[KineJapan] Films at MCJP, Otōto, and a book.

[Roger Macy]

Dear KineJapaners,

I took the opportunity last week to take a look at Ichikawa Kon’s Otōto,showing at the Maison de la Culture du Japon à Paris. They are screening aseries of series of ‘grands classiques’ from new digital transfers. I had seen Otōtobefore, in fact it was my first review for Midnight Eye, andso I thought I’d cope without english subtitles. But it was a nice surprise todiscover when it started that it was showing with english subtitles (withfrench underneath). I mentioned this afterwards and asked whether this was infact the norm. The answer was no, and they didn’t know which ones would be likethat. (But the subtitlers must know).

The print was in brilliant condition, although arguably too brilliant forthe special muted process by which the color stock was supposedly developed(although I also thought that when I watched it at the NFT on a celluloid printin 2008). It’s also against the grain for the best preserved print to have beenthe subtitled one. More usually, one needs to go back beyond the hard-subtitledJapan Foundation 16mm print to find a good copy of a film. The preservedsubtitles on this were below and above the bottom edge of the scope frame, sothere must be more to anamorphic lens compression than I can squeeze into mymind.

The film - the work itself - still stands up very well. 

There’s an accompanying book for the Paris festival is now out - 100ans de cinéma japonais - http://www.editionsdelamartiniere.fr/ouvrage/100-ans-de-cinema-japonais/9782732488196.In reality, it’s a posh catalogue of the films of the three seasons at theCinémathèque française and the one at MCJP. It’s lavishly illustrated with ashort piece on each film, some at least by people we know. For Otōto,here titled Tendreet folle adolescence, the words are by ‘Mayu Honda’,translated into french by Léa Le Dimna. Honda doesn’t complicate things byhesitating upon sole authorship, although she name-checks Kōda Aya as thedaughter of Kōda Rohan. This time, I timed how long the present-but-absentRohan took to say a word - 35 minutes. Looking back, although I still see MoriMasayuki as relishing his role in a decapitating portrayal of Rohan, myshortcoming was to have barely mentioned Tanaka Kinuyo. It’s hard to embraceher role: fat and fifty, decrepit, with a very unappealing prim piety, andreduced to powerlessly sniping from the sideline. Mori risked nothing in hisportrayal and might even have gained prestige. Tanaka, although she didn’t needto knock out any more teeth, risked seriously damaging her persona. I think Ididn’t comment back then, because I didn’t have anything reliable about howKōda Aya herself saw her relationship with her stepmother, and didn’t reallyknow whose view was being portrayed. Focuses on mother-daughter relationshipson film were rarer then, and we have largely had to wait for women directors tobring them to the fore (about the one thing I remember was the trouble I tookto line up the sentence, ‘Reader, it seems they had to marry them.’).

Tendre et folle adolescencehas a repeat screening at MCJP on 18th December. Incidentally, somescreenings are supposed to be presented there by cast or crew members. Ithought I saw something on a poster at MCJP about that, but I can’t find namesonline.

And, finally, with a full retrospective of Kawase Naomi at the CentrePompidou running, there are some other opportunities to look at mother -stepmother relationships.

Thanks, if you got this far,

Roger

 
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