Daiei Film Co., Ltd.
Port!
Now starboard!
Father!
I will avenge your death! I'll show you!
I'll grab him by the tail and drag him straight to hell!
As the captain of the whaling ship,
I will put it in its grave!
The Whale God
Produced by Masaichi Nagata
Screenplay by Kaneto Shindo Based on a work by Koichiro Uno
Starring
Shintaro Katsu Kojiro Hongo
Shiho Fujimura, Kyoko Enami, Reiko Fujiwara, Michiko Takano, Takashi Shimura
Yosuke Takemura, Kichijiro Ueda, Jutaro Hojo, Chieko Murata, Bantaro Miake
Yasushi Sugita, Kenichi Tani, Chikara Hashimoto, Koji Fujiyama, Osamu Abe
Directed by Tokuzo Tanaka
Look! Look at the sea!
That's where your grandfather and your father died.
Shatsu took their lives.
But we'll harpoon his belly,
and cut off his nose! We'll get our revenge!
The whale who killed your father and grandfather is laughing at you!
But we shall have our revenge!
Whalers of deep faith,
you must not just chase the Whale God,
for the Son of Man will not...
wrestle with the devil.
He's the devil of the sea! We will strike him down!
These children shall snuff out all that he is!
Grandfather, father, it's Shatsu.
We've been waiting for the Whale God,
and now the time has come to take our revenge.
- Mother, I too shall go! - Shatsu is alone.
It's only right that Shaki faces him alone.
Shaki will bring back his proud nose.
It's the Whale God!
He's coming!
The Whale God! The Whale God is coming!
Cloak yourself in black clouds and go.
What could be so great?
Like a storm, the beast wipes away the blood from his maw,
and swims away!
Son, fly to Shatsu!
Claw at his throat,
and don't return until...
you've ripped out his guts!
All right, everyone, let's kill the Whale God!
I'll sleep with the man who slays the Whale God!
Townspeople, I'd like the attention of the spearmen and sailors among you.
We hereby swear to kill the Whale God,
even if it costs us our lives.
I'm an old man.
Of course, if I were 10 years younger, I' be leading the charge. Mark my words.
Since I can't give my life, I offer something else: I don't care who it is...
I will give my only daughter Toyo to the man...
who cuts off the Whale God's snout and brings it to me on a rope.
Silence!
You will receive my house, my land, and even my name.
Toyo shall be your bride.
I repeat. I shall give my fields, my mountains, my title,
and my daughter to the man who brings in the snout of the Whale God.
Shaki, you lost your grandfather, father, and brother to it.
You should be the first to volunteer.
I will kill the Whale God!
I will leave the Whale God to no other man!
I will die too! The Whale God and I will kill each other!
I will slay the Whale God.
I, the son of the chief spearfisher, will slay the Whale God.
I was just listening to you.
You're not from around here.
He arrived 10 days ago, from Kishu.
Does this deal apply to people from outside of your village?
Would you keep your promise to a drifter...
who brings in the Whale God's snout?
A samurai does not mince his words.
Even if it's a filthy beggar that washed up on the shore,
I shall offer my daughter and my land to him...
if he brings me the Whale God's snout on a rope.
Then you can count me in.
Don't ever approach me like this again,
or I'll run my sword through your stinking guts.
I'll be the one to kill the Whale God!
Kishu!
Kishu, come out!
Come out, Kishu, you and I are going to have it out right here!
Why do I have to fight you?
You're not the only harpooner in the village;
everybody has it in mind to kill the Whale God.
You got a lot of nerve, thinking that you can...
brush me aside and be the one to bed the village elder's daughter.
Oh, that. So go tell the elder that you want to volunteer as well.
Shaki will have the first shot at the Whale God.
His grandfather, father, and brother were all killed by the beast.
And he'll be killed, too.
If he dies, I'll be next in line.
But while Shaki is still alive, he goes first.
The one to kill the Whale God will be me, not Shaki!
Have you forgotten the code of the sea?
This is no time to worry about any code.
- The Whale God must be killed. - What?
Kishu, whassamatta?! Get up!
