kumakiri-san @ the s.f. indie fest

Kumakiri Kazuyoshi Meets The Devil Dolls in San Francisco

By

Michael Skurko


Kichiku Dai Enkai (Banquet of The Beasts). I was told this first film by Kumakiri Kazuyoshi is “one of the most violent films ever.” Took some time hunting down a copy in San Francisco. I bought the DVD. So now after seeing his film Antenna at The 7th San Francisco Independent Film Festival I am fired up. Such a sweet guy. After seeing Antenna I’d have thought he was a monster. You’d think he was a butcher. Deeply demented? Insane? Nope. He’s a really cool guy. So? He’s staying at my house and I’ve been having a great time showing him the non-tourist attractions of San Francisco

Kumakiri-san is a young director who’s currently living in Tokyo and was able to join us for this year’s Indie Fest as the shooting for his most recent film wrapped the day before his flight. I live in Bernal Heights, which is a bit of a haul from the Roxie Theater in The Mission and was wondering if I should have rented a car for the duration of the festival to ferry him around. We started talking about Japan and then about motorcycles. Turns out he used to have a bike. Hmm… “Do you mind riding on the back of my bike?” “That would be great!!” So much for the normal views and tourist attractions. We got on the bike and bombed up the winding road to Twin Peaks. Never been to San Francisco before? Oh, this is going to be a blast! A clear day mid week atop the hills looking out to the postcard views. The Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, the towering buildings of the Financial District... We sat on the stone wall, consuming the view. Kumakiri-san had a smoke and looked out into the distance, taking it all in. Back on the bike and then slicing down the winding road and into The Haight. Hippies, punkers, wastrels and tourists packing the streets and milling about. Any chance we could find a place that sells DVDs? Sure. Amoeba Records. They have an extensive Japanese film section and in about five minutes he came up with a copy of Kichiku Dai Enkai. Funny, I tried to find it with the help of a staff member who swore it was not there. My guess is he was looking for it under the English title of “Banquet of the Beasts.” Ah, well. Back on the street and window shopping as we head back to the bike. Helmets on, and back on the bike. The bike growls along in low gears as we rolls past Buena Vista Park and down the hill towards The Lower Haight. Park the bike and order sausages at Rosamunde and then into The Toronado for pints of ‘Racer 5.’ They have unbelievable food in Japan, but there is nothing there to compete in the sausage and fresh beer arena.

The daily ritual is that we get up late and have a coffee in the house. By the time we’re up and active my cats have already gone back to sleep. Late night festival parties have taken a toll. A continually changing cast of Film Festival characters has rolled through my house. For a grass roots independent film festival my house has taken on a United Nations flavor. Thus far a Russian, a Canadian and now a Japanese film director have stayed with me. Never a dull moment. We see some films at the Roxie or The Woman’s Building. At this point we are now taking the motorcycle everywhere. Easy parking and a chance to hit China Town, North Beach, The Haight, The Mission and beyond all in a single day with no worries about parking. Perfect. We sample all the local fare. Dinner at Limon, Taqueria Cancun, Yum Yum Chinese, Rosamunde Sausages, Yo Yo Sushi… San Francisco is an awesome place to eat. It is a food destination. It is also a film destination. A fine combo.

The Parties? Too many to mention? Perhaps. There are film festival parties each night of the festival. A chance for the film fans to meet with the directors and some of the actors. A chance for these guests of San Francisco to kick back and have a blast. The Roxie is located in the midst of The Mission District. Delirium is a bar just around the corner and has become the standard bar for post film pints. The ticket stub from the Indie Fest gets you a free Sierra Nevada. Admission to a film, a free beer and a chance to chat with a film maker? Life does not get better.

So, last night Kumakiri-san and I decide to head off to a party a ways from the comfort of the Mission. I’d been told about a ‘Devil Dolls’ biker party at The Parkside on 1600 17th st. Perfect. This should give him an excellent chance to see some of the ‘real’ America that is so far off the beaten tourist tract that I think I will make biker history by bringing a legitimate tourist to a biker bash. We pull up to the bar and there’s some mayhem in the streets. Hundreds of Harleys and there’s some kind of skirmish going on just down the road. A hulking Hells Angel standing next to Kumakiri-san and I smiles. “Finally some action.” There’s at least five different motorcycle clubs in attendance for this Devil Dolls event. Perfect. He’s going to love this. We walk into the bar and a wall of wailing music splits into our skulls. Hard hitting, head banging tunes. Unreal. The Rumblers SF are up front, head banging and loving it. The scene is charged and though we clearly stick out no one gives us any bad vibes. Up to the bar and run into Jennifer from The Toronado. She’s always been a fan of biker parties. Kumakiri-san and I are surrounded by the real deal. Motorcycle Clubs. Outlaws, and hard core motorcyclists. There are skulls and boots. Black leather and tattoos. Neck tattoos on some of the guys… A few girls with beautiful tattoos running down from their skirts to their ankles. A sight to behold. We stay for the full set and then stagger outside with ears still ringing. I see a couple of Devil Dolls. I introduce them to Kumakiri-san and explain that he’s here from Japan for The San Francisco Independent Film Festival and he’s come out tonight for a look at the ‘real’ America. I tell them about his films and suggest they join us at the 4:40pm screening the next day at the Roxie. They gave us stickers that say “worship your local devil dolls.” Smiles all around.

