[ SOCIAL AND PASTORAL BULLETIN No. 138 / July. 20 .2007 ]
|
|||||||
|
The day I went to see this movie with a fancy title was a rainy day at
the end of May. A mail from the distributors gave me the opportunity to
watch the film.
I went to see the film attracted naturally by a 'gratis invitation' but
especially by its curious title "Cats of Mirikitani," more than
by the PR sentences that were sent to representatives of NGOs and NPOs.
Its preview took place in a small cine club for about 30 people by a busy
shopping town in Shibuya with outstanding results.
"Mirikitani" the star is Jimmy Mirikitani, a Japanese-American
artist 80 year-old. The name is 'Mirikitani' in Japanese characters. Born
in California from an American father and a Japanese mother, Mirikitani
is sent to a camp for Japanese-Americans during the Second World War and
stripped of his American citizenship. He lost his mother when the atomic
bomb was dropped on Hiroshima and after being separated from his sister,
wandered around the country and in 2001 he was living on the streets of
New York displaying his drawings, as a self-educated artist. His drawings
concentrate on two main themes: Cats and the camp for Japanese-Americans
and Hiroshima's atomic bomb. Linda Hattendorf, the film's director, showed
special interest on Mirikitani and after the 9.11 terrorist attack, when
he was unable to display his drawings, took him home. Hattendorf negotiated
with the authorities about his welfare services and searched for his relatives.
In the process, the stormy career of Mirikitani blows up.
As it appears in the PR sentences this film deals with a lot of social
issues, like "9.11," "atomic bomb," "Japanese-American
enforced camps," "elderly homeless people," "art and
peace movements," etc.
|
But, what attracted me most was 'people's solidarity makes a happy world.'
For instance, a Japanese-American university professor that meets with
Mirikitani on the streets, a guard that was formerly living in the same
apartment, the reunion with his sister and relatives found through the
efforts of the film's director, the senior citizens learning the art of
drawing and coming to Mirikitani's apartment that was arranged by the efforts
of the social welfare office. The personal relationships broken by the
war get gradually repaired thanks to the affection between Hattendorf and
her film star.
As it appears in the PR sentences this film deals with a lot of social
issues, like "9.11," "atomic bomb," "Japanese-American
enforced camps," "elderly homeless people," "art and
peace movements," etc. But, what attracted me most was 'people's solidarity
makes a happy world.' For instance, a Japanese-American university professor
that meets with Mirikitani on the streets, a guard that was formerly living
in the same apartment, the reunion with his sister and relatives found
through the efforts of the film's director, the senior citizens learning
the art of drawing and coming to Mirikitani's apartment that was arranged
by the efforts of the social welfare office. The personal relationships
broken by the war get gradually repaired thanks to the affection between
Hattendorf and her film star.
Nevertheless, I felt moved by an American film director like this. I had
second thoughts on those Japanese politicians and scholars that claim openly
nowadays: "there were never military comfort women" or "there
are no proofs of enforced mass suicides in Okinawa." What did the
war conducted by Japan bring to the lives of people? I want to take my
time to reflect on it.
(Shibata Yukinori, Jesuit Social Center, Tokyo)
|
|||||
===== Copyright ®1997-2007 Jesuit Social Center All Rights Reserved =====
|