Blue Eyes -in Harbor Tale- (ブルーアイズ イン ハーバーテイル, 2014) is a sequel to stop motion animator Yūichi Itō’s 2011 animated short Harbor Tale (read
review), which saw a brick from one of Yokohama’s famous red brick
buildings come to life and lead us on a fantastic adventure through the history
of the port city. Spectators who watched
Harbor Tale will be brought right
into the location immediately as it starts with Mr.Brick rowing in Yokohama
Harbor close to Yokohama Marine Tower
The scene
then shifts to a wide-eyed dancing bisque doll, the “Blue Eyes” of the
title. When the performance comes to an
end, a woman applauds. The woman expresses
admiration for the dancing doll, but the doll exerts her independence by going
out for a walk. As she walks from the
ship to the shore, a strong wind blows her into the lap of Mr. Brick rowing in
the canal.
Mr. Brick
and Blue Eyes go out for a drink to a bar that features some of the imported
culture for which Yokohama is famous: the barman is a cocktail shaker who
prepares their drinks in his own “body”, while a mustachioed beer stein sitting
at the bar chuckles. Blue Eyes talks to
Mr. Brick, who seems a bit overwhelmed by the situation. She reveals that she, like the brick, came
alive about a hundred years earlier and was a witness to the ships in the
harbor coming alive (a reference to the events that took place in Harbor Tale). She gets out a giant smart phone in order to
show Mr. Brick a video of the theatrical troupe she wants to join on the other
side of the ocean. She is saving money
in order to go. When the doll tells the
woman her plans to travel, the woman traps her in a birdcage and Mr. Brick and
his seagull friend try to rescue her.
There is no
doubt that the stop motion animation mixed with computer After Effects is top
notch in this film. In particular, Itō’s
mixing of a live actor with a stop motion character is artfully done. However, the story is not nearly as strong as
in Harbor Tale, where Itō was able to
tell the story with less dialogue. I am
also not sure that the story in this film makes much sense if one has not seen Harbor Tale first.
The live
action performer in this work is the actress Michiko Godai (五大 路子), b.
1952, whom fans of Death Note (2006)
will recognise for playing the role of Sachiko Yagami in the live action
adaptations of the popular manga. Godai has
a special relationship with Yokohama.
Not only is it her birthplace, but she has deep roots in its arts
community as the co-founder of the theatrical troupe Yokohama Yumeza in 1999 to bring high quality
theatre to the city.
The casting
of Godai is a nod to the theatrical traditions of Yokohama and the bisque doll
represents the interchange of technologies and cultural practices between Japan
and other countries. Particularly in the
19th century, when bisque dolls imported from France and Germany had
their heyday, Yokohama was the epicentre of that cultural exchange. With Blue
Eyes -in Harbor Tale-, Itō continues his homage to the culture of the city
that he calls home.
Blue Eyes -in Harbor Tale- won the Best
Animation Award at Universe Multicultural Film
Festival in 2015. It has played at
many festivals around the world. I saw
it at Nippon Connection 2015
where Itō was our guest.
Director, Story and Character Design:
Yūichi Itō
Voices:
Maria Kawamura (doll)
Yūichi Itō
(Mr. Brick)
Cast:
Michiko
Godai
Yokohama
Yumeza
Offside
Incorporated
Music:
Sayaka
Yamamoto (composer, synthesizer)
Kazuha
Takahashi (violin)
Kazune
Koshikawa (cello)
Hidehito
Naka (clarinet)
Kenji
Furukawa (recording)
MicroMacro
Studio
Sound Design:
Masumi
Takino
Puppet Animation / Assistant Director:
Fumi Inoue
Clay Animation:
Yuko Yamada
Model Crafts Crew:
Hideto Miyazaki
(Chief of Model Crafts)
Fumi Inoue
Mayumi
Yamamoto (Bisque doll, clothes, modelling assistant)
Kiyomi
Aoyagi (assistant)
Special Modelling:
Kanao
Yamaguchi
Assistant Model Makers:
Masami
Tsurumi
Yuko Yamada
Masahito
Ohara
Yuri
Nakamoto
Ataru
Sakagami
Shouta
Horiuchi
Cathy Munroe Hotes 2016
