Farewell to the Ark (1984) Saraba hakobune

Director: Shûji Terayama
Writers: Gabriel García Márquez (novel), Rio Kishida
Stars: Tsutomu Yamazaki, Mayumi Ogawa, Yoshio Harada

As a teenager Daisaku, the successor to be of the family who has run the village for centuries, steals all the clocks except the wall clock of his family and buries them at the beach. Thereafter the ownership of the village’s Time becomes the entire privilege of his family. Several years after this incident, as an adult Daisaku becomes the head of the family. Sue and her cousin Sutekichi, both members of an inferior branch of the landlord family, are in love, but since consanguineous marriages are strictly forbidden, they are not allowed to have an affair. In order to prevent the worst to happen, Sue’s father imposes on his daughter to wear a chastity belt, so that Sutekichi is unable to possess her. While people are making fun of his impotence, he starts to fall slowly into madness…

Farewell to the Ark is the last release from the polyvalent artist Terayama Shuji whose genius runs through ages. Taking place on an imaginary southern island, he relates this illusionary tale on a splendid scale mixes Life and Death, Time and Space. Terayama Shuji who was already fighting against a disease during filming, passed away just before the first public presentation of his film.

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