As I have mentioned a number of times recently, the definition of what is a documentary has been completely deconstructed lately, with the mockumentaries and the docs about docs being the main “culprit”. Jeff Mizushima goes a step further, by directing a film which starts as a documentary, before it becomes a documentary about another documentary, supposedly unbeknownst to the person shooting the former. If this seems confusing, wait until you see the actual “Who is Lun*na Menoh?”
“Who is Lun*na Menoh?” is Screening at San Diego Asian Film Festival
Lun*na Menoh is a Japanese-born visual artist, fashion designer and musician who lives in Los Angeles. In the early 2000s Lun*na partnered with Sukho Lee for the band Seksu Roba, created the musical entity Jean Paul Yamamoto and currently performs with Saori Mitome as Les Sewing Sisters. In 2019 Les Sewing Sisters held a musical tour through 22 closets of private homes in Los Angeles. Since the early 1990s she has presented work at Los Angeles art spaces and unique venues. She moved to Los Angeles from Japan in 1989 and is married to author and publisher Tosh Berman.
As the movie begins, Mizushima seems to have shot a doc about her, which looks impressive, but at the same time is rather generic, despite the fact that supposedly, it took him 10 years to shoot it. After this initial part ends however, we realize that this was an initial cut of the film Mizushima is presenting to Lun*na, who is actually quite disappointed about it, to the point that a bit later she decides to fire the director, and shoot the doc about her life herself. A shuttered Mizushima does not stand still however, instead he decides to shoot a doc of his own, about the doc Lun*na is shooting. In the process, the film as a whole ends up being about him and the concept of the documentarian also.
Despite the absurdness of this whole approach, and the almost constant breaking of the fourth wall, the presentation of Lun*na Menoh's life and work is actually quite thorough, as it highlights both the person and the many aspects of a rather prolific artist. In that fashion, through footage of her fashion shows, live music performances, participation in film, rather unusual costume-making, and videos from her first art exhibitions in the US, the portrait of this rather unusual artist is presented in the most eloquent ways. The interviews with her many collaborators, critics, other artists, her family and her husband shed even more light on her persona, while also presenting her personality outside of her art, as much as something like this is possible. Lastly, her efforts to shoot the doc, occasionally torturing the participants who are recorded talking about her, and Mizushima's effort to shoot his own doc about her film, in an effort that supposedly aims at undermining hers, concludes this rather intriguing narrative with a very entertaining splash of humor.
The end result, which has been shot by 9 people and edited by 3, is as much a documentary as it is an art piece, in an approach that seems ideal in order to present both Lun*na and Mizushima. In conclusion, “Who is Lun*na Menoh?” is an impressive film that manages to be both informative and quite entertaining throughout its 81 minutes.
