The Wonderful Elton Fuji

What would be like if you couldn’t talk? How would you express yourself? How would you let people know you existed? How would you make a difference? After all some of the world’s greatest accomplishments began with great words: “I have a dream…”, “Man will walk on the moon…” Of course other people left equally powerful marks with not only words but art. As great a man as Pablo Picasso was his true legacy in his art. Da Vinci, for all the great things he may have said, is truly remembered by his work and art.

Enter Elton Fuji, a humble Japanese man with puffy hair. He is a mute. He is an artist. Happy with his everyday life, he enjoys a peaceful existence of daily routine and art until he falls in love. The Wonderful Elton Fuji, on the surface, seems the most different of all the stories in Ashita, however upon further thought it’s easily realized how much this story belongs in the movie. Elton, played wonderfully by the diverse and talented Daisuke Takeya, is such a fragmented character. When I originally had the concept for the story, I knew immediately that I want Daisuke to play the part—I was ecstatic when he agreed to it, in fact I was not going to shoot the story unless Daisuke was in it. Now, Daisuke is an extraordinarily busy man and I am grateful and amazed that he found the time to dedicate to this part of Ashita and honestly, I am glad I wanted only him. It’s impossible to picture Elton Fuji any other way than how Daisuke played him.

I essentially created the story as a challenge to myself. Ashita’s stories are heavy on dialogue and characters that express themselves though complex monologues or conversations. I wanted to create something totally opposite, something that would really bring the same meaning but with a different approach. And so was born The Wonderful Elton Fuji. The story isn’t completely silent, there is a narrator who talks to Elton, who I see as his subconscious—the only reason I went with the narrator was to keep a certain consistency within the six stories because all the other stories have voiceover, I needed to give Elton something similar. Of course having Elton do voiceover, would be ridiculous, he’s a mute character I could not bring myself to believe that he would have voiceover, even if the voiceover is interpreted as part of his thoughts. I decided a narrator describing Elton for the audience would work better. What makes it cinematically interesting, I think, is that Elton interacts with the narrator. The essence of the story is that Elton is in love with the girl that lives across the hall from his apartment and the only way he knows how to communicate with her is through art. So draws for her, he leaves the drawings on her door, knocks and runs away. She replies with notes on his door, and thus our little, quirky love story begins.

Of all the shoots on Ashita, The Wonderful Elton Fuji was the fastest, firstly there was no lengthy dialogue so almost every frame we shot is usable and creates a necessity for less takes. I also wanted to have an improvised feeling for this story, all the camera work was hand held, I avoided the tripod with this story and I think it really gives the story a warmer feeling and it makes us feel closer to the character of Elton. Daisuke and I did very little rehearsing, we met twice before the shoot just to go over costume and a few quick ideas I had. Almost everything about this story was decided on set. I wanted to camera to play and discover things along with Elton and it really turned out nice.

The main theme of the story is communication through visual art, this is not a new concept if we look at the very famous painting The Scream by Edvard Munch, we can clearly see him communicating tormented emotion. Elton is not so dark in his work, but the message he brings out is clear beauty is best seen. Tell someone they are beautiful, they may be flattered, but they may also not believe you. If you show someone how they are beautiful that will leave a much bigger and more powerful impact. I originally envisioned The Wonderful Elton Fuji in black and white with colour sequences. Colour is something that Andy and I discussed with this story. I think if we do not go with black and white we will go with one monotone colour, meaning most of the story will have a blue or yellow filter.

The more we proceed with each of these stories in the movie, the more I see them as six dreams about tomorrow. And like dreams I want them to visually interesting. To me, Elton Fuji would be the type of dream you have while taking an afternoon nap on a warm summer day—at first you’re not sure what its about, but as it slowly moves along it becomes a warm experience that reveals a wonderful secret and when you wake up, you smile because the world looks just a little bit better.

