Jasper Sharp's new website

Film writer and curator Jasper Sharp of Midnight Eye and "Behind the Pink Curtain" fame now has his own homepage: http://jaspersharp.com. He's also on Twitter too: http://twitter.com/jaspersharp. Adjust your bookmarks and RSS readers accordingly.

Ishii Sogo pays tribute to Yamada Tatsuo

Yamada Tatsuo (centre), a prolific supporting actor who appeared in around 100 films including "The Sinking of Japan", "Ashura" and the upcoming "The Sun That Doesn't Set", and also attended high school in Toyama with future filmmaker Takita Yojiro who would later direct him in "When the Last Sword is Drawn" and "Departures", died of stomach cancer on July 26th at the age of 53.

To many people though, including myself, he will always be remembered for his 1980 screen debut as Jin, the indestructible protagonist of Ishii Sogo's Mad Max-inspired violent opus "Crazy Thunder Road". 13 years later, he reunited with Ishii to play an older, wearied but still rebellious version of the same character in "Street Noise", a short instalment in the director's 1993 omnibus "Tokyo Blood". This marked Ishii's return to filmmaking after a protracted absence, and Yamada's presence also represented a fond farewell of sorts to the style of frenzied, kinetic cinema he'd become associated with before exploring a new internalised, metaphysical approach.

Ishii remained silent on his close friend's death until August 3rd, when he posted this moving tribute on his website.

Encountering actors and crew members is a truly wondrous experience that feels like a gift from above.

For me, Tatsu was my eternal star.

He was generally known as a distinguished supporting actor, but Yamada Tatsuo was always the star in my films.

Ultimately we only worked on two films together, but we shared a rivalry between actor and a director in which neither of us would budge an inch. There was no such thing as an easy job when we worked together, and there was always an unspoken rule between us that there would be absolutely no possibility of working together if we weren't able to invest over 100% of our energies in a project.

Tatsu was also one of the few people who had a profound understanding of the essence of the kind of films I wanted to make, and it would have been unthinkable for me to accept an offer of a job that he didn't approve of.

When "Crazy Thunder Road" was screened at the Kanazawa Film Festival in September of 2007, he kindly came as a guest, and although he was a man of few words and very good at hiding his true feelings behind humour, for the first time ever he spoke with me earnestly and fondly about the time we made the film. Afterwards, he joined me for a drink even though he was obviously in a bad way, and our robust discussion about the kind of films we'd make together next eventually turned out to be the last time we'd ever talk.

I'll never forget the happy, melancholy, and relaxed look on Tatsu's face back then.
　
Just as everyone would imagine, Tatsu was a real man's man, while at the same time he was also a very sensitive soul.

Of the new scripts I've completed, a few were written with Tatsu in mind.

I am once again angered by my own pathetic inability to get a new film off the ground in time.

I'm sorry.

I am filled with regret. And sadness.
　
Yesterday's films no longer exist.
Tomorrow's films are yet to be known.
All we have now are the films of today.

In memory of Yamada Tatsuo.

For new "Sasori" Mizuno Miki, Simon Yam's boots know no mercy

Japanese production company Artport and Hong Kong director Joe Ma's reboot of the classic "Female Prisoner Scorpion" series, Sasori, finally opens in Japan on August 8th. By all accounts, it's a rather odd reimagining rather than a remake that de-emphasises the original's central theme of an oppressed and defiled woman wreaking merciless revenge against male hegemony, in favour of more conventional yet confusingly-plotted wire-based action. Mizuno Miki gamely takes over the role synonymous with Kaji Meiko, and in this Eiga Hiho interview with vocalist for influential rock band Kinniku Shojotai and writer Otsuki Kenji, she's surprisingly upfront about the film's more idiosyncratic elements, as well as the contrasting action styles of her Hong Kong co-stars.

OK: This remake feels like a spliced-together montage of scenes from different TV series and films. It'll suddenly cut off in mid-scene, and jump to some other totally unrelated part.

MM: During the shoot, they'd only give me the parts of the script we were shooting that day, so I had no idea what it was like in its entirety. What's more, it kept on changing. It was as if the complete version existed only in the director's mind.

OK: Sasori is dumped in this place that's like a disposal site for dead bodies, and corpse collector Simon Yam picks her up thinking she's dead even though she's actually still alive, then he trains her... story developments like those made absolutely no sense when I was watching the film (laughs).

