Visions of Okinawa: Terror of Yakuza

Being in a Yakuza clan is sort of like the licensing business. Your territories are everything. Seigou Kunigami thought his gang had their Okinawa territories sown up when they made a pact with their main rival. However, after the handover of Okinawa back to Japan, the so-called “Yamato” gangs assume they can expand their business there. Inevitably, gang war breaks out in Sadao Nakajima’s Terror of Yakuza (a.k.a. Okinawa Yakuza War) which screens during the Japan Society’s Visions of Okinawa film series.

Hideo Nakazato went to prison for killing to secure the gang’s prominence. Now that he is out, he just wants to make some money. However, he finds his old comrade Kunigami, the clan leader in his absence, is spoiling for a fight, especially with the Japanese, but also with their more accommodating rivals. His temper is so violently unstable, the various clan leaders might be wiling to make Nakazato a deal. He also might have two new recruits, islanders like Nakazato, who would be perfect for the dirty work.

Nakajima shot Terror on the streets of Okinawa City, at a time when much of the local industry either supported the U.S. military base or catered to their vices. It is easy to imagine Manila looked a lot like this during the early wild and wooly Marcos years. This distinctive backdrop adds something extra to the Yakuza beatdowns, but it still has the classic genre elements fans enjoy, like a massively funky soundtrack and Sonny Chiba at his most ferocious, as Kunigami.

Technically, the ultra-steely Hiroki Matsukata is the star, hard-staring his way through the picture as grizzled Nakazato. Yet, Chiba is so crazy jumping on tables and literally tearing up the town, he still imprints his brand all over Terror—even though Matsuka is still really terrific, in the lead. This is definitely a testosterone-driven film, with men often behaving quite horribly, but Emi Shindo adds a note of tragic grace as Nakazato’s long-suffering wife, Terumi.

Japan Cuts ’18: Born Bone Born

Technically, Okinawa is still part of Japan, but you might understandably start to doubt that on the remote island of Aguni. The bone washing ritual called senkotsu would be one reason why (it is what it sounds like). Four years after the death of their mother, a wildly dysfunctional family reunites to literally wash her bones and pick bones of their own in Toshiyuki Teruya (a.k.a. Gori)’s Born Bone Born (trailer here), which screens during the 2018 Japan Cuts Festival of New Japanese Film.

Since Emiko died, her husband Nobutsuna has become a sad drunk. Their grown son Tsuyoshi bitterly resents being the responsible one, who paid off the family debts. Responsibility has never been his sister Yuko’s strong suit, but when she shows up in an advanced stage of pregnancy with no husband in tow, it totally scandalizes the island. Fortunately, matronly Aunt Nobuko can put gossips in their place, right quick.

Obviously, the awkward homecoming will crescendo during the senkotsu ceremony. In the meantime, the family will air all their grievances, but frankly, they probably need to get everything out in the open before they can start to heal. In fact, their family actually stands to grow, between Yuko’s baby and her lover, who has no idea what kind of buzz saw he is walking into when he follows her out to Aguni.

BBB is a lovely little film that is not unlike Kore-eda’s Still Walking (which also screens at this year’s Japan Cuts, in honor of its 10^th anniversary), both in terms of theme and tone, but Teruya/Gori finds considerably more humor in family angst. In fact, the humor nicely counterbalances the sentimentalism of it all.

The ensemble also shows great range and flexibility. Just when they seem to settle into their assigned roles, Ayame Misaki as Yuko, the flaky one; Eiji Okuda as Nobutsuna, the depressive one; and Michitaka Tsutsui as Tsuyoshi, the judgmental one; they start to mellow and evolve.

Aguni makes quite a picturesque backdrop, where it looks like time stands still (which it actually does, according to one character). Kazuya Sahara and Koja Misako also penned a beautifully evocative minimalist soundtrack that also compares favorably with GONTITI’s music for Still Walking. Once again, Teruya proves nobody does domestic drama and dramedy better than Japan—or in this case, Okinawa. Highly recommended for discerning adult viewers, Born Bone Born screens tomorrow at noon (7/21) at the Japan Society, as part of this year’s Japan Cuts.

Japan Cuts ’17: Hengyoro (Queer Fish Lane)

Underwater plastic surgery is a dirty job, but somebody has to do it. Fortunately, eccentric elderly vagabonds Tarugani and Papajo have more reputable side jobs staging chain plays that incorporate stagecraft, film, and traditional Okinawan music. The underlying mythology is rich, but narrative logic isn’t much of a priority for Go Takamine’s Hengyoro (Queer Fish Lane) (trailer here), which screens during the 2017 Japan Cuts Festival of New Japanese Film in New York.

