|
'Yasukuni' puts Chinese director on map
2007-10-14
When Chinese film-maker Li Ying moved to Tokyo 18 years ago, he knew nothing about the Yasukuni Shrine. Now the controversial site is about to help make his name as an international director. Li's documentary about the shrine, a decade in the making, is at the centre of an intense bidding war this week at the Pusan International Film Festival, where it has been playing to packed houses. "Of course I realised the attention my film would get," said the 44-year old. "No one wanted to help me get the film made. But now that it is completed, it seems that everyone wants to be involved." His film, simply entitled "Yasukuni," looks at the controversy surrounding the shrine, which was built in 1869 and now honours 2.5 million war dead -- including a handful of top war criminals. The site has become a rallying point for Japan's far right, while across much of Asia it is seen as a terrible symbol of an ugly past -- a militarist Japan that was not extinguished until its defeat in World War II. Li had made a handful of previous documentaries, but the emotions fuelled by this film's touchy subject matter look set to bring him to international attention for the first time. "Yasukuni" begins by focussing on 90-year-old swordmaker Naoharu Kariya, the last tradesman alive who forged the steel-bladed weapons that were traditionally used by Japanese military officers. Worshippers at the shrine believe the blades house the souls of the dead who are memorialised there. "With him I wanted to show that the threat of some traditions dying out with time can bring to life forces in society that will fight to make sure this may not in fact be the case," Li said. "The swords and their history are a very powerful thing in Japanese society," he said. "It can be hard to understand the emotions the shrine brings up unless you actually go there." The documentary traces what those blades were used for -- including the Nanjing Massacre of 1937 and a widely reported beheading "competition" carried out by two officers who were later executed for war crimes. That fact that their names -- and those of others convicted at the trials -- are included at the shrine has become a focal point for international protests over the site. "Yasukuni" also looks at the controversial annual visits by former Japanese prime minister Junichiro Koizumi and follows the efforts of Taiwanese and Korean families whose relatives died fighting for Japan, but who want their names removed from the shrine. But Li also interviews worshippers at the shrine and officials from the monastery that runs it, giving a richer view of the meaning of Yasukuni and the complex feelings of history and the Japanese past that it evokes. In making the film -- an effort that meant visiting the site at least once a week in the 10 years it took to make -- Li often found himself at the centre of unwanted attention. "Once they knew who I was, supporters of the shrine and security staff would sometimes chase me, grab my camera and smash my tapes. There are a lot of people who did not want this film to be made," he said. Li originally worked for China's state-run CCTV but found he was unable to turn his attention to subject matter that interested him. After leaving, he said he chose to move to Tokyo purely by chance, and worked a series of jobs -- including cleaning toilets in Japanese public parks -- to get the money he needed to keep filming. "I didn't think this film would take so long to make," he said. "But I feel a great love for Japan now and its people and this film I think shows that love," said Li. "It is hard to judge anyone, so I just wanted to show how many sides there are to stories and to people." Those long years have now paid off. Li has found a distributor in Japan and is in negotiations with firms in South Korea and China to get "Yasukuni" into theatres there. He said he expects the film to open on the mainland to coincide with the 70th anniversary of the Nanjing Massacre in December. "I am hoping that people who see it will also look at themselves," he said. "What I am hoping to do with this film is look at history and help people to realise that there are different sides to every story."
| 
