[KineJapan] Tamura Masaki, RIP

[Japanese Cinema Discussion Forum via KineJapan]

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*
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.yale.edu/pipermail/kinejapan/attachments/20180528/152baae7/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
_______________________________________________
KineJapan mailing list
KineJapan at lists.osu.edu
https://lists.osu.edu/mailman/listinfo/kinejapan