Uzumasa Limelight

A few months ago, I saw a short film that simply amazed me and was the standout film for me at the Orlando Film Festival. "Sumo Road: The Musical" was not only a very funny film that made folks laugh out loud the theater, but was incredibly creative. I can truly say that I've never seen another film like it.

It turns out that the same man who wrote and directed this brilliant short, Ken Ochiai, has recently begun making feature films as well...and his "Ozumasa Limelight" is a delight for anyone who loves samurai films or is a fan of Chaplin! Yes, I know that is a very strange combination so I'll need to digress just a bit.

In 1952, Charlie Chaplin came out with one of his greatest and most personal films, "Limelight". However, while I would rank this among the greatest films of the 1950s, audiences were left cold by the film...mostly because being a Chaplin everyone expected it to be a comedy. Instead, it's a bittersweet little drama about an aging and rather sad vaudevillian who has seen better days. He befriends a young woman who ultimately becomes a big star and, because of her gratitude, she helps her beloved mentor to have one last shining moment in the sun.

Ochiai's film is a homage to Chaplin's film. While there are many similarities and parallels between the two movies, "Ozumasa Limelight" is still its own film and offers an equally satisfying viewing experience. He chose the title "Ozumasa" Limelight because Ozumasa is a suburb of Kyoto that is a bit like Japan's Hollywood and many wonderful old samurai epics were filmed there...and I have seen and adored hundreds of these films. Because of this, I would love to one day visit Ozumasa...and am very jealous of my daughter because she spent time at the studio a few months ago...but that's another story.

Seiichi Kamiyama (wonderfully played by Seizô Fukumoto) is an artist, of sorts. He's created a real niche for himself in Japanese films and televisions. But he's not a star...in fact he's a guy many might never even notice. He plays villains in Japanese samurai productions and has had a steady job playing these sorts of parts for a television show for decades...sort of a sword and samurai version of "Gunsmoke". However, the series is being canceled and the directors and producers want new blood for their projects...and a 70 year-old actor who specializes in dying dramatically and artistically on camera just doesn't seem to be needed any more.

Fortunately for Seiichi, he is able to find a sense of purpose when he meets a young actress. She is going to be an extra in a new type of samurai television show but she has no idea how to make her scenes look realistic. Seiichi is a very kind man and offers to coach her and eventually her skills are noticed. In fact, she is able to quickly move from a stunt double to a star...thanks to Seiichi's coaching. Fortunately, she is the grateful sort and insists that Seiichi come out of retirement for one final last hurrah.

So why did I love this film so much? I think it was because of the director more than anything else. While Fukumoto was wonderful playing Seiichi and Hiroyuki Ono wrote a wonderful script, "Ozumasa Limelight" wouldn't have worked as well had just any director made the film. Ochiai injects a wonderful sense of nostalgia and love for the main character and the film looks more like a piece of art that slowly is unveiled to the viewer. It is slow...but in a very satisfying and deliberate manner. After all, considering Chaplin himself directed "Limelight", Ochiai had big shoes to fill. He did himself proud with this Japanese film, that's for sure.

Uzumasa Limelight traces the dying Samurai filmmaking tradition of Japan. Akin to American Western movies, in the 50's and 60's Samurai films provided the touchstone for Japanese viewers to the romanticized past of Japan. The film focuses on Kamiyama (played by veteran actor Seizo Fukumoto, known to Western audiences as the silent Samurai guarding Tom Cruze in "The Last Samurai"), a kirareyaku - the actor whose main job is to be killed by the lead star. The story tells with real passion the dying of the tradition, while giving hope as the protagonist hands off the tradition to the next generation through charismatic newcomer Chirhiro Yamamoto, playing Satsuki. Very accessible, and a touching story without sappiness.

I'm hoping that this movie has more meaning and nostalgic value to a Japanese audience and that it has just lost something when taken outside its original cultural context.

For a foreigner, with no interest in or point of reference to the old-style Samurai TV series whose demise the film laments, it was really going to take something special to grab my interest. Unfortunately the acting is as wooden as the actors' swords, the dialogue torpid and the general premise of the young girl studying under the old extra was just silly.

The message of the movie is conveyed crystal clear within the first five minutes (end of an era, no appreciation for old skills, vapid modern culture taking over, etc, etc) but it goes on for another 100 minutes adding nothing more.

A Samurai movie about Samurai Drama follows an aged actor in a Samurai TV drama, best known for dying well on this series for the past 40 years. He's dealing with the changing tone of Kyoto, The Hollywood of the East, dealing with becoming washed up, and dealing with his body slowly giving up on him, all at once. On his way out he develops a relationship with a girl who was on her way in, and trains her in the art of stage sword fighting.

It was a very quiet but passionate performance by all the actors, and I love movies about Showbiz. This one was particularly appealing, as I got a small insight of what it was possibly like to be an extra in Japan's studio system.

It was cool cause it was not overly dramatic and was slightly humorous as a satire about making TV shows should be. Plus because it was about a Samurai Drama, we got some cool sword fights. Well forth it.

As the modern age takes over Japan, Kamiyama, an aging samurai and last of his breed, find himself out of work when the lord he served for 40 years gave up his title. With the Princess of Uzumasa disappearing from the public due to a humiliating rumor, the limelight of Uzumasa, a suburb of Kyoto, was on its last shine as the young people flock to the modern day Edo, Tokyo.

In the midst of a dying tradition, hope came about when a young woman of spirit and fire showed up at Uzumasa castle. Under the discipleship of Kamiyama, could she really be the savior of this town? Could she be the next Princess of Uzumasa?

A masterpiece of story telling in a timeless art form of samurai drama. This is a tale of courage, honor, and duty told through the eyes of a veteran samurai who has seen the changes in Japan for over 70 years.