Since
winning the Oscar prize for Best Animated Short in 2009 for La
maison en petits cubes (つみきのいえ, 2008), Kunio Katō (加藤久仁生, b. 1977) has been relatively
quiet on the international festival circuit.
At home; however, he has been busy making animation in his capacity as
an animator at the commercial and graphic design company ROBOT.
In 2010, he made a beautiful series of animated shorts as part of the
promotion of the 40th anniversary of the Japanese housing company Sekisui Heim (セキスイハイム). In 2011-12,
an exhibition of his work went on the road starting with the Towada Art Center
in Aomori, followed by the Hachioji Yume Art Museum in Tokyo (Feb. 10 – March 25,
2012), the Kariya City Art Museum in
Aichi (April 21 – June 3, 2012), and the Nagashima Museum in Kagoshima (July 21
– Sept. 17, 2012).
The
centrepiece of these exhibitions was a new work created by Katō called Scenes (情景/Jōkei,
2012). Reviews of the exhibition indicated
that this new work consists of seven animated vignettes, with each vignette
animated in a different style. According
to animeanime.jp’s
review of a Kunio Katō screening event at Ebisu Garden Place last fall, the
vignettes (or “omnibus”) are called: Holidays (休日 / Kyūjitsu), Snow (雪 / Yuki), Potage (ポタージュ /
Potāju), Them (あいつ / Aitsu), Morning (朝 / Asa), Nap (昼寝 / Hirune), and
Curtain Call (カーテンコール/ Kāten kōru) (my title translations and
transliterations). The press screener
that I saw had only 5 of these 7 vignettes, so my review is based on
those.
Each of the
vignettes has a minimalist style. Instead
of the fully coloured foregrounds, mid-grounds and backgrounds of The
Diary of Tortov Roddle (2003-4) and La
maison en petits cubes, Scenes
looks more like an animated sketchbook with backgrounds either non-existent or
merely hinted at. As is typical for Katō,
each of the vignettes, or “scenes”, feature a mix of the familiar and the playfully
surreal.
The “scenes”
have no dialogue, only sound effects accompanied by music composed by frequent Katō
collaborator Kenji Kondō (近藤研二, b. 1966), who also composed the soundtracks to The Diary of Tortov Roddle and La maison en petits cubes. Although I couldn’t spot them in the rather
sparse credits, I am pretty sure that the soundtrack was performed by Kondō’s
band, the Kuricorder Quartet (栗コーダーカルテット). The screener that I have gives four options
for the soundtrack. Three rotate the
music between different “scenes”, which changes the mood of each “scene” from playful
to reflective, while the fourth soundtrack option is without music (ie sound
effects only).
I have
already used the adjective “playful” twice in this review because that is my
overall impression of Katō’s approach to these animated “scenes”. Rather than present a fully fleshed out
story, as he did in La maison en petits
cubes, these vignettes are more about hinting at stories and characters and
allowing the audience to make their own connections. It has a much more spontaneous feel to it
than his earlier work, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Katō took a free-form,
stream-of-consciousness approach instead of storyboarding as he usually does (I
will update when/if I find out how he planned the film).
Holidays / 休日 /
Kyūjitsu
Opening with
clouds against a blue sky, this “scene” is a series of mini-scenes of people on
holiday. There is an over-arching
mini-story about a father and son who create a puddle at a water tap (the kind
one might find in the backyard or a Japanese playground) then pick it up (the “playfully
surreal” that I mentioned earlier) and play with it until finally releasing it
into the sea like a captured fish.
Interspersed with this mini-story are scenes of other people enjoying
their leisure time: girls playing jump rope, a couple flying a toy remote
control plane, a father and daughter kicking a red ball, all culminating in a
wide shot incorporating all the people as if they are in the park
together.
Snow / 雪 / Yuki
The snow in
this “scene” looks more like autumn leaves, but then it is difficult to draw
white against white. This vignette suggests
the feeling of winter with the crunch of snow underfoot, the activities people
do indoors and out to keep warm on a cold day, people having a snow fight,
tinned fish, and other associations the artist has made with his wintry theme.
Potage / ポタージュ / Potāju
Potage comes
from the French and refers to thick soups, stews, and porridges that have their
origins in medieval French cuisine.
Potage, particularly corn potage, is quite a popular dish in Japan. This “scene” explores associations surrounding
this homey meal: girlfriends hanging out together, family meals, a couple with
their backs to each other reading, and a surreal sequence with a fish that
leads to an image of typical potage ingredients (fish, onions, potatoes, etc). The vignette evokes a feeling of togetherness
and shared experience.
Them / あいつ / Aitsu
It was quite
hard to translate the title of this “scene” because the word “aitsu” is a very
colloquial one that depends on the context.
It most often means “that one” / “him” / “her”. This vignette
is once again a series of associations, but the background has a yellow hue (my
guess is that it has been painted onto different paper than the earlier
vignettes) and it looks more like watercolours than pencil on paper. There is a summer theme to this vignette
(cicadas on the soundtrack, the drinking of Ramune soda, the playing of
baseball). I interpret this mini-story as
concerning a schoolgirl’s friendship with a yellow creature, and a schoolboy’s
jealous reaction to this relationship.
Morning / 朝 / Asa
This vignette
begins in a style associated with experimental films: a black background thickly
painted with white onto which Katō has overlaid a series of pencil sketches of
breakfast items. There is a wonderful
sequence in which a liquid poured into a glass metamorphoses into a series of
different drinks associated with breakfast.
This is followed by montage of the diverse array of breakfasts available
in Japan from the western influence of toasts and pancakes to traditional
Japanese breakfasts of fish and rice.
From the minimal to the decadent, this vignette is a feast for the
eyes.
Not yet
screened:
Nap / 昼寝 / Hirune
Curtain Call
/カーテンコール/ Kāten kōru
This is a
fascinating collection of animated short-shorts. I would imagine that the overwhelming success
of La maison en petits cubes put a
lot of pressure on Kunio Katō to follow that project up with something
spectacular. Scenes is not a film designed to wow, instead it feels like the
work of an artist who is looking inward.
It is a reflective and observant piece that subtly explores the craft of
animation and its ability to express the inner workings of the human mind. Instead of presenting a fully formed story,
it unfolds like a piece of music with a theme and variation pattern. It will be interesting to see where Katō’s
creative mind will lead him next.
Catherine
Munroe Hotes 2014
