di  Rossana M. FONSECA

Young Yakuza

di Jean-Pierre Limosin

France 2007, 98'

While the invitees went off to the opening film of the IDFA, I sat down to see Young Yakuza, a portrait of the Japanese mafia scene that has already been screened in Cannes and San Sebastian, amongst others. Most of us think of Yakuza gangs as reckless tattooed gangsters without little fingers. Both Japanese and Western fiction films picture the Yakuza as a strictly hierarchical organization with distinctive skills of violence, but the clan details always remain veiled in secrecy. It is therefore very interesting and refreshing to take a peek into this world together with the filmmaker, although this peek remains superficial and never delves into the real Yakuza world.
Ya-ku-za means 8-9-3. It is originally a gambling term, as the first Yakuza clanhouses were illegal gambling houses. It seems the filmmaker is gambling as well, by choosing an insecure young boy as his main character. Naoki, 20 years old, is caught up in a criminal way of life. He has failed at school, at work and in his personal life, and therefore he decided to make a living from street crime, drugs and theft. His mother is desperate, and hands her son over to the Kumagai Yakuza clan, as an apprentice for one year. We see this hierarchical world with its cliché senseless mafia boss from Naoki’s point of view. The indoctrination starts with getting a haircut, a uniform and the right, detailed ceremony to prepare the bosses tea. The film is interweaved with rap intermezzos of young Japanese musicians, to show the image of the time. It works occasionally, but it also draws the attention away from the protagonist.
The documentary shows us a few images of the impressive tattooed bodies of the Yakuzas, including one spectacular bathing scene. We also follow Naoki during his apprentice duties, which range from housework and drying off his bosses body after showering to more glamorous work as a nightclub security guard. Naoki seems happy with his new life, but quite unexpected Naoki goes missing after he is given a day off because of an ill uncle. A documentary maker’s nightmare. The film goes on for more than 30 minutes covering several storylines of Yakuza members, but without a protagonist to identify with, the story is dead. What’s left is an interesting but superficial glimpse into this world, that should have ended with the missing of Naoki. He returns at the end of the film, but does not explain at all why he left, leaving the audience unsatisfied.
The French filmmaker Limosin is no newcomer in Japan, as he has made a documentary about Takeshi Kitano and a Japanese fiction film, Tokyo Eyes. Still, during the first 45 minutes of the film it is quite unbelievable that he got permission to film inside the Yakuza clanhouse - Japanese predecessors who tried to capture the illegal dealings did not live to tell about it.

The weakness of the film is explained by Yakuza boss Kumagai himself: Yakuza are involved in legitimate businesses but they also move in a parallel world to mainstream Japanese society. The mafia boss will not allow the film to cross the line that separates their shadow world from the normal society. Therefore Limosin remains the outsider that looks through a condensed window, and what he gets is an intriguing story that lacks profoundness.

23/30

Bajo Juárez, the City Devouring Its Daughters

di José Antonio Cordero, Alejandra Sánchez

Mexico 2007, 96'

Juarez, a Mexican city near the American border, suffers from a striking number of disappearing young women. Hundreds of women remain missing, but several bodies have been discovered as well – brutal murder. Many fathers, brothers, uncles and nephews have been arrested and tortured into confession. This documentary investigates the case and searches for answers. The filmmakers bump into a disturbing corruption case that goes all the way up to the Mexican government. The mothers are willing to fight for justice until the end. But they are poor and cannot afford a lawyer. And how do you solve this high level corruption? The families have no chance at all, since evidence is clearly not enough to win this battle.
It is all about this one important message. Murders have to be solved, murderers have to be punished and the innocent have to be released. The audience agrees. We feel the mothers’ grief and despair, we feel the unfair suppression. The images are intriguing. But the documentary is hard to follow.

Too much information, too many irrelevant storylines. What remains is a striving attempt to inform the world about this emotional and unfair case. Let’s hope the world will respond.

18/30

Music Partisans

di Miroslaw Dembinski

Poland 2007, 58'

“If you’re afraid, nothing ever changes”. The main Belarus protest song, performed by the title’s rock music partisans, echoes in my head when I leave the cinema. Maybe it’s the catchy melody, maybe it’s just the fact that Miroslaw repeats the song over and over again. In the end all that matters is that it works. As the Polish filmmaker states: “The people who take part in the rock music movement are like a little spark. This is very important because from a little spark a great fire, the fire of freedom can begin. I hope it will be soon”.
A revolution is getting started in the last European country with a strict communist regime. The older generation has been subjected to propaganda, they are afraid of change. Meanwhile a younger generation fights for a better future. This could be the theme of a cheesy fiction film, but instead it is a colourful and sincere portrait of a generation that wants to make a difference. In fact, it made me think about my generation. Where do we stand and what do we fight for? These young musicians know.
Miroslaw’s means are limited, but his protagonists carry the videofilm to a higher level. Although the 58 minutes contain many repeated situations, the protagonists singing their songs of freedom in various places while the police is anxiously watching, the repeats only strengthen the main theme of the film.

