Kazuo Kuroki‘s first feature, after a series of sorts and documentaries, was not exactly a crowning success. When the people of Toho first watched it, they decided to shelve it indefinitely, not only because they labelled it as a lunatic film, but also because it failed as a promotional vehicle for its star Mariko Kaga, who carries almost every female role in the movie. It wasn’t until (who else?) ATG decided to distribute it that it saw the light of day. The script is based on the childhood experiences of Yasuo Matsukawa and is essentially a combination of fiction and documentary.
Follow our coverage of Art Theatre Guild by clicking on the image below
A bug-obsessed boy in Hokkaido captures a Nagasaki swallowtail butterfly, something his teachers deem impossible as the particular species could not possibly be found so far away . Meanwhile, a swallowtail larva in Nagasaki clings to a person and begins a journey eastward. The journey of the larva unfolds through Hagi, Hiroshima, Kyoto, Osaka, Hong Kong, Yokohama, and Tokyo, revealing various forms of love, human relationships and Japan’s post war history along the way.
This is the main script essentially, in a film, though, that unfolds as a series of vignettes, usually involving one woman, who is always Mariko Kaga and a man, all across Japan. In one segment, in Hagi, she is a woman who refuses to leave her husband, then kills him, and escapes with her lover, or at least this is how the newspapers perceive the case. Then in Hiroshima, she is having some sort of intercourse within a graveyard, in Kyoto she is a courtesan involved with a man with traumas from the war, then in Osaka she is a billboard star. Along with her is always the larva, appearing between the segments, eventually finding its way in Hong Kong and Yokohama.
Evidently, the movie is filled with allegories and symbolism, the majority of which are quite difficult to discern, even more so due to the experimental approach Kuroki implemented in the film. The comments regarding Japan after the war, however, are quite evident, a number of which are presented through actual footage, in documentary style. The ANPO protests for example or the fight in the Diet about the treaty, and the voice over of victims of the atomic bomb all move towards this path.
At the same time, they are juxtaposed with yakuza notions and gang fights, live performances in strip clubs and music halls, tour guide aspects in temples, and fictitious segments within the capitalistic setting of post-war Japan. At the same time, and in an approach that reminds intently of one of the rules of the later ‘roman porno’, either a sex or a nude scene appears quite frequently, in another of the films repeating intervals, with the boy and the larva being the other two.
Expectedly, the editing by Kuroki himself is as frantic (or lunatic if you prefer) as you can imagine, considering the number of elements included in the 100 minutes of the movie. At the same time though, the artfulness is also evident, with the 4:3, black-and-white cinematography of Tatsuo Suzuki resulting in a series of rather impressive images. The close ups in the erotic scenes and the rather beautiful face of the protagonist, the detached approach in the documentary-like scenes, and the long shots as the one in the temple are all exquisite, highlighting the quality of the production in that regard.
Mariko Kaga shines quite bright throughout the movie, both with her evident beauty and her knack in portraying a series of different characters, most of which, though, have a temptation/femme fatale/sensual hypostasis. Her interactions with all the men in the movie are well presented, while one can also find some sort of connection between her, the larva and Japan, in a somewhat difficult to discern but also intriguing element.
“Silence Has No Wings” is not a film that offers easy answers or neatly tied conclusions; rather, it demands that its audience engage with its fragmented narrative and surreal imagery, both with their senses and their (abstract) logic. Kazuo Kuroki’s experimental vision challenges the conventions of cinema, blending the poetic and the political, the intimate and the epic. As such, the movie remains another testament to the creative freedom ATG granted its filmmakers, even in the productions the Guild just distributed and not produced.
