Honeymoon

I’ve been working with artist Yu Araki on text for his latest film HONEYMOON being shown as part of the “Connections – 150 years of Modern Art in Japan and France” exhibition at the POLA Museum of Art (11/14/2020 – 4/4/2021).

Commissioned by the POLA Museum and POLA Art Foundation, HONEYMOON is Araki’s take on Japonisme, set in a fictitious lunar base Nagasaki. He re-examines and re-interprets the wedding scene from Madama Butterfly (dir. Carmine Gallone, 1954), where B.F. Pinkerton sits in seiza (正座), which is the Japanese term used for the proper, formal traditional way of sitting by kneeling on the floor and have legs folded underneath the thighs. Although seiza-style is widely known as “correct” and “traditional”, it didn’t permeate until after Japan opened up to the Occident, that is, after the culture of the “chair” had taken hold, hence the formality of what the Japanese thought had long history was only a modern, arbitrary construct. Inspired by this historical fact, Araki connects seiza with another element to contemplate the arbitrariness of humanity: constellation, which, incidentally, is a homonym with seiza (星座) in the Japanese language. In Araki’s version, B.F. Pinkerton is replaced by a real-life photographer Adolf de Meyer (1868 – 1946), and the matchmaker is substituted with an anthropologist Frederick Starr (1858 – 1933), and having Suzuki and Dr. Tatsukichi Irisawa (1865 – 1938), who was known for his essay “On the Japanese Way of Sitting” (1921), joining in as broadcast commentator to describe the situation from a distance. The loose, gossipy dialogue between the off-site personnel ranges from fashion to spies, interweaving various elements while the performers patiently wait in perseverance until their legs fall asleep.

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Starring
Taro Nettleton
Qinhua Yang
Jack Mclean

With
Kosuke Matsunobu
Toshiaki Hicosaka
Tomoko Inoue

Director of Photography: Kenichi Negishi (J.S.C.)
Camera Operator: Kosuke Haruki
Camera Operator: Daisuke Takase
Camera Assistants: Sota Takahashi, Genki Hidaka

Lighting: Masahiro Tawa
Best Boy: Toru Yagi

Hair and Makeup: Sae Takahashi

Sound Design: Ichiro Fujimoto
Subtitle translation: Stuart Munro
Title design: Yasuwo Miyamura
Editing Support: Yuya Koyama

Management: Hiroki Nishioka
Management Assistant: Masakazu Arai
Location: Omori-Musasino En, Tokyo
Zabuton provided by Midori Koseki

Produced by Pola Museum of Arts, Pola Art Foundation
Commissioned on the occasion of “Connections – 150 years of Modern Art in Japan and France”
Curators: Nami Yamabana, Yoko Iwasaki
Installation: Tokyo Studio Co., Ltd.

Written, Edited, Casted & Directed by
Yu Araki

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2020年／映像インスタレーション／1.78:1／日本／カラー／29分／英語字幕

出演
ネトルトン・タロウ　
羊喘兒
ジャック・マクリーン　

声の出演
松延耕資　
彦坂敏昭　
井上知子（友情出演）　

撮影監督：根岸憲一（J.S.C.）
撮影：春木康輔
撮影：髙瀬大輔
撮影助手：高橋草太
撮影助手：日高絃貴
照明技師：多和正博
照明：八木徹

ヘアメイク：高橋沙絵　
字幕翻訳：スチュアート・ムンロ
サウンドデザイン：藤本一郎
タイトルデザイン：宮村ヤスヲ　
編集協力：小山友也

制作：西岡央樹
制作助手：新井正和
ロケーション：大森武蔵野苑
座布団提供：小関みどり

製作：公益財団法人ポーラ美術振興財団 ポーラ美術館
「Connections – 海を越える憧れ、日本とフランスの150年」
企画：山塙菜未、岩崎余帆子
展示施工：東京スタデオ

編集・脚本・配役・監督：荒木 悠

©Yu Araki 2020

Screening history:
07/2021, Flash Competition, The 32nd FIDMarseille – International Film Festival Marseille, Marseille, FR (World Premiere) – scheduled
09/2021, East Asian Experimental Competition, The 35th Image Forum Festival, Tokyo, JP (Japan Premiere) – scheduled