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The key that Genya returns to Chiyoko, who originally received it from the mysterious painter-revolutionary, opens “the most important thing there is.” So, then, what do you think it opens?
I think it opened up some memories to Chiyoko as well as realizations. If Genya had not brought the key to Chiyoko, she might have remained secluded from her past. But suddenly this key opens up the dreams and the journeys that she took in her memories. Everything seemed to come together naturally because of this key. Chiyoko then realizes from her memories how much she cherished them. But she also realizes that she wouldn’t be the same as she was before. She actually realized that a long time ago. But still her eyes widened a bit after staring at her picture, maybe she just reached the point where she realized that her chase should be over since she didn’t even know if the painter was alive or not. Where Chiyoko said:’After all I’m going after that man again.’ but then said ‘It doesn’t matter after all.’This gave her a reason to peacefully accept the fact that she would probably never see hime again.
For a boring answer, I would say the key probably opens that art box the painter was holding. For the deep, philosophical answer, I would definitely agree that the most important thing the key opened was Chiyoko’s memories. Our memories make us who we are. They define our past and influence our future. A major aspect of Chiyoko’s past was her pursuit of the painter. He was her first love. She thought about him every day, always trying to find him. He is also the reason she decided to become an actor. All of these memories were tied to that key. There were even times when it appeared she had almost forgotten about the man, like when the director made his profession of love, but then she saw the key when it touched her glass and she was reminded of her love and devotion the painter. The key awakens those memories that are so deeply woven into it.
I think that the key was symbolic to the painter in that it was always hope, that even in the darkest of times, there was something more to be opened, the unseen could be unlocked, even it was only a box of brushes and paints. To him, this was the most important thing there is, he talks about how tomorrow symbolizes hope, and that while the full moon is nice, it is the 14th day that is the best, when it is still not fully waxed, and has a small bit of beauty yet to be discovered, and here he finds his hope. Whether or not Chiyoko realizes this throughout her life is up to question, but undoubtedly it began to represent the same thing to her, that no matter where she was, there would always be something to look forward to, hope in finding a man who would never be found. As cheesy as the last scene might have been, with Chiyoko saying, “after all, chasing after him is what I really love,” it illustrates what the key means to her, that there is always hope in what we have not found yet, but can always dream of chasing after.
Tachiban returning the Key to Chiyoko provided her with much needed closure and acceptance that she needed in order to move on–in this case, die peacefully and hopefully, somehow, reunite with The Painter. Chiyoko had told Tachiban that she didn’t want to think about The Painter, that she never thought she’d see him again, and about the key: “I’ve kept this out of my mind for years”. Chiyoko really never had any closure on her love for the Painter, and of course, her love for journeying after him. It suddenly just halted and she was left with nothing. In agreement with the others, the Key, perhaps literally and metaphorically, opened Chiyoko’s past memories, and from retelling and reliving them with Tachibaa, she was able to make peace with what had happened throughout her life and gain a new understanding of herself.
Although the Key literally opened The Painter’s suitcase, for himself and for Chiyoko, for the short time that they met, it was a small, physical connection between the two, and as long as Chiyoko carried it with her for, she would remember the Painter, and cherish the few memories that she had of his face. When she regained possesion of the Key as an elder, it would serve to unlock the memories that she seemed to have repressed in the back of her mind about her journey of loving the Painter. We saw that Chiyoko became physically ill at some points while retelling her story about her acting career, and that inevitably became intertwined with her quest for her love. It wasn’t an easy story for Chiyoko to recount, but being reunited with the Key, a memento of the Painter in Chiyoko’s eyes, allowed her to explore those past times and to make peace with the fact that maybe they weren’t destined for each other in this world. Chiyoko was able to accept this, she knew she is no longer the girl that the Painter once remembered, and he, too, would probably be unrecognizable in her own eyes.
