphan. Then she begins
to find a little more purpose and she is more able to do things with her single hand
because she has learned how to do things without the help of an extra hand. The point of
view of ​In This Corner of the World ​is that war has a lot of lasting after effects and is not
as glorious as the media portrays it to be. An after effect present in the film is Sumi’s lost
hand, the death of Harumi, Sumi’s sister’s illness due to the radiation from dropping the
atomic bomb, the death of Sumi’s parents, and the orphan whose mother died from the
atomic bomb. These are all after effects of World War II that Japan faced after the war.
Also the film showed what people looked like after the atomic bomb was dropped on
Hiroshima. It showed the devastation and the unrecognizable bodies of those living in
Hiroshima. The context of the film is that Japan had recently bombed Pearl Harbor
because the United States was involved in the war. It is Japan in World War II and it
shows that the United States air strikes Japan a lot before dropping the atomic bombs. ​In
This Corner of the World ​is targeting the world because war is something the whole
world faces. I think also it came out as a realization as what effects war has on a
community and how devastating it can be for those involved in the war. And the movie
addresses how critical countries become in times of war and how they can turn on their
own citizens. And it also shows how it is hard to find purpose and know what to do after
war ends because the war had been such a big part of your life and then it is over and you
are left not knowing what to do.
8. Response: ​I really enjoyed and liked ​In This Corner of the World. ​My response would be
I learned more about World War II and the dropping of the atomic bombs and I also
gained a new perspective. Before the movie I usually saw Japan as the bad guy and that
the United States were the good guys and they ended the war. But as I watched this
movie I realized my mythic mode of thinking. I did not humanize the Japanese people
and what it must have been like for them to go through the dropping of the bombs. I saw
that they were normal people living their normal lives like me. ​In This Corner of the
World ​definitely changed the way I view war and World War II specifically. This showed
me that both sides are humans and both sides can suffer from war. I also learned it is not
so easy to pick a good guy and a bad guy. I learned when regarding war I need to look at
it with a perceptive mode of thinking rather than addressing war with a mythic mode of
thinking. That way I will be able to better evaluate the war and figure out what I believe
in and whether I support the war or not.Before I saw the United States as the good guys
going in to help and keeping the American people safe, but as I watched this movie it
made me realize that were we right in dropping a bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Could we have ended the war without dropping a bomb. I think so. This helped me not to
see war as something so simple and as something that is always positive or a good thing.
9. Cultural Differences: ​The most noticeable cultural difference that I noticed in ​In This
Corner of the World ​is the food and clothing. In the film Sumi cooks a lot of rice dishes.
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Almost every meal has rice or is rice. This is different from American food because we
have a wide range and variety of food whereas in the film there was not a lot of variety of
food in the film. Another difference was the clothing. In ​In This Corner of the World
Sumi wears a Kimono. Which is a japanese dress. In America girls can wear dresses but
the average girl regularly wears pants and a t-shirt whereas in Japan they wear kimonos
and they usually have some floral pattern on them. A cultural difference I notice in the
film was that when Sumi was getting married it was not an arranged marriage but Sumi
had just barely met Shusaku and her parents met with his parents and they both approved
of the marriage and Sumi could say no but she said yes. In America we tend to find and
approve of our own spouses and we may seek our parents approval. ​In This Corner of the
World ​you respect those who are in power like officers. In the film when the officers
come to question Sumi’s in-laws they do not talk back to the officers and they are very
respectful and do not make eye contact with them. They listen to the officers and do not
try to tell them that they are crazy. In American culture we openly speak out against our
political leaders and find fault with them and disapprove of their acts and we share this
openly.
10. Technique of the Filmmaker: ​The filmmaker of ​In This Corner of the World ​used more
realistic animation and drawings than the movies that I am used to. When I watch an
animated movie you can tell its animated and it is really cartoonish. Whereas ​In This
Corner of the World ​looks more realistic and shows what the world and people really
look like. Another technique the filmmaker of ​In This Corner of the World ​used was its
use of music. The music was very calming, soothing, peaceful, and sweet. Whereas the
music I listen to that accompanies movies is usually upbeat, happy, and gets you excited.
The filmmaker of ​In This Corner of the World ​used setting as another technique. The
setting of ​In This Corner of the World ​was a mixture of nature, city, and the ocean.
Whereas the movies I usually watch focus on one of those settings for the whole movie
and do not show any other settings unlike ​In This Corner of the World.
11. Relate to Class: ​I relate this movie to the ​Barefoot Gen ​reading that we did during our
unit on war. This reading specifically talks about the dropping of the atomic bombs on
Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Keji Nakazawa’s immediate family except his mom were all
killed in the blast. The character Gen had to watch his brother, sister, and father die and
he was completely helpless in helping them and he had to listen to their screams of pain
as they died. I relate this to the movie because Sumi’s family was killed in Hiroshima
when the atomic bomb dropped and I imagine this might have been something she might
have went through if she was in Hiroshima when the bomb dropped. ​United States
Strategic Bombing Survey: The Effects of the Atomic Bombs ​reading said, “ Japan would
have surrendered even if the atomic bombs had not been dropped, even if Russia had not
entered the war, and even if no invasion had been planned or contemplated.” I relate this
to ​In This Coner of the World ​because Sumi’s parents wouldn’t be dead if the United
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States had not dropped the atomic bombs and also from above it was unnecessary and
there was no point in her parents deaths.
12. Reason for assignment: ​I think you assigned an international film so we could get a new
perspective. Films reflect and give insight into a country and their culture. By watching
films from other countries you can see their traditions, beliefs, values, and their culture.
We like to be in the bubble of our own culture because it is comfortable and it is familiar
so, we tend to stay away from films that come from other countries because they are
unfamiliar and may make us uncomfortable. But mostly, I think we don’t watch films
from other countries because we are to preoccupied with what is going on in our own
country or those similar to our own to care about what is going on in other countries or to
be concerned with their culture. We want to see things that represent things similar to us
and show us.