Something happened long ago that wiped out most of the population of Patai Village, but Tarugani and Papjo still shuffle around like ghosts. Frankly, things make more sense when they are mounting their chain plays, featuring eerie looking Super8 footage Takamine shot on Okinawa in the 1970s.

Episodic in nature, we watch the strange misadventures of a bag of an illegal aphrodisiac purchased instead of flour. Wrongly blamed for inappropriately acquiring the potent powder, Tarugani goes about his professional practice editing film and faces, while trying to elude the Bibiju, the three supernaturally damp wives of the aphrodisiac-peddling shopkeeper, who are dead set on cutting his ears.

Whatever. Don’t try to make sense of Hengyoro. While bits and pieces make sense in isolation, it is baffling as a whole. This is self-consciously experimental cinema that makes no concessions. Yet, it is easier to watch than you might expect, because Takamine is constantly pulling off wild in-camera visual tricks. Even if you have no patience for the avant-garde, it is strangely compelling to watch him top himself. In fact, it is no hyperbole to say cinematographer Mamoru Hirata’s work is frequently stunning. The traditional Okinawan soundtrack is also starkly powerful.

Takamine is probably best known internationally for the socially conscious, deliberately paced Paradise View, but that film will feel like Guardians of the Galaxy compared to Hengyoro. Still, it is often fascinating to look at and listen to—and that’s definitely something. Recommended for devoted patrons of experimental cinema, Hengyoro (Queer Fish Lane) screens Saturday (7/15) at the Japan Society, as part of this year’s Japan Cuts.

Japan Society Monthly Classic: Paradise View

The Vietnam War is winding down, which some would say is good news, but not necessarily on Okinawa. The separatist rebels should be pleased, but they have been quiet lately. The snakes in the jungle are as deadly as ever, but the greatest danger is losing one’s soul to the rainbow pigs secretly marauding through the rain forest. On paper, it looks like absolutely bedlam, but for the most part, the days are pleasantly languid in Go Takamine’s Paradise View, which screens tomorrow as part of the Japan Society’s Monthly Classics series.

Okinawan is spoken throughout Paradise, making it one of the few Japanese films that required Japanese subtitles when it opened domestically. Like the periodic Welsh language film produced in the UK, it was intended as an act of Okinawan cultural affirmation and defiance. Yet, it is hard to imagine getting too worked up in this island village. Granted, nobody is happy per se, but the heat and the spirit-infested air have an anesthetizing effect. Goya Reishu is a case in point. He was once a busy musician working the American military bases, but now he just lays about, gluing teeny-tiny numbers on the ants that fascinate him.

On this island, outsiders like the ethnic Japanese botanist Ito, are almost considered foreigners, even though the Japanese government is about to reassert political control of the island. However, he is still a good catch, at least according to Nabee’s mother, who happily arranges their marriage. Unfortunately, all her plans come crashing down when she deduces Nabee is pregnant with Goya’s love child. The shy Chiru is not too happy about it either, considering the torch she has been carrying for Goya. The resulting scandal is bound to end in tears, especially considering the regularity people in the village misplace their souls, becoming extremely apathetic mabui.

With its eccentric vibe and unhurried pace, one might also diagnosis Paradise with a persistent case of indie-itis, but it never feels self-indulgently twee. Everyone is just too hardscrabble to be cutesy. Although Takamine’s strict budget constraints start to show down the stretch, he still transmits a vividly pungent sense of Okinawa as a specific place and a Shamanistic state of mind. Frankly, there is something seductive about the ebb and flow of the first two acts. You can feel the humidity clouding into your perception, while Takamine takes his time slowly implying bits and pieces of his undisciplined plot. Yet, that elliptical suggestiveness is part of the charm. When things finally start to happen definitively, it rather breaks the spell.

Kaoru Kobayashi makes an appealingly low key anti-hero as the ant-obsessed slacker, while Jun Togawa is quite touching as the lovelorn Chiru. In fact, the entire ensemble looks appropriately rugged and slightly sunstroke-addled.

Paradise View is the sort of film that insists viewers acclimate themselves to its rhythms. It really transports the receptive viewers to Okinawa, as it was prior to the Japanese Reversion. Even those who cannot synch up with its mysterious atmosphere should still appreciate the novelty of it as an example of rarely seen Okinawan cinema. Recommended for those who appreciates mystical folklore, Paradise View screens tomorrow (10/2) at the Japan Society as their classic of the month.