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I liked Hachi better, too but it almost killed me to see the ending of the movie and you are so right about what made this movie different - Hachi's utter devotion to his owner/friend, poor little guy just kept waiting and waiting and when he got older and the snow scene where he is trudging along the railroad track... The real Hachi has a statute at the train station where he used to wait for his owner. He kind of reminds me of Greyfriar's Bobby story.
I didn't know that the dog in the earlier puppy scenes was a Shiba Inu. I love those kind of dogs, but I wouldn't be able to tell the difference between an Akita Inu and a Shiba Inu. The director was smart in figuring a way of getting around the personality of an Akita Inu and working with a Shiba Inu instead.
I don't think I can ever watch this movie again.
I donated my DVD to a library for this reason but now I kinda wish I still had it. Oh, well. Someone else will be touched by the story.
For me, the crying began with the scene of the man speaking to Hachi in Japanese, explaining why the owner had not come back. The railroad scene kept it going. Not that that’s necessarily what happened in real life...creative license in making movies probably made up for unknown events.
If you want another true story of incredible devotion, try to get a copy of the little booklet called Two Burros of Fairplay, which contains two different true stories. It was out of print when I read it in a CO library way back in the late 1980s. The first burro, named Prunes, has a statue in the town where he lived. The residents knew him well. The second story is about another burro named Shorty and a dog named Bum, both fitting names. Shorty had short legs and was blind, which the dog somehow knew after he found him sleeping in the winter snow, abandoned by his owner. The also-abandoned dog curled up to sleep with him and thereafter they would walk around town, with the dog begging for food for both of them. The dog would bring food to the burro first and the burro would wait for the dog to get his own food, too, before he began eating. Shorty got hit by a car and the townspeople moved him to the dump. Bum guarded the carcass and attacked anyone who got near, past the point where the body was a rotting mess. He literally went crazy at losing his best friend.
Another movie with a really sad scene - Adrien Brody starred in it, I think it was called The Piano. The scene were the families were being separated and being transported to the concentration camps. I saw that in a theater and it was very moving and emotional.
The Pianist.
And Brody won the Academy Award for Best Actor for playing Wladyslaw Szpilman.
I think it was even better than Schindler's List, and I think the three best theatrical releases in the U.S. since 1990 have been Schindler's List, The Pianist, and The Shawshank Redemption.
The Piano....was another excellent movie made about a decade earlier that starred Holly Hunter, Harvey Keitel, Anna Paquin, and Sam Neill.
Hunter won the Academy Award that year for Best Actress, and Paquin (in her first acting role) won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.
I donated my DVD to a library for this reason but now I kinda wish I still had it. Oh, well. Someone else will be touched by the story.
For me, the crying began with the scene of the man speaking to Hachi in Japanese, explaining why the owner had not come back. The railroad scene kept it going. Not that that’s necessarily what happened in real life...creative license in making movies probably made up for unknown events.
If you want another true story of incredible devotion, try to get a copy of the little booklet called Two Burros of Fairplay, which contains two different true stories. It was out of print when I read it in a CO library way back in the late 1980s. The first burro, named Prunes, has a statue in the town where he lived. The residents knew him well. The second story is about another burro named Shorty and a dog named Bum, both fitting names. Shorty had short legs and was blind, which the dog somehow knew after he found him sleeping in the winter snow, abandoned by his owner. The also-abandoned dog curled up to sleep with him and thereafter they would walk around town, with the dog begging for food for both of them. The dog would bring food to the burro first and the burro would wait for the dog to get his own food, too, before he began eating. Shorty got hit by a car and the townspeople moved him to the dump. Bum guarded the carcass and attacked anyone who got near, past the point where the body was a rotting mess. He literally went crazy at losing his best friend.
Reading both these stories made me cry.
