Eiga Sai 2017: Tsukiji Wonderland, Asian Three Fold Mirror: Reflections

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When my friend and I got off at a nearby train station to walk towards Tsukiji Fish market six years ago, we followed the smell of fresh fish and a few hundred meters later, we were there. What we did see was pretty fascinating. We'd arrived at around lunchtime and the tourist crowds were already gone, for the most part. But the memories of that place still remain with me even today.

Tsukiji Wonderland, a recent documentary by Naotaro Endo, comes in the wake of the announcement that Tsukiji Fish Market is to be relocated to Toyosu to make way for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The announcement effectively ends the market's decades-long run as one of the largest fish markets in the world. The move has been met with some opposition: while the market is undeniably a site infused with years of cultural heritage, the buildings are old, unsafe in parts, and prone to natural disasters.

Tsukiji Wonderland gently sidesteps this and concentrates on celebrating the market and its people, perhaps for posterity. This may be the last time we will see the market in its present form, whether the move will push through or not. We are acquainted with merchants, wholesalers and chefs, all part of the unique ecosystem of Tsukiji market. We also get lots of shots of expertly made food that will make your mouth water.

But Tsukiji is more than just the fish and the seafood; other "commodities" are not as obvious. Information is traded just as freely, and camaraderie is abundant among all the people involved in the market. Over and over throughout the film emphasis is placed on the strong relationships people have with other people in this place, transcending the normal definition of the word nakama (usually meaning a workmate) into something closer to family.

Ever since the movie came out, Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike has decided on a compromise; late last month, she finally decided to go through with the move to Toyosu, pending safety and environmental concerns. As the move is done, the original Tsukiji site will be redeveloped into a new market and tourist attraction. So while the old Tsukiji may fade away, the name (and the people who made it what it is today) will live on.

We end today's reviews with a collaboration between the Tokyo International Film Festival and the Japan Foundation, the omnibus film Asian Three Fold Mirror: Reflections. Each film is directed by an acclaimed director, with each film following the interactions between people in Southeast Asia and Japan.

The first film, Shiniuma (Dead Horse) is directed by award winning Filipino director Brillante Mendoza. It follows Marcial (Lou Veloso), a long time illegal immigrant, as he is captured by the immigration police and sent home. Having spent 30 long years in Japan, he has become an alien in his own country - his lingering connection to Japan manifests in customarily bowing tricycle drivers, and nightmares of snow. The Philippines he has come home to has profoundly changed, touched by disaster and political upheaval. The story gains additional layers of resonance once you find out that Marcial's full name is Marcial Bonifacio - the same pseudonym that Ninoy Aquino used as he went home to the Philippines only to be assassinated as soon as he got off the plane. The Ninoy-Marcial parallels only grow from here, with both characters serving long exiles from their beloved land, returning to a place, now alien to them, that no longer seems to need them. It's overall quite impressive.

The second film, Pigeons, is directed by Isao Yukisada, responsible for films like Go (2001) and  Parade (2010), the latter of which was featured in a previous edition of Eiga Sai. Set in Malaysia, it's about an old retiree (Masahiko Tsugawa) bonding with his Malaysian caretaker (Sharifah Amani). It's relatively lighthearted, showing how cultural understanding can still grow between peoples even given a troubled history together. Even with cultural and language barriers, communication can still happen, tying into the motif of pigeons as loyal couriers, sending messages (even from unlikely places.)

The final film, Beyond the Bridge, is from Sotho Kulikar, responsible for recent Cambodian film The Last Reel. In its opening frames we are shown a pottery remade through Kintsugi - a process that repairs broken pottery with lacquer mixed with gold. The philosophy behind Kintsugi (and by extension, mono no aware) is reflected in the rest of the film: a Japanese man learns to heal, yet at the same time embrace the wounds of his past, and at the same time, a country profoundly damaged by civil war and strife mends itself slowly, but surely, after a long period of suffering. The film posits that we come to a better sense of self realization only once we are broken and are transformed by the process. Unfortunately the film doesn't seem to mesh together all these concepts too well, with the first half and the second (mostly flashback) half failing to come together in a satisfying way.

I'll be taking a break tomorrow, and I'll come back on Wednesday and Thursday to round up the rest of the movies, as well as the ToFarm Film Festival. See you guys then.

Eiga Sai runs at the Edsa Shangrila Cineplex from July 6-16.