Cream Puff Explosion

Riko, Aya, Mizuki and Yuka have been friends since childhood. They are as close as anyone can be. About five years ago or so, Riko and Yuka moved away from Japan to North America, leaving Riko and Aya behind. Ashita’s story Cream Puff Explosion (named after a band the four friends had formed) starts with Riko, Aya and Mizuki in a laundromat folding clothes. Aya and Mizuki are staying with Riko for a few says, they’ve come to town for Yuka’s wedding which is tomorrow. The three friends reminisce about old times and laugh like they used to and Riko can’t express how much she’s missed them these last five years.

The go back to Riko’s house and drink wine and talk about me, Aya wants all the dirty details about Yuka’s future husband—she wants to gossip wondering if white guys are bigger than Asian guys etc. Mizuki smirks and asks what difference does it really make, Yuka and Joey are in love and that’s all that matters.

The conversation quickly takes a turn as Riko looks distant and sad. After some prodding by her friends, she embarrassingly admits that she is in love with Joey, Yuka’s finance and that her and Joey have been sleeping together and in a relationship for over a year.

Things come crashing down from there. I will limit what I say about this particular story beyond this point. It’s pretty obvious what her friends might think or say. But the central theme, though may seem like adultery, is more about friendship and love. Riko chooses not to tell her best friend Yuka about the affair, because she does not want to hurt her. So the question is; is it better to lie to protect somebody or to tell the truth and possibly destroy them. Again, I do not pretend to know the answer to this question which is why I ask in this story. The aspect of love is involved in here as well. Riko says that her relationship with Joey is not just sex, but that they are truly in love. A number of questions pop here… is it wrong to love your best friend’s husband? Well the bible will say yes, anyone whose experienced passion through love may disagree. Sometimes you fall in love with people and you can’t control yourself, you can try, but usually you end up helpless. Besides don’t all human beings have the right to feel any way they want about anybody or anything? Riko may be selfish by choosing her happiness over her friends, but when the possibility of total loneliness is presented to you, you may be surprised at what you are willing to do to fill that void in your heart. Again, I’m not saying I’m right… I’m just saying that these questions are asked in Cream Puff Explosion. And like all stories in Ashita, CPE brings its own perspective on love, loneliness and humanity.

Riko is played brilliantly by Rumiko A. Matsuda, who when I first approached her with the story wanted to play Aya, but the more I thought about it the more Rumiko seemed a good fit for the part of Riko. One night I met her at Tim Horton’s and we discussed the possibility. Rumiko, took the script home and re-read it this time keeping the role of Riko in mind. A few days later she called me and said:

“Absolutely not. I do not want to play Riko.”

“Well then,” I said. “You better come over to my house for coffee.”

Two nights later she was over and we discussed the part. Rumiko was angry at Riko, she hated her and bluntly said that she cannot ever like a person who would do such a thing. I can understand such feelings, but I asked Rumiko not to judge Riko… in fact, I suggested that she should try to understand her. We then had a long conversation about love and loneliness, where I asked a lot of the same questions I asked above. Rumiko agreed to take another look at the character, and tried to understand Riko—to this day, Rumiko does not like Riko, but she understands her… which is fine. I am sure Anthony Hopkins, though he understands Hannibal Lectre, he probably does not like the man very much. As an actor, you need to understand and respect the character you are playing, but you do not have to like him or her.

Rumiko agreed to play the part of Riko and I was thrilled, she was joined by Sho Suzuki as Aya and Kanako Yamamoto as Mizuki. All three were stellar in their parts and really bring out the finer details of friendship. When I wrote the story and thought of these characters, I thought of my relationships with my some of my closest and oldest friends. What’s beautiful about the love of friends is that, much like a spouse, it is a chosen love. People chose to be your friends, the real friends, take the good with the bad. In my case, some of my closest friends who have known me for over a decade, accept the good and the bad, they accept my insanity and seclusion while making movies, they accept my binge drinking through the stress and my many other flaws. My true friends and my lovely wife still love me and value in my existence even when I do not. This is really what Cream Puff Explosion brings out. Riko, is in quite the terrible spot she’s admitted to lying and hurting people, she’s admitted to doing very bad things, yet her friends get angry and criticize what she’s done. However, they do not judge her and more importantly they do not abandon her. And this is the true root of friendship, it’s more than have a few beers and taking in a ball game, its being there when you’re needed, through the good but more importantly through the bad. So to my wife and my true friends, I thank you for inspiring me and teaching me for all of you I made Cream Puff Explosion.

