Nipponkoku VS Sennan Ishiwatamura (Sennan Asbestos Disaster) MOMA's Kazuo Hara retrospective

This is a documentary that follows ten years in the fight to get justice and compensation for the people of Sennan, Osaka who were put into harm’s way by not only working for the various companies that made asbestos but lived around the factories themselves. After almost a hundred of exposure thousands are sick and dying but no one is paying attention. It was a danger that the Japanese government knew about well before the Second World War but chose to willfully cover up the fact.

I’m going to mention that Sennan Asbestos Disaster runs almost four hours to start because the extreme running time maybe a factor in whether you decide to see it. I also mention it because I was lucky enough to be able to watch the film at home at my leisure so I got to stop and start the film as needed. Don’t get me wrong this is a very good, probably great, film but there is a lot of information and it can be a bit overwhelming.

Decidedly not a neutral telling of events, Sennan Asbestos Disaster wears it’s heart on the sleeve and the filmmakers are very much part of what transpires.This is a blood brother to director Kazuo Hara earlier The Emperor’s Naked Army Marches On. Frankly the fact that the film covers so much time and makes so many of the victims out to be real people it would be hard for the filmmakers to disappear into the background. They are on the front line from start to finish whether the government and company officials like it or not. While normally one would like a sense of distance, in this case there is no way to really side against those fighting for compensation, after all everyone knew there were problems 80 years ago, they simply refused to let anyone know. There is not mitigation.

I like Sennan Asbestos Disater a great deal but it is a long film. As I mentioned above I got to take time away from my viewing of the film. I think that helped my connecting with the film and allowed me not to get overwhelmed to the point my eyes glazed over. While I heartily recommend the film when it plays this weekend at MOMA,  I think you should consider the run time before you dive in.

For ticket and more information go here.

Yukiyukite Shingun (The Emperor’s Naked Army Marches On). 1987. Moma's Kazuo Hara Retrospective

Here is my review of The Emperor's Named Army Marches On from right after Unseen Films started. It is being reposted because the film is being played on June 6th as the opener for MOMA's Kazuo Hara retrospective (For tickets and more information go here)

This is the story of Kenzo Okuzai a very strange man who is haunted by what happened back in New Guinea during the Second World War. What happened was that while all the men were starving the officers had several soldiers executed on trumped up charges so that they could be used for food. This is a documentary about his long lonely crusade to put the souls of the dead to rest (ie.to give himself some peace of mind).

This is a very in your face film. Okuzai drives a car with a loudspeaker on the top and is covered with what I can only assume is an explanation of his cause. He challenges authority at every turn (he went to prison a couple of times; first for shooting ball bearings at the Emperor... and later murder) and does what ever he can to get his point across. Its makes you laugh and it makes you cringe (a case in point in the opening wedding ceremony where he gives a speech that is not to be believed, which is funny for what it says, but cringe inducing for when he says it). Okuzai forces you to consider how far would you go to correct a wrong that happened even 40 years before.

Watching the movie I was forced to reflect not only what it may have been like in the jungles during the war and what I would do to survive. What is the moral obligations we should follow when we are near death and trying to stay alive? The film also forces you to think about the role of a camera in the proceedings. We are with Kenzo Okuzai all along his odd trip as he attempts to comfort the families of the dead and as he confronts (and assaults) the officers who ordered the executions. There is no doubt that he is aware he is being filmed, so does that make him more or less confrontational? Is his behavior more or less genuine than it would be had the camera not been there? Its a tough call and as you watch it you really do have to reflect on what is the role of a film crew in filming actual events? Can we trust the actions of those being filmed? Its all something to think about.

If you get the chance see this film. Its an interesting look at a very odd man. I'm not sure that I liked Okuzai (which is the problem with the movie, he isn't really likable), but he did force me to think about life and film in several new ways.