Song of Yesterday, Flood of Today

I love Michael Moore’s “Capitalism, Love Story”.

I realized how HUGE impact the movie made within these four years. We just don’t live in same world than we did in 2009. Capitalism is yesterday’s song. It’s gone. Communities are formed everywhere, people are waking up to realize the value of each other’s help and spiritual thinking. People grow healthy food by themselves and share it with their friends. Money just isn’t as valuable as it was before. True innovation and originality is suddenly more valuable than gold.

It’s pretty remarkable to live in this era and see this change happening. It’s huge flood; something impossible to stop.

Mourning Forest

I just watched my favorite movie of Kawase Naomi, Mourning Forest (殯の森) again.  Any time when I see this film I notice how I’m in kind of cross-roads in my life, and today is hardly any different. However, I would like to write analysis of this movie, or more like explain why I love it so much.

First, word about the director. I could say I have kind of special relationship with her movies. In 2001 Helsinki Ateneum had dedicated entire week of their film festival for her movies. You could buy a ticket and see her early movies like Katatsumori, Embracing and  Letter from a Yellow Cherry Blossom. I was there in that time with many Japanese university students, mostly people from TAIK. All of them left the theater with tears in their eyes.

When I was child, I was abandoned and adopted just like Kawase Naomi. Seeing Embracing was like hit from sledgehammer. I felt similarity with Japan.. Now that I have moved to live in Japan, I feel even more connected to her early 8mm films, especially Katatsumori. Her grandma looks like mine (mine is now 90 years old).

I was in Japan working on my own film Arura, when Mourning Forest won Grand Prix in Cannes. It was truly remarkable moment for many people, not only those involved in the production of the film but her fans as well.

Mourning Forest is not a documentary film. It’s fiction, made like documentary, much like her earlier movie Moe no Suzaku. It tells about lonely woman taking care of elderly man Shigeki in a nursing home. The woman, Machiko is mourning her lost child, silently. It’s been 33 years since Shigeki had lost his wife. In buddhism it’s the year when the deceased finally, entirely leaves the earth. By kind of coincidence they embark into a journey into a mountain forest where Shigeki seeks the memory of his wife.

He digs a hole into the earth and says “the soil feels so good..”.

This movie feels like pure expression of the director herself. I love this final cut, it feels just right. Characters don’t have made-up names, for example but actress Ono Machiko is simply Machiko and the musician-actor genius talent Shigeki Uda is just Shigeki. It’s seems very natural.. I’m sure there isn’t much acting involved in the nursing home scene as well, the residents of the home are just so natural, beautiful grandpas and grandmas.. remarkable achievement for a film really, not only because of the director.

This is no doubt one of signature performances of Ono Machiko.

I was so surprised about the dramaturgy of the movie, and how the director employed dramatic elements to the otherwise almost pure documentary-like script.The flooding river scene in the forest for example. Machiko collapses crying in fear, first time in the movie. She gets first time in touch with the same death that took away her son; and she cries for Shigeki, “Don’t go! It’s dangerous! Don’t go!!”. What a powerful scene, the sensitivity for detail and environment what the director shows is truly remarkable. It’s also so beautiful how Machiko removes her shirt to warm up Shigeki in the forest, while he dreams of his long lost wife.

I just love how the movie doesn’t explain too much. It isn’t clear, for example whether the grave of Shigeki’s wife was her real grave or only place which Shigeki imagined. It feels unlikely that Shigeki could have navigated into her actual grave, especially since the entire journey started by accident. But it really doesn’t matter, and perhaps it’s one point what Kawase is trying to make.

The making of movie in DVD reveals that the script had helicopter-rescue scene which was filmed, but was left out. I’m so glad it wasn’t in the film, it’s just not necessary. I am sure, by the way that Kawase didn’t write that, she just wouldn’t! It must have been influence from sponsors who always want happy end. Since I don’t know Kawase personally I can’t really tell, but it’s just my hunch. The final cut is perfect as it is.

This movie will be remembered in history as one landmark piece of Japanese cinema, a memory of long lost era. Kawase Naomi truly deserves her Grand Prix in Cannes.

Scratched Negatives

Note to self: next time wait until you return to Japan to develop your negatives.
Finnish photo lab (Fuji piste) in shopping center Keskinen pretty much ruined my negatives. They are full of scratches and odd irremovable dust that was caused by the developing process.

It would be OK if few frames had these but almost all frames have scratches and dust.

And not only this but the whole process of developing three rolls and make some one hour prints costed more than 5000 yen equivalent. That’s so expensive, although I must admit that the 10x15cm prints were very high quality on very nice matte paper.