-MJ

The Gift

Sitting in the sturdy (yet remarkably un-sturdy looking) orange chair in Andy’s condo on Saturday evening, I watched the first 6 minutes or so of The Gift unfold on the computer monitor in front of me. The Gift is a very complex and mesmerizing story in the Ashita cannon. It’s probably the story that the audience will have the most difficulty with because of its dark context and the open ended questions it presents to the viewer.

The story is about a couple whose marriage and relationship has deteriorated into estranged oblivion, The Gift is tail end culmination of that couple’s relationship. Toshio, who hasn’t see his wife, Meiko, for almost a year flies from Tokyo to Toronto to serve his wife with divorce papers—the only way Meiko would agree to a divorce is if her husband bring the papers himself. He catches a red eye from Tokyo and plans to leave the very same day. He is not pleased with having to hand-deliver the papers on the extravagant, eccentric whim of his wife. Meiko is pensive and distant as she sits in her apartment smoking her cigarette waiting for Toshio. When he arrives, they are cold and distant to each other, it’s almost hard to see that they were once in love except for the cold memories each brings up in the conversation. As they talk and each increasingly tries to smooth out the uncomfortable air between them, Toshio gets increasingly annoyed and Meiko gets increasingly vicious towards him. The raises as Toshio explodes into violence towards his wife, yet Meiko accepts his physical attack with sexual gratification and to further hurt him, she presents him with a gift… when he sees the gift Toshio is left viscerally emasculated and emotionally destroyed.

What a story indeed. Toshio is played by Toronto contemporary artist tomolennon, whose portrayal of the alpha male on the verge of a nervous breakdown is stunningly accurate. I found his ability to portray the annoyance, bitterness and scorn of Toshio quite remarkable. The part of Meiko was played by Yukiko J. Tamaki with equal brilliance. The sadness and confusion she brought to the character were powerfully shocking. The conflicting nature of Meiko will leave the audience much like they leave Toshio and Yukiko’s ability to do was frightening in stature. In watching Andy’s early cuts of the scene, the powerful acting of both Yukiko and tomolennon rings true to the nature of the script.

When I was watching the early cut of the scene on Saturday night I felt very uncomfortable—which is good, there is a lot of tension in the room with Meiko and Toshio and everything in the early pointed to that tension and I really felt the impact of the acting, camera and editing. Watching The Gift was like remembering a bad memory, which is essentially what I wanted the feeling to be.

To me, while writing and making The Gift, I had to visit some very dark parts of the human soul (I know my actors had to go there as well). Relationships are always very interesting, yet there is almost something obsessive about how they end. In retrospect it always seems silly later on, but in the heat of the moment—that very fine, precise moment when you know the relation is dead it’s a rather catastrophic feeling. I’ve been through my fare share of relationship based issues and I’ve had relationships and friendships end and I wanted to capture that feeling—that empty anger people feel at the end. I think studying that empty anger is important, because it then when we cease being the logical free thinking human beings that we are and we revert to an instinctual sate of attack and defense. The main reason that I was uncomfortable watching this scene, is the same reason I was uncomfortable writing it; I don’t want to accept that I can one day be in that situation. Furthermore I want to completely deny ever feeling that angry or vulnerable. Human emotion is completely brilliant and baffling all at the same time. I think that the honesty in The Gift is the strong point in the story. Watching these characters fall apart is a reminder of how fragile and tragic our lives can be.

My greatest inspiration when writing the gift was the brilliant film Kramer vs. Kramer as well as Michael Mann’s urban epic Heat. These films are all shocking reminders of humanity and relationships going straight to hell. The characters in these films, much like the characters in The Gift are not characters any of us want to be, but in the same sense, they are characters that we may turn into. Of all the stories in Ashita, The Gift was the quietest to shoot. What do I mean by that? Well, it was the one with a closed set. On set were the actors, Izumi my producer and wife—she was on set as my only crew, and me. The social interaction on set was minimal and the shooting long and intense. Even the rehearsals were done separately. Jenny and tomolennon were rehearsing separately as to deliberately not see each other to increase the distance of their characters.

