American Cinematographer - June 2001 - 14

Japan's Eureka: A Widescreen Revelation
by Patricia Thomson
phic] and black-and-white,' but there
specific reason."

was no

cent brother and sister. The

traumatized into

a

state of

an

adoles¬

siblings

are

silence, and

the bus driver

disappears for two years.
During the film's first half,
Aoyama offers oblique glimpses of the
crime's ripple effect - the siblings'
mother leaving the family, their father
dying in a car accident, the bus driver's
alienation at home and his

move

into the

children's house, and a series of murders

bloody publichijacking try

bus

to heal

themselves

by
road

taking a
trip a few years
later in the

Japanese film
Eureka. Bottom:
A young

girl (Aoi
Miyazaki) who
survives the

attack, along
with her brother,
is

soon

orphaned.

12 June 2001

Iong before Eureka coalesced into a

Shinji Aoyama and cinematographer
they wanted to
shoot the film in anamorphic. "The
Masaki Tamra knew that

format and content of

a

film should

match, but that was not why we selected

[anamorphic]," admits the 61-year-old
a veteran of 36 films. "Aoyama
and I had just had enough of the format
of the past titles we had worked on
together." These included Aoyama's
1995 directorial debut Helpless, as well
as Shady Grove {1999), Floji-E(2000), and
the upcoming Desert Moon. "When we
were shooting Rojl-E, we had a casual
chat, saying, 'If we have a new project to
work on together, let's do it in [anamor¬

Tamra,

stunning

release experienced by his characters.
Aoyama therefore decided to print both

survivors: the bus driver and

story idea, Japanese writer/director

a

ordinary that it's like a small mira¬
a profane world. Running more
than 3 Vi hours, the film is epic in length,
but its story is largely interior, a mesmer¬
izing meditation on the incremental
process of healing after a life-altering
trauma. Inspired by the Sarin gas attack
in the Tokyo subway and the rise of
violent crime in Japan, Eureka begins
with the bloody hijacking of a public bus,
an incident that leaves only three
cle in

a

-

transition that mirrors the emotional

so

of the

Top: The few

aerial shot in full color

far out

Eureka turned out to be

survivors of

But he also wanted to end the film with
an

that follow in his wake. The trio

begin to
surrogate family, and in the
second half of the film, they and a visit¬

form

a

ing cousin embark on a road trip to try to
begin life anew. "In my earlier films,"
says the director, "I told stories that
juxtaposed social misfits, each under the
burden of that particular psychological
baggage of post-war Japan. With
Eureka, I add to my body of work a prayer
for life and the desire to be reborn."
He also adds

picture that is
distinct in its pace and look. The first
thing that immediately sets Eureka apart
is its sepia-toned, black-and-white
photography. Aoyama was interested in
a

black-and-white because "I wanted to
make

a

film in its most elemental state."

film stocks

-

Kodak's Double X 5222

black-and-white and its color Vision 320T

color positive film "because
simplest method," he says.
But the young director didn't realize that
this process invariably results in a print
that's not pure black-and-white. "I
supposed Tamra had some idea of the
5277
it

-

was

on

the

outcome," he notes, "but we did not aim
for

a sepia color. It was just an acciden¬
product of our approach."
It's a happy accident that also
gives Eureka a large measure of its
haunting beauty, and it certainly inspired
Tamra. "It was an experimental trial to
test the uncontrollable coloring caused
by the process," he says. "It was a really
thrilling experience, because the minute
tinges of color came out unexpectedly. A
good print has numerous tinges." Indeed,
the film shifts from a rosy sepia to some¬
thing more khaki, then to a deeper

tal

walnut brown, and then to a delicate

photo-album-like hue. Though arbitrary,
a subliminal impact,
making some locations seem dank and
depressing, and others pristinely beauti¬
ful. As Tamra acknowledges, "When I

the effect has

saw

it, normal black-and-white

was no

longer satisfactory."
Eureka is also marked by a cine¬
matographic style that is both under¬
stated and balletic. Structurally, the film
is composed of long, legato phrases
rather than short bits. Tamra s limited
of

use

close-ups and emphasis on the frame's
internal composition evokes the work of
past Japanese masters such as director

GSahocloeuryrftti.ensgy
Phot s
American Cinematographer - June 2001

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