SM2274 History of Cinema Professor Cindy Hing-Yuk Wong

Short paper1: The construction of a fantastic world with the mixed reality and mixed characters

1. Summary

This essay is trying to analyze the construction of the film world (Yentown) with the angle of the use of lighting, montage as well as the different characters’ representations.

2. Film Information

Film Name:
Swallowtail (スワロウテイル) Suwarōtēru
Release date(s) 1996 Running time 148 minutes
Language Japanese, English, Mandarin
Producer/Writer/Director: Shunji Iwai
Music by Takeshi Kobayashi
Cinematographer: Noboru Shinoda
Spending over 500 billion US dollars
Hiroshi Mikami (Fei Hong火飛鴻)  Chara (Glico 固力果) Ayumi Ito (Ageha 鳳蝶) Yosuke Eguchi (Ryo Ranki 劉梁魁) Andy Hui (Mao Fu 浮貓) Atsuro Watabe (Ran 狼朗) Tomoko Yamaguchi (Shen Mei) Nene Otsuka (Reiko)

3. Reference

“Once upon a time, when the yen was the most powerful force in the world, the city overflowed with immigrants, like a gold rush boom town. They came in search of yen, snatching up yen. And the immigrants called the city Yentown. But the Japanese hated that name. So they referred to those yen thieves as Yentowns. It’s a bit puzzling, but “Yentown” meant both the city and the outcasts. If they worked hard, earned a pocketful of yen, and returned home, they were rich men. It sounds like a fairy tale, but it was a paradise of yen, “Yentown”. And this is the story of Yentowns in Yentown.” (*Voice Over in the opening of the film)

4. Analysis

Notice: Yentown (location name), Yentowns (immigrants), Yen thieves (gangs of immigrants)
The construction of the film world (Yentown) is one of the fantastic elements to the success of the film. Director is creating a mixed reality of Yentown and Tokyo using many stylish lighting and montage techniques with the setting of scenes, slum area in the opening, the car repairing station blue sky (青空) and the opium street (鴉片街). However it is not only a Yentown creation, there is also thousands of director’s messages about the unsatisfied reality also delivering successfully. In the following, there will be a walk through analyze of world construction of the film and what director’s messages are.

In general, Director is using the following architecture to building a fantastic but reality like world part by part. Firstly, title sequence is for a film theme’s establishment. Second part is the general impression of Yentown and Yentowns. Third part is a two side’s representation of dark Yentown and bright Yentown as well as the different institutional systems of Yentown. And at last but not the least, is the sadness of the reality coming from the comparison of Yentown.

At the title sequence in the beginning, the combination of image, sound and text are giving audience a strong impression of Yentown. The editing treatment is mixed with bird views montage of the Japan city, texts and voiceovers of Ageha 鳳蝶. With the images of tall buildings and ports, audience knows the city should be highly developed and rich with good living but audience can see none. The color fade city image and the text also show a negative to audience. In the textual, voice over tell audience Japanese does not like Yentown where they lived. This is an important message from director giving audience a comparative and contradictive introduction of the reality and Yentown. But why they don’t like Yentown? Actually, this is hidden message of director criticizing the current Japan society and the messages are delivered throughout the whole film. At last, camera jumps into Yentown (grassland) from our ordinary reality. And we can see Yen thieves with their cargo, the story started.

A death body in the scene of police station and the scene of slum area starts the appearance of story character, Ageha (a nameless girl before given a name by Glico固力果). They are showing some living and life style of Yentowns always projected by the Ageha’s point of view shot. This is the first living image of Yentowns (legal or illegal immigrants). The choice of the POV to tell the Yentown image is important. It is because Ageha likes a new born baby. She don’t have any identity even she don’t know very much about this place as like as audience, she is Yentowns but know none about this. The scene setting and the side characters (fig3, fig4) giving a whole image of dark, lady voices, drug, blood, dirty, money, prostitute and different languages of conversation are the representing symbols of Yentown’s general and its dark side. Let’s pick the scene of two women searching Ageha’s mother’s hidden money (fig1, fig2). From the light source of light bulb and windows light, audience can notice the outline of women climbing to the ceiling. With the dust and the layers of the clothes, we know this is a dark and dirty place. And audience can feeling they are doing something secretly. The lighting treatment is fitting to setting. Everything is under exposure and giving a high contract between light and dark even in outdoor. Audience can only recognize the light, people outline and some discoloration. With the color style of a cold blue color in these scenes, audiences get more sad feeling rather than visual image. For general people, dark and high contract and cold blue stylish image always give a kind of strange and magic feeling to audience. There are very similar treatments in Glico’s apartment and the night club. (fig5, fig6)