It's good you donated the DVD, it is a good movie but I don't think I could go through the ending again. Even thinking about it makes me sad. I used to (and still do) have dogs in my life - I don't share a house with one currently but my friends have dogs. If you don't see them for a while, they are so ecstatic and jumping for joy when they see you (they make that frantic yelping sound, too), but then again they must greet their family members like that everyday, too - they are pack animals so when one of their pack is missing, they feel it. My saddest part was when a now elderly Hachi, after walking on the tracks for a while in the snow, laid down for a nap out of sheer exhaustion, then he dreams of his friend (Richard Gere).
I will check out the booklet Two Burros of FairPlay - it sounds really good but sad, too. The townspeople could of done the right thing and buried the poor burro instead of letting the body rot. I am imagining Bum the dog guarding the rotting body of his best friend and not wanting to leave. Dogs are so loyal. I know some scientists say otherwise and that we should think of dogs with human emotions, but I don't doubt for a second that dogs have loyalty, devotion, protectiveness, and the ability to sense emotions, they do know love and give it, too.
And Brody won the Academy Award for Best Actor for playing Wladyslaw Szpilman.
I think it was even better than Schindler's List, and I think the three best theatrical releases in the U.S. since 1990 have been Schindler's List, The Pianist, and The Shawshank Redemption.
The Piano....was another excellent movie made about a decade earlier that starred Holly Hunter, Harvey Keitel, Anna Paquin, and Sam Neill.
Hunter won the Academy Award that year for Best Actress, and Paquin (in her first acting role) won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.
I got the titles confused, but totally different stories I thought the scenes in the Pianist, especially when the families were being separated before getting on the trains to be so emotional and sad. I loved watching The Shawshank Redemption, but found that movie to be more inspirational and also, hopefully not giving away the ending, a happy ending. I agree it is one of the best movies because I remember distinct quotes from that movie. A lot of movies I watch and I don't remember anything, seriously, maybe it is because I am getting older, but it is like a totally new movie, especially mysteries, where I forgot who was the one that did it.
I remember Schindler's List, Ralph Fiennes was amazing in it. Adrien Brody deserved that Oscar, the man lost like 50 pounds to play the lead. Surprisingly, I haven't seen him in much lately the past few years.
It's good you donated the DVD, it is a good movie but I don't think I could go through the ending again. Even thinking about it makes me sad. I used to (and still do) have dogs in my life - I don't share a house with one currently but my friends have dogs. If you don't see them for a while, they are so ecstatic and jumping for joy when they see you (they make that frantic yelping sound, too), but then again they must greet their family members like that everyday, too - they are pack animals so when one of their pack is missing, they feel it. My saddest part was when a now elderly Hachi, after walking on the tracks for a while in the snow, laid down for a nap out of sheer exhaustion, then he dreams of his friend (Richard Gere).
I will check out the booklet Two Burros of FairPlay - it sounds really good but sad, too. The townspeople could of done the right thing and buried the poor burro instead of letting the body rot. I am imagining Bum the dog guarding the rotting body of his best friend and not wanting to leave. Dogs are so loyal. I know some scientists say otherwise and that we should think of dogs with human emotions, but I don't doubt for a second that dogs have loyalty, devotion, protectiveness, and the ability to sense emotions, they do know love and give it, too.
I think they tried to bury him but the dog wouldn’t let anybody near it. The booklet was out of print long ago and probably limited issue.
The guy didn't die, but I watched The Railway Man yesterday. That was tough.
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The real Hachi has a statute at the train station where he used to wait for his owner. He kind of reminds me of Greyfriar's Bobby story.
I thought the scenes in the Pianist, especially when the families were being separated before getting on the trains to be so emotional and sad. I loved watching The Shawshank Redemption, but found that movie to be more inspirational and also, hopefully not giving away the ending, a happy ending. I agree it is one of the best movies because I remember distinct quotes from that movie. A lot of movies I watch and I don't remember anything, seriously, maybe it is because I am getting older, but it is like a totally new movie, especially mysteries, where I forgot who was the one that did it.
