A Legendary Photographer, His Muse and His Testy Inner Voice
Sneak Preview Screening: "RAVENS" followed by a Q&A with director Mark Gill,
actors Tadanobu Asano and Kumi Takiuchi
Wednesday, March 12 at 6:00 pm
In Japanese and English with English, Japanese subtitles
France/Japan/Spain/Belgium 2024 116 minutes
Written and directed by: Mark Gill
Produced by: Mark Gill, Cyril Cadars, Megumi Ishii Fukasawa,
Orian Williams, Hideki Kawamura
Starring: Tadanobu Asano, Kumi Takiuchi, José Louis Ferrer,
Kanji Furutachi, Sosuke Ikematsu
Film courtesy of Ark Entertainment
British director Mark Gill discovered the work of photographer Masahisa Fukase in a magazine and immediately sensed "the presence of genius." Delving deeply into the Hokkaido native's work and life, Gill soon determined to bring them both to a wider audience. With his new film "Ravens" - named after the 1985 monochrome photobook "The Solitude of Ravens," heralded as Fukase's masterpiece - he is poised to do just that.
But this is no standard biopic. With the approval of the Masahisa Fukase Archives, backing from an international team, and a gifted Japanese cast and crew, Gill has created a staggeringly beautiful portrait "inspired by true events" that is more than worthy of the photographer's own work (much of which is featured). It stars Golden Globe-winning actor Tadanobu Asano in the central role, which he invests with his trademark manic energy and melancholy grandeur, earning our empathy for a man who is at odds with his success and plagued by contradictory impulses.
The tortured artist that we get to know in "Ravens" is no bland simulacrum; when we first meet him, he is a young man in the 1940s, trying to escape the emotional abuse of a tyrant father (Furutachi), and to avoid his inevitable fate: taking over the family's Hokkaido photography studio. He just manages to escape.
Later, in Tokyo, we see the moment Fukase's fame is first sparked: when his wife gives birth to a stillborn child, the artist (now a commercial photographer played by Asano) first hugs it and then takes a photo. It will soon appear in a celebrated but controversial exhibition of his work that includes photos of pigs being led to slaughter. Sometime after that, Fukase meets and falls for the smart, beautiful Yoko Wanibe (Takiuchi). She becomes his muse, collaborator, wife and helpmate for the rest of his tragic life.
The film's title is drawn from Fukase's decade-long obsession with Japan's karasu crows, whose intelligence and solitude drew him. Gill has taken it a step further: in "Ravens," a chain-smoking, man-size raven (Ferrer) conducts conversations with Fukase from an early age, alternately encouraging and castigating him. The bird is a bold choice, but one that elevates "Ravens" to art.
Please join us for this sneak preview of the inventive, imaginative, extraordinary "Ravens" before the film’s Japan release on March 28.
For more (in Japanese): https://www.ravens-movie.com/
British director MARK GILL started his artistic journey at 18 with a recording contract at Warner Music. Returning to film and photography after 15 years as a musician, he garnered acclaim as a writer-director, earning both Oscar and BAFTA nominations for the short film "The Voorman Problem" (2011). His Morrissey portrait "England Is Mine" (2017) was nominated for the Michael Powell Award for Best New British Feature at the BAFTA awards and was globally released. "Ravens" had its Asian premiere at the Tokyo International Film Festival in 2024, and is just starting its international journey.
TADANOBU ASANO is a Golden Globe-winning actor, a director and a musician who has had an extensive career working in both Japanese and international cinema. He has been nominated for five Japan Academy Film Prizes, twice for Best Actor and three times for Best Supporting Actor, and has won a slew of other awards. Among the many highlights of his career are “Maborosi” (Hirokazu Kore-eda, 1995), “Gohatto/Taboo” (Nagisa Oshima, 1999), “Ichi the Killer” (Takashi Miike, 2001), “Zatoichi” (Takeshi Kitano, 2003), “Last Life in the Universe” (Pen-Ek Ratanaruang, 2003), “Mongol” (Sergei Bodrov, 2007) “47 Ronin” (Carl Rinsch, 2013) and “Silence” (Martin Scorsese, 2016). His role in the miniseries “Shogun” won him the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor.
KUMI TAKIUCHI made her film debut in 2012 and played her first leading role in “The Greatful Dead” (2014). She has starred in “Twisted Justice” (2016), “Side Job” (2017) and “Underdog” (2020). She has won awards in Japan and abroad, including the Best Newcomer Award at the Yokohama Film Festival and the Kinema Junpo Best Actress Award for her role in “It Feels So Good” (2019), and the Best Actress Award at the Japan Film Critics Awards and the Japan Film Professional Awards for her role in “A Balance,” which we screened here in 2021.
IMPORTANT NOTE:
Please make your reservations at the FCCJ Reception Desk 03 3211-3161 or from online event page.
All film screenings are private, noncommercial events primarily for FCCJ members and their guests.
- Karen Severns, Film Committee