In this blog post, we explore how the two protagonists in the movie Love Letter overcome the shackles of intertwined memories and emotions through letters.
Introduction
We often hear this question in life: ‘What’s your favorite movie?’ Especially for me, with a major somewhat related to film, it’s a question I hear very frequently. Every time I get this question, I always hesitate. Because it’s hard for me to pick just one or two favorite movies. Although I don’t have a huge interest in movies now, I once had such a passion for film that I wanted to work in the industry, and I tried to watch as many movies as possible. All the films that have deeply impressed me so far were seen during this period.
One of these many films is director Iwai Shunji’s 1995 work, ‘Love Letter’. I first encountered this film in 1998 while auditing an Introduction to Film class. Back then, my interest in film was still high, so I diligently attended the class, even borrowing books from seniors. One day during that class, they screened this film. Knowing almost nothing about Japanese cinema, I watched it with high expectations. And the film did not disappoint me. The visuals, the story, the music—it all felt like it was seeping into my heart. Personally, I preferred films that gently seeped in rather than those that were intense or flashy, so I think it took me several days to fully emerge from this film. Moreover, my connection with this film didn’t end there. While working part-time before enlisting, I produced the VCD version of this film, which brought me back to it. Then last year, the cable station where I worked part-time purchased the rights to the film, allowing me to occasionally watch it on the company monitors. This way, the film has lingered around me for nearly a decade. I must have watched it from start to finish over ten times by now. But while most films lose their impact after a few viewings, this one strangely touches my heart every time I watch it. That’s why I simply can’t help but love it.
Having seen it so many times, it’s true that I’ve approached it with different perspectives each viewing. Sometimes focusing on the visuals, other times on the characters. Though my film knowledge isn’t extensive, analyzing the film by shifting perspectives is quite fascinating. However, through this semester’s class, I realized that my previous analyses were limited almost entirely to visuals and themes, due to my complete lack of knowledge about narrative. Since I’d only focused on the film’s imagery until now, the discussions about narrative introduced in class, though quite old, felt fresh to me. Therefore, in this essay, I aim to analyze this film from a narrative perspective.
This essay will first provide a brief introduction and summary of the film’s plot, then outline Vladimir Propp’s (hereafter Propp) functional theory of characters, which will serve as the analytical tool. Subsequently, I will analyze the film based on this theory, aiming to gain a deeper understanding of it through this analysis.
Love Letter Introduction
Director: Iwai Shunji (岩井俊二)
Cast: Miho Nakayama, Etsushi Toyokawa
Production: 1995, Fuji TV, Color, 117 min
Shunji Iwai’s feature debut ‘Love Letter’, which seems to have transported the world of pure love manga onto screen, has received enthusiastic support from the next generation since its release in 1995. This acclaimed masterpiece, the second film by popular Japanese director Imai Shunji, unfolds a journey of memories about one man through the astonishing visuals of a single letter mistakenly delivered due to a mix-up with someone sharing the same name. It received high praise and attention for “perfectly combining the everyday themes of memory and love with beautiful visuals and music.”
‘Love Letter’ Synopsis
Lying on a hill blanketed in pristine white snow, Watanabe Hiroko (hereafter Hiroko) rises and heads to the funeral of her former fiancé, Fujii Itsuki (hereafter Itsuki (male)). After the funeral, arriving at Itsuki’s (male) house, Hiroko finds his junior high school yearbook. She sends a letter of inquiry to the address listed in that yearbook, which is now uninhabited. Unexpectedly, she receives a reply to that letter. Believing it to be a letter from heaven, she continues exchanging correspondence. However, Akiba Shigeru (hereafter Akiba) reveals that the letters actually came from another Fujii Itsuki (hereafter Itsuki (female)), who shares the same name as her fiancé. Hiroko is plunged back into grief.
At Akiba’s urging, Hiroko travels to Otaru, where Itsuki (male) lived, intending to meet Itsuki (female). She fails to meet her, leaves a letter apologizing for her misunderstanding, and returns to Kobe. Upon reading this letter, Itsuki (female) writes to Hiroko, informing her that Itsuki (male) was her classmate.
A pen-pal relationship begins between Hiroko and Itsuki (female). Hiroko asks Itsuki (female) to tell her, through several letters, about the Itsuki (male) she remembers. As the letters exchange back and forth, Hiroko becomes convinced through Itsuki (female)’s memories that Itsuki (male) liked her because she resembled Itsuki (female). Itsuki (female) becomes increasingly immersed in the memories of Itsuki (male) she had long forgotten.
Eventually, at Akiba’s urging, Hiroko goes to the mountain where Itsuki (male) was stranded, and there, she releases all the pent-up emotions she had been holding onto. Meanwhile, Itsuki (female) narrowly survives a life-threatening crisis as her cold worsens, and she realizes her own feelings for Itsuki (male), which she hadn’t been able to recall until then.
