In 1982, Shûji Terayama directed ‘Saraba Hakobune’, a movie based on Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s novel ‘One Hundred Years of Solitude‘. The work of the Colombian writer has reached every corner of the world and also influenced Terayama’s work, who went through several obstacles to achieve the film adaptation, just before Garcia Marquez received the Nobel Prize in Literature.
‘Saraba Hakobune’, also known as ‘Farewell to the Ark’, is a rare Japanese film that is not easy to find. Like Garcia Marquez’s work, it has elements of magical realism (and incest, too) that characterize it. And although it is not precisely a faithful adaptation, ‘Saraba Hakobune’ would not exist if it were not for the novel.
The film was released in 1984 when Terayama had already passed away, since its distribution was not so simple: they had to negotiate the rights and remove the title of ‘One Hundred Years of Solitude’ (and any other obvious reference) from the credits, although it was later added back.
This is the synopsis of the film on FilmAffinity:
“Su-e (Mayumi Ogawa) and her cousin Sutekichi (Tsutomu Yamazaki) want to live together, but their father forbids them from having sexual contact. Like other locals, they believe that if they have children together as cousins, the children will suffer serious birth defects. Their remedy is to run away with Su-e. After some time has passed, the two make their way back to the village, but by then Sutekichi will suffer the effects of his actions”.
The film competed at Cannes for Best Film at the 1985 festival. It also won the awards for Best Director and Best Photography at the Sitges Film Festival. Although, as we already mentioned, it is difficult to find in physical or digital formats, you surely can watch it thanks to the magic of the Internet.