In the distance, enveloped in fog. a man appears. He walks to his car, gets in and starts reciting a text. You can scarcely see the car, but his voice is really close by. He drives off, returning later in a sublime landscape.
Shot in black and white, Amijima references the bunraku play The Love Suicides at Amijima, written in Japan in 1720 by Chikamatse Monzeamon. Jorge Suárez-Quiñones Rivas took a few sentences from the original upon which to base a mantra. In Amijima, distance and loneliness are emphasised by the rugged landscape. Simultaneously, the soundtrack makes the lead’s voice and actions almost tactile. Suárez-Quiñones Rivas took the liberty of re-using soundtrack excerpts from a prior adaptation, Double Suicide (by Masahiro Shinoda, 1969), to underline the work’s intangibility.
Film details
- Country of production
- Spain
- Year
- 2016
- Festival edition
- IFFR 2017
- Length
- 55'
- Medium/Format
- DCP
