Often regarded as one of the eminent humanist directors working today, Japanese
filmmaker Kore-eda Hirokazu has demonstrated consistent authorial intentions and
thematic orientations throughout his filmography despite the variety of styles – from
social documentary to period comedy – involved. Through in-depth textual analysis of
his narrative strategies and exhaustive research on the English-language literature
about the director, this study seeks to shed light on the first seven feature films in his
career. Commentaries by Kore-eda on his creative impulse and filmmaking method,
collected from both diverse sources of media interviews and insightful analyses
published in academic journals, are meticulously examined. By taking a formalistic
perspective, this thesis sets out to consolidate existing research in the field, while
providing a systematic study that builds upon authoritative investigation.
The study begins with an analysis of the filmmaking techniques utilised in
Maborosi and Distance, both contemplative narratives that seek to capture the
fragmented consciousness of the characters in mourning. With its seemingly
naturalistic composition, Maborosi nonetheless presents a partially abstract narrative
that is directly reflective of the grieving protagonist’s inner state. Distance, on the
contrary, offers hints to the possible cause of the family members’ plans to join a
religious cult and commit mass suicides – such as the emotional isolation in an urban
society – while providing a final plot twist that confirms the slippery quality of any
assumption. Both films imply that full comprehension of one’s family members is
impossible.
In the following chapter, the coherent authorial concerns in Kore-eda’s fourth to
sixth feature – Nobody Knows, Hana and Still Walking – are illustrated along with his
fascination with the process of forgetting. Kore-eda, who started out as a
socio-documentarist, borrowed a real-life tragedy as the framework for Nobody
Knows to construct a subversive take on the traditional perception of the Japanese
family, extending a decidedly non-judgemental view on the irresponsible parents and
celebrating the autonomy of the new generation. The solace of memory is highlighted
in the anti-bushido comedy Hana, which is interpreted as Kore-eda’s protest against
tradition and, by extension, the older generation. The director’s recurrent themes of
broken promises, failed expectations and forgotten family legacies are highlighted
with the slice-of-life domestic drama, Still Walking.
The thesis then concludes with an analysis of the fantastic representations of the
human condition in After Life and Air Doll, Kore-eda’s only two fantasy films to date.
His use of quasi-realist documentary style in After Life facilitates a largely
non-religious meditation on the importance of human co-dependence and recollection.
The film’s metaphysical setting is compared to the absurd existence pondered in
Albert Camus’s “The Myth of Sisyphus”, and its central premise – that the affirmation
of one single memory can validate a person’s entire existence – is compared to
Friedrich Nietzsche’s thesis of the eternal return. Also adopting the perspective of a
non-human protagonist, Air Doll extends Kore-eda’s perception of the depressing
prospects of modern life – substantiating the city dwellers’ pervasive sense of
emptiness, while constantly looking for the beauty of living. / published_or_final_version / Comparative Literature / Master / Master of Philosophy
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:HKU/oai:hub.hku.hk:10722/174481 |
| Date | January 2012 |
| Creators | Lee, Cheuk-chi., 李卓智. |
| Contributors | Cheung, EMK |
| Publisher | The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong) |
| Source Sets | Hong Kong University Theses |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | PG_Thesis |
| Source | http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B47753018 |
| Rights | The author retains all proprietary rights, (such as patent rights) and the right to use in future works., Creative Commons: Attribution 3.0 Hong Kong License |
| Relation | HKU Theses Online (HKUTO) |
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