Shaki, wake up.
It's morning already?
It was all I could do to wake you up. You've been asleep for two days.
I thought you might die.
I was exhausted.
But I feel better now.
My muscles are stiff.
I think I'll go take a look at the first whale I killed.
It's already been moved to the barn.
Shaki.
What?
You must be hungry. I'll get you something to eat.
What is it?
- Kasuke is here. - Kasuke?
Shaki, we need to talk.
Why are you dressed like that? Where are you going?
- Nagasaki. - And abandon the town?
You can't change my mind.
You're like me: your family's been in whaling for two generations.
I'm not giving my baby sister to a man who'd turn his back on the village of Wadaura.
I'm not turning my back on the town.
This is the path that I must walk.
I'm going to study to be a doctor in Nagasaki.
Then I'll marry Yuki.
You're not going anywhere 'till we've killed the Whale God.
Has the Whale God driven you mad?
Everyone is obsessed with the Whale God...
have you taken leave of your senses?
How many people have died trying to capture it?
I'm the last one left in my family.
Shaki, forget about it. The Whale God is just a whale.
I was put on this earth to kill the Whale God.
Avenging a parent's death is a part of a past age.
It's not just about that,
it's a showdown.
There's nothing to be won, it's a fool's errand.
- Nothing to be won?! - Shaki!
I'm fighting with every fiber of my being.
Fighting is my life, and my enemy's the Whale God!
That's all there is to it! That's my life! That's the road I walk!
I got it.
If your life is the sea and the Whale God, I understand.
But it's not mine. I have my own goals.
Yuki, I'll be back for you in a year.
Please wait for me.
Are you going to be the bride of a man who abandons the town?
- Shaki, I'm going. - Get out,
and don't ever come back!
I won't leave your bones on the beach like garbage.
When I kill the Whale God,
I will send its bones to quietly drift to the northern seas.
I'm here to see the village elder.
Oh, he's in the back.
I'm Shaki, of Koromogahama.
Shaki,
what was it like the first time you went fishing?
Everything about it was interesting.
Today you will take over from where your father and grandfather left off.
- You will be the chief spearfisher. - Yes, sir.
The Whale God will swim far out to sea,
and will return at the yearend, or in spring.
- You must train your body in preparation. - Yes, sir.
That's all, you're dismissed.
I don't want to marry a spearfisher.
The man who slays the Whale God will be the most honorable man in the village.
I don't want to be the prize for the man who catches the Whale God.
It's not dignified.
Shaki is a fine young man.
I don't care if it's Shaki or someone else.
I don't want to be the trophy of a fisherman's ambition.
You needn't worry.
It will never happen.
The man who kills the Whale God won't escape with his life.
He won't return alive.
I can't believe how cruel you are.
Toyo, in Kishu, Tosa, Tango, and the rest of Japan,
spearfishers tremble in fear of the Whale God.
When they see him, they roll in their nets and flee to shore.
Where's the honor in whaling?
If they run from whales, what are they living for?
I will see the Whale God dead, even if it means...
the destruction of Wadaura Village.
So Shaki will die for your crusade?
That's right.
Everyone will die, until the Whale God is caught.
You're obsessed with the Whale God.
Toyo, I am going to catch that black monster,
and flay his skin, dice his meat, smash his bones,
and hold him in these hands. In these hands!
Ei!
I didn't think you'd come.
Why?
I thought you wanted to marry the elder's daughter.
It's not Toyo I'm after, it's the Whale God.
That's all.
If you kill the Whale God, Toyo will be your bride.
I'm only thinking about the Whale God.
Shatsu is lurking somewhere beyond the Kuroshio Current.
Shaki, forget the Whale God.
Marry me.
I refuse to marry until the Whale God is dead.
You don't like me because I'm from a poor family.
Ei, I love you.
Shaki!
I caught me a female whale!
Let's skin it and eat it!
Cut it out!
You morons can't even catch a whale, so you take a girl instead?
You idiot fishermen!
Hey Shaki, hurry up and catch the Whale God so I can sleep with you.
