[KineJapan] Tamura Masaki, RIP

Tue May 29 06:30:41 EDT 2018

Hi all -

I was saddened to read the messages about Tamura Masaki. In a way, Tamura's
camera was the backbone to the wave of new Japanese art cinema in the late
1990s that propelled discussion about Japanese film here on KineJapan and
elsewhere. While most of the conversation then (as now) revolved around
auteurs, Tamura brought a way of looking to those movies that felt like it
could eclipse the imagination of the people directing and producing them.

I'm thrilled that it has become easier to see the Ogawa films since then,
but I'm also sad that so much of Tamura's work since the '90s is becoming
difficult to fully appreciate. I have very fond memories of watching Eureka
multiple times when it played at Theatre Shinjuku. The price was a
ridiculous 2500 yen a pop, but the view was worth it (even with the
constant threat of bad 35mm projection there). Ever since, I've been
waiting for another chance to see Eureka on the big screen. The DVD doesn't
come close to doing it justice, and I don't think there has ever been a HD
video release.

Coincidentally, a few days ago I found a cheap used copy of the U.S.
edition Evil Dead Trap DVD at a nearby record store. I would guess that
this, along with Tampopo, Lady Snowblood, Moe no Suzaku, and a couple of
others, is among Tamura's most-seen credits outside of Japan. I decided to
give it a spin after reading the bad news. This never was a pleasant story,
and the DVD image quality is horrible, but the picture is still full of
interesting ideas-- extravagantly roomy framings, flashing or exploding
flames and lights, flickering TV screens (sometimes stacks of them),
surprisingly
long takes, and a mobile camera that quietly finds space to float through
all of the horror and special effects, occasionally shivering and pulsing
as if it has its own heartbeat.

While Evil Dead Trap is clearly no Shonben Rider or Summer in Sanrizuka, it
always impressed me as an unusual moment in Tamura's career that connected
spectacularly to body genres and--via the J-Horror and DVD booms--to
international audiences. (The visual effects by Ito Takashi are worth
mentioning too.) I know we've shared some thoughts about the movie here in
the past. Has anything new been written about it? The only published
mention of Tamura's connection to this that I can quickly find is a
sentence in the 2004 Variety review of Utsukushii Natsu Kirishima: "When
lenser Masaki Tamura's ("Eureka," "Evil Dead Trap," "The Crazy Family")
handsome camera compositions venture outside to capture the local
landscape, results are ravishing. Tech aspects are first rate."

Aside from a handful of people in Pink, I'd be hard-pressed to identify
another active, established cinematographer in Japan, especially somebody
who has had this much of an impact on contemporary film. Who am I
overlooking? Who else is working below (or on?) the line today that has a
career as rich or a style as visible as Tamura's?

Michael Arnold

On Sun, May 27, 2018 at 9:20 AM, Japanese Cinema Discussion Forum via
KineJapan <kinejapan at lists.osu.edu> wrote:

> Markus,
>
> Thanks for the touching tribute to Tamura-san. I had hesitated to send out
> this news because so far the only mention I’ve seen of it is from
> Funabashi-san on Facebook—nothing else. But I assume you have other sources.
>
> I knew Tamura-san first through YIDFF (though probably the first film of
> his I saw was Tampopo, which is not really a Tamura film). He was a juror
> for New Asian Currents when I was the coordinator, and he did a splendid
> job with that hard task. But for me, it was his later work with young
> directors which left me with the biggest impression. The three directors he
> worked most with were Ogawa, Yanagimachi, and Aoyama, and since I’ve
> written a lot on Aoyama, I’ve thought a lot about Tamura’s work. I once did
> an interview with him about his work with Yanagimachi—the camera through
> the murder scene towards the end of Himatsuri is pure Tamura—but I think
> his work for Aoyama was the best. I once asked Aoyama what Tamura was for
> him, and he simply answered: “Time.”
>
> Tamura-san also directed one film, Drive in Gamo (2014), and co-wrote a
> book with Aoyama about Golden-gai, which he often frequented (though I
> drank with him at another favorite spot: Kirin City).
>
> I hope everyone can look at this great interview we did with Tamura-san
> for Documentary Box, with Kanai Katsu as the expert interviewer.
>
> https://www.yidff.jp/docbox/8/box8-3-e.html
>
> Aaron Gerow
>
> 2018/05/28 午前1:02、Japanese Cinema Discussion Forum via KineJapan <
> kinejapan at lists.osu.edu> のメール：
>
> I just learned of Tamura Masaki's passing. I met Tamura-san through Ogawa
> Pro, but I already knew him—in a sense—from my intense encounters with his
> cinematography in *Farewell to the Land, Himatsuri, *and *Tanpopo. *These
> are stunningly photographed, especially the first two. I remember telling
> Tamura-san that I still had the spacey, writhing rice fields of *Farewell
> to the Land* imprinted indelibly in my mind. He was so pleased and
> revealed that, although Ogawa Pro had moved to Yamagata and produced little
> of note, it was all his experiments with rice photography in Magino that
> enabled him to shoot that film.
>
> Although he shot an astounding array of films throughout his career, from *Lady
> Snowblood* to *Eureka*, he'll undoubtedly be remembered especially for
> his partnership with Ogawa Shinsuke. He and Ogawa were clearly, incredibly
> close. Looking at the *Heta Village* making-of film, *Filmmaking and the
> Way to the Village, *you can see that he's the only one that can keep up
> with Ogawa. In the end, they had something of a falling out and Tamura-san
> basically avoided public talk about his experiences with Ogawa Pro. I was
> grateful that he talked to me. I vividly recall some bitter stories over
> cheap maguro and beer at some Nakano dive.
>
> But more than anything, I remember Ogawa's wake. As they do, lively
> *tsuya* slowly calm down as people peel away, going home or going asleep.
> Before I, too, succumbed to sleep, I was struck that Tamura-san quietly
> chatted in the darkness. The next morning, I heard he didn't sleep.
>
> In the last part of his career, Tamura-san made a very unusual
> contribution to Japanese cinema. At the top of his game, he quite
> self-consciously devoted himself to shooting films for young, up-and-coming
> directors—Aoyama, Kurosawa, Suo, Kawase, and others. Impressive. An
> impressive life.
>
> Markus
>
>
> ---
>
> *Markus Nornes*
> *Professor of Asian Cinema*
> Department of Screen Arts and Cultures, Department of Asian Languages and
> Cultures, Penny Stamps School of Art & Design
>
> *Department of Screen Arts and Cultures*
> *6348 North Quad*
> *105 S. State Street*
> *Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1285*
>
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