Читать книгу A Critical Handbook of Japanese Film Directors - Alexander Jacoby - Страница 20

(b. January 3, 1926)

羽田澄子

Haneda has sustained a half-century-long career in documentary filmmaking, realizing numerous films on cultural, socially critical, and feminist themes. She worked initially at Iwanami Productions, where she served as assistant to Susumu Hani before making her debut with Women’s College in the Village (Mura no fujin gakkyū, 1957), which earned praise for its realism. Her next film, Ancient Beauty (Kodai no bi, 1958), became the first in a trilogy of documentaries depicting works of art and artifacts in the possession of the Tokyo National Museum. Meanwhile, in films such as Cabbage Butterflies (Monshirochō: Kōdō no jikkenteki kansatsu, 1968), she applied innovative techniques to the depiction of the natural world.

Haneda made her first independent film with the acclaimed The Cherry Tree with Gray Blossoms (Usuzumi no sakura, 1977); this, in Eric Cazdyn’s words, was “a gorgeously haunting representation of a famous cherry tree’s seasonal transformations, punctuated by the coming-of-age changes of a teenage girl.” Shortly thereafter, Haneda left Iwanami Productions permanently to work freelance. Among her most important later films were two works documenting the problems of the elderly: How to Care for the Senile (Chihōsei rōjin no sekai, 1985) and Getting Old with a Sense of Security (Anshin shite oiru tameni, 1990). On a related topic, All’s Well That Ends Well (Owari yokereba subete yoshi, 2007) was a study of terminal medical care, posing the question of whether it is possible to achieve a “good death.”

Elsewhere, Haneda has examined the place of women in Japanese society, particularly with a historical focus. Women’s Testimony: Pioneering Women in the Labor Movement (Onnatachi no shōgen: Rōdō undō no naka no senkuteki joseitachi, 1996) depicted the role of women in labor unions during an oppressive era, while Woman Was the Sun: The Life of Raicho Hiratsuka (Hiratsuka Raichō no shōgai: Genshi, josei wa taiyō de atta, 2002) related the life story of the noted early twentieth-century Japanese writer, peace activist, and feminist. Haneda has also realized a sequence of films, initiated by Welfare as Chosen by Our Town’s Citizens (Jūmin ga sentaku shita machi no fukushi, 1997), about local politics in modern Japan; these charted the efforts of a reforming mayor in a northern town to improve the lot of senior citizens and to boost local participation in politics.

Haneda’s most consistent focus, however, has been the cultural traditions of Japan, particularly in the performing arts. Ode to Mount Hayachine (Hayachine no fu, 1982) recorded a devotional dance performed in northern Iwate Prefecture and juxtaposed this tradition, unaltered since the medieval era, with the changes reaching the mountainous region in a time of modernization. It won widespread commercial distribution in Japan, an achievement rare for a documentary. By contrast, Akiko: Portrait of a Dancer (Akiko: Aru dansā no shōzō, 1985) charted the work and life of one of the country’s most important modern dancers. Haneda has also made several films about Kabuki, including a series of documentaries charting the final years of actor Nizaemon Kataoka. More recently, Into the Picture Scroll: The Tale of Yamanaka Tokiwa (Yamanaka Tokiwa, 2004) used a famous picture scroll to retell the tragic legend of folk hero Yoshitsune’s quest to avenge his mother’s murder.

Haneda has not only tackled a broad range of subjects but has also revealed a determination to explore them exhaustively, often making sequences of films in which each episode touches on a new facet of her theme. That her work remains almost unknown in the West probably says more about audience attitudes towards the documentary medium than anything else.

1957 Mura no fujin gakkyū / Women’s College in the Village

1958 Kodai no bi / Ancient Beauty

1967 Fūzokuga: Kinsei shoki / Genre Pictures in the Late 16th Century

1968 Monshirochō: Kōdō no jikkenteki kansatsu / Cabbage Butterflies (lit. Cabbage Butterflies: Experimental Observation of Their Activity)

1969 Kyōgen / Kyogen

1971 Hōryū-ji kennō hōmotsu / Treasures Donated to Horyu-ji

1972 Gendai rinshō igaku taikei / The System of Modern Clinical Medicine

1973 Fuyu ni saku hana wa dō naru ka / What Will Become of the Flowers That Blossom in Winter?

Ōta-ku ni tsutawaru mukei bunkazai / Intangible Cultural Assets of Ota-ku

1974 Ki to ie / Wood and Houses

1975 Bamboo

1976 Tenkoku: Kokuji / Writing Carved in Stone

1977 Usuzumi no sakura / The Cherry Tree with Gray Blossoms

1979 Karei: Hada no henka to sono shikumi / Ageing: The Change of the Skin and its Mechanics

1980 Uemachi : Ima mukashi / Uemachi: Now the Past

1981 Hayachine: Kagura no sato / Hayachine: Village of Kagura

1982 Hayachine no fu / Ode to Mount Hayachine

Kabuki no miryoku: Kanshōjō Kataoka Nizaemon / The Appeal of Kabuki: Nizaemon Kataoka as Sugawara no Michizane

1983 Tsukuba 1983

1985 Kabuki no miryoku: Ongaku: Osan Mohei daikeishi mukashi koyomi ni miru / The Appeal of Kabuki: Osan and Mohei the Great Fortune Tellers: Looking in an Old Almanac

Akiko: Aru dansā no shōzō / Akiko: Portrait of a Dancer

Chihōsei rōjin no sekai / How to Care for the Senile

1987 Kabuki no miryoku: Shin kabuki / The Appeal of Kabuki: New Kabuki

1990 Anshin shite oiru tameni / Getting Old with a Sense of Security

1992 Kabuki yakusha: Kataoka Nizaemon / Kabuki Actor: Nizaemon Kataoka

1994 Kabuki yakusha: Kataoka Nizaemon: Tōsen no maki / Kabuki Actor: Nizaemon Kataoka: Chapter of Tosen

1995 Kadoya Shichirōbei no monogatari: Betonamu no Nihonjin machi / Tale of Shichirobei Kadoya: A Japanese Town in Vietnam

1996 Onnatachi no shōgen: Rōdō undō no naka no senkuteki joseitachi / Women’s Testimony: Pioneering Women in the Labor Movement

1997 Jūmin ga sentaku shita machi no fukushi / Welfare as Chosen by Our Town’s Citizens

2000 Zoku jūmin ga sentaku shita machi no fukushi: Mondai wa kore kara desu / Welfare as Chosen by Our Town’s Citizens, Part 2: Questions Yet Remain

2002 Hiratsuka Raichō no shōgai: Genshi, josei wa taiyō de atta / Woman Was the Sun: The Life of Raicho Hiratsuka

2004 Yamanaka Tokiwa / Into the Picture Scroll: The Tale of Yamanaka Tokiwa

2006 Ano Takanosumachi no sono go / Takanosumachi Thereafter

Ano Takanosumachi no sono go: Zokuhen / Takanosumachi Thereafter: Sequel

2007 Owari yokereba subete yoshi / All’s Well That Ends Well