02 December 2018
“Killing (斬、)”---Singapore International Film Festival
Release Year: 2018
Country: Japan
Director: Tsukamoto Shin'ya (塚本晋也)
Cast: Ikematsu Sosuke (池松壮亮), Aoi Yu (蒼井優), Tsukamoto Shin'ya (塚本晋也), Nakamura Tatsuya (中村達也)
Location I watched: National Gallery Singapore
Story from the programme booklet:
Swordsman Mokunoshin Tsuzuki earns a peaceful living as a labourer on a rice paddy in the outskirts of Edo, the former capital of pre-modern Japan.
Maintaining his sword skills through daily sparring with farmer’s son Ichisuke, who himself harbours dreams to serve the shogun as a samurai, Mokunoshin’s idyllic life is threatened when talk of an impending civil war reaches his remote village. When a stoic older samurai recruits him for a capital-bound task force bent on easing the civil unrest, Mokunoshin’s reluctance to kill is challenged as the surrounding violence escalates.
Film should be experienced with our body first. To be thought in our brain will be followed only after that. “Killing” directed by Tsukamoto Shin'ya manifests its truth just like his other films.
The setting of this film is very minimalistic. The camera stays within the area around the remote village set in the mountain. Because of that, the coming civil war or loyalty to the shogunate mentioned by the characters sound quite vague or unrealistic. The protagonist, Mokunoshin (Ikematsu Sosuke) says he wants to work for the shogun, but on the other hand, he does not want to kill anybody. He also feels that he will not die even if he goes to Edo and joins a task force. For him, death in war is still something far. Although he has quite superior sword skills, his ambivalent thinking is like any ordinary young man who wants to escape from choosing or deciding for himself. Mokunoshin’s sparring partner, Ichisuke has a sister, Yu (Aoi Yu) who secretly loves Mokunoshin. Yu simply thinks that war is scary because her loved ones may be killed. An older samurai, Sawamura Jirozaemon (Tsukamoto Shin'ya) knows that war is killing each other. He also believes that sword skills are for the cause of supporting the nation.
Interestingly, Sawamura comes to be haunted to defeat Mokunoshin at the end. His aim has turned into overcoming himself through the fight with Mokunoshin. On the other hand, although Makunoshin accepts Sawamura’s recruitment, he is also doubting that personal sword skills can even save a small village from a group of bandits. To kill people with a sword does not make a good solution for the village. In that case, what are his sword skills for? His challenge, a sense of duty, perplexity, fear and futility…all his ambivalent feelings collide together in his last fight with Sawamura.
In the end, the vague ideology about the nation is left behind and individualism is appearing. The two men fight just for themselves. The story aims for ultimate individualism. That is Tsukamoto Shin'ya’s film.
Tsukamoto has been describing violence, but the violence is always one and indivisible with the body’s pain. He seems to be more interested in pain caused by violence than violence itself. Feeling pain is proof that we are really alive. In “Killing”, pain seems to be more important than violence itself. Behind the personal pain, there is an individual who is struggling and distressed to live. Tsukamoto’s individualism is the opposite pole of nationalistic ideology.
“Killing” may be regarded as an allegory. Taken by other filmmakers, this subject potentially can produce films that are too conceptual and boring. However, Tsukamoto Shin'ya’s “Killing” is an entertainment film with full blood. How realistic and exciting it looks, when the characters are crossing swords! We experience the film with our body, via the image and sound. We experience the fear, tension and anger of the struggling individual. Then, we will think and consider.
Music and sound are quite important to characterize Tsukamoto Shin'ya’s films. They are essential for the audience to experience his films with their body. The music in “Killing” is as splendid as his other films. Unfortunately, this film is the last work of the composer, Ishikawa Chu who scored almost every Tsukamoto’s films. I only recently discovered that Ishikawa Chu has passed away at the age of 51. (2 May 2020)