Shaki!
Gimme a drink.
Hey, I'm going to be the one to kill the Whale God.
You'll be sleeping with me.
You could be the one that I sleep with, but you won't be.
That's because you won't be the one to kill the Whale God!
I'm at my wits' end.
Hurry up and catch the Whale God, so I can sleep with you!
Hey, do you know who my husband was?
A different man every night!
My husband was the chief spearfisher in the sea off of Tango.
He died when he caught a huge baleen whale by the tail.
That makes me a whale widow!
Hey, Kishu!
Kishu, I've been waiting for you.
Hey, lady-killer, so this is where you've been?
Kishu, I'd like to ask you to step outside.
You'll be going up against me.
I don't know you, mister.
He's a spearfisher who arrived today from Choshu.
You'll fight him.
Get me a drink!
Shaki, show them the stuff that the men of Wadaura are made of!
My only opponent is the whale.
You wanna piece of me, too?
Not me.
I don't want to fight.
Shaki!
You wanna dance?
Try it!
My only enemy is the Whale God!
It's you.
Shaki!
Mom!
Shaki.
I'm dying.
You can't go now,
I want you to live long enough to see me slay the Whale God.
Don't worry, I'll be watching from heaven.
Mom, I will kill that whale!
Shaki, you catch the Whale God by the nose.
Ask Yohei.
I'll ask Yohei.
Shaki, it's enough that people live until they die.
I understand.
Live until you die.
Mom!
I hear your mother died.
It was on a hot summer day.
I haven't left home since then.
Kasuke, take Yuki with you.
Shaki, you plan to die, don't you?
I'm going to fight, not to die.
I'll fight the Whale God with all my strength.
Shaki, I came to see Yuki.
Please make her happy.
I'm trusting you.
I want to be alone.
All alone.
The south wind is blowing...
The Whale God will come.
Grandfather, father, brother,
please give me the strength to strike down the Whale God.
Ei?
What's wrong?
Does your stomach hurt?
Ei, what is it?
I'm going into labor.
Is there anything I can do?
Bring some hot water.
Don't tell my father or anyone else about this.
- I understand. - Shaki.
What?
I'm sorry.
Why did you tell everyone that the baby was yours?
We've never had sex, and this will bring about your ruin.
It won't ruin me. It's all the same.
If you say that you're the father, you can't marry Toyo.
I don't care about her.
Are you saying that you're not going to kill the Whale God?
Of course I'll kill him.
Nothing has changed.
Don't you want to know whose child it is?
I don't care. It's all the same.
Being here proves that I am the father.
We don't have any sake or food.
Ei, you're all I need.
I don't want to be indebted to you.
You don't owe me anything.
I didn't want to have the baby.
He forced himself on me.
I tried to get rid of it.
I went into the sea in cold weather.
I hit my stomach with rocks.
I jumped off cliffs.
The baby didn't do anything wrong.
I'm here, so it doesn't matter from whose seed it came.
He's part of my family now. If I die, he will avenge me.
I thought so...
You didn't agree to be the father because you love me.
Ei, I love you.
Then you agreed to be the father because you knew...
you were going to die anyway.
Ei, I love you.
Shaki, it's lonely to die alone.
It's not lonely.
I'll play the hand I've been dealt.
I don't want you to die. Don't leave me alone.
- Who says I will die? - No, you'll die.
Please live a long life with me.
Don't just go off and die!
Don't!
Is it really your child?
Are you the father of Ei's son?
It's my child.
I'm the father.
Don't you want to kill the Whale God and marry Toyo?
I will kill the Whale God.
Then don't you want to be the village elder?
It will be my spear that kills the Whale God.
Slaying the Whale God is the only reward I need.
I understand. Get out.
Miss.
I hereby baptize this child in the name of...
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
You shall grow quickly to be a devout Christian,
and be every bit as brave of a whaler as your father.
Kishu!
This is my son. Have a look.
So... he's cute.
- What's so special about him? - Didn't you come to see him?
Don't you want a child of your own some day?
I don't have a wife,
and I don't want a child.
A whaler doesn't need kids.