In the end, The Gift asks: Where did life go? Why did it have to run away? Why do things have to change?

Teddy Bear

Sayaka is alone… Well not totally, she has Teddy, her stuffed bear to keep her company as she walks the streets of the city at night. She talks to Teddy, she tries to understand why the love of her life has left her. Somehow walking and hoping for rain brings Sayaka comfort.

She misses him. If only she could see more than a memory of him, if only he’d come back. Sayaka explores the beauty of the night as she walks. She points out to Teddy the eccentricities of life, love and loneliness as she goes about her various nightly activities like playing chess with Teddy or eating noodles. Before going to bed, she confronts Teddy about the lonely world they live in and tries to reassure him that life will get better… if only it would rain.

This story, Teddy Bear, will probably be one of the favorites by the viewers of Ashita. As it has very sad undertones, it is, by far, not as tragic as many other scenes in the movie. Some people may even be able to identify with Sayaka and her perspective on live. Certainly the character is a little off centre—being that she is in her late 20s and walks through the city at night talking to a teddy bear. But the same thing that makes the character and story off centre also gives is sweetness and melodramatic romanticism.

The part of Sayaka is brilliantly played by Yoshiko Nomura who brings a natural comfort to the role. I was very happy when Yoshiko accepted to play the part, I knew she would bring the character to life in the way only Yoshiko’s natural personality could. Teddy Bear was very challenging for me to create and shoot. Sayaka is indeed a very complex character, but she has to be portrayed as simple. For me, its always easy and fun to write dark, complex characters with a lot of demons... but with Sayaka who is a cute girl with a cute teddy bear, to make that kind of sweet image have complicated layers was very interesting. The fact that she talks to the stuffed bear helps, other absurdities like playing chess with the bear also adds to the layers. Essentially what I wanted to create with this story and this character was the sense of estrangement that heartbreak brings. When your heart is broken, you always feel like you’re the only one in the world who is hurting. You feel like no matter happens life will always feel this empty. Before writing the story I thought about these things and then I added the ‘what if’—What if the heartbroken feeling doesn’t go away? What if someone carried this feeling for a long, long time? What if her heart is broken because she lost her soul mate? How would it change her? How would she be affected? I bring those answers out in film, in a very unique way. I feel that the answer is not clear. Any human reaction is never fully clear. But the result is a simple girl who tries to deal with complex feelings.

-MJ

Something in the dark

The dark is cold and savage. In the distance it approaches me. I can feel it coming. I can hear its breath. Its closer than I think.

"Hello my old friend, we meet again," it whispers to me.

"What are you doing here?" I ask.

"The same thing you are," I know its smiling. I can't see it, but I feel it. I feel that evil smile in the dark. How quickly life can change and turn--one moment all seems well and in the next it collapses.

"I don't want you here." It knows I'm scared. I can sense it in the deepest part of my soul. The dark doesn't always bring peace. The dark doesn't always bring quiet.

"You made me, now you don't want me." It's close. Very close. I can feel its cold breath. I can smell the stink. "You have to face me sometime. Were you so foolish to think that you could hide in the dark. Did you think you would find refuge here? Mercy?"

Its circling me. I can hear its heart beating. How I wish I could start over... start again. Pain or no pain, I wish I could begin everything again.

It laughs, "You are a fool." Can it hear my thoughts? Does it know what I am feeling? It laughs more. "The more you run or hide from me, the closer I get. The more you try to understand me, the more I become a part of you."

Its around me everywhere, slithering, walking, crawling. I can't tell. It tightens. It has me in its grip. The pain sets in, it fills my muscles, my nerves, my bones. It tightens its grip on me. I feel my life draining into the darkness. As the darkness absorbs my soul, I hear: "I forgive you."