A great scene. We say good night and move over to the bikes. I hear one The Devil Dolls say “he is so cute.” Surrounded by bearded giants on American steel we are the little people and Kumakiri is in fact, a cute little man from Japan. I hope these Devil Dolls join us for the screening of Antenna on Sunday. Yes, he’s a sweet heart and he’s a little cutie, but his films are the deepest and darkest you could ever hope to see. All the skin heads in mosh pits and tattooed necks with that quiet and understood violence of the night? Kumakiri wears his darkness within. See his films you’ll understand the horror that lies beneath the surface.

on the set with toyoda toshiaki

On the set with Toyoda. Yokohama, Japan

By

Mike Skurko

I’m a film fan and board member of the SF Independent Film Festival. I grew up in Tokyo and wound up helping translate and act as tour guide/driver for Toyoda-san (“9 Souls”) and Kitamura-san (“Aragami”) when they were guests of the Indie Fest for their films in the ’04 festival.

Toyoda had “Blue Spring” in the ’02 festival and it was a stomping Indie pick. I kept talking about it long after the festival ended. It nailed all that is wrong in the Japanese high school culture. It was beautiful. It was fucked up. An Indie classic. So, I was psyched to see what he’d come up with next. Toyoda-san is a low-key punk rock genius. Like Jello? Uhh… If he were Japanese... He was a former ‘shogi’ chess master in Japan and ultimately with a $200 loan from his parents packed a bag and moved from Osaka to Tokyo with his two guitars. He wrote scripts. He got started with his first film “Unchain,” a boxing documentary. Next up was “Pornostar,” a surreal vision of the yakuza-hating misanthrope. Set in Shibuya-ku it paints a bleak and beautiful picture with hard-hitting rock and nerve jarring slow-motion shots. So? So, “9 Souls.” I had only seen “Blue Spring,” and after giving him a dirt bag/punk rock tour of the Tenderloin (crack/hooker/low brow dead end alcoholic ‘hood), my favorite dyke bar (the wild side west), the Naked Eye Video store and etc., etc…. So, it was hard to sit down with a guy that is clearly cool and think I could be objective. I sat down to that screening of “9 Souls,” thinking, “Hmmm, young guy, made an amazing film…. God, I hope this one doesn’t suck.” It didn’t. It was, without question, the best film of Indie Fest ’04. You were there? You agree? Good. You don’t? You are confused. Very, confused. I won’t begin to describe it. See this movie.

So, we stayed in touch via e-mail. He was going to start filming two new ones soon. In the spring was something he described to me as a “film about a normal-good Japanese family.” Now, having seen all of his films I can assure you that the idea of “normal-good” from the Toyoda perspective is going to be terribly twisted. Perfect. When does he start shooting? I got some dates and then booked a flight. I wanted to see Toyoda on the set.

Jet lag in Tokyo. I’m up at 3am with my girlfriend. Wide awake. Hungry. We are up and off to the Tsukiji Fish Market. It is the largest fish market in the world and is where the giant tuna are auctioned off each day and then shot around the globe in Styrofoam and dry ice, veritable high end culinary missiles. We line up for sashimi at Daiwa Sushi. They open at 5am. There’s seating for eight and a forty-five minute wait. Words fail me. I weep. It is incredible….

I call Toyoda. Phone tag. Miyazaki-san returns my call. He speaks English. I speak Japanese. This is a fun game. We continue. We agree that I will meet them the next day on the location in Yokohama. I spent some time in high school in Yokohama. It’s a port city. It’s nothing special. Not on the beaten tourist track. I’m fired up. We take the subway from our hotel in Roppongi. We change trains. We change trains again. Finally we arrive. I see a group of people milling about and am approached by Miyazaki. He’s polite. He’s on time. He’s got a clipboard. We are told to wait. We wait and others arrive. Technicians, friends, actors etc. Finally we walk twenty feet outside of the station and see the set.

