Mother, Photography, Reproduction: A Note on Extreme Private Eros : Love Song 1974

Abstract

AbstractHara Kazuo’s seminal documentary film, Extreme Private Eros: Love Song 1974, actively disturbs presumed boundaries and, in so doing, foregrounds the centrality of performance in documentary filmmaking. While existing scholarship on this documentary focuses primarily on the moving images, in this essay I focus on a series of photographic images inserted in the beginning and examine the impact and workings of photography in the composition of this documentary. The opening photo-sequence proceeds to draw a narrative of the familial relationship existing in the past, facilitating our spectatorial understanding of the personal history of those who are involved in the making of this documentary. At the same time, the photography in the sequence casts its gaze upon us viewers, creating the sensation that we are the ones who are interrogated. As such, the photo-sequence calls on us, pushing us to form a personal relationship with what we see. I contend that the photography in this documentary film engenders a moment for a broader scale of reflection on our own precarity, irrelevance, and non-necessity in the world surrounding Extreme Private Eros.Keywords: PhotographydocumentaryreproductionmotherExtreme Private Eros AcknowledgmentsThe author wishes to express her gratitude to Yanie Fécu and Megan Sarno for their continued support and to two anonymous reviewers for their detailed, constructive comments.Disclosure statementThe author declares that s/he has no relevant interests that relate to what is presented in this article.NoteNotes1 Examples of documentaries laden with socio-political implications include Ogawa Shinsuke's Sanrizuka series and Tsuchimoto Noriaki's Minamata series.2 An example includes the close-up of Takeda's face filmed by Hara when they engage in sexual intercourse. According to Hara's reflection in Camera Obtrusa, the sequence came into being as per Takeda's request: "I want to see what my face looks like while having sex, so I want you to film me" (105–106).3 For this essay, I use a DVD version of the film distributed by Facets Video in 2017. All translations are my own, unless otherwise noted.4 Jun Okada's (Citation2018) study sheds light on the disconnect between local women in Okinawa and Takeda visiting from the mainland, calling the latter's feminist position “mis-guided” (183–186).5 I have in mind, for instance, Annmaria Shimabuku's (Citation2018) book Alegal for the geopolitical contextualization of Okinawa in the 1970s. For women's movements developing in Japan, I owe my understanding to Setsu Shigematsu's (Citation2012) book Scream from the Shadows and Ayako Kano's (Citation2016) Japanese Feminist Debates. Lucy Fischer's Cinematernity gives a helpful insight into genealogies of representations of mothers in (primarily Euro-Anglo-American) films. Book-length analyses of cinematic figurations of mothers in the Japanese context (and beyond) are much needed.6 Nakane Wakae's (Citation2016) work reminds us that Takeda and Kobayashi exercise their agency and thus are integral to the production processes of the documentary. Their involvement in the making of the documentary certainly cannot be ignored. And yet crediting their agency does not destabilize the treatment of subjects as something whole and intact. Subjects in Hara's works are often amorphous and porous, which Hara acknowledges himself when he speaks of his style of self-expression, i.e., bringing to light the self that is yet to be known. I will discuss this point later.7 Okinawa's "reincorporation" in Japan took place in May 1972, three months after the shooting of Extreme Private Eros began in March 1972. In his recollection, Hara explains the embarking on his interest in Okinawa in the early 1970s several times; Okinawa at the time was considered "trendy" (59), "happening" (59), "intense" (99), and "cutting-edge" (99). These references suggest the zeitgeist of mainland Japanese intellectuals and cultural practitioners in the early 1970s.8 According to Hara, Takeda's desire to be recorded when giving birth, unassisted, preceded her move to Okinawa (61, 99–105).9 I borrow the term, "pregnant [suggestive, fruitful, poignant] moment" (78), from Gotthold Ephraim Lessing's meditation on spatial arts.Additional informationNotes on contributorsMiyabi GotoMiyabi Goto is Assistant Professor of Japan Studies in the Department of Modern and Classical Languages, Literatures and Cultures at the University of Kentucky. Goto’s research focuses on the development of modern Japanese literature during and since the Meiji period (1868–1912), with a particular interest in the emergence of criticism as an intellectual practice.