Yamagata: Way to the Village

[Abe' Mark Nornes]

The opening film at Yamagata was _Filmmaking and the Way to the Village_,
directed by Fukuda Katsuhiko. This was its premiere, even though it was made
back in 1973. It is basically a "making of" film of Ogawa's _Heta Village_.
This was Ogawa's masterpiece of the Sanrizuka Series (on the protests at the
construction site of Narita Airport). By this time, the production company
had taken the form of a collective, and as filmmakers they turned from the
spectacle of the protests to the life of the village under fire. So it was
one collective looking at another. In fact, both _Heta Village_ or
_Filmmaking and the Way to the Village_ only list the names of the
filmmakers without defining their roles.

The film was to be a training film for Fukuda, who was Ogawa's assistant
director. But it could also have been a way to get rid of Fukuda and replace
him with someone else. In any case, when it neared completion and the group
looked at it, Ogawa hated it, criticized it endlessly, called it a total
failure that they couldn't show publicly, and the film was shelved until
last week (the festival produced an English subtitled version).

Fukuda himself was crushed, and followed the collective to Yamagata the next
year, only to return to Sanrizuka to make personal films and books until his
death last year. Several years ago, a bit after Ogawa's death, Fukuda was
visiting their old house up in Magino, Yamagata. He noticed a print of
_Filmmaking and the Way to the Village_, and said, "Ah, this is mine. Do you
think it's OK if I take it?" Producer Fuseya said, "Well, Ogawa said it was
a failure, and you directed it, so I don't see why not." Fukuda took it
home, but he didn't even tell his wife about its existence, then or ever
before. She found it after his death while going through his shelves. He had
cleaned it up and transfered it to video, suggesting that if he had lived
longer he was about to finally return to his past with Ogawa Productions.

Now that the dust has been brushed off, we can see that the film is anything
but a failure.

_Filmmaking and the Way to the Village_ reveals that the collective was
operating in an unusual manner. Just as people have said, Ogawa didn't go to
the field to direct. He would watch from the distance, or wait at the house
they borrowed in the village. Where the real "direction" happened was at
night, over sake and food and endless discussions. We see several of these
discussions, after both a days shooting and after watching rushes. The give
and take, and the intensity of the talk is impressive and makes you wish you
could have been there. Looks like great fun.

_Filmmaking and the Way to the Village_ also shows all the activity at the
Tokyo office, where the national screening movement was centered. This was
filmed just as their system was breaking down. Ogawa Pro was so ambitious
they set up regional offices that would distribute the films while making
their own films on regional issues. It's a great idea, but it was falling
apart in 1973. They talk about how tight the money is, and Iizuka Toshio
(who helped introduce the film at Yamagata with me) is shown returning from
northern Japan where he had just closed down one of the offices.

_Filmmaking and the Way to the Village_ subtly reveals the cracks in the
edifice, the very edifice that Tsuchimoto is dealing with today with his
Kawamura film. 1973-ish was the turning point that no one has dealt with
adequately with...perhaps until _The New God_, which I'll write about in a
bit.

Markus