Otoshiana (Pitfall) - Hiroshi Teshigahara

una storia di Kôbô Abe, un grande scrittore giapponese, qui anche sceneggiatore, che racconta di sfruttamento e morte.
un povero minatore, alla base della scala sociale, riceve un'offerta di lavoro da non farsi sfuggire, e col bambino va incontro al suo destino, non sa cosa c'è dietro, e neanche lo spettatore fino alla fine.
un po' come un western, un po' cinema politico, un po' film di fantasmi, ce n'è per tutti i gusti.
Hiroshi Teshigahara riesce a tenere alta l'attenzione per tutto il film, è un meccanismo a orologeria senza pietà e senza prigionieri.
un piccolo capolavoro da non perdere - Ismaele

Un minatore, spinto dal guadagno promesso, accetta di andare a lavorare in uno dei due pozzi di un desertico villaggio del Kyushu, ma una volta arrivato sul luogo, scopre qualcosa che non va: il posto è disabitato, l'unica persona che vi risiede è una venditrice di dolci. Convinto di essere stato ingannato, decide di tornarsene in città, ma lungo la strada, un misterioso uomo vestito di bianco lo insegue per poi colpirlo con diverse coltellate. Il minatore muore, ma la sua anima continua a vivere, invisibile agli umani e scopre che il villaggio, solo apparentemente deserto, è abitato dalle anime di altri morti…

da qui

…is a story of two worlds that coexist with no point of intersection but which nonetheless have great impact on one another. In the world of the dead, the deceased are fated to exist eternally as they were in their last moments; thus, a digger crushed in a cave-in skulks around with a perpetually crooked neck while the miner protagonist, who lost his life while hungry, is doomed to an enternity of starvation. It's a grim prospect but the way Teshigahara and scenarist Kôbô Abe (here adapting his own stage play) see it, the world of the living is much worse, peopled as it is by the alienated, the disenfranchised, the lonely and the powerless. Although clots of miners are seen early in the film, the first few reels, as the miner drags his son to the new job (which is offered in David Lynch fashion, via a map addressed and a photograph of himself that he does not recognize), are so underpopulated that it nearly seems the characters are walking on the moon... until the miner is cut down and his dead body attracts all manner of policemen, forensic technicians, news reporters, photographers and gawkers -- the message being that he is of more interest as a corpse than he ever was as a man…

da qui

…Ce rapport au pouvoir et l’instrumentalisation qui est faite de la pauvreté montre une société où chacun n’est qu’un pion dispensable, que l’on peut oublier dans un coin de Terre, sans que personne ne sourcille – les journalistes font leur enquête mais se heurtent vite à une impasse -. Les vraies têtes pensantes ne seront jamais à l’écran, c’est toute la puissance du traquenard.
L’acteur principal se voit obligé de déclamer des monologues post-mortem. Ce procédé narratif va vite devenir pénible. Les faits sont intéressants mais la pertinence de l’absurdité – sortis de l’amusement – va vite se revoir mise en cause. A partir du moment où l’homme meurt – après une scène étonnante, la vérité damant le pion au fantastique -, la routine va prendre une place conséquente, usant jusqu’à la moëlle l’idée de base…

da qui

…If the more specific social commentary (workers vs. bosses) doesn’t quite gel, the larger theme of a cutthroat, every-man-for-himself world rings clear.  Everyone is looking out for themselves, and even in death no one cares much about the other guy.  The ghost miner’s frustration isn’t out of a sense of justice as much as it stems from his belief that making things right will put his soul to rest.  And the other ghosts have no interest in his problems.  The woman is easily bought off, and the policeman who checks up on her takes advantage of the situation.  By the end, the son has witnessed enough to know that you fill your own pockets at the first opportunity.

Takemitsu’s dissonant score is jarring and unsettling, lending an extra layer of strangeness.  I imagine the film would seem much more pedestrian without it.  Segawa’s photography is not as striking as it would later become, but there are some wonderful shots and fun camera tricks.  Igawa handles his dual role nicely, and I always enjoy seeing Tanaka… his droopy eyes make his face quite memorable.  The film has a cynical tone with a touch of black comedy, and except for a slightly sluggish opening is very watchable.

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