Masayoshi Sukita is a legend among photographers, not only for his lengthy cooperation (he has been photographing him for 40 years), but through a number of other, very interesting collaborations that extend from the world of fashion to the movies. This documentary presents his biography.
The portrait Hiro Aihara creates is as thorough as it could be, since it begins with Sukita's childhood, and continues with a mixture of his past and current endeavors, through both Sukita's narration and interviews of the people he has worked with through the years. As a number of a very important artists explain the impact his photographs had in their lives (particularly the ones of Bowie and Marc Bolan of T-Rex), the influence Sugita had becomes quite evident, along with the character of a kind, very down-to-earth man, whom everyone seems to like.
Through his work, we also learn of his inspiration and the drive that has him still working, even handling photos of young Japanese bands. His overall career history is quite impressive, as it includes musicians like Ryuichi Sakamoto, Iggy Pop (and a connection with CBGBs), fashion designers like Kansai Yamamoto and Sir Paul Smith, and directors like Shuji Terayama, Jim Jarmusch and Hirokazu Koreeda. Furthermore, gallery owners, exhibitionists and other photographers also talk about his work, in the most loving manner. Through all this footage, other aspects of his character also come to the fore, of his will to continue working and discovering new themes and subjects, while embracing new technology, along with a goal of connecting (and comparing) the star system of the past with the one of the present.
The presentation of all the above elements is worthy of its subject, with Mark Higashino and Genro Kitaima's cinematography highlighting the various aspects of Sukita's life and work in impressive fashion, through an approach filled with color and outstanding images, both in interiors and exterior locations. Eri Usukine's editing is also quite good, with the back and forths in Sukita's life benefitting the story to the most. The sole flaw I found was during Sukita's monologues, some of which, and particularly the one in the beginning is quite lengthy, and becomes a bit tiring after a fashion. This however, is a minor “flaw” and does not harm the overall aesthetics of the documentary.
“Sukita: The Must Go On” is a very interesting portrait of a man who has lived, and continues living an extremely interesting life, particularly through his collaborations with some of the most important figures of entertainment.
