The Glorious Age of Japanese Documentary Film

A

A
Japan/1998/Japanese/Color/16mm/136 min/

Director: Mori Tatsuya
Photography, Editing, Sound: Mori Tatsuya, Yasuoka Takaharu
Music: Pak Poe
Producer: Yasuoka Takaharu
Production Company, Source: “A” Production Committee

Screen
03/21 14 :00 1 hall
03/27 9:00 2 hall

Filming for “A” began six months after the Tokyo subway sarin attack (1995), but it was not for another two years and three months that this unique inside look at Aum was finally completed. Thanks to its departure from any preconceived conclusions as well as a production style that favored subtle engagement over a rush to resolution, the film offers us a double - barreled perspective not found in television news reports, one that relativizes the opposites of “them” (the young Aum converts) and “us” (the police, the media, myself, yourself) as two sides of the same coin. With this perspective, the saintly and the self-interested, the just and the hypocritical that are had on both sides, bleed into each other across any clear demarcation. As a result, the film locates its objective not in some exposé of the cult's dark side, but rather in pursuing the spiritual excesses and deficiencies on our side –yours and mine –that are its source.
This film leaves its viewer with an intense visual and intellectual question about what documentary film shows and about what it does not. Since Aum's media strategies continue to win it new members, they too should warrant interrogation, and we are left in a difficult position when it comes to appraising the film. Still, the real reason is surely to be found in current Japanese society that affords little thought for religion. [Fukushima Yukio]

Mori Tatsuya
Born in 1956. Took part in filmmaking from the time he was a student at Tokyo's Rikkyo University. Appeared as an actor in films by Kurosawa Kiyoshi and Ishii Sogo. In 1987 he began working for a television production company. Has worked on more than 40 TV documentary and news reports. Made programs on topics such as censorship in music, midget wrestling, and people of super ability, all from his own unique point of view. His first feature-length film “A” was screened at YIDFF ' 97. The re-edited “international” version, one that has been seen at international film festivals in Berlin, Hong Kong, Pusan, and Vancouver will be shown this time. Mori is now shooting his next film based on the Occupation era Shimoyama incident.