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Mental ist zugleich ein sehr schlichter und ein monumentaler Dokumentarfilm. Dem Regisseur gelingt es mit viel Empathie für geistig kranke Menschen, diese besondere Klinik als einen Mikrokosmos vorzustellen, in dem alle wesentlichen Fragen unserer Zeit gestellt werden. Antworten gibt der Film nicht, vielmehr ist er ein humanistisches Plädoyer. Und eine ungewöhnliche Liebeserklärung an die zivilisatorischen Geheimnisse japanischer Kultur. [aus dem Forumprogramm]
INTERVIEW You shot this film at a mental health clinic in Japan. How was it shooting at a place like that, how did the patients (and the staff) react to the camera? How much time did you spend shooting at the clinic?
When mentally ill patients appear on TV or screen in Japan, their faces are usually covered with some blurry effects to hide their identities, just like censored porn films which hide genitals. But I believe that it reinforces the stigma and makes it even more taboo to discuss this issue, so I pledged myself that I would never use it in my film.
Carrying our camera, I and my wife Kiyoko Kashiwagi went to Chorale Okayama everyday, and asked every person in the waiting room if he/she gives us a permission to shoot. However, 8 or 9 out of 10 people said "no."
Many patients do not tell their friends, colleagues, or even parents that they are ill because of the strong social stigma to mental disorders. For most of them, it was out of question to be on camera especially because I told them that I won't use any blurry effects on their faces. So, there were some days we were not able to roll the camera at all!
But luckily, some patients agreed to be in the film, and they were so interesting and attractive. In total, there were about 30 shooting days which produced about 70 hours of footage.
Regarding the editing process, you say in your director's statement you "tried to stimulate the audience's active observation, leaving lots of room for them to freely interpret what they see on the screen" -- can you tell us something more about that, about what means you used to achieve that effect?
Everyday, we are bombarded with moving images and sound which tell us what to think and feel. We're surrounded by so much political or economical propaganda. And I have a feeling that we're gradually becoming passive viewers - very easy to be brainwashed. I don't think it's healthy.
So, I decided not to use any narration, music, or super-imposed titles to explain where, when, who, what, and why. Because of lack of information, each viewer has to think and interpret what's going on in the movie.
For example, since I don't even identify each person who appears on the film, the viewers have to think if the person they see is a patient or staff or doctor. They are forced to pay attention to their conversations, facial expressions, and behaviors to interpret who they are! And this process makes them more involved, active, and observational as opposed to detached, passive, and judgmental.
My film is kind of like a sightseeing without a guide. If you have a guide, you may see everything important in a short period of time, but you forget everything after a few days. If you don't have a guide, it may require more hard work and try and error, but it becomes memorable because of that.
Was this film also shot on HDV (as was Campaign)?
Yes, HDV 1080 60i
see also the Interview with Kazuhiro Soda on Campaign (2007)
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