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Sunday, March 17, 2013

Hiroshi Takahashi's Letter from the Movie "Restless"


Restless is 2011 British-American film about the love story of Enoch and Annie.  Annie is terminally ill with cancer.  Enoch who attends funerals of strangers has befriended a ghost of a Japanese kamikaze pilot named Hiroshi Takahashi.  I will leave you to see the movie as I don't want to mention any spoilers here.   But one of the best lines in the film is Hiroshi's letter which is quoted below:

"As I write this letter, the ocean breeze feels cool on my skin. 
The very ocean is soon to be my grave. 
They tell me I will die a hero, that the safety and honor of my country 
will be the reward for my sacrifice. I pray they are right.

My only regret in life is never telling you how I feel. 
I wish I were back home. I wish I were holding your hand. 
I wish I were telling you that I have loved you and only you since I was a boy. 
But I am not. I see now that death is easy. It is love that is hard. 

As my plane dives, I will not see the face of my enemies. 
I will instead see your eyes.  Like black rocks frozen in rain water. 
They tell us that we must scream Banzai!!! as we plunge into our target. 
I will instead whisper your name and in death, as in life, I will remain forever yours."

This part of the movie has tackled two different kinds of chances that people usually don't take.  First, to take a risk even if you do not know what the outcome would be.  And second, telling somebody how you really feel about them.  I am normally not a risk taker myself but I have been telling myself all the time that life is too short and rarely one gets any second chances when the moment has already passed.

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