If you think of the words “amateur” or “amateurish”, it is not only a derogatory term, but it also defines a border between what is considered to be high art or successful versus what cannot attract audiences or does not meet popular tastes. The fact these tastes are, at least nowadays, defined by marketing people diagnosing what makes money now rather than what audiences might want or whether there is a niche somewhere no one has discovered yet. Within the Japanese film industry, not being associated with the studio system meant a stigma for many artists as they were labeled outsiders such as Seijun Suzuki, who was famously fired after “Branded to Kill”, now considered an avantgarde masterpiece, did not meet the expectations of the production company. Others like Nobuhiko Obayashi never really worked within the studio system and were seen as “amateurs”, a label the director never saw as an insult or a stigma, since it emphasized how refreshingly different his movies were from Japanese mainstream cinema.
“Seijo Story – 60 Years of Making Films” is screening at Japan Cuts 2020
When Nobuhiko Obayashi died on 10 April 2020, Japanese cinema lost one of its unique independent voices, leaving behind a legacy which many international moviegoers still have to discover for themselves. In his documentary “Seijo Story – 60 Years of Making Films” director Isshin Inudo portrays the famous filmmaker and his most important collaborator, his wife and producer Kyoko Obayashi. Essentially, Inudo tells a story of the love between the two and the working relationship, a tale about two people dedicated to make art without making any compromises.
To live in peace is to do what you want. This phrase, given to Nobuhiko Obayashi by his father, a famous doctor, is in many ways a perfect summary to a life defined by the will to work, perfect and to always be curious. It is a phrase which could just as easily fit to Kyoko as she accompanies her husband to all of his meetings, while Nobuhiko always reflects on how she has been the most powerful driving force in his work and in his life. Through the use of various photos and archival footage, among them the very first 8 mm short feature the couple made together back in 1959, Inudo tells the story of their connection, their love and dedication for each other.
As the couple re-visit the set of their first movie, a park in the vicinity of Seijo University, where they meet for the first time in the 1950s, Nobuhiko recounts when he finally had the courage to propose to Kyoko, who is visibly touched by her husband’s words. From the perspective of the viewer, you are equally touched and, at the end of the documentary, in awe of this very special relationship between these two, who, even after all these years, are quite infatuated and in love with one another.
While the relationship of Kyoko and Nobuhiko is at the center of “Seijo Story”, director Inudo also deals with the various changes the Japanese film industry went through over the years. With both of their careers being perhaps the best examples of that change, he recounts the various projects they made together, from the work on commercials to films, all of which Nobuhiko considers his art since he (nor Kyoko) distinguish between them. And, with a smirk brightening up his face, the director adds how this approach has made him perhaps not a “film director” but a “film artist”, a term he and his wife prefer much more.
“Seijo Story – 60 Years of Making Films” is the story of Nobuhiko and Kyoko Obayashi, their love and their work together. Director Isshin Inudo manages to tell a story about the Japanese film industry from the perspective of two artists who have, for the majority of their lives, worked outside it, as “amateurs” and as original voices whose collaborations are famous throughout the world with many audiences discovering features like “Labyrinth of Cinema” and “Hanagatami”.