MM: They didn't to me either, so when I was on set I went and asked the director about the bits I didn't understand. But his answer was mostly “Logic's got nothing to do with it!” (laughs)

OK: “Don't think, feel!”, just like Bruce Lee! So what exactly was that place where the corpse collector finds Sasori?

MM: Um... I suppose the prison had a place where the police would dump all the corpses.

OK: Oh, how convenient! That's a pretty half-arsed premise! He's supposed to be there collecting bodies, then he's all “bloody hell, she's alive”, so he force-feeds you something like a roasted sweet potato and nurses you back to health. Feeding a roasted sweet potato to someone who's on the verge of dying – what kind of resuscitation technique is that?!

MM: It was just a sweet potato. Still, he did give me something to drink before he fed it to me.

OK: Oh right, potatoes contain no moisture so it'd get stuck in your throat... what the hell's that got to do with it?! (laughs)

MM: Simon's character was probably under the impression that someone who dies and is resurrected can become a powerful assassin, so he'd collect lots of corpses, constantly wondering if one would come back to life. While making a giant wooden martial arts dummy. Or something like that...

OK: Well... then doesn't the corpse collector's story sound a lot more interesting?! (laughs) Not “Departures” so much as “Dispatches”. Sometimes he dispatches bodies, sometimes he doesn't...

MM: Ha ha ha!

OK: I'd love to see a spin-off built around the corpse collector.

---

OK: Also, there's that bit where Ishibashi Ryo is drinking in a bar and suddenly whacks another customer with a stick, and just as I'm thinking “What the hell was that?”, he's gone back to drinking again with a cool look on his face. That was a surprisingly surreal scene!

MM: I thought the same thing when I watched the film, but its power alone is amazing, and the story and the action is off the scale. The same goes for the way each action scene is choreographed.

OK: In one fight scene, a female opponent suddenly hangs in the air, spins around and around then delivers a flying kick. Without any run-up! That was amazing. A complete violation of the laws of gravity!

MM: That's right! I also get lifted up by my enemies, get spun around several times, suddenly jump incredibly high, and do a flying kick. We shot action scenes like that with the idea that their impact was more important than their reality. As I was acting I gradually became so numb to that idea that I came to think, “That's just the way it is” (laughs).

OK: There's a lot of freedom inside the prison too, with the inmates getting into fights and no-one trying to break them up!

MM: And on top of that the costumes were pretty out-there too. Miniskirts as part of the inmates' uniform... (laughs).

OK: Including bizarre things like that, how should I say, it felt like being transfixed by some strange dream (laughs). The catfight scene with Natsume Nana was awesome too!

MM: It was cold when we filmed that scene, and the floor was slippery, plus we were covered in mud, so it was incredibly tough.

OK: Nana lets out this fearsome beast-like growl (laughs). Like “ROOOAR!!!” I wondered, is she really like that? It was quite a surprise.

MM: She said the ADR sessions were tough too. I guess action movies really are more about entertainment than logic!

---

OK: What was it like acting alongside Bruce Leung?

MM: It was a-mazing! His movement was incredibly quick even though he's in his sixties. Plus he was extremely intimidating and scary when he attacked, but if I broke stance even slightly he'd stop the action immediately. He pays proper attention to his opponent's movements, and if he senses danger he responds right away, so I felt completely safe acting with him.

OK: How was Simon Yam [pictured left]?

MM: He'd just come at you out of nowhere, it was so frightening! (laughs) He doesn't pull his punches at all, so when he hits you, he really hits you! When he kicks you, he really kicks you! That's what he was like. Plus he always wore these heavy boots that looked like they had steel plates in them. When he'd kick me, it'd be with such force that I'd think “If I take three more of these, my bones are breaking for sure...”

OK: For an actor, that's an... interesting approach (laughs).

MM: Sure enough, I took a hard kick in the ribs one time that rendered me motionless for a while. It was too much so I pleaded to the director with tears in my eyes, “Please make him stop doing that, it's scaring me” (laughs).

OK: There are a few people around who are that full-on...

MM: If they want to do full-contact hitting for real, they should probably do it in a ring!

