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.