Goodbye, Terayama! Work on this film Shūji Terayama began already realizing the nearness of imminent death. 'I'll probably die of cirrhosis. In any case, it is clear that I will die, the director wrote in his diary. So, in my opinion, “Goodbye, the Ark” should be taken as the last statement in which the director said goodbye to his life, but, most sadly, before the premiere he never lived.
To begin with, “Farewell, the Ark” is based on “One Hundred Years of Solitude”, but taking up the adaptation of Marquez, Terayama did not transfer his work to the screen, relying entirely on the text, because of which, starting from the second half of the film, the story goes a completely different way. But, in my opinion, the departure from the original source went exclusively to the benefit of the film, because Terayama managed to shoot a completely author's work, which in its originality and depth is not inferior to Marquez's novel.
It is also important to note that Farewell to the Ark ideologically continues the Pastoral. To die in the village, transporting the viewer to a mystical village and telling us again about the director’s nostalgia for the rural way of life. Only unlike its predecessor, this film chooses the village itself as the main character, rather than any particular one of its inhabitants (despite the fact that the first half tries to mislead the presence of local Ursula and Jose Arcadio). However, each of the locals turned out to be a special colorful and lively, which, I think, was lacking in the novel of Marquez, because of the very fast passage of time, which does not allow to fully penetrate each of the characters and experience the whole story together with them.
As a result, we can say that the film is a real fine art. Yes, it did not come out as psychological and creative as Pastoral, but, nevertheless, returned the same poeticity that Terayama almost lost when filming Boxer.
People are born half dead and it takes a lifetime to die completely.
Sayonara!
