I grew up interested and somewhat aware of the basic tenets of Buddhism. They include four basic truths; the existence of suffering, the cause of suffering, the end of suffering, and the path to end suffering. I’ll admit I knew nothing of Askio Jossôji’s extensive body of work and was intrigued to begin his “Buddhist Trilogy.” Immediately I was impressed with his bold style which reminded me of French New Wave made popular by Godard and Truffaut. The camera is always moving, whether on tracks or handheld, in a clear purposeful manner. Jossôji’s Trilogy also features searing sound editing, with noises resonating and melding scenes into each other. The results are more momentum for his slower pace of storytelling. Jissôji left an indelible mark in Japan during this period of the late ’60s to ’70s where there was a strong underground movement for film and art set to challenge the cultural atmosphere.
THIS TRANSIENT LIFE
Near a remote Buddhist monastery, a young man falls in love with his sister and gets her pregnant. After a monk finds out, the young man becomes an assistant to a master sculptor, only to proceed to complicate matters with his affairs.
“Life and death are a great matter transient and changing fast.”
Filmed in sharp black and white, “This Transient Life” deals with a brother and sister in an incestuous relationship and the Monk that becomes entangled in their illicit affair. Set in 1970, the brother is struggling with his place in a more modern Japanese society and he lives with his sister and their strict father. I felt their father represents the old traditional authoritarian ways that so many youths are compelled to rebel against. The brother takes an apprenticeship with the Monk who is a master sculptor in a mountainous monastery where the two are creating an ornate statue of Buddha. The Monk is shown to be pining over the sister who, unbeknownst to him, is beginning to have a sexual relationship with her brother. Incest seems to be the current zeitgeist with popular shows like “Game of Thrones,” “Taboo,” and others featuring the lurid subject. While I appreciate the historical or emotional relevance of such a vile act, I still winced at passionate scenes between the two leads. During one scene while the two engage in sex, Jissôji brilliantly displays family photos looking down on the act in inanimately fixed judgment.
The film isn’t a total misfire, I was impressed by some of the philosophical subject matter. The Monk and the brother spar over the notion that fulfilling desire is heavenly but inherently evil, and the promised images of heaven aren’t as appealing as the carnal pleasures here on Earth. Technically speaking this movie is flawless but the subject matter made me a bit uneasy.
MANDARA
Two student couples stumble upon a cult dedicated to promoting the primordial human state through rape and agriculture.
“Mandara” is the second entry into “The Buddhist Trilogy” and the most ostentatious of the three. Ditching the dreary black and white palette of his last film, Jissôji films in magnificent bright colors.
The story begins with a vivid sex scene between a man and woman framed and blindingly lit like an interpretation of Nirvana. Pure bliss and waves crashing in the background revealing the infinite cycle of desire and possibly its inevitable emptiness. Post-coitus the woman defers “this is meaningless” and that she no longer wishes to see him. They are one-half of two couples who are university students experimenting with swinging. Yukiko and Shinichi are more experienced and the other couple, Hirochi and Yasuko, are more naïve. One day Yukiko and Shinichi are enjoying an ideal day at the beach when out of nowhere, two lunatics clad in all black knock out Shinichi and proceed to rape Yukiko. The shocking act rattles the couple but awakens a morbidly dangerous obsession with their attackers. It turns out the attackers are part of a violent cult that believe strictly in agriculture and eroticism because they are both endless but necessary means of reproduction. The philosophy is sexual intercourse is meaningless and empty as one character claims, “a shadow of death lingers behind it.”
Things are set in motion when Yukiko and Shinichi meet the cult leader Maki and enter his “Utopia.” Maki has a distorted Marxist vision that includes breaking up classes and liberating workers through his manipulative toxic means. His home is filled with deities and other Buddhist symbols meant to ward off evil spirits to maintain the harmonic balance or Dharma. Maki watches like a demented god through a CCTV while his members engage in consensual and non-consensual sex. He wants the newly recruited couple to help find new members or victims. Not too long after their disappearance, Hirochi and Yusako begin to search for their missing friends.
Once again, Jissôji masterfully sets up takes with the use of almost unending tracking shots. With all its difficult and repulsive subject matters, there are still meaningful thoughts and moments like one that takes place in a large Zen garden. Just like “This Transient Life,” Jissôji cross-examines two main characters having a verbal battle of their countering philosophies. It is shot like a Spaghetti Western with intense zooms and whip pans but instead of bullets, it’s filled with words that are fired back and forth.
I’m not astute in my knowledge of Shintoism, Japanese fertility and their accompanying folklore. There are prominent symbols throughout all although most of the references went over my head, they still were memorable. Maybe for me, physical violence is easier to digest than sexual violence. I was certainly horrified and while I appreciated the technical aspects, I just don’t think I could ever revisit this film again.
POEM
As a faithful young houseboy fully devotes himself to his spiritual duty, his teacher plans to turn over his grandfather’s mountain property to realtors for profit.
Jissôji completes his very unique interpretation of Buddhism with “Uta,” or “Poem.” I’m happy to report he returns to his more straightforward storytelling and lush black and white cinematography. The energy immediately felt more focused and less chaotic than “Mandara.”
Uta is a house servant cleaning and patrolling the halls of his employer’s large home illuminating secrets and temptations with his flashlight. He follows a strict routine and is almost otherworldly to the homeowners. When offered a better dish or cuisine he declines, preferring his simple grain bowl. Every day he devotes his time delicately writing inscriptions for tombstones, death must be ever-present or a calming journey to anticipate. Uta’s teacher and the brother are currently scheming to sell the serene mountain property they reside in. They want Uta’s spiritual practice and routine to be used for their greedy plan. This is a film that deals with the inevitable clash of traditional religion in the face of capitalism. One night he has an encounter with one of the residents which changes everything for him and his employers.
Jissôji makes excellent use of light, shadows, and negative space. I love the night patrolling scenes where Uta’s flashlight beams across gorgeous cozy rooms and shines right into the camera’s eye, giving the medium a tactile approach. Some shots reminded me of the haunting sequence in the astounding, “In Cold Blood.” The score is my favorite of the three films with it’s moving string quartet. I plan to be revisiting this film sooner than later.
I found “The Buddhist Trilogy” interesting, albeit challenging and at times, and hard to decipher. It’s not every day I witness such wild social taboos and ideas on display. I imagine Jissôji intended to use film the way Godard did with tales skewering the bourgeois. While I find the French director’s films more alive, I still appreciate the sullen more reflective narrative of “The Buddhist Trilogy.”
Available in a Special Edition Blu-ray August 20th from Arrow Video