Jissoji Akio: "giant of carnal knowledge"

"Jissoji's collection was wide and varied. I also compiled around 20 "Ultraman" files in my junior high days, and I understand that Kurosawa Akira had memorised the complete works of Shakespeare. I guess film is a kind of 'collection of memories'."

Filmmaker Kawasaki Minoru reminisces about his late friend Jissoji Akio's passion for scrapbooks, sex and monsters in this candid interview for Cyzo by Nagano Tatsuji. As my translation is unauthorised, you'll have to click through to the original article to see photos of Kawasaki's keepsakes.

Director Jissoji Akio (1937-2006) was an unusually-blessed television and film creator whose intense episodes for the "Ultraman" and "Ultra Seven" series left traumatic impressions on the children who watched them. While revered as the "Ultra master" by tokusatsu fans, he also possessed an intimate knowledge of opera and classical music, and is also well-known as a calligrapher and tram aficionado. If Ultraman is a 'giant of light', Jissoji was an intellectual who could be fittingly described as a 'giant of knowledge'. The film "Kibogaoka Fufu Senso", currently screening in theatres [at the time of writing in July 2009], is an erotic comedy based on a novella by Jissoji that demonstrates his literary talent. It is also a work that shows his extraordinary thirst for knowledge of the erotic. For this article, we spoke to one of Jissoji's long-time friends, director Kawasaki Minoru. As well as revealing for the first time some of the rare mementos he received from the director, he also talked about a lesser-known side to this 'giant of knowledge'.

NT: Jissoji is known amongst some of his fans as a collector of flyers for adult entertainment. I understand that many of his possessions were donated to the Kawasaki City Museum...

KM: Yes, this is a file of adult entertainment flyers that he gave to me. There are about 20 of these files just for such flyers. Also, there are another eight of clippings from erotic manga. Some of Taniguchi Jiro's erotic work is in there too, and he's a popular manga author now (laughs). The things that stimulated Jissoji's sensory genius were painstakingly collected in these files. I think most of the books that were tucked away in his storeroom have been donated to Kawasaki City, but apparently some items that weren't so easy to donate were destroyed. What I have here are rare items that narrowly avoided disposal. This is probably the first time in the world they've ever been shown (laughs). Jissoji loved the sex trade, and there are a huge number of diaries he kept with detailed records of things like the kind of service he got from the girls and the layout of the rooms, and I think that all of his diaries were donated. Jissoji wasn't just a 'giant of knowledge', he was also a 'giant of carnal knowledge' (laughs).

NT: Right, let me take a look at this file. Wow, it's quite a sight to see so many girls from '80s gravure packed in here!

KM: In a way, these are lost images from the Showa era. The heyday of adult entertainment flyers was around '85 I think. Ones that have only illustrations and text would probably be older. Even the phone boxes that these flyers used to be stuck on have already disappeared from our streets. You could probably call these extremely rare cultural artifacts. These flyers are filed according to region... there are ones here from Shinjuku, Shibuya, Sugamo, Otsuka, and even Niigata and Nagasaki. Each has its own file number, which gives you a sense of how methodical Jissoji was. He didn't collect these by himself either: he got his crew and cast members, and even his wife (actress Hara Sachiko) to help. Well, she only brought back a couple though (laughs).

NT: The ones that used photos of celebrities have beautifully handwritten notes next to them. "Possibly the one and only Yakushimaru Hiroko". They're the private indulgence of an in-demand director. I hear that Jissoji wasn't a fan of large breasts?

KM: Big breasts did nothing for him, nor did young girls. He was crazy about older women. When popular AV actress Sakuragi Rui visited his office looking for work, he told her "No, no, big tits are no good" and sent her home. He'd say, "Fruit and meat are tastiest when they're just about to go off" (laughs). Jissoji didn't like appearing on television, and he turned down offers because he wouldn't have been able to go to knocking shops so easily if his face became known. There's a bookstore in Jinbocho that specialises in erotica called Haga Shoten, right? One time when Jissoji tried to buy a really hardcore video there, the shop assistant said to him "Oh, you're a famous director aren't you? You're Ninagawa Yukio!", and apparently he just took the receipt without denying it. The bookstore staff must have been stuck with the misconception he was Ninagawa (laughs).

NT: Do you see eroticism even in his tokusatsu hero work like "Ultraman" and "Ultra Seven"?

