Expectation for “Difficulty” by Shozo Ichiyama, Program Director, Tokyo Filmex Film Festival:

At the Venice Film Festival in 1999, during the world premiere of Kurosawa’s Barren Illusions, the director and I were at a café in Hotel Excelsior near the festival’s main site. Kurosawa rarely sees his own films at film festivals. That day, after he assumed his task at the ritual of being introduced to the audience before the screening, he left the theater and waited for its ending outside.

That year, Kurosawa participated in all of the so-called the world largest film festivals – License to Live was invited to Berlin; Charisma to Cannes, and Barren Illusions to Venice. I do not exactly remember what I told him then, but I said something like this: “Many directors make their films thinking about film festivals, however, you make films without being conscious of the festivals. Nonetheless, you are invited by these festivals.” Kurosawa answered: “Well, exactly speaking, it is not that I am not conscious of these festivals. Sometimes, I am consciously making my films hoping that they will not be invited by the festivals.” I was overwhelmed by this comment. There are many directors who get invited by festivals although they are not making films thinking about the festivals. However, how many of them in the world who make films consciously with the hope that they will not be invited by the festivals?

Kurosawa began to be invited by the international film festivals not quite a long time ago. It was initiated by the November 1997 report on the Tokyo International Film Festival in French paper Le Monde by its film critic Jean-Michel Frondon. He completely ignored the films which received the grand prix and other awards but concentrated on his interview with director Kiyoshi Kurosawa whose Cure was invited to the competition section. Shortly after this article accompanied by Kurosawa’s large portrait appeared, Cure was screened during the film festival of the “Festival d’Automn” operated by film magazine Cahier du cinema. Needless to say, the enthusiastic fans who had just read this Kurosawa article attended the full-house screening.

This is the moment when filmmaker Kiyoshi Kurosawa was “discovered” by the world. This discovery may be too late in his career, but it was accelerated by a series of accidental movements. In 1998, Cure toured to the film festivals of Rotterdam, Toronto, etc., and then in 1999, three different films all by Kurosawa were respectively invited by Berlin, Cannes and Venice (I myself do not know other directors who did this) as described before. In 2000, his Seance was screened at the Locarno Film Festival in front of 3,000 spectators. In 2001, as many as 10 Japanese films were invited to Cannes and his Pulse received the International Critics Award.

The Asian films favored by international film festivals have several elements. For example, you should take up your country’s sociopolitical themes; your subject matter should be exotic, and you should have a distinctive cinematic style. During the last 5-6 years, it has become more prominent that these films with clear stories are preferred to those which are difficult to understand. Under these circumstances, I feel that Kurosawa’s films are not for film festivals. It is hard to say that his themes are politically and socially oriented. Of course, it is no doubt that Kurosawa’s films in some way reflect the social situations of the contemporary Japan. They are not his themes but exist vaguely in the backgrounds of his films. Kurosawa has been consistently so alien to the idea of exoticism and representing the “beautiful Japan.” As for cinematic style, Kurosawa definitely has unique one, but it is not like fluent long takes or extremely long shots that anybody can see easily. From the point of view of being “easy to understand,” his films are on the other end. License to Live may be summarized as a film with the universal theme of family. However, it is impossible to categorize and explain what type of the films Charisma or Barren Illusions is. They are full of ambiguity confusing his viewers. I saw Barren Illusion with the regular film audience at the Venice film festival, and I will never forget my experience of facing the unusual sounds of the audience’s reaction after the screening. I believe that there is a kind of philosophy behind the “difficulty” of Kurosawa’s films that the world and human beings cannot be easily understood. Whether you can enjoy this “difficulty” or not determine whether you become his viewers or not.

From these, I concluded that Kurosawa’s statement at the beginning of my article was not coming from his shyness but from his true conviction. In any rate, what kind of psychology a filmmaker is in so as not to be picked up by the international film festivals? Probably it shows Kurosawa’s determined will that he cannot be easily categorized as a “film festival’s favorite.” However, it is great that his films, essentially not suitable for the international film festivals, have been one by one invited by a number of them. Furthermore, his films have been commercially distributed in France. Countless films are made with the specific hope to be selected by Cannes or Venice but ended unsuccessfully. Among these films, Kurosawa’s films have the privileged position. His horror film Pulse was not selected by a “fantastic film festival” but by Cannes and then received an award. You must admit the fact that “Kurosawa is formidable.”

You cannot explain fully why Kurosawa’s films have been so popular outside of Japan. Clearly the world has expected everything from Kurosawa including its “difficulty.” I may also argue that while the world is invaded by the “easiness’ of Hollywood films, Kurosawa who always contain the “difficulty” is expected from the world film community to fight against this trend. It may be possible that his films are expected to provoke more diversity, which is supposed to be inherently seen in cinema, in the midst of the waves of the aesthetic totalitarianism in the world cinema.

Now I must discuss bright future. The most important point in this film, compared to his previous works, is that the “entertainment” elements are minimized here. Charisma and Barren Illusions included the scenes demonstrating the idiosyncratic pleasure of cinema independently developing from the film’s story (this kind of element in Kurosawa’s films is so attractive to me), however, you cannot find such a scene in bright future. I am certain that Kurosawa was not consciously making this film with the hope not to be invited by the film festivals. The structure of its drama woven by three men is in a way clear. In addition, there are occasionally scenes that move the viewers. These characters expressing their emotions in such a straightforward manner had rarely appeared in Kurosawa’s previous films. I do not know the reason for this. It may be possible that these three actors, all new to Kurosawa, brought in this new element. Because of this straightforwardness, bright future became a moving film, something new this time.

I do not believe Kurosawa made this film thinking about film festivals. In a way, certain social situations in the contemporary Japan are reflected in this film, however, this is not a kind of film proclaiming certain social themes or resorts on exoticism. In addition, there is certain “difficulty” as seen in a series of actions of ARITA Mamoru character played by Tadanobu Asano. In another way, Kurosawa’s characteristics as a film artist themselves have not changed at all but are very much alive in this film.

This is no doubt that bright future is the strongest film made by Kurosawa so far with both straightforwardness appealing to many people and his artistic integrity. I am not sure how this film will be accepted by the world, but after its screening at my Tokyo Filmex film festival, the foreign guests received it enthusiastically and I can say for sure that the future of this film is “bright.” I look forward to seeing how bright future will do in 2003 in the world.
 

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