Gaia Symphony International Version

[Abe' Mark Nornes]

Last night, I went to the premiere of Gaia Symphony, the International
Version. Directed by Tats Jin, this is a dubbed/subbed version of his Gaia
Symphony 2. There are three of these "symphonies" (although they are
actually just interview heavy films with nothing in common of the "city
symphony" genre of documentary, a la _Berlin_ or _Kowtows_). I first came
across #1 when programming an event on First Nation film and video for
Yamagata back in 1993. It was---still is---enormously popular among Japanese
New Agers, so popular that there is now a trilogy and a fourth one in the
works. Tats has a history not unlike filmmakers like Suzerainty Shiroyasu or
Ogawa Shinsuke and Tsuchimoto Noriaki. He was at NHK, but quit in the early
1970s to go independent. But he's hardly the type to hook up with the
experimental crowd or social movements. His main work has been borrowing
these other filmmakers method of raising money and showing through networks
of organizations, and has probably been more successful at it than any of
the others in terms of sheer numbers. Talk to any Japanese who is into
environmental issues, First Nations issues, or New Age religions, and
they'll probably be big fans. The current "international version" is backed
by Kyocera Corp. and The Goi Peace Foundation (a project of the Saionji
family), so it will be coming to a jishu joeikai near you wherever you are
in the world.

I had a little talk with the producer, who was introduced as a 30 year
veteran of the Hollywood film industry. He originally worked at Toho on
television 30 years ago, got bored and left for Lost Brainless. When asked
what films he made, he said mainly B pictures. "Ah, Action?" "No you can't
compete with the majors and their 100 million dollar budgets." "Oh, then
horror?" "Um, well, no. I don't really like...well, you know, more
_sensitive_ pictures." "Oh, right, gotcha."

Last night's event was different than any other documentary gathering I've
been to. None of the usual suspects were in attendance. Instead, there were
lots of diplomats, tv personalities, and "His Imperial Highness Prince
Takamado." For those who aren't Imperial House otaku, that's the emperor's
cousin.

The film featured interviews with four people, the Dalai lama, "ocean
adventurer" Jaques Mayol, "Prof." Frank Drake, and philanthropist Sato
Hatsume. The other films feature people like Reinhold Messner, Enya, Russell
Schweickart, Freeman Dyson, and such. Put simply....

The Dalai Lama was very interesting, but because they were mostly interested
in his religious beliefs his thoughts on peace and non-violent resistance
didn't make much sense. Too simplified for such a complex international
figure.

Sato Hatsume is an elderly woman who runs a grass roots organization out of
a cabin in the northern mountains. She helps people with various mental
disorders, particularly severe depression, recover...particularly through
living in such a peaceful place, and eating extraordinary dishes culled from
plants around the cabin. She was an impressive person doing important work.
Too bad she was also the only person dubbed (even the director's questions
to her were subbed). Ironically, the director introduced her at the party by
noting what a beautiful voice she speaks in. Worse yet, they chose Betty
White to do the voice, evoking bizarre associations with her role on the
Mary Tyler Moore Show.

Frank Drake is an astronomer, formerly of Cornell and presently the director
of the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Institute. (It would
be interesting to find out why he left Cornell.) He's jumped on various NASA
projects, which made all his rhetoric on ETs grinding on this particular US
taxpayer.

Jacques Mayol should be slapped around a little. He was at the premiere, but
I didn't have the opportunity. Billed an "ocean adventurer," most famous for
breaking the 100 meter barrier for 1-breath dives. He spends his time on
Caribbean Islands trying to establish a, I'm serious, "a retirement home for
dolphins who have spent their lives in captivity." In the film, he spends
most of his time spouting off about how dolphins are close to humans, how
humans can be like fish, how we're all one as animals. He buzzes around on
fancy fast boats, and plays with dolphins in pretty shots. He---and the
film---were pretty much summed up in a single shot: Mayol shaves, looking in
a mirror held up by a middle-aged islander woman. He's the sum of old-style
colonialism and New Age Rigmarole.

Because the film was so tedious, watching the busy-ness around the prince
and his wife was the best part of the evening. Seeing him for the first time
is a shock. He's the spitting image of his cousin the Big Man. With a little
more gray hair, he could serve as kagemusha! So much of the evening revolved
around their presence, it was pretty amazing. I could be become a Tenno
Otaku, but in the anketto I suggested that the filmmakers and his fans were
looking at the screen in the same way Mayol looks at his mirror---looking at
a world with so many ways of living in the world, but only seeing
themselves. I guess I won't be invited to any more Imperial Premieres; too
bad.

Anyone in Tokyo interested in the original films can catch all three at the
Shimotakaido Shinema in Setagaya this December (03-3328-1008).