Fireflies

When you sit down in a dark room and look your thoughts in the eye, you sometimes come to an awesome realization—things may be headed in the right direction. Ashita has officially been in production for a year. This doesn’t disturb me as much as it did a few months ago when I was in Vegas—I went to Vegas because I was so disturbed, overwhelmed and partially depressed and what seemed to be an unending process of making this strange experimental film. Subsequently, I was more depressed when I decided to cut one story out of the film in order to write and film another that would work better in the context of Ashita. The decision, didn’t depress me so much as the thought of having to go on set again and shoot yet another story. Lucky for me, I have some wonderful people surrounding me and they’ve revived my excitement in the shooting of this new story. I discovered this the other day while sitting in my computer room listening to the opera La Boheme blasting through my headphones.

I have been requested by some Ashita fans (thanks whoever you are, though I am still convinced it’s my mom and wife) to write more in depth entries about each story along with my critical analysis. Since I have yet to shoot the newest story, Fireflies and since it is the freshest in my mind, I will talk about it first.

Fireflies was written as a replacement for a replacement. Originally, I had another story ready to replace “Ms. Smiley” and Leona and I had had a few meetings about it. Upon further reflection, I felt that the story titled “Ai & Nana” would be best suited for another project. Having been listening to opera and drinking heavily over the past few weeks I began to wonder what happened to all the fireflies, I remember seeing them when I young, but now I don’t see so many, even in the country side. This was the beginning of my new story for Ashita… in fact I open the story with those exact words, here is the opening words of the story:

V.O.-ETSU: “I wonder whatever happened to all the fireflies. (BEAT) When I was a little girl I remember seeing so many fireflies. Today I can barely see any.”

The story follows Etsu as she’s traveled from Japan to North America to seek out her estranged father who abandoned her and her mom when she was a little girl. The only sign she every got from her father was a card every year on her birthday asking her not to forget the fireflies (seeing fireflies at beach with her father is her fondest childhood memory). Ashita is a film mainly about love, loneliness and the human condition. Throughout the film, I explore love between friends, a marriage that’s fallen apart, loneliness through routine, a lost love and love through art. With this new story, Fireflies, I wanted to explore the love between parents and children (as I am soon to become a parent, it is something that has been floating through my head). I had few ideas on how to explore this them, certainly the relationship between a parent and a child, like any other, grows constantly. Etsu has not seen her father in over 20 years, yet she still loves him and has not forgotten the memories of the fireflies at the beach. As the story progresses, Estu discovers some rather unpleasant truths about her father. Maybe the memories of the fireflies represent, to both Etsu and her father, a perfect memory. Maybe it represents the way of how each of them wishes their love could be… and by it existing in their thoughts, does it not become somewhat of a reality? The question is, can you love someone through a memory? If I knew the answer I wouldn’t have written the story. Maybe you can, even though, in most cases, a memory is either better or worse than the actual situation. A memory is what you want it to be.

Being human is not an easy thing. Though I know deep down, Etsu has had a very difficult life she still seems to have certain type of optimism. The things she learns about her father are not easy to hear. Realizing the man she is looking for is not at all the man she remembers. How difficult this reality must be to accept. Etsu, through her joyful optimism and eccentric conversations with herself, chooses to accept her memories as the truth she’d rather have. Love, life and humanity are all mysteries that Etsu, like everyone else alive tries to solve. But maybe, some mysteries remain better unsolved. Like the line says in Nussun Dorma from Puccini’s opera Turandot;

Nessun dorma!... Tu pure, o Principessa,
Nella tua fredda stanza
Guardi le stelle
Che tremano d'amore e di speranza.
Ma il mio mistero è chiuso in me,
Il nome mio nessun saprà!
Solo quando la luce splenderà,
Sulla tua bocca lo dirò fremente!...
Ed il mio bacio scioglierà il silenzio
Che ti fa mia!...

