As any first time traveler to Japan soon learns, Japanese audiences
prefer Western movies and the result is a decline in quality Japanese
movies being made.
For the rare film such as Departures, winner of the 2009 Academy Award for Best Foreign
Film, there are countless entertaining films geared towards the youth market.
Movies like Waterboys (2001), Train Man (2005), and Linda Linda Linda (2005) are
quickly in the theaters, enjoy their moment of popularity and then forgotten. Some
Japanese movies don’t even make it to the big screen and are shot direct-to-dvd,
which is how Miike got started. In any given media there are those individuals who
rise about the average to produce works of lasting importance. So who are the
directors who are at the top of Japanese movies of the 21st Century? To answer that
question first requires a look back at five directors who mattered, made a
difference, and continue to have influence today.
Probably the most revered Japanese director in the West is, without a
doubt, Kurosawa Akira, who is still being cited as a major influence on
current directors worldwide. Kurosawa’s signature film is Seven Samurai
(1954) a classic movie about villages hiring ronin (out of work samurai)
to defend their village against a gang of bandits. I have seen Seven
Samurai multiple times and with each viewing, I catch little bits and
pieces that I didn’t see the last time. A good movie should be viewed
many times and contain hidden truths that are exposed on subsequent
viewings.
I am very happy with Criterion’s 3-disc remastered edition that contains commentary
by multiple film critics (a film this large should have different perspectives,)
special documentaries on the making of Seven Samurai, plus interviews with Kurosawa
and a special segment on Samurai culture with the film critics on the multiple
commentary track. To get all that information in requires a good 3-day weekend or a
weeklong vacation. The work you put into understanding Seven Samurai pays off each
time you see it.
Equally important to Kurosawa and another director with an international
reputation is Ozu Yasujiro. Ozu’s masterpiece is Tokyo Story (1953)
about an elderly couple that travels to visit their children in Tokyo.
The children view their old parents as a hassle and make every attempt
to get them out of the way. Once again, Criterion does a fantastic job
of presenting Tokyo Story. For the first viewing I recommend that you
watch it and try to piece it together yourself. Then watch it with the
audio commentary on to help you fill in the gaps that you missed along
the way. There is so much going on in this film that it is hard to see
all those details without the commentary track. Go ahead and watch it a
third time to put together everything you have learned from your first
viewing, the commentary track, and by this viewing, Tokyo Story should
come into focus.
This is something extra special about Tokyo Story that causes the movie to be so
highly praised by international critics. Each year Tokyo Story has a ranking in the
top ten of greatest movies ever made.
Not a lot of moviegoers are probably as familiar with Mizoguchi Kenji
who directed Ugetsu in 1953. Ugetsu is a Japanese ghost story about two
peasants living in the village along Lake Biwa in Omi. The peasants
make and sell pottery and an invading army interrupts their business.
Genjuro decides to take his remaining pottery to nearby Omizo to sell.
While selling his pottery in town, Genjuro meets a mysterious beautiful
woman who lures him along. I won’t reveal any more of the plot here
because it would spoil the initial viewing. Like Seven Samurai and Tokyo
Story, Ugetsu is another film that ranks highly worldwide.
Next is Naruse Mikio who directed an outstanding film about the problems
women suffer, working in the floating world of Tokyo’s bar district.
In 1960, Naruse directed his masterpiece called When a Woman Ascends the Stairs
about a woman who hates her job as a bar hostess. As a hostess she is required to
entertain men by making light and funny conversations. There are rival wars between
bars and bar hostesses and many workers get caught up in those conflicts. On top of
that you have problems resulting from bar patrons who want a little more than just
conversation. The story in When a Woman Ascends the Stairs is what happens when
Keiko, begins to age and her youthful beauty fades. Keiko struggles to maintain her
independence in male dominated Japan. This is another film that is still thought of
highly in Japan.
The fifth director is Teshigahara Hiroshi’s who in 1964 directed Woman
in the Dunes. Abe Kobo wrote the novel and worked so closely with
Teshigahara that Woman in the Dunes is a true vision of the book. It is
not merely an interpretation by a well-meaning director who ignores
parts of the text and adds his own artistic license. This is a rare
case when the novel and the film are one. Both media draw a heavy
influence from Sartre’s existentialism. Woman in the Dunes is about
what happens when an entomologist goes out to the sand dunes to look for
insects. His misses the last bus going out and locals take him to a
sandpit. After climbing down, the locals take away the rope ladder and
he is stuck inside, surrounded by sand with a young widow. In vain, he
desperately tries to get out creating more problems for himself and the
widow.
After looking at the classic era of Japanese directors and the big five
that are Kurosawa, Ozu, Mizoguchi, Naruse, and Teshigahara, the question
is who is left to carry on the torch?
One promising director currently working is Koreeda Hirokazu. After
Life (1998) is a moving film about what happens when people die. When
you die you are allowed to take only one memory with you to treasure
forever in the after life. In After Life you have counselors who help
the newly-dead pick a memory and help to coordinate how that one memory
will be made into a film. When the memory is filmed, the person watches
it and vanishes into the other world during the end credits. For all
eternity you are only allowed one memory.
Koreeda has also directed equally quality movies like Maborosi,
Distance, and Nobody Knows.
In 2002, Yamada Yoji started a series of highly successful Samurai films
with The Twilight Samurai which is a cut away from previous Samurai
epics, in that everyday life struggles are the focus instead of the
major battles.
The Twilight Samurai won multiple international awards and did well in Japan, where
Western entertainment generally dominates. The Twilight Samurai is that rare
exception that shows Japanese cinema still has a heartbeat.
Yamada followed up The Twilight Samurai with The Hidden Blade (2004),
and Love and Honor (2006.) All three are wonderful films that will
entertain moviegoers worldwide thanks to DVD releases for each film.
I generally enjoy a variety of different Japanese movies from the
classic directors to the modern ones. I also enjoy the youth-oriented
movies coming up that are good for a few chuckles and I want to see the
live adventure version of Space Battleship Yamato (released in the US as
Starblazers). However, in the back of my mind, I am always on the lookout
for the next big Japanese director.
"The Asian Aperture" is ©2010 by Jason Fetters. Webpage design and all graphics herein (except where otherwise noted) are creations of Nolan B. Canova. All contents of Nolan's Pop Culture Review are ©2010 by Nolan B. Canova.