This film's story is nothing more than social propaganda. It tries to lay blame for Japan's social decline by showing how Japanese should regard their work: Do whatever it is you are assigned to do with all your might and don't look at the larger picture. Sure, there is a positive aspect to this--you got a worker busting his butt to do a good job--but this is a thinking that is no longer applicable in today's world.
Ryoko Hirose is an abysmal actress. And what's with that bit of her telling her dad that she's "happy". She's dead! She's a ghost! She's not even real! It's all a delusion on the part of her dad, which should indicate even more that his philosophies toward his job should be regarded with suspicion.
I think that non-Japanese who watch this film without knowledge of how things work in Japan will come away with an unrealistic understanding of the Japanese work ethic. It's only this way in the minds of nostalgic old folk who still fail to see that this way of thinking led to destructive involvement with the Nazis. Basically, while totally different in theme, it is as much propaganda as US films about elite solder teams rescuing civilians from the clutches of mad terrorists. And it's not even a well made film.
Ryoko Hirose is an abysmal actress. And what's with that bit of her telling her dad that she's "happy". She's dead! She's a ghost! She's not even real! It's all a delusion on the part of her dad, which should indicate even more that his philosophies toward his job should be regarded with suspicion.
I think that non-Japanese who watch this film without knowledge of how things work in Japan will come away with an unrealistic understanding of the Japanese work ethic. It's only this way in the minds of nostalgic old folk who still fail to see that this way of thinking led to destructive involvement with the Nazis. Basically, while totally different in theme, it is as much propaganda as US films about elite solder teams rescuing civilians from the clutches of mad terrorists. And it's not even a well made film.