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TSUCHIHASHI Masahiro's New Cinema "SOUND,
MOVEMENT AND
LIGHT" Intuition
of The Body Casting up Eternity
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The Visualization of Bodies and the Embodiment of Visual Images :
Commentary on "UGOKI, HIBIKI, HIKARI"
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The 3-hour cinema directed by Masahiro Tsuchihashi, "UGOKI, HIBIKI, HIKARI (Sound, Movement and Light)," combines elements of documentary and fiction film.
This cinema consists of the following four sequences,
which all focus on the rendering of bodies.
(1). The Eyes of Non-existence: A shaman of a fictitious clan that has inherited the culture of the ancient Jomon Period is dancing to offer a prayer to their god.
(2). A Dog, a Fence and the Sun in a Puddle: A young woman who lacks a sense of her own existence visits an old recluse who lives in a forest in a mountain, and becomes aware of the reality around her as she listens to surrealistic fables told by the recluse.
(3). The Silence of 5 o'clock in the Morning: An actress, as the one from Nagata Ward in Kobe City, tells about the local culture of Nagata and her experience of the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake.
(4). The Innocence of Genesis: A poem is read while fragmentary
images of pictures and landscapes depicting beauty and bodies are shown.
These four sequences are fragmented, mixed with each other while following a sequential time order, edited, and then combined. Consequently, the four sequences are tangled with each other and successfully visualize the "bodies" in an integrated way, while, at the same time, succeeding in giving a "body" to this cinema.
The title, "UGOKI, HIBIKI, HIKARI," represents
three temporal elements that stimulate, spatially, the sense of perception,
sense of hearing and sense of vision. It also represents the basic elements
that are recorded and conveyed by the cinema. Accordingly, this title
may be regarded as a combination of keywords that summarize the essence
of the cinema.
The cinema ends with a scene in which the sun shines equally on a holy mirror and a puddle, conveying a sincere wish for the union of the god and men, and that of soul and body.
Shunkichi Baba (Haiku poet)