Translated it says:

Nobody shall sleep!... Nobody shall sleep! Even you, o Princess, in your cold room, watch the stars, that tremble with love and with hope.But my secret is hidden within me, my name no one shall know... No!...No!... On your mouth I will tell it when the light shines.And my kiss will dissolve the silence that makes you mine!...


Yes, some mysteries are better to be left alone. Their meanings will be discovered in time and through nature.

-MJ

Ashita in a Nutshell

It stares at me like giant beacon. A pathetic reminder of the state of things:

Jesus is my homeboy.

I wonder if Jesus is opposed to the term “homeboy” and I wonder what he thinks about being used in the context of said “homeboy.”

“Eight Seventy-three,” the Korean guy says.

I hand the guy the cash, he gives me my change and I tell him, “Nice t-shirt.”

Jesus is my homeboy.

I really don’t want to do this anymore. My back hurts, my knees hurt, I’ve put on weight, haven’t gotten a decent night’s sleep since August 2006. I’m tired, so damn tired.

Write more about the stories... these are the orders from the producers. "We want people to get interested in what the film is about. Where do I start?

Ashita is comprised of six stories all revolving around something that will happen tomorrow. On top of the six stories we have Keiko's dance, that ties the stories to each other.

Here is a breakdown of the stories:

3 Girls, is basically that. We have Yuki, who runs... she runs from a white ghost like figure who slowly and patiently chases her. Yuki is frightened and more than anything wants to be free of the curse that follows her. Meanwhile, Miki and Ayumi are at work at the local bar. Both are fairly miserable in their lives, when a mysterious white ghost like figure appears. Their paths will cross with Yuki on a deeper level than one would imagine.

The Gift, Toshio has traveled from Tokyo in order for his estranged wife Meiko to sign divorce papers. Meiko would not sign them unless they were hand delivered by her husband. Annoyed and frustrated, Toshio got on a plane and here he is wanting to get their awful marriage finally finished. He and Meiko discuss their marriage and what possibly went wrong. Each blames the the other. Each blames themselves. Everything falls apart. Everything breaks down. Toshio simply wants Meiko to sign the divorce papers so they can each live their own lives. Before she does, she gives Toshio a gift... something that destroys his very soul and leaves him broken.

Teddy Bear, Sayaka walks through the streets at night. With her she carries Teddy, a stuffed bear and her best friend. She reflects on her life and her lost love. Sayaka misses him and tries not cry and she studies the city at night and wishes for rain. Rain, will clean everything and maybe bring him back. He asks Teddy to help stay strong as she walks through the night. She promises to take care of Teddy... she won't abandon Teddy like she was abandoned.

Cream Puff Explosion, Riko, Mizuki and Aya are reunited after five years. They used to be in a Japanese pop band together. They have all come together for Yuuka's wedding. As they three friends reminisce about the old days and about being young, some awful truths emerge from deeply hidden places and soon their friendship is tested as the lies of reality surface.

The Wonderful Elton Fuji, is a young artist. He is also a mute. His only way to express the beauty he sees in the world is through his art. He spends his days and nights sketching the world he sees. Elton is infatuated with the girl next door, the only way he knows how to tell her is through his art; one day he sketches a beautiful drawing for her and leave sit on her doorstep. What follows is a wonderful story of love without words and humanity through art.

Fireflies, is my newest story for Ashita. Etsu's father left her when she was just a little girl. But every year on her birthday she gets a letter from him. Etsu decides to travel outside of Japan to find her dad. She has so many questions, but she mainly wants to tell him he forgives him for leaving and she still loves him. When she finally finds her father's house, she meets her half sister Ami and discovers a frightening reality about her father. Things didn't quite go as Etsu had expected.


Well, that's Ashita in a nutshell I guess.

Ashita Stories

I can’t believe this… it can’t be true. I swore—I promised. I’m done, I am not making another movie. I hate this industry, I hate people I want to live far, far away, maybe a small town in Japan making coffee and reading books all day. Why am I doing this then? Why can some people get through their entire lives without ever doing this? Why do I need to be more than that? Why?