Oh mann!!

Eric Kim in Facebook

I love Eric Kim’s FB posts. He always gets these obnoxious comments which make it seem like few of his fans actually understand what he means, although he is being so clear.

It’s great to see a talented photographer who isn’t ruined by social media fame.

In fact he said in his FB post the other day that FB likes are hardly any indicator of the quality of the photos. I tend to agree.

Make a real photo book

Eric Kim made excellent remark recently regarding Flickr.
“Will your Flickr account be there after you die?”

It might, for a while. But not for long. And seeing how it’s going recently for the site in question, I wouldn’t be so sure that the entire site will be there for that long.

I agree with Eric, any serious photographer should at least publish one real, physical photo book. It’s a different kind of process, and it must be so satisfying to see your images to take physical form.

Real photo books have special appeal to me. I love them. I even want to sleep with them. They even have special smell to them.

I recommend you to try. There are great places to do that with a limited cost.

Lizard Point Supplement Data

I added some of the photos from the original Lizard Point negatives from March 2013. These did not make it to the five photos I exhibited in Bar Sara, but I think they have some value which might help you to understand the work process.

Although the ripped dress was supposed to be the main theme, the happy accident with black cloth was so nice that I decided to go with those photos for the exhibition. Now that I think of it it seems to be the right idea.

However the ripped clothes do support the idea.. so here they are. I hope you enjoy them.

Thoughts on Kaze Tachinu

I just saw the latest animation film by Hayao Miyazaki. This film is very anticipated movie for all Ghibli fans. Kaze Tachinu (Wind Rises) is dramatized biography of Jiro Horikoshi, designer of Zero fighter plane for WWII. I haven’t yet read the manga which this movie is based on.

The movie begins with a dream-like sequence from the main character’s childhood. He sleeps, dreaming of flying. In his dream he climbs on roof of his house on which there is a fantasy airplane waiting. He takes off enjoying the breeze, but suddenly finds huge bomber ready to deliver it’s payload, sinister dark creatures on huge black bombs. The boy’s glasses are torn away by the wind, and the boy falls, then wakes up.

In overall Kaze Tachinu is a great movie; this is genuine Ghibli production. Hand drawn old-fashioned animation is great and is occasionally complemented by CG-aided sequences. As you might expect, level of detail is amazing.

I love the way how CG techniques were used only to aid the main storyline, they were never too obvious to steal the attention. This is exactly how it should be done.

The overall style of the film is so elegant and true to the era it depicts, furniture and houses for example looks so real; significant effort must have been done to research and ensure the authenticity of the environments.

The movie doesn’t really show war but wartime is just a context or environment for this film. It would be wrong to call this romantic movie although the story contains tear-jerking romance. It feels appropriate, warm and human.

It would be easy to imagine that Miyazaki wanted to make more stronger anti-war movie but couldn’t because of pressure from sponsors. So he might have had to choose more subtle method; reference to the horror of war via metaphors such as natural disaster, injury or death of a loved one. Even though this is huge Ghibli production, Kaze Tachinu Has received a little attention in mass media. It just seems that in present day Japan, war or recent history isn’t very popular topic. Some TV channels seem to have even decided not to mention the movie at all.

It is curious that Miyazaki chose this topic, in this very moment in Japan. The Liberal Democratic Party had landslide victory in the two last elections, and the party has been very open about it’s intentions of changing the pacifist article in Japanese constitution and arming Japan with military and possibly nuclear weapons. Anti-war theme couldn’t be more unpopular.

But then, it might be the reason why Miyazaki decided to make this film.

I did notice that some of the scenes were cut, probably by some other factor than Ghibli or Miyazaki, maybe sponsor forced edits. If there is ever going to be director’s cut, it will be a must-see!

I really recommend this film. Bravo, Miyazaki Hayao!

Kaze Tachinu

Tomorrow I will take my family to see the new Miyazaki film Kaze Tachinu. I really look forward it. I will write my impressions after the movie session.

Selecting the movie this time was not difficult. We soon agreed 100% it’s going to be Miyazaki. There’s new Star Trek, World War Z, Emperor and couple of american action movies, and none of them seemed interesting. Seeing the trailer is enough and makes me kind of feel like “this was enough, no need to see more”.

I love Hayao Miyazaki’s movies, they seem to grow with me. And it makes even more sense now to watch the movies here in Japan. Princess Mononoke is still my personal favorite. It’s actually kind of statement.

I really hope that the Kaze Tachinu is true Ghibli production and bold enough. Knowing the history of Miyazaki’s movies and his strength and dignity as a director, I’m pretty sure it is.