Film as a universal language

Starfish Hotel is the latest film from British filmmaker John Williams, who makes Japanese films in Japanese and earns lots of acclaim.

Though more than a few Asian directors have made the jump to the West (Chinese action film directors John Woo and Tsui Hark, and Japanese horror director Hideo Nakata, just to name a few), a Westerner coming to the East to make films is still a rather rare thing. One example is Englandborn director John Williams, who is not only making films in Japan; he is making very successful (and often critically-acclaimed) ones. "I wouldn't really consider myself an English filmmaker making films in Japan," Williams says. "I'd consider myself a ‘Japanese filmmaker', in that the films I make are in Japanese, with Japanese audiences in mind."

Williams began life in Japan as an English teacher in Nagoya in 1988. Though he didn't set out to make films in Japan, life in Nagoya was conducive to the hobby he has enjoyed since the age of 14. "Getting started in Nagoya – securing actors, shoot- ing locations, sets and etcetera – was very easy, because there is no film industry in Nagoya," Williams says. "There is lots of independent filmmaking, lots of amateurs, lots of people doing their own short films. It was very easy to find people to help you with your projects in that kind of situation; there was one man, for example, who gave up his summer to work with me on a project, simply because he had always wanted to make a full-length film.

"Things became different after I moved to Tokyo, however," Williams continues. "[In Tokyo] that kind of help is much more difficult to find. Tokyo is the film industry; even the amateurs are connected to the film industry, in some way or another."

Though living in Tokyo was much more difficult ("I was overwhelmed, really" Williams says), moving to the Big City gave him enormous inspiration for his latest film. Williams's Starfish Hotel, now playing (see review), combines Japanese supernaturalism and David Lynch-ian noir in a film Williams hopes audiences find intriguing and challenging.

"The idea [for Starfish Hotel] came from a couple of places," Williams says. "I am a big fan of Haruki Murakami's novels, the way he combines the ordinary with these kinds of supernatural happenings. My per- sonal circumstances also had a lot to do with it: being absorbed into Tokyo for the first time after moving here, I was overtaken by the bigness and, kind of, darkness of the city. It was a mood I tried to capture in the film."

The film features some famous local names such as Koichi Sato (The Uchuten Hotel), whom Williams describes as a "Japanese George Clooney, handsome leading-man type"; and Kazuyoshi Kushida, best known as a stage director, though one with considerable acting chops. Williams is quick to add that directing in a foreign language is not as big a problem as one would imagine. On the contrary, Williams says, "in some ways, directing in a language that's not originally your own is actually easier. Directing English actors, in English, is also difficult; if you're working in a language that's not your own, I think it tends to make you less direct with the actors – which helps makes things easier for them."

Williams's next project (tentatively titled Possession) is slated to begin filming later this year. The story is about a British woman possessed by the ghost of a Japanese girl ("It's my attempt to do Japanese horror," Williams says). "The very best thing about film is that it's a medium without borders," Williams says. "Good cinema is good cinema, wherever it's made, and wherever it goes, and by whoever's making it. Nationalities don't really matter."

Taking the Show on the Road

First, the good news: more Japanese are watching Japanese films than ever before. "Last year, something around 28 films each made $10 million at the local box office – which is huge by Japanese standards," director John Williams says. However, it is often the case that only Japanese get to see Japanese movies, something Williams regards as a "frustration."

"A lot of the films are only made for local markets," Williams says. "What you have is a lot of films which are financed through the TV stations, and you get a lot of films that are either adaptations of bestselling manga or extended versions of TV dramas – with a lot of attention given to ‘the package', and very little attention given to other things, like the script. There's no effort to reach out to moviegoers overseas. I think it's a shame, because, as I've said, I think that film is a universal medium."

A cure may be found in Tokyo's 100 Meter Films, a company which, in addition to serving as Williams's film production company, also does extensive work with the Japanese government's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI); the company also coordinates with UniJapan, a not-for-profit organization created to boost the international visibility of locally-produced films.

The Ministry tapped 100 Meter Films to coordinate J-Pitch, a workshop series designed to help Japanese producers get their work seen overseas more easily. Among the things J-Pitch stresses (such as the importance of good scripts and international film festivals) is the importance of international co-productions. Local producers are urged to team up with producers and production companies overseas to boost their films' chances of being seen by audiences outside Japan. "We are pushing for change," Williams continues. "Whether that will lead to change, however, is anyone's guess. I hope it does."

Starfish Hotel (Now Showing)

Drama/thriller/Japan/Japanese (English subtitles) 98 mins. Starring: Koichi Sato, Akira Emoto, Kiki Director: John Williams 100 Meter Films

"Are you awake?" is the first line of dialogue in Starfish Hotel, a relentlessly challenging Japaneselanguage film from British director John Williams. That first line also happens to be a very apt guide for what lies ahead; the movie skips between dreams and waking life at a languorous ramble that may confound viewers on first viewing. (Like the films of David Lynch and the novels of Haruki Murakami - the moods of which are unceasingly recalled here - Starfish is one of those works that takes a bit of time to be fully absorbed.)

The basic story is simple: Yuichi, a mentally-numbed office man (iron-jawed leading man Koichi Sato), cheats on his wife Chisato (Tae Kimura) with a smoldering beauty named Kayoko (single-name model actress Kiki, blessed with a come-hither gaze that could melt titanium). Then, a homeless man in a filthy bunny outfit (Akira Emoto, giving new definition to wild-eyed and manic) shows up, and things start to turn weird …

The direction is strong; the cinematography - one of the best aspects of the film - is a lush mix of the regular and the extraordinary; deep blues and electric reds are set aside for the seamier moments, while the banality of the Tokyo transit system and the blandness of the Japanese countryside are captured in simple, but exquisite, detail. As the story bounces back and forth from past to present, dream to reality, the story begins to take cohesive form (it's best to pay attention very early on to catch all of the pertinent clues, however).

Weirdness for its own sake tends to make for a looooong afternoon in the cinema; thankfully, however, despite Starfish's rather tricky story, there is a definite (and definitely tragic) point to it all - even if the characters are only dreaming of getting there.

Text: Jeff Lo • Photos: 100 Meter Films