I wake up, have a cup of coffee and try to keep my mind blank with cartoons and sports highlights. I want to control my thoughts—I want to be like everybody else. Then, it starts—the voice starts. It whispers to me “Help me”. Then, the image on TV is replaced by a scared girl running away. What is she running from? “Damn it” I tell myself. “I need to call the cable company, the channels are all mixed up.”

I finish my coffee and go in the shower. The running girl is back. She’s running, she’s covered in sweat, she’s scared, it’s late a night. “Help me,” she says. “Somebody please help me.” What’s chasing her? Why doesn’t she stay and fight? What can be so bad that she’s running so much? “Stop it!” I say to myself. “Forget it.”

I get out of the shower, I slowly get dressed and head outside. The morning air, will clear my head of any disturbing creativity. As I walk I listen to my iPod, reminding myself of all those meetings I had with TV and movie executives—reminding myself that these people are dumb, they can only work in show business—they’re not even fit to be rodeo clowns, I tell myself. Then, all of a sudden, it’s night—how did it become night?—in the distance I see woman—or is it a girl?—walking alone. She’s talking to herself—no wait, she’s talking to a teddy bear. What romantic and sad sight. I try to focus on her a bit more, I want to hear what she’s telling her bear—All of a sudden it is day again. The girl is gone. It’s happening again. I swore it would never happen again—I hate this. I need more coffee. Coffee can fix anything. I don’t even recognize the part of town I’m in, but I feel comforted because there is a Tim Horton’s—surely any place with a Timmy’s can’t be so evil. I wait in line for my large double, double and possible a Boston Cream donut, finest breakfast for a toonie. Standing in front of me I see a young woman with a backpack—just another tourist visiting our fair city. Then she looks at me and smiles, "I'm here to find my father."

Well, good for you.

“He's with the fireflies.” She says to me, then turns back to place her order. Man, I ought to lay off the caffeine.

I sit on the subway, trying to figure out how to be like everybody else, when I see the woman with her teddy bear again. She appears to be in full conversation with the bear, but I cannot understand a word they are saying. “What a strange woman,” I think to myself. I turn to look away and sitting behind me I see a a big haired guy with a sketch book almost as big as he is busy at work drawing. He's drawing me. He smiles and gives me a thumbs up.

I get off the subway, trying to understand what in the hell is going on today. When I pass by another girl, who sits quietly on the subway steps, she smokes a cigarette. Everything becomes slow motion as I walk by her, she has this grin on her face, I am not sure if she's smiling or if she is in pain. "I've got a gift for him," she says. "Something that will change everything."

I really gotta stop leaving my house.

Later that night as I fall asleep I begin to think of the people that I encountered over the day. The woman on the subway steps, the scared running girl and the woman with her teddy, the guy with the sketch book. In some strange way they all seem familiar to me. They’re all connected in some way. Can it be that simple…

As I fall asleep, the answer comes, maybe I don’t make movies—maybe the movies make me.

