Customer Reviews

Himatsuri [VHS]

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

One of cinema history's most tragic examples of a filmmaker who never lived up to his promise, Yanagimachi's "Himatsuri" is a burning, haunting experience. Combining obscure imagery and Shinto references along with odd, bold leaps in tone the director crafts a singular and astounding work illuminating the disasterous results of man's severing his ties with nature. Taking a true life inexplicable murder/suicide in a remote Japanese fishing community as its platform, Yanamiguchi creates a fusion of image, sound and montage (coupled with Toru Takemitsu's chillingly primal score) that shows a real mastery of film form. But "Himatsuri" is not just form without content: beneath it all lies a message that is still very relevant as society progresses forward towards its digital future. A bonified masterpiece, there's never been anything quite like it.

Strange and at times confusing, it's about man's destruction particularly of nature, but also of himself. A self-centered lumberman (played by Kinya Kitaoji) owns property in the heart of an area developers want to convert into a marine park; he refuses to sell out. Money and sex are used to try to "convince" him to sell, to no avail. But relatives decide to make the sale, and Kitaoji can't stop it. He has a religious "revelation" with the goddess of the mountains (these are simple country folk and the scene seems perfectly normal), and the message he gets from the goddess is to kill his family and then himself, which he carries out shortly thereafter. The movie ends there and we're left only with that to mull over (it's based on a true story). The major fault with the movie is that director Kenji Nakagami is too self-consciously "artsy" and convolutedly "clever" in making his point that people are destructive. It has the feel of being merely an academic exercise. Kitaoji is a fine actor, however, and Nakagami shows potential for better things.

"Himatsuri," is not a film for everyone. If anything the film can be very slow and confusing at times. However, for those who have seen a number of Japanese films: I recommend this particular film with caution. The film was directed by Mitsuo Yanagimachi, and is accompanied with the haunting and primal musical score of Toru Takemitsu. The film takes place at an isolated fishing village which is trying to modernize. But modernization comes with a price. At the center of this modernization we are introduced to the films main antagonist, Tatsuo (Kinya Kitaoji).

Tatsuo is a Shinto, as are his neighbors who want the land he owns to be sold to help with this new marine park. However, Tatsuo is very stubborn and refuses to sell out. Moreover, he is very self-destructive by nature. A nature I might add which will end in violence for this isolated village. As the viewer of this film, you may have a difficult time empathizing with his character: Tatsuo is not a likable person. The film itself was based on an actual event, which was culled from the novel by Kenji Nakagami. I have not read the novel, therefore, I cannot tell you if the film and novel correspond.

The films main theme that there is a seperation between man and nature is not lost on the viewer. Modernization is not easy, and progress does not always lead to a better community seems to be the films main message. Yet, the films main antagonist, and the villagers do not seem to gain much sympathy in their mistreatment of nature. And especially with the way they each interact with one another: At least in my opinion. The film has some very beautiful cinematography which is breathtaking in itself. This film may appeal to some viewers, and not others. Therefore, I recommend the film with caution. Rent it first.

Throughout Japan, Fire Festivals are spectacles of ritual cleansing, a burning away of evil spirits and accumulated karma, leaving a purified land and spirit. Usually ancient rites of the native Shinto religion, almost every village has its moment of blazing torches, cascading embers and primal stirrings. They are also very masculine occasions, with the male citizenry displaying muscle and bravado.

Mitsuo Yanagimachi uses these primitive rites as a metaphor for his macho lumberjack Tatsuo, in his masterpiece "Himatsuri" ("Fire Festival.") Based on a novel by Nakagami Kenji which was inspired by an actual occurrence, and winner of Japan's top film prize the Kinema Jumpo, "Himatsuri" is a slow, slow burn, building up from embers until the full wrath of the fire leaps forward. At times the pace of the film is exhaustingly slow, at other times captivating and intense. Like the nature it represents, "Himatsuri" is a complex blend.

The basic story centers on a small village, with fisherman below dredging their living from the Goddess of the Sea, and the mountain men above, lumberjacks and hunters who bow down to the Goddess of the Mountain. Into this uneasy alliance comes a company wanting to open up a marine park, making the fortune of all the villagers but destroying the village itself, and ending forever the lifestyle that has endured for centuries. All of the villagers take the money, except for the deeply mystical Tetsuo, who loves the Goddess of the Mountain with a sexual passion and will not dare to see her spoiled.

In possibly the best scene in the film, Tetsuo communes with his Goddess while the fury of the mountain changes from storm to sudden calm, as sunlight streams through the trees. A stunning image that will leave you wondering how it was achieved in that pre-digital age.

Yanagimachi is an independent filmmaker, and "Himatsuri" has the shaky and honest feel of a non-studio film. The imagery is beautiful, capturing the power of the mountains and the ocean, but the actors are intimate, real live human beings. A theme in the directors work is the disruption of traditional values, without judgment. Here, the same theme can be seen as Tetsuo, resolute and mighty, is no hero. He stands an unbendable tree, while the wind moves the grass around him.