KM: Of course. Come on, the monster in the first episode of "Ultraman" that he directed was the "Squirting Pearl Eater" (Shiofuki Kaiju Gamakujira). Tokusatsu is a treasure trove of fetishism. Jissoji was a train buff too because he loved the world of miniatures. He had an inclination for the feel and texture of things that evoked the Showa era, like model trains, and Leica cameras. People who have a thing for Ultraman are all fetishists of some kind. Well, Jissoji was someone who had stronger feelings for monsters than Ultraman. I heard that at the time of filming he wanted to give Seabozu and Gamakujira a more grotesque appearance, but thanks to designer Narita Toru and modeller Takayama Ryosaku they became lovable monsters. In later years, he admitted regretfully that "They were right". He couldn't have conceived that the shows would still be screened 40 years later.

NT: In the notoriously banned 12th episode of "Ultra Seven", "From Planet With Love" (Wakusei yori Ai o Komete), a Spehl alien sucks the blood of a young woman, which is an erotic premise when you think about it today.

KM: That episode has scriptwriter Sasaki Mamoru's (1936-2006) unmistakable stamp on it too. Jissoji and Sasaki shared outsider status within Tsuburaya Productions. Their unique collaboration was able to shine exactly because the main team of Iijima Toshihiro and Tsuburaya Hajime were active at the time. It's the same today too. Major, mainstream properties have disappeared, and there's no longer any place for outsider talent to shine either.

NT: Looking at these flyer files and considering the essence of creativity, it feels as though it's found in an artist's particular erotic tastes. For example, Obayashi Nobuhiko is obsessed with the eroticism exuded by teenage girls.

KM: Ah, Obayashi Nobuhiko. Lolita-loving Obayashi's works didn't sit well with a lover of mature women like Jissoji. Jissoji started out in television and Obayashi in commercials, so they both came from different fields to become film directors. That's because they had such distinctive characters. Mishima Yukio told Dazai Osamu he hated him, but the situation was probably similar to Jissoji and Obayashi. They'd never compliment each other, but they were conscious of what the other was doing.

NT: Does this file contain the letters that Jissoji sent to you?

KM: They're so exquisitely handwritten that I can't read them (laughs). On this New Year's card, there's a photo of his beloved stuffed raccoon toy he called "my eldest son Cheena". On the set of "Chikyu Boei Shojo Iko-chan 2" (1988), he brought Cheena along. It scared lead actress Masuda Mia. He was a dangerous old man who cared for a stuffed toy like it was his own child (laughs). This easy-to-read printed postcard was one he sent to me when he was in hospital for a stomach cancer operation. I had asked him to supervise production on "The World Sinks Except Japan" (2006), and he watched the film from his hospital bed. He wrote here "I can't wait to get back on set". His tenacity enabled him to return to work and finish his last work, "Silver Mask" (2006). This is the notice for his memorial service.

NT: Ah, very Eros and Thanatos. You asked Jissoji to act as supervisor on your "Chikyu Boei Shojo Iko-chan 2" (1988), "Calamari Wrestler" (2004), "The World Sinks Except Japan" and "Rug Cop" (both 2006), so did he influence those works?

KM: I say 'supervisor,' but he really just watched the films and did the title calligraphy for me (laughs). I didn't learn filmmaking under him, so we were more like friends with an age gap. He had no influence on my works [he says decisively]. Well, there's an homage scene to the Eye Slugger from "Ultra Seven" in "Rug Cop". But, I have to say that his comedy sense is amazing in episode 34 of "Ultraman", "A Gift from the Sky" (Sora kara no Okurimono), where Hayata tries to transform into Ultraman using a curry spoon. There's also the scene in episode 8 of "Ultra Seven", "The Targeted Town" (Nerawareta Machi), where the Metron alien and Dan have a conversation over a traditional short-legged dinner table, that really packs a wallop. There were plans to export the Ultra series overseas, so a scene as quintessentially Japanese as that raised the ire of Tsuburaya Productions. But Jissoji was the kind of person who broke taboo after taboo. And those works of his live on today as masterpieces. I doubt we'll see many filmmakers from now on who'll be as dazzling and capable of breaking taboos so nonchalantly.