Ashita Back on Track

How interesting things have been over the last few months. We shot our last frame of scripted Ashita (meaning anything that was written in the script) in early May.
In June we shot some sequences that were somewhat improvised with one of Toronto’s most prolific dancers Keiko Ninomiya (http://www.keiko.ca/). These sequences we shot with Keiko represent a type of story narration—much like the Chorus in ancient Greek theatre. Since the film is riddled with voice over by many of the characters, I felt that I needed some kind of overseer (this stems from my love of classic theatre and comic books) to be the puppet master or god who juggles these characters. I most certainly knew I did not want this character to talk. Upon watching a lot of Fellini movies, I got the idea for a mime or clown to be the film’s overseer. But that would change. As I edited a video I had shot of tomolennon’s art/fashion show I got to watching the dancers he had in his show. As watched and re-watched the Fellini movies, the mime was quickly changed for a dancer. Lucky for me, my lovely wife Izumi knows almost everybody in Toronto and when I mentioned to her my idea, she quickly threw Keiko’s name at me. And thus the new sequence grew. For a while, I was pent up on the dancer being a clown and I had discussed that I length with Keiko, but in the end, we went with a stoic white mask—which works and is completely frightening and sad at all the same time. I know I had a lot of fun shooting the dance sequences with Keiko and they will beautiful scenes and visually stunning.
As the post production progressed, Andy (the editor) and I discussed in great detail certain aspects of the movie and the overall feel of Ashita. I mentioned to Andy that I had certain reservations about the Miss Smiley story—this is the story of the angry female assassin that was brilliantly played by Leona Kitabayashi. I felt that the story was too different from the rest of Ashita. Of course when I wrote and shot it, it worked—but as things progressed the movie took on a new feel and the story about the assassin didn’t seem to flow with the rest of the film. Andy agreed with me and made a very good suggestion; he said he would edit it anyway and we would try it in Ashita, if it works great—if not, we have a stand alone short film. I got busy in writing a new story. I know one thing was for sure, I wanted to work with Leona again; she is a fine actor and is a pleasure to work with. When I met with Leona in July to inform her of what I had decided to do with her previous story in Ashita, I was a little nervous. I thought she was going to get angry and kung fu kick me, but luckily she was happy to work with me again (phew). Finally last week, I finished a new story called Fireflies—a much more somber story about a young lady named Etsu (played by Leona) who is looking for her father who abandoned her when she was just a little girl. I plan on shooting this story later this month.
Its funny how movies never seem to get made the way they are originally planned—based on my plans we should have been screening Ashita by now, then based on my revised plans we should have had a completed rough cut by now… but this, of, course is not the case. The case is, Ashita is right where its supposed to be. It’s a piece of art discovering itself. Like my cast and crew, I am excited to see the finished product, but I do not want to rush it… because I can see where it’s going and it will be brilliant.
On a sad, final note, this week saw the death of two of cinema’s greatest:

Ingmar Berman (July 12, 1918-July 30, 2007) who as a director, Bergman favored intuition over intellect, and chose to be unaggressive in dealing with actors. Bergman saw himself as having a great responsibility toward them, viewing them as collaborators often in a psychologically vulnerable position. He stated that a director must be both honest and supportive in order to allow others their best work. His films usually deal with existential questions of mortality, loneliness, and faith; they also tend to be direct and not overtly stylized. Persona, one of Bergman's most famous films, is unusual among Bergman's work in being both existentialist and avant-garde. I chose to pay homage to Bergman in Ashita by shooting as scene in the Teddy Bear story in which Sayaka (played wonderfully by Yoshiko Nomura) plays chess against her teddy bear… for those film enthusiasts reading this, you’ll know that one of Bergman’s most famous scenes—in fact one of the most famous scenes in cinema history is from his film The Seventh Seal where a man plays chess with the personification of death. I, like millions of others, love The Seventh Seal and I felt that a scene in which Sayaka plays chess against Teddy would not only pay homage to my love of films, but also bring a deep depth to Sayaka and what her stuffed bear symbolizes.

Michelangelo Antonioni (September 29, 1912 – July 30, 2007) was an Italian modernist film director whose films are widely considered as some of the most influential in film aesthetics. Film historian Virginia Wright Wexman describes Antonioni's perspective on the world as that of a "postreligious Marxist and existentialist intellectual." In a speech at Cannes about L'Avventura, Antonioni said that in the modern age of reason and science, mankind still lives by "a rigid and stereotyped morality which all of us recognize as such and yet sustain out of cowardice and sheer laziness". He said his films explore the paradox that "we have examined those moral attitudes very carefully, we have dissected them and analyzed them to the point of exhaustion. We have been capable of all this, but we have not been capable of finding new ones." Nine years later he expressed a similar attitude in an interview, saying that he loathed the word 'morality': "When man becomes reconciled to nature, when space becomes his true background, these words and concepts will have lost their meaning, and we will no longer have to use them." Most of Antonioni’s films explored themes of characters whose lives are empty and purposeless. Again, I studied his work extensively when preparing the melancholy tones of the characters in Ashita.
Both Bergman and Antonioni were gems to the film world and I can only hope that their influence on me and Ashita be minutely as good as their contributions to the cinematic art.

-MJ