“Man was born for love and revolution”
Love in The Setting Sun is presented as a dichotomy between hopelessness and delusion. Naoji and Kazuko, both siblings, exhibit completely opposite views on the experience. While Naoji views the world as depraved, Kazuko views this depravity as tenderness.
Kazuko’s maternal desires remind me of Rilke’s view of maternity as the ultimate form of love, the overarching element that all human beings possess — Love is hard, for it is the ultimate trial of humanity.
Merton asserts: “Love affects more than our thinking and our behavior toward those we love. It transforms our entire life. Genuine love is a personal revolution. Love takes your ideas, your desires, and your actions and welds them together in one experience and one living reality which is a new you.” — location: 1902 All About Love