I think that the key opened a key to Chiyoko’s youthfulness and freedom. Chiyoko seemed to have been raised by a strict mother who seemed to control much of her life. When Chiyoko sheltered the painter it was as if she brought a new adventure into her life. I think we get a sense for what the key really means to Chiyoko when it is returned to her by Genya when she is much older. When she receives the key she is brought back to the time when she first got the key and showed us her life as a young woman. Chiyoko relives her youth one last time when she received the key. When she receives this key she in a way frees herself by passing away. It had seemed that Chiyoko was fighting to live on until she could receive some closure. Chiyoko is at peace when she dies and is glad she was able to preserve herself as the young girl to the man who gave her the key.
In a figurative sense, the key opens up Chiyoko herself. Through out the movie, the key reminds Chiyoko of her true feelings for the mysterious man that she continued to chase for years. There were times when she wanted to burry these feelings because they were “unrealistic” in a sense. When Chiyoko’s key was stolen, she attempted to move on from her love and married the director. She tried to be happy, but as seen from the scene when she was cleaning the study, Chiyoko was not entirely satisfied with her mundane life. Finding the key again, she was reminded of how much she loved the mysterious painter, and resumed her chase.
To me, the key to Chiyoko is like what the shoe was to the prince in “Cinderella.” It represents her longing for someone to sweep her off her feet. If Chiyoko got to the “door”, which was the painter, she would unlock the door to a fairytale ending and a true love. Just like the Prince, Chiyoko chased after her happy ending. Having the key around her neck represented that she was still chasing after that happy ending, and once she lost the key, she gave up for a while. Once she got the key back from Genya, it reignites the hope that she’ll get to her fairytale ending. It goes into perfect timing with her death where “she goes to the other side.”
I think the key symbolizes her love for the painter, which the key functions as the main momentum of Chiyoko’s life. The key opens her memories of her past, reminding her the process of loving, and chasing the man she loves. At the beginning of the movie, as Chiyoko gets the key from the anonymous painter, she starts to fall in love with him. Always, she ties the key on her neck, which means that her love persists. Even as she reaches her middle age, when the male director expresses his love for Chiyoko and tries to kiss her, the key reminds her of her memories and affection for the painter. And at last, as her key loses during the shooting of sci-fi movie, she finally forgoes her affection, and starts to live a seclusive life. However, when Genya returns the key to Chiyoko, she regains all the love memories, and she accepts her past. She admits that she is no longer the little girl in the painter’s eyes, and the painter might not be the same as the one in her imaginations. However, through all the memories, Chiyoko finally realizes that she actually falls in love with the “love” itself. She might fall in love with an imaginary figure, a shadow, but the process of loving gives her hope and a reason to live despite changes in her life.
The key is a metaphor for hope and desires. From the moment she received the key, Chiyoko has a new goal in life. She realizes that she loves the man who gave her the key and wishes to meet up with him again. This gives her the drive to keep moving forward in her life in the hope that she will one day meet up with him again. The key keeps the hope inside of her alive. With the key, she believes that she will meet up with him once again. This argument is strengthened by what the key is said to open. It is said to open the best thing in the world. This is a very subject thing to open. For each person this could represent something different. But in order to achieve whatever it is one desires, hope and determination is needed, which is what the key truly opens.
The key represents youthful passion. When Chiyoko first receives the key, she seems to transform, evolving from a timid girl who, instead of speaking her mind, chooses to flee from the room instead, to a boisterous, ambitious girl who is willing to chase her love across the world and enchanting her fans by imbuing her performances with the passion she has for her first love. Once she loses the key, she settles, marrying her director and living her life vacuuming and dusting instead of chasing and performing, taking on the role of housekeeper and wife that her mother had wanted for her. However, once she regains her key, she instantly revitalizes, transforming again into a strong, independent woman. When Tachibana again returns her key to her, she comes out of seclusion, choosing to have an interview that she had refused for 30 years, and reliving her life enthusiastically with Tachibana.
I felt like the key opens the up endless possibilities for Chiyoki. She was shown as a quiet girl who felt weighed down by other people’s ideas and beliefs of what she should be. When she was with the scout and the mother, it seemed that while she wanted to become an actress she wasn’t able to voice her opinion and instead reacted by running out of the door. After she met the painter, she found her purpose and followed her own path. The key represented her reminder of her youth and dreams which kept her “young”.
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