It’s message is more about the greed in the heart of everyone

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4516385&forum_id=2),#40067396)

“I think this movie was very interesting and full of interesting symbolism. I definitely recommend watching this movie.

I have read a lot of different understandings of this movie, but I think that a lot of people maybe misunderstood the role of Miharu. So this is my analysis of the movie:

In general, the facility represents society. The levels represent society classes and hierarchies. The protagonist, Goreng, represents a resistance movement who is ready to use threats and violence to secure that there is enough food for everybody. The old man, Trimagasi, represents a supporter of the system. The woman from the administration, Imoguiri, represents a peaceful movement that wants change but is unable to do so. Miharu who rides down the platform actually represents the upper class (se explanation further below).

The cellmates believe that the change of levels each month is random. However, the administration does not randomly choose the levels for all prisoners each month. The administration choses if each prisoner should go up or down the levels each month based on whether they have eaten their cellmates or not. If a prisoner is willing to kill his or her cellmate and eat of them then he or she is secured a higher level the next month. This is evidenced a couple of times in the movie: At first Goreng starts on level 48 with Trimagasi and they live peacefully. Then they move down to level 171 the following month where Goreng ends up killing Trimagasi and eats of him to survive. Then Goreng moves up to level 33 the next month where he meets Imoguiri and they live peacefully. Then they move down to level 202 where Goreng is forced to eat of Imoguiri who has killed herself. Then Goreng finally moves up to level 6 where he meets Baharat.

The woman Miharu who rides down the platform actually represents the upper class of society because she knows how to exploit the system. Notice that she always rides down the platform and comes from the top floors and she is always bloodied and emotionless. That is because she always makes sure to kill and eat her cellmates every month, and that's why she always ends on the top floors. Miharu rides down the platform to make sure that there is food for the little girl (which we assume is her daughter) on the bottom floor. The girl is always on the bottom floor month after month, because she has never killed and eaten her cellmate. Miharu rides down the platform once a month so she has to make sure that there is enough food for the girl because she cannot get up again until the month is over (the platform only travels back up to level zero, which prisoners presumably are not allowed to enter). That's why she killed so many prisoners on her way down. Miharu must have a good reason to ride down the platform every month and that was to take care of the little girl. Miharu has managed to stay on top and alive for long because she knows the system. However, even she succumbs to the system when she is killed in a fight with the prisoners.

Notice that we learn from Imoguiri that she selected Miharu to enter the facility 10 months ago, that she entered alone, and that nobody under 16 years is allowed in the facility. However, we cannot trust Imoguiri's information because she also said that there are 200 levels, which turned out to be false, and the prohibition against under 16 year olds to enter the facility also turned out to be false. So the question of how the little girl ended in the facility remains unanswered. Perhaps the little girl was born in the facility or she was thrown in there with her mother.

The movie hints that there is actually enough food for everybody on all floors because the administration puts every prisoner's requested food on the table. This is evidenced when the protagonist is interviewed by the administration official about his favorite food (snails) and that it will be served while he is imprisoned. We also see that the protagonist sees his requested food for the first time when he is on floor no. 6 because none from the upper floors has touched it yet (but he doesn't eat it). He did not get to see his requested food before because those on the upper floors always ate it before it arrived to him. If every prisoner in the facility kept his or her requested food when it arrived at his or her floor, the floor will not turn hot or cold. This is evidenced by one of the last scenes when the protagonist keeps the Panna Cotta when he is at the girl's floor, which must be the favorite food of the girl. All the prisoners had to do was to take their requested food, and not eat the others' food, so the food would be equally distributed all the way to floor no. 333. However, the prisoners from the upper floors greedily ate more than their favorite food leaving less to the ones on the lower levels. So the main message of the movie is that people are very greedy and are ready to take more than they need, and not so much that the system is flawed. We see that the alternative system that the protagonist tries to enforce by distributing little food to everybody also leads to violence and deaths and is not much better.

The end of the movie is quite vague, but it does have a meaning. At the end, we don't see what happens to the protagonist, but it is hinted that the protagonist probably dies. Notice that he was heavily injured and barely got on the platform with the girl, when they reached the bottom, then he suddenly he gets off and walks normally when he sees the ghost of Trimagasi. The girl transports upwards to the top floor at the end of the movie. The protagonist is trying to send a message to the administration by transporting the girl to the top. Perhaps the message is to show that despite that most people are greedy, there are also some people who are willing to show benevolence and generosity to save others.

I think this movie was very interesting. The movie is open to interpretation, and this is of course my point of view and I hope you found this helpful.”

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4516385&forum_id=2),#40067409)

That said, still a fun flick worth watching.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4516385&forum_id=2),#40067430)