13 July
2017
“Harmonium (淵に立つ)”---The O.P.E.N. (Singapore International Festival of Arts)
Release Year: 2016
Country: Japan, France
Director: Fukada Koji（深田晃司）
Cast: Furutachi Kanji（古舘寛治）, Tsutsui Mariko（筒井真理子）, Asano Tadanobu（浅野忠信）
Location I watched: The projector
Story from the festival program:
Toshio hires his old acquaintance Yasaka to
work in his garage shop at his home that he shares with his wife and their
10-year-old daughter. Yasaka, who has just been released from prison, begins to
meddle in Toshio’s life.
Although it is just a prejudice, I think Singapore
film fans like Asano Tadanobu for some reasons. I do not like him very much,
but I am not negative against him. Anyway, in Harmonium, Asano plays Yasaka, a mysterious man who came from the
dark past that Toshio does not want to remember.
The story is divided to two parts. In the
first part, Yasaka appears in front of Toshio and starts living together at his
house. The second part shows Toshio and his family 8 years after Yasaka
disappeared. Even though Yasaka is absent in the second part, he is in the
center of the film.
As the direction is clear, the audience can
easily understand each situation without verbal explanations. Before Yasaka comes,
Toshio’s family is ordinary and living peacefully. Although, the relationship
between Toshio and Akie, his wife is not so strong. In there, suddenly the mysterious
Yasaka appears. A secret about Yasaka is revealed and, at the same time, a
melodramatic cliché between Yasaka and Akie is developing. It is quite
thrilling. The audience in Singapore seemed to enjoy that, saying “Oh, my
God!”.
However, in the second part, we had to
watch this film with more serious feeling. After a tragic “accident” at the end
of the first part, Toshio’s family is falling apart. Toshio revealed to Akie
his shared secret past with Yasaka. He said to her, “When that “accident”
happened, I was actually relieved because I could feel being punished for what
I had done on Yasaka.” He also said, “We became a true husband and wife through
undergoing that “accident””. What Toshio said is very ugly and a cliché excuse.
It made Akie furious and desperate.
“Harmonium”
is an entertaining thriller about a family whose happiness is going to be destroyed
by an unexpected event. However, despite the clear direction, only Yasaka is a
vague character. What was his purpose? Was what he confessed to Akie his real
feelings? What did he do during that “accident”? Everything is uncertain. On
one hand, by Yasaka’s vague existence, it might be said that this film becomes
a drama for the audience to think about “family”. On the other hand, it might
be said that the film makes the audience uncomfortable after an entertaining
first part.
By the way, the Japanese original title of
“Harmonium” is “Fuchi ni Tatsu (淵に立つ)”. The literal meaning is “Standing in deep water”. Actually there
is a scene where the characters literally stand in deep water. But anyway, this
title sounds a little bit strange. Following the director-writer’s intention,
the figurative meaning is “Standing at the edge of deep water”. In Japanese,
the words for edge and deep water, “fuchi” shares the same pronunciation (but
with different Kanji characters). I guess here, both meanings are used in mix.
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