Hey, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab.
I'm a firm believer that what is cool in film does not exist on any sort of calendar. It's not just about movies that are just coming out or being made or in the future. It's not always about the hottest and the newest. As Quentin Tarantino seems bound and determined to remind geeks each year (and no, I don't mind that I'm not there, NOT ONE LITTLE BIT, REALLY, THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!), there are all sorts of films that go forgotten, that get sidelined, that deserve our attention. Sometimes, someone's plea for a forgotten film finds its way to my ears, and I get turned on to something I might otherwise never see.
That's the case with Shadwell's letter from a few days ago. He seems quite passionate about this film. Come on, Talk Backers... any of the rest of you seen this? Is he right? Is it worth finding?
Moriarty,
Hi.
I hope it is alright me sending this to you but hey, Harry seems to rather indisposed at Tarantino’s thingmajig number five.
Anyway, this isn’t a review of a new film but after getting back from seeing Junichi Yagi’s ‘Watching the Detective’, made in 1998 at the NFT in London tonight, I felt like I needed to both put some thoughts on virtual paper and attempt to spread the word on this unknown little film. Whether or not you want to post this is up to you (although you know that, obviously) but either way I’d urge you to write the film’s title and the name of the director on a post-it note or write them in that notebook you keep to track of films you want to see, or just commit the names to memory, and if the opportunity to see this film comes, take it.
‘Watching the Detective,’ directed by Junichi Yagi.
The film was playing as part of the NFT’s ‘Unseen Gems of Japanese Cinema’ season and is certainly Japanese, definitely a gem and is evidently almost completely unseen. Getting home I had a look on the Internet Movie Database, and what is there on the film’s page? Absolutely nothing. Not even one user rating. Well, that was soon rectified, but has no-one seen it? Well, we can’t have that. People need to be aware of this film dammit. People need to see this film. It’s good. Very good.
The film’s story is simple. A Detective gets hired to watch an old lady in her apartment; no questions asked. He isn’t allowed to ask why he’s watching her or find out anything about her. He can’t tap her phone or follow her when she leaves the house, all he can do is look through her windows, note down her movements and write them up into reports for his employer. As he monitors the woman, he notices her actions are repeated, almost to the minute each day. Is it just her routine, or is there a deeper reason behind it? He needs to know and starts to follow her about, breaking the instructions given to him. As he continues to watch her the toll of her repetition and his isolation bear down on him, gradually at first, and he is driven mad with boredom. He sees a new, younger, more beautiful woman in the old lady’s apartment. Is she really there or is it his delusion? I won’t spoil the rest of the film, but needless to say we get a bit lost before the final scene and resolution.
While the plot may not sound wholly original, like many a great film, everything is in the execution. I guess the most complimentary thing I can say about the film is that it is a film about boredom which is never boring. Throughout the albeit slender running time of 71 minutes, the audience is held in the Detective’s world, and this is one of the best subjective pieces of cinema I’ve seen. Like films (I’m sure there are better examples but it’s getting late and these are just off the top of my head) such as ‘Memento’, ‘Perfect Blue’ or ‘Clean, Shaven,’ we are both drawn into the character’s world, feeling what they are going through, through the up close and expressionistic camerawork, but at the same time, are questioning whether what we are seeing is their delusion or something simpler and more concrete. I guess ‘Clean, Shaven’ is the best example of the three as a comparison because of its innovative and effective use of sound to get us inside the head of the lead character. Another example would of course be David Lynch and I’m sure Yagi has made notes during ‘Blue Velvet,’ ‘Fire Walk With Me’ and ‘Lost Highway’ on how to create almost unbearable claustrophobia with just a few droning sounds.
‘Watching the Detective’ is obviously about voyeurism, both his and ours (look at the title of the film, they tell you that upfront) but is also about the lack of contact the Detective has with the world. He only seems able to make the flimsiest of connections to people. He believes he and the old lady he is watching have a relationship, saying that they respect each other’s role as subject and viewer, and are never officious to one another, yet she doesn’t know he’s there. He deduces quickly (and incorrectly) the reason that he has been hired to watch the old lady, but is unable to make friends. He makes love with a woman we believe is his girlfriend, but turns out to be a prostitute who tells him he wouldn’t be able to get her, or anyone else for that matter, unless he pays. He is a man adrift, only able to watch the world go by through his camera and telescope lens’, rather than be a part of it.
I think I’ve taken up enough of your time (if you made it this far) with my meandering and I’m sure, in need of a few more drafts review, but I will say that the film is on again this Friday (31st August) at 6.10, at the National Film Theatre, London, England. Plus you get two, (not very good) short films as well, and I would urge anyone who can to go see it. If not, maybe it will show up at a film festival or on a cool movie channel late at night at some point, or dare I even hope, DVD.
Thanks.
Shadwell.
(although I don’t really need a special name, it’s kind of cool to use one)
P.S. You should have kept that Country Bears picture to yourself. This film is for children?!!! Ye Gods!!!
If someone else gets a chance to see this at the second showing, and it's worth dropping us a line, do so. I can't believe it took me until this summer to learn about another Japanese filmmaker, Takashi Miike, and it kills me, knowing there's a lot of people whose work just doesn't get the right distribution over here.
Thanks for the heads-up, Shadwell.
"Moriarty" out.