This incident prompts Hiroko to resolve her feelings for Itsuki (male). She returns all the letters she had received to Itsuki (female). After Itsuki (female) fully recovers and returns to her daily life, one day, she realizes Itsuki (male)’s feelings through a portrait of herself drawn on the library card of the book Itsuki (male) gave her last, brought by her junior high school juniors.
Overall Narrative Progression Structure
The film’s narrative begins with Hiroko. The loss caused by the death of her fiancé, Itsuki (male), induces a profound sense of absence in Hiroko. Driven by this feeling of absence, Hiroko misses Itsuki (male) and sends a letter to a place where no one lives, which becomes Hiroko’s starting point. In this process, Itsuki (male)’s mother takes on the role of a messenger.
Simultaneously with Hiroko’s departure, we encounter another protagonist, Itsuki (female). Itsuki (female), having received Hiroko’s letter, begins an exchange of several letters with Hiroko while harboring unease. From Hiroko’s perspective, Itsuki (female) performs the first function as a giver, and Hiroko responds by writing back. Through this, Hiroko attempts to forget the sense of loss from losing Itsuki (male). However, Akiba, acting as her assistant, points out that her judgment is flawed and tries to bring Hiroko back to reality. It is also because of Akiba’s love that he accompanies Hiroko all the way to Otaru, where Itsuki (female) lives.
At this point, Itsuki (female)’s narrative shows little progress. Itsuki (female)’s function is initially only revealed in the conversation in the car going to the hospital, where it is mentioned that Itsuki (female)’s father has passed away. However, through a dream at the hospital, Itsuki (female) recalls forgotten memories from her middle school days, feels a lack of memory, and simultaneously sets out to recover those memories.
Subsequently, the letter Hiroko wrote in front of Itsuki (female)’s house, prompted by the protagonist’s reaction, becomes the first function of the gift-giver for Itsuki (female). Conversely, the letter Itsuki (female) sent to Hiroko, knowing Itsuki (male) as the protagonist’s reaction, becomes a magical artifact for Hiroko. Similarly, Hiroko’s letter becomes a magical agent for Itsuki (female). Through this exchange of letters, Hiroko and Itsuki (female) undergo a spatial displacement back to their middle school days. This process occupies a significant portion of the film and serves to lay the foundation for the conflict.
Immediately after returning from Otaru, Hiroko begins to suspect that Itsuki (male) liked her because she resembled Itsuki (female), and her correspondence with Itsuki (female) reinforces this conviction. This becomes a crucial turning point for Hiroko to break free from Itsuki (male)’s hold. Meanwhile, Itsuki (female) gradually recovers suppressed memories through her correspondence with Hiroko and begins to realize she had feelings for Itsuki (male).
Through the process of spatial displacement, Hiroko, urged by Akiba, begins her struggle to reach the site of Itsuki (male)’s accident. In this struggle, Hiroko eventually arrives at the mountain lodge where Itsuki (male) was stranded, aided by Akiba. Itsuki (female), while visiting her alma mater, learns of Itsuki (male)’s death through her mentor’s help, reviving buried memories of her father’s death. This battle with her memories is visually represented by the worsening of her cold. With her family’s support, Itsuki (female) ultimately triumphs in this struggle.
After her victory, they resolve their conflict in Scene 78, one of the film’s most famous moments. On a snow-covered field, Hiroko shouts the words she wanted to say to Itsuki (male), freeing herself from the shackles of her memories of him. Simultaneously, Itsuki (female) says the exact same words from her hospital bed, reclaiming the memories she had suppressed.
Afterwards, Hiroko returns all the letters to Itsuki (female) and returns to her daily life. Itsuki (female) also returns to her daily life and makes her comeback. However, Hiroko sends one final letter, leaving Itsuki (female) with a difficult task. A few days later, Itsuki (female) discovers on the back of a library card brought by her junior high school juniors that Itsuki (male) had liked her.
Understanding ‘Love Letter’ Through Analysis
As examined above, the two protagonists of this film, Hiroko and Itsuki (female), share the commonality of striving to overcome the bonds entangled within their respective memories. Hiroko is bound by memories of the deceased Itsuki (male), while Itsuki (female) carries emotions entangled within her heart due to her father’s death and the events surrounding it. They serve as each other’s witnesses, and through the common talismanic object of the letter, they create an opportunity to overcome the bonds of memory.
In Conclusion
Thus far, I have analyzed the narrative of the film ‘Love Letter’ based on Propp’s theory of character functions. Initially, I harbored doubts about whether this film’s narrative would align with Propp’s framework, but attempting the analysis allowed me to find its own significance. Analyzing a familiar film from a new perspective was a valuable experience and a time that reaffirmed the appeal of narratology.
However, despite investing considerable time in this analysis, it was conducted without a deep understanding of Propp’s morphology, leaving room for regret. Had I addressed Propp’s other categories, a richer analysis would have been possible; not attempting this is a lingering disappointment.