No great masterpiece, this documentary, but an honest little spark that will leave you thinking and hoping that this generation can really make a difference.

20/30

Stranded

di Gonzalo Arijon

France 2007, 130'

This year’s Joris Ivens award winner does not tell a new, innovative or even original story. Instead, filmmaker Gonzalo Arijon provides a new approach to a story that has been told many times. After a Mexican fiction film, a successful Hollywood feature and many documentaries, Stranded finally unfolds the real story behind the survivors of the infamous 1972 plane crash in the Andes. Director Arijon is an old friend of the survivors, and after seeing the many adaptations of the ‘cannibal crash’ he decided the real story should be told. It’s not only about eating human flesh.
A group of nineteen year-old rugby players, parents and coaches leaves their home country Uruguay to play a friendly game in Chili. A heavy storm sets in, and the plane crashes into a mountain ridge. After spending more than 10 weeks on a 4000 metre high glacier in the Andes,16 men manage to come home. 16 out of 45 passengers. Arijon divides their story into 2 parts; during the first part he uncovers history by using blurry dramatized scenes, a few impressive pictures that were taken during these 10 weeks, and the talking heads of the survivors. The dramatized scenes are no comparison to the Discovery Channel stories we all know, because of the blurriness and intriguing voice-overs Stranded almost reaches a poetic level of storytelling. During the first part Arijon gradually builds up the tension to a natural peak; the part about how, when and why they decided to cut into the body of a dead friend. The reason appears to be quite simple: they wanted to live. More painful is one man’s struggle after losing his wife, will he let his friends use her flesh to stay alive? The real story is not about cannibalism, but this aspect of the incredible survival remains one of the most interesting parts. It’s not about eating your friend, but it’s about the arguments that made the decision. Religious arguments, emotional arguments, rational arguments. The survivors explain, and we, the audience, can only sit and take in. This where men become animals, and where staying alive means giving in to your animal instincts, as one of the survivors states.
The tension increases after this intriguing reveal, and the talking heads of the survivors become a bit boring. Arijon must have thought this through, because during the second part he takes the survivors and their families back to the disaster scene. The beautiful images of these men sitting in the so-called Valley Of Tears, explaining how they conquered hunger, thirst, cold and death, add great value to the film. Also impressive is the footage of the press conference after the return of the 16 survivors. Incredible how these starved, hollow-eyed, pale men could ever make it back to civilization. I can only think of two elements that Arijon should have reconsidered. The choice of poetic images and heavy storylines does not go with the huge amount of talking heads against a black background. I would have told the story straight away from the Valley Of Tears, and do all the interviews in this overwhelming environment. A bigger problem is the length of the film (130 minutes). Arijon states: “a story like this cannot be told in less than 2 hours”. Apart from my opinion that any story can be told in less than 2 hours, I think that some elements could have been cut to insure a smooth, ongoing story. But in the end, all that matters is the inner strength of the survivors, which remains an incredible and touching theme. It will blow you away.

This raw, emotional and beautifully shot documentary was pitched at the IDFA Forum in 2005, and got immediate support from BBC and Arte among others. It all comes together now, as Arijon’s idea grow into a Joris Ivens award.

27/30

Dolls, a Woman from Damascu

di Diana El Jeiroudi

Syria/Denmark 2007, 57'

The dream of every Arab girl in the Middle East is Fulla, a veiled Barbie doll. Fulla stands for conservative values, as the marketing manager states: “Fulla is part of the community that she has been addressed to. She is a lifestyle, representing all values of Arab parents”. Fulla has a wide range of merchandising, from chewing gum to pink prayer carpets.
Debut filmmaker Diana El Jeiroudi focuses parallel with Fulla on Manal, a young mother in the conservative Syrian society. Although the items about Fulla remain limited to an interview with the marketing manager and a few commercials, El Jeiroudi manages to intertwine and connect a young Syrian woman and a plastic doll. She shows the framing of female identity in social and a commercial way.
During the film, Manal shows what Fulla stands for. She takes care of her husband and two daughters. She cooks, and does all the housework. Although she tries to find a new job, her mother tells her not to. She must focus on her husband and children. Her 4 year old daughter covers herself up while taking a bath: “we are girls mommy, we may not show our thingy to them (the camera)”. Meanwhile Fulla smiles her pink smile from the TV screen into the living room. As the marketing manager explains: “in newer versions of Fulla, the long underwear can no longer be taken off, and the breasts are smaller”. Reactions from the market have caused these changes.

Although I expected more information on Fulla, I found it interesting to compare the life of a real woman and a toy. I don’t think the film can stand by Fulla alone or with Manal alone, as Fulla has to be seen within a social context. Fulla is the Arab version of Mc Donalds, a well-thought marketing campaign, not just a player but a product that effects the values of society. The portrait of Manal and Fulla is real food for thought.

24/30

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