27/08/2014
A Tale of Mari and Three Puppies
(уГЮуГкуБихнРчКмуБочЙйшкЮ Mari To Koinu
No Monogatari ? ) is a 2007 Japanese film directed by Ryuichi
Inomata . It was released in Japanese cinemas on 8 December
2007. [2] It is based on a true story in the 2004 Ch┼лetsu
earthquake. This story has frequently been reported in the media
and has also made into a book.
Plot
On the way back home, Ryota and his sister Aya met an
abandoned Shiba Inu . At first reluctant to adopt it because their
father hates dogs, they eventually brought it home secretly
because the dog kept on following them home. In order to
officially keep the dog at home, Aya told her grandfather that she
wanted that dog for her birthday present. Since he promised to
give her anything she wants for her birthday, he reluctantly
agreed. This initially led to a quarrel between him and his son.
Meanwhile, his son, is considering moving to Nagaoka city from
Yamakoshi, their village, reduce the time needed for his father to
reach the hospital and for the children to live near their school,
despite opposition from his father. Aya subsequently names the
dog Mari, and it becomes a part of the family.
A year later, Mari gave birth to three puppies. That spring,
animals behaved strangely, foreshadowing something major to
come. On October 23, 2004, a major earthquake, which later
became known as the Ch┼лetsu earthquake struck and devastated
the whole village. At that time, only grandfather and Aya were at
home, and they were pinned down by a wardrobe that collapsed
onto them. Mari quickly moved her puppies to a safe place before
trying to help the two of them in the house.
Meanwhile, Ryota, who was in school, and his father were safe.
They immediately went to the emergency shelter, where they
heard that Yamakoshi became isolated after the earthquake,
thereby making it hard for rescuers. Subsequently, rescuers from
the Japan Self-Defense Forces started combing the village and
evacuating people by helicopter. Mari noticed two such rescuers
and eventually led them to Aya and her grandfather. Thanks to
Mari, the two of them were successfully extracted from the
wreckage. Her grandfather had lost a lot of blood, and therefore
the pair was evacuated by air. However, just when Aya was about
to be evacuated, she asked that Mari be evacuated along as well.
Her rescuer reluctantly refuses this request, and seeing her pain at
being separated from the dog, he felt extremely bad. He even
apologizes to her when they met again at the emergency shelter.
Without its owner, Mari tries all ways and means to protect her
puppies and feed them properly. It also waited patiently for the
return of its owner.
One day, Aya read in a newspaper that torrential rain would soon
flood Yamakoshi and became worried about Mari. She convinces
Ryota to sneak into the disaster zone in order to rescue Mari.
Together they sneaked off into the devastated village, but they
have difficulties navigating through the debris there. To make
things worse, they also had to contend with aftershocks and the
heavy rain. In this treacherous terrain, Aya cuts her foot, making it
painful for her to carry on. She later runs a high fever, and Ryota
panics, unsure of what to do in this situation. Luckily, someone
who had seen them leaving the shelter had told their father of
their whereabouts, and their father managed to find them after a
long search.
After this incident, Aya did not mention about Mari anymore.
When the aftershocks subsided, each family was able to send one
representative to go into the village to survey the damage and to
collect personal items. Since everyone at the shelter had heard the
story of Mari, some people forgo their places to let Ryota and Aya
search for Mari again. After a long search, there was no sign that
Mari or its three puppies were alive. Just when they were about to
give up, a puppy appears, followed by the rest of the dogs. The
family happily took back the dogs to the shelter amid applause
from the villagers.
In 2005, the family moved into a temporary shelter and life for
them more or less returns to normal. Mari also lives there with her
three puppies.