You'll be every bit as brave of a whaler as your father.
Shaki, we need to talk.
Shaki, you broke your promise.
I live... only to catch the Whale God.
So catching the Whale God does not mean marrying me?
When I catch the Whale God,
the Whale God might catch me too.
I don't know when I'll die.
Then why did you marry Ei?
Why?
Shaki...
Don't you like me?
I take this as a personal insult.
Miss...
I hate you.
Come on in.
Yohei.
I'm Shaki from Wadaura.
You bounced me on your knee when I was a baby.
Shaki?
I don't care what you say, I'm not going back to Wadaura!
That place terrifies me!
I'd rather be a beggar right here.
It's easier to live off of rotten fish and the dregs of fishermen's sake.
I'm not going back.
I didn't come to drag you back to Wadaura.
Shatsu scares me.
I won't go back.
Sake!
OK.
The Whale God dragged me along.
The beast had your granddad too.
We were sailing for three days and three nights.
Dozens of men dead...
and the fishermen of Wadaura are still chasing the Whale God.
Everyone says I'm crazy,
but the fishermen chasing the Whale God are the crazy ones.
Yohei, my mother is dead.
She was crazy, too...
Mad from her obsession with the Whale God.
When she lay dying, she said I should ask you about how to catch the Whale God.
You're mad, too?!
Tell me! He'll return soon.
Forget about Shatsu.
It's senseless.
What good does your pride do you?
It doesn't do you any good.
The only thing you stand to gain is some oil.
It's not worth trading your life for.
You could have a loving wife.
You could raise some kids.
Life! Life!
Just before mom died, she said,
"It's enough that people should live until they die."
She was crazy.
Yohei, if a man dies well, doesn't that mean that he lived well?
So, in order to live well, we must die well.
That's what I believe.
Shaki, I was your age once.
Yohei, tell me how to catch it!
There are no secrets...
Grab him by the nose and hold on for dear life.
If he dives, you go down with him.
You grab the Whale God and don't let go.
Telegram!
- It's a telegram. - A telegram?!
It's a telegram!
It's a telegram! It's from the Setozakiura Whalers League!
The Whale God is back!
A telegram, you say?!
From the Setozakiura Whalers League.
Sound the bell! Gather the village!
People of Wadaura,
the Whale God passed the waters off of Setozakiura this morning.
I received a telegram from the Setozakiura Whalers League to this effect.
I'm afraid I can't let anyone take their boats out now.
We shall post a lookout on the cliff and when we clearly see Shatsu's forked spout,
and make sure that it's not just two whales, and is indeed the Whale God's spout,
tomorrow from morning to evening,
the Whale God will most definitely cross this spot, just like he did last year.
We'll launch our ships tomorrow morning!
Hurry! Attack!
Grandfather, father, brother, mom,
the Whale God is finally here. I'm going.
Shaki.
You've married Ei,
and you'll never inherit the village elder's title.
You've no cause to risk your life trying to kill the Whale God.
Are you just going to throw your life away?
You don't know anything about me.
Don't die for nothing.
Now that you're a father, you have to think about your child.
I'm on your side.
Let me go first tomorrow.
I'll be the one to put a ring in his nose.
If you want have a try, it will be after I'm dead.
You can't kill it.
It's not like other whales, you stubborn bastard.
The only man who can fight Shatsu on equal footing,
is a murderer like me.
Don't just go and die for nothing.
I know what you're after.
You have in mind to kill the Whale God so you can...
inherit the elder's estate and marry his daughter.
You're right.
Who doesn't want that?
I'll make that proud rich girl my bride, amuse myself with her,
and then sell her off to a bordello.
- God, you're evil! - Glad you finally figured it out.
I'm going to kill the Whale God.
- Give it up! - Shut up!
I'm the only one in Wadaura that can ring Shatsu's nose!
Whether I'm to live or die is not your decision!
I give up.
Maybe you'll be asleep while the Whale God passes.
Do your worst!
Shaki,
we'll decide this...
on the sea tomorrow.
Well, then, everything will be settled then.
