Hirokazu Kore'eda: Distance
(Japan, 2001)
Hirokazu Kore'eda's creative career continues to evolve, and this expansive and meditative drama may be my favorite among his films thus far.
All of the Japanese films I've seen that would seem to psychologically touch upon the 1995 Aum Shinrikyo gas attacks in Tokyo ago do so in oblique fashion, turning into complex meditations on the idea of terrorism, specifically of an unseen and unexpected variety arising from within, and what that says about a society (and not necessarily just Japanese society) that likes to think of itself as secure and a success - most of Kiyoshi Kurosawa's films beginning with Cure do this, as does Shinji Aoyama's Eureka. Kore'eda's Distance is perhaps the most successful example of this reflective sub-genre, examining the whys and hows of society's darkest impulses, when those impulses happen to surface unexpectedly.
In this sparse, Dogme-like film, individuals who lost loved ones to a cult-inspired act of terror and mass suicide, gather for a memorial reunion at the place their loved ones died (a former cult compound in a remote location), only to meet the cult's lone survivor. The idea of blame is subsumed by other needs very quickly, replaced by a more meditative sense of trying to logically and emotionally comprehend an event that is literally incomprehensible; thematically this film has a very intense global relevance, perhaps more now than when first released.
All of the Japanese films I've seen that would seem to psychologically touch upon the 1995 Aum Shinrikyo gas attacks in Tokyo ago do so in oblique fashion, turning into complex meditations on the idea of terrorism, specifically of an unseen and unexpected variety arising from within, and what that says about a society (and not necessarily just Japanese society) that likes to think of itself as secure and a success - most of Kiyoshi Kurosawa's films beginning with Cure do this, as does Shinji Aoyama's Eureka. Kore'eda's Distance is perhaps the most successful example of this reflective sub-genre, examining the whys and hows of society's darkest impulses, when those impulses happen to surface unexpectedly.
In this sparse, Dogme-like film, individuals who lost loved ones to a cult-inspired act of terror and mass suicide, gather for a memorial reunion at the place their loved ones died (a former cult compound in a remote location), only to meet the cult's lone survivor. The idea of blame is subsumed by other needs very quickly, replaced by a more meditative sense of trying to logically and emotionally comprehend an event that is literally incomprehensible; thematically this film has a very intense global relevance, perhaps more now than when first released.
It is noteworthy that cult members depicted in the film are just as everyday and as ordinary as the survivors reflecting back upon tragic events - to turn certain individuals into monsters would simply be the easy way out. Kore'eda challenges us to think of ourselves as potential victims, and potential perpetrators of our (as humans) own worst impulses. I happened to first see this film as I was also reading Haruki Murakami's Underground for the first time, and in both, I was struck by how ordinary in many ways all involved parties (victims and villains) were. In both works, this quality is very chilling, and you aren't ever allowed to sidestep it.
Kore'eda's shifts between hand-held cameras (the actual story) and more polished/composed flashback sequences (watch for a brilliant restaurant scene) illustrating the allure of the cult to it's former members is dazzling, blending the techniques used in his earlier after life (1999) and Maborosi (1996). Kore'eda's roots are in documentary film-making, and a fairly unique style has evolved from that background (one can trace that style through the two earlier features; here it really begins to coalesce into something personal and unique): like Errol Morris, Kore'eda prefers the unobtrusive, allowing characters to reveal themselves in naturalistic fashion, with many precise insights emerging during quiet, seemingly random moments. This makes for film-making that is languid in tempo, enigmatic and elliptical in its narrative structure (certain characters here actually seem to become more inscrutable as the film progresses), but here the results are often mesmerizing.
Like Kore'eda's other work, there's a fairly limited commercial appeal in this extraordinary film; it has gained no distribution in US (though region-free imports are inexpensive and easily found), which is very unfortunate - I think a lot of American viewers would be quite stunned by this film, given the opportunity to see it.
Kore'eda's shifts between hand-held cameras (the actual story) and more polished/composed flashback sequences (watch for a brilliant restaurant scene) illustrating the allure of the cult to it's former members is dazzling, blending the techniques used in his earlier after life (1999) and Maborosi (1996). Kore'eda's roots are in documentary film-making, and a fairly unique style has evolved from that background (one can trace that style through the two earlier features; here it really begins to coalesce into something personal and unique): like Errol Morris, Kore'eda prefers the unobtrusive, allowing characters to reveal themselves in naturalistic fashion, with many precise insights emerging during quiet, seemingly random moments. This makes for film-making that is languid in tempo, enigmatic and elliptical in its narrative structure (certain characters here actually seem to become more inscrutable as the film progresses), but here the results are often mesmerizing.
Like Kore'eda's other work, there's a fairly limited commercial appeal in this extraordinary film; it has gained no distribution in US (though region-free imports are inexpensive and easily found), which is very unfortunate - I think a lot of American viewers would be quite stunned by this film, given the opportunity to see it.
1 comment:
Hello..I finally was able to watch this film last night. I'm not the smartest of people so perhaps I missed something. But in the end, who was Atsushi (played by ARATA)?...I'm going crazy trying to figure it out based on any existing clues in the film. Thanks much for your review.
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