Sabu on "Crab Cannery Ship", part two

The conclusion of Nagano Tatsuji's interview for Cyzo (read part one here):

NT: Shinjo, the leader of the workers on the cannery boat, is played by Matsuda Ryuhei, so did you see him as carrying on the legacy of his father Matsuda Yusaku?

S: That's exactly right. When I met him, he was the spitting image of Matsuda Yusaku. I was moved (laughs). Matsuda Yusaku had an aura of madness to him, but in terms of portraying that in a role I'd say Matsuda Ryuhei has probably surpassed him already. He has his own unique presence, and at the same time he's also a capable actor.

NT: Did you ever cross paths with Matsuda Yusaku in your acting days?　

S: Yeah, just once. I heard he'd turned up near the apartment building I was living in at the time, and when I ran over to have a look, he was in the middle of filming his last TV series (1989's "Karei naru Tsuiseki") in which he co-starred with Florence Griffith-Joyner. He had someone massaging his lower back throughout the whole shoot [Matsuda was fighting bladder cancer at the time, unbeknownst to most of the cast and crew].

NT: Running was a theme in that series too. You have an intriguing connection there. While your works depict men who run to survive, they also have many characters who die pathetic deaths without managing to change the status quo. They have a distinct concept of life and death built into them, so is this because you had foreign filmgoers in mind?

S: I've always been interested in things like concepts of life and death. When I go to film festivals overseas, there are lots of foreigners who don't believe in ghosts and it's fascinating. I've been to the Berlin Film Festival several times, and Germans don't believe in an afterlife. It's a country where so much war and tragic things have happened, but perhaps because it's an existentialist country, apparently they don't see ghosts. For "Monday" I got Dairakudan to appear in white makeup as beings from the underworld, and I get asked "What on earth were those Butoh dancers...?" (laughs) Germans don't believe in ghosts, but they often have a thing for Japanese culture. Reactions are different from country to country, so it's interesting. As for me, I'm immensely interested in things like spectral photography (laughs).

NT: I'd love to see you make a running horror movie (laughs).

S: Yeah, that might be interesting to do (laughs).

NT: At the press conference announcing the completion of "Crab Cannery Ship", your words to the journalists, "Please become cogs in the gears of society," have really stuck with me...

S: "Cogs in the gears of society" might have a bad ring to it, but it depends on how you look at it. It's the same with filmmaking: you have a script, and large gears start to move when your crew and cast come together, and when the shoot's over, the gears of editing, promotion, theatrical release keep on turning. If any one of those gears isn't aligned properly, a film won't do very well. When everyone joins forces, it succeeds for the first time. For this film, I've travelled here and there and been interviewed, and the journalists say "I'm a fan of yours. I enjoyed your new film". But when I see the printed article, "Rookies: Graduation" is featured prominently, and my film gets a tiny bit of space beneath it (laughs bitterly). First of all, I'd like these reporters to work to change their own product. Then if they were able to give greater exposure to the films they like and want to support, their jobs would be a lot more fun wouldn't they. Er... "Rookies" was just something that popped into my head as an example. I haven't seen it so I can't really say anything about it (laughs).

NT: More and more big names are appearing in your movies, so what are your thoughts on the boundary between major works and minor ones?

S: As far as casting goes, there's no such thing as major or minor. Now everybody works in television. In the past, some actors would say "There's no way I'd ever work in television," but that's not the case anymore. It's not so much an issue of major or minor, it's whether you're good at acting or bad at it, so that's where I want to draw the line.

NT: Since your debut, you've been running all the way, and I'd say the sights and places you see while running have changed quite a lot. Do you intend to keep on running?

S: Making films in Japan, you inevitably get offered a lot of projects where you're adapting pre-existing material, and that has its own merit. They're chances to depict worlds that I'm unfamiliar with. I'd never have come up with the idea of a drama set in a cannery on my own. Plus, you can't call yourself a filmmaker if you're not making films. I have some original projects that I hope to make overseas. I'm currently working on one that I hope to shoot overseas with a foreign cast and crew sometime next year. My fans always seem to want me to make films like my old ones, but it's easy to get stuck in a rut doing the same old thing, so I want to fulfil those fans' expectations while trying to find a way to free myself from that situation. To break out of that rut, I've got to think, think for myself... you see (laughs).