Village of Dreams

(ENO NAKANO BOKUNO MURA) ((JAPANESE))

By DAVID STRATTON

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A Siglo production, in association with Japan Arts Fund. Produced by Tetsujiro Yamagami, Koshiro Sho. Directed by Yoichi Higashi. Screenplay, Higashi, Takehiro Nakajima, based on the book "The Village of My Paintings" by Seizo Tashima.
 
Seizo Tashima ... Keigo Matsuyama
Yukihiko Tashima ... Shogo Matsuyama
Mizue Tashima ... Mieko Harada
Kenzo Tashima ... Kyozo Nagatsuka
Jimma ... Hosei Komatsu
Toshie ... Kaneko Iwasaki
Principal ... Koichi Ueda
 

This deceptively simple evocation of the peaceful world of a small Japanese village one long-ago summer is a minor jewel. With its naturalistic acting, its celebration of simple pleasures and its acute insight into the cruelty and thoughtlessness of children, Yoichi Higashi's film, which garnered a Silver Bear at the Berlin fest for "outstanding single achievement," could charm fest and arthouse audiences around the world.

The fact that the almost structureless film unfolds in the summer of 1948, only three years after the end of the crippling war, adds a little tension to the proceedings. References by adult characters to the new democracy are reminders of the major changes going on in the country outside this calm backwater.

The film also contains a very Japanese infusion of magic, with hints that witchcraft may still be practiced in these out-of-the-way places, though not for long, because times are changing.

The events depicted in the film are taken from an autobiographical book by Seizo Tashima, an artist who, with his identical twin brother, Yukihiko, is seen at the beginning and end of the film in their Kyoto studio. The brothers as children, perfectly cast and played by Keigo and Shogo Matsuyama, are typical little boys, living in a dream world of their own, often up to mischief and fiercely protective of each other.

In a series of apparently aimless sequences, the boys are seen at school, fishing in the river (a favorite pastime) and bumming around at home with their older sister and their mother, who's often left alone while her civil servant husband is away.

The boys' adventures include stealing a neighbor's vegetable crop, catching fish by hand and making traps for eels out of bamboo poles. At school, where their mother's a teacher, they are puzzled by the treatment meted out to a strange, dirty boy, and saddened by the apparent unhappiness of a little girl who befriends them. When their drawings are selected to be entered in a national competition, the principal accuses their mother of favoritism, but she's vindicated when they win awards for their work.

Both boys suffer from tonsilitis this summer; one nearly drowns in the river; the other accidentally stabs his own hand. Meanwhile, in strange, haunting scenes, the village activities are observed by three elderly witches, who sit watchfully in a tree overlooking the passersby, and who can even conjure up storms. This magic element is found also in the voices Seizo hears underwater, and in the mysterious moment when a loincloth, blown by the wind, wraps itself around one of the boys.

The boys' awakening sexuality is also a feature of this series of anecdotes and incidents. Co-screenwriter Takehiro Nakajima, a director himself (he made the haunting "Remembrance" and "Okoge"), has meshed his talents successfully with those of Higashi (whose earlier films include "A Boy Called Third Base" and "River With No Bridge"). The result is a small, delicate, quite beautiful film, which has been perfectly crafted right down the line.

Camera (Fujicolor), Yoshio Shimizu; editor, Higashi; music, Caterina Ancient Music Ensemble; production design, Akira Naito; sound, Hiroshi Tsurumaki; assistant director, Satoshi Isaka. Reviewed at Berlin Film Festival (competing), Feb. 25, 1996. Running time:? 112 MIN.