Let's shove off!
It's the Whale God! Paddle, damn you!
He's diving! After him! Get him!
Paddle! Paddle as hard as you can!
Chase after him! Attack! Paddle!
There he is! That's the Whale God!
Whaling ship, attack!
Nets are cast!
We cast the nets on the Whale God!
Now, attack!
Throw your harpoons!
Don't let go of the rope!
The Whale God mustn't win! Don't let go!
The Whale God is weakened! Now!
Ram him! Throw your harpoons!
Kishu, not yet!
- Not yet! - Let me go!
If you go now, he'll kill you and you'll never catch him!
Let me go!
Kishu went first! I'm the one who will ring the Whale God's snout!
Kishu didn't wait for you to go.
You won't ring the Whale God's snout, even if you go now!
Kishu stabbed the Whale God in a vital point!
Kishu, the Whale God's going to dive! Come back now!
Kishu!
Shaki, now's your chance to ring Shatsu's nose! Go!
We caught the Whale God!
The Whale God is dead!
Shaki!
The Whale God...
What happened to the Whale God?
We hauled him on to the beach and butchered him.
He was twice the size of a regular whale.
We saved the head and left it on the beach.
Take me there. Take me to the beach.
Lay me down where I can see the Whale God.
I want to die looking at the Whale God.
Shaki, your arms are broken.
Your legs are broken. You can't be moved. Stay still.
Take me there. I want to see the Whale God.
Please take him to the beach.
We cannot. This man is dying. God wouldn't permit it.
Take me there.
All right.
Shaki, we will do as you ask.
You're the finest harpoon-thrower in Wadaura.
- Our Lord, Jesus Christ... - Please, stop.
I want to be alone.
Please, go.
Whale God, you fought well.
Whale God, you're finally dead.
What's wrong?
I have nothing to hide from you now.
If I don't tell you everything and receive your forgiveness,
I fear I'll go to hell.
The child's father was Kishu.
The man who raped me was Kishu!
I already knew.
You knew?
When I saw Kishu stabbing the Whale God, I knew.
He went ahead of me in attacking the whale.
He was reckless.
He wasn't attacking it properly.
He wasn't trying to ring its snout.
He was stabbing a vital point repeatedly, to weaken it.
He was trying to save my life.
Ei... please forgive Kishu.
The child is mine.
Please raise him to be a proud whaler.
Go. Leave me alone.
I want to talk to the Whale God.
Shaki, are you in pain?
We've sent to Nagasaki to get a doctor.
He'll be here tomorrow night.
I'll die with the sunset tomorrow.
I don't need a doctor.
Shaki, there will be a grand wedding tomorrow, to marry...
the elder's daughter with the finest spearfisher.
I have a wife named Ei.
I know that.
But you beat me.
Tomorrow you shall inherit my estate.
My name and my estate is yours.
I will leave my home and give it to you.
Shaki, are you listening?
As of tomorrow, you will be the village elder.
Miss...
Do you love me?
I don't.
Then why would you marry me?
I am the daughter of the village elder.
I am to marry the man who rings the Whale God's snout.
I want to marry you, because you killed the Whale God.
You're all mad.
Stop talking this lunacy to a dying man.
It's not lunacy.
I am a whaler. I lived for the Whale God.
Now that he's dead, I have no reason to live.
Whale God, how many people have you fought?
But that's all over now.
I've lain here for three days.
I'll be seeing you soon, Kishu.
We'll meet again.
When you were alive, we were enemies.
But you were a worthy adversary.
Cloak yourself in black clouds and go.
What could be so great?
Like a storm,
the beast wipes away the blood from his maw,
and swims away!
The last sunset I saw,
the waves grew near,
and I felt as if I were changing into the Whale God.
I would naturally change into your bones.
My flesh would swell like an island.
I'd face the setting sun and with a powerful sweep of my tail,
smash down on the sea and swim away.
That's right, I'm the Whale God.
And the Whale God is me.
I won't die; I'll become the Whale God.
The Whale God is me! And I am the Whale God!
Translation: scannon Timing: lordretsudo