It is a strong contract of general image of Yentown and another place, 青空, Blue sky, is the others kind of treatment of lighting. Blue sky is a place under a bright sunshine and at the countryside besides the city, everything is clear to see. Here introduce Fei Hong火飛鴻 and Ran 狼朗. Audience notices that here is a place of lying and cheating, but audience can feel very happy from the color and the acting of different characters especially Fei Hong. What is mean about is people living here always have a smile or laugh. If audiences notice the color tone of the image clearly, it is more warm and life feeling comparing to last few scenes. The lying and treating in Blue sky are only for living and fun (fig1, fig2, fig3). (Every time seeing Blue sky is under bright, except one raining while Ageha and Fei Hong chatting in fig9). The naming and the setting is tight together, since it is the place (sky) where Ageha’s larva (Ageha) and Ageha (Glico’s real name) love, like a kind of heaven. Heaven is always bright and clear and happy. Continued with the Recycle place (rubbish place, fig4) and Party place (firedog restaurant where same place in Blue sky, fig5, fig6, fig7), different foreigner, different songs, different languages, fire party, happy, trace for happiness, dance and drink show the working and type of living of Yentowns

Besides showing the happy style of Yentowns and sad style of Yentowns, film gives an image of the system and social structure of the Yentown. Inside city, it is doing constructions and destructions day and night. Also referring to the previous scene, Police is always powerless and the Yentown order is from gang society. Strong gang kills weaker. Black eats black. Ryo Ranki 劉梁魁 is appearing inside Chinese restaurant. Murdering in city is very normal, is everyday life, danger, scare, but police can do nothing. We can notice again the lighting and the shooting angle between Yentown and Blue sky including Rubbish area. Rubbish area (bright ?hope, happiness) they work for happy and living and simple live. Even they find an old piano, they will be very happy. The new journey come with the cassette tape y way?Once again in the way from the countryside to the city, they money is flow. e dig gold, but are in paper gold. Even through in the sunshine of the bill, we saw the same face of a beggar mean.?There are still many scenes talking about the society and the institution of the Yentown, such as Yentown Club and the prison. But it is mainly about the story telling treatment, not in the focus of the essay.

It is really amazing montage to audience to represent Opium Street. The first appearance of Opium Street is while the poison of Ageha. Ageha is in poison and she lost most of the conscious. She can notice something in front of her sight and hear something from her ears. But mixing and arranging them wrongly. Audiences visit Opium Street with the POV shot and POV hearing of Ageha. The very fast jump montage of the light, shadow and sound are mixed the street up (fig1, fig2, fig3). The feeling of getting high, dizzy and getting weak are accurately displayed to the audience the experience of Ageha. One lost the conscious, the only attraction would be strong light and dizzy sounds.

This is the first image audience visit Opium Street. It seems a danger but a bit fantasy place. While the audiences know the destination is hospital, all we know is a strange old doctor and strange hospital. Opium Street represented the darkest face of Yentown and Yentowns. There are only pushers, mafia, dealers but no cops, even general Yentowns will not come here. This is one of the amazing scenes in the film. This will be represented very clearly in the time of the re-visited of Ageha to taboo. This is the other sequence showing the power of the montage with the POV shot, ack following medium and close up shot?as well as the ront leading medium and close up shot? Let’s analyze how director master the taboo journey of Ageha.

First establish three sequences are from a bright outdoor, Ageha and Wong riding bicycle from the right to left and then enter a layered dark place. (fig4, fig5) And then a following medium shot and leading medium shot showing a dark environment with only very