There’s people everywhere. They are filming in front of a department store. Two main actors and a sea of extras. Toyoda dressed in black with tennis shoes and a hat. His hair has grown to shagginess since the Indie Fest in the winter. It’s a beautiful spring day. After shouting “Kaaato!” (cut) He come over and shakes our hands. He’s psyched we could make it. He pops another Hope cigarette in his mouth and fires it up. I ask how it’s going and he looks off to the set. Takes another long draw on the smoke. “Good. It’s been a long couple of days. Not much sleep.” We have a laugh over the concept of the jet lag associated with filming. He looks tired, but is psyched and smiles. Back on the set. The actor and actress do the shot again and again. He’s smiling. Giving advice. They are going again. Each time they return to the set the sea of extras starts again. It is like watching waves break. There is consistency. There is repetition. Eventually? Perfection. It’s a wrap and the mass of assistants, tech, extras and all move on up. We go upstairs for the next shot. This scene has only actors. I have a can of UCC Coffee and continue snapping shots of the filming and off the extras. I talk with a few of them. They are very sweet and ask me if taking pictures is “my hobby. “ A very cute and very Japanese question. I explain I am here because I met Toyoda and saw his film “9 Souls” at the recent SF Indie Fest. Apparently the right answer. They start gushing about his earlier films. They were young and could have been in high school or recent graduates. “Did you see ‘Blue Spring?” One of them asks me. It was the reason she wanted to work with Toyoda. He’s got big time cult status in Japan. Everyone here shares this sense of awe.

Toyoda breaks from the set and comes over. He apologies for being busy. He pops another Hope cigarette in his mouth. He grabs a can of coffee and sips. We talk about the shooting. Going well. Behind schedule. He needs to get some sleep. He’s got assistants with walkie talkies running up with stats asking quick questions. They run off to the set. An assistant with a T-shirt that reads “I’m Fish” runs past with a Tupperware box of cigarettes. Three bands neatly arranged. I notice there are some Hope cigarettes in there. That would be the director’s brand. This makes me smile. Toyoda wants to know when we are leaving. Soon. Too soon. I promise to return for the filming of his next movie, “I’m Flash!” A film about the horribly demented sub-culture of the ‘bosozoku,’ the Japanese biker gangs. Miyazaki joins our talks and begins to take down information about where we are staying.

Before long we are off. The crew is still shooting. Toyoda breaks again and has an assistant run off to get us both T-shirts from the film. Soon we are back in the sea of commuters for rush hour train travel back to Tokyo.

We leave the next morning. A package is waiting for me at the front desk from Toyoda’s production company. Inside are videotapes of each of his films. I had been complaining about lack of distribution in the U.S. I told him my friends would have been so psyched to see his films. They were delivered that morning by a motorcycle courier service. Now, I’d be rolling back to SF with the goods! A chance to see Toyoda in action. Treats to share with the friends back home in SF. Good trip. Good pick. The film we saw translates to “The Hanging Garden.” It is finished and will make the rounds starting in ’05. I’ve since been back to Tokyo recently and it sounds like the first stop will be Berlin. Look for it. After all I’ve seen thus far? It will be another work of mastery. Stamp of approval? Miyazaki and I had ice teas in Shinjuku while waiting for Toyoda a few weeks back. He’s seen the finished product. So? As good as ‘9 Souls?’ “Much, much better.” This from a man and a culture that does not mince words and is generally known for the understated. Needless to say I’m fired up to see this and everything coming from the Indie Master of Tokyo, Toshiaki Toyoda.

Oh, another quick thought. There is no way in hell I would have found this director without the SF Independent Film Festival. Since ’99 I have continually found kick ass film gems. A few of these go huge and many are rare treats you will never see again. Without question the best of the best. The most extreme. The most fucked up. Whacked, beautiful, perfection. In a culture that is forever selling out this is one slice of art that remains punk rock to the core. The SF Independent Film Festival. Plan now. Quit your job. Call in sick. Get a pass. See them all. It is the only place. Cutting edge? A straight razor to the ribs. Sure. I’m ranting, but if you’d seen “Blue Spring” and “9 Souls” at the SF Indie Fest you’d understand. This is the future. Be there.

9 souls by toyoda toshiaki

the best japanese film. ever. beat that... details to follow when i´ve had some sleep. currently sitting at an internet cafe in munich station having suffered the horrors of jet lag for two days in a row. o.k., this movie is beautifully filmed and addresses so many thoughtful layers of commentary on life and life in the real japan that it pains me. have´t seen this movie? ok. go and get a dvd. the soundtrack alone is reason to want a copy. you might also want to check out toyoda´s earlier films ´porno star´and ´blue spring.´ talent. unbelievable talent. see these films and get back to me.