[KineJapan] FEFF 25

[Roger Macy]

Far East Film Festival at Udinewas back in full swing late last month. Besides a full programme at the largeTeatro Nuovo from 9am till past midnight for nearly nine days, there were threeor four films a day at the Visionario, a longish kilometre away on the oppositeside of the city.

FEFF does a remarkable job of filling its large theatre, mainly withpeople from the nearby region to see films from East Asiaand Southeast Asia. But, to do so, it employs a barrageof breathless publicity which a film scholar has to shield against to avoid discouragement.I think I am now managing that for the Japanese films but for others, inretrospect, without realizing it, I still allowed myself to be put off somethat may well have been rewarding when I finally found time to read thecatalogue entries. For example, I ought to have tried the Taiwanese ‘TeenageFugitive’ by CHANG Pei-cheng which the catalogue variously describes asrealistic, social realism, vividly depicted the sense of alienation permeating.... The blurb had it as “irresistible comedy”. That film was in the strand‘A/B side’ from 80s & 90s “before FEFF existed”. But, to be fair to myself,I had little more than four days there and, for example, finally caught ‘2/Duo’by SUWA Nobuhiro, blurbed as ‘Amour fou’ but which I saw as depicting anabusive relationship, hard to watch due to the terrific acting and to herkeeping coming back for more, even at the end. Mark Schilling’s catalogue entrywas fair and thoughtful.

There were also some documentaries. We should not read too much inKOREEDA Hirokazu being the only Japanese filmmaker in ‘Jiseok’, the tribute tothe late director of Busan I.F.F., as only one filmmaker from each country wasrepresented. Although the business of the attempted sacking was referred to, viewerswould be disappointed if they expected the controversy unravelled. I guess it’sright that Kim should not be defined by that sorry episode. That story ought tobelong to those who initiated it. There were also two documentaries on Japanesesubjects – one by Yves Montmayeur, ‘Kaidan’, which I’ll have to find elsewhere,and a doc. on AUM by the American-based Ben Braun and Chiaki Yanagimoto. Basedsubstantially on the investigative work of David E. Kaplan and Andrew Marshall,I think it benefited greatly from its more western investigative methodology, validatedby going back to Japanese sources. Their film didn’t mention the previousdocumentaries by MORI Tatsuya, KUMAI Kei and others, which assumed more priorknowledge, but it richly complemented them. Those Japanese archives showed ushow much Asahara of AUM was indulged by the media, even after the lawyer(SAKAMOTO) pursuing their abusive extraction of family funds was ‘disappeared’along with his family. KITANO Takeshi on his TV programme made Asaharaparticularly lovable.

So, it was illuminating for me to watch just after this the 1969 Otokowa tsurai yo, where the lovable Tora-san was showing selling fake medicines– Asahara’s original career launch. It had seemed as good a time and place asany for me to finally lose my Tora-san virginity by seeing a complete episode –the first. 

That film was showing as part of a tribute to BAISHŌ Chieko, on the backof a screening of ‘Plan 75’. I had seen here the original 19-minute section inthe compendium ‘Ten Years Japan’. It had been transformed, with entirely newroles for Baishō and Stefanie ARIANNE. For me, it went to show what scriptdevelopment funding might do for some other Japanese independent films. Alsonice to see, in an industry notorious for ditching slightly older actresses infavour of younger talent to play their roles, was that Baishō here gets to playa mere 76-year-old.

Not gaining any awards but well-received was ‘Egoist’, written anddirected by MATSUNAGA Daishi, from the novel by YAKAYAMA Makoto. Something of afilm of two halves, the music by SEBU Hiroko didn’t just change, it stoppedcompletely when a phone call comes out of the blue. The rich, dreamy musicaccompanied a growing love between a fashion photographer and his personaltrainer which deepened in sincerity. Matsunaga was at one of the many FEFF filmpanels where he was challenged on gay lovers being acted by straight actors.His answer was that there were few box-office-names who had come out in Japan.In any case, it was beautifully acted.

On the same panel were the director and actor of ‘She Is Me, I Am Her’(NAKAMURA Mayu). ‘Actor’ in the singular isn’t exactly all the cast, but Nahanadoes have the main role in all four sections. Nahana told us that she wanted to convey contrasted sides to loneliness,something in which they succeed, without it being a dreary film.  This was a ‘Covid’ film – necessarily madewith limited cast but also about the only film to mention the great disturbanceto festivals, films and much else in the previous two years. That greatenveloping topic only really appeared here on the reviews of the national filmindustries which are in the catalogue.

Mark Schilling also got on a credit list as the author of the originalstory for ‘Convenience Story’. Mark told us he gave MIKI Satoshi a free hand toadapt it, which he did in this siren tale. Although Mark, in his talk, hadcompared konbini stores to purgatorio for their ability to sustain lifein a state of non-satisfaction, I had always thought of them more as infernodue to the zombifying muzak. So, I was greatly relieved that the detachmentfrom realism in the film extended to the music by UENO Kōji, which hadinteresting nourishment.

There was much more, of course, and one piece of good news is that ChrisBerry will resume his FEFF reviews for Senses of Cinema, having seenmore, and different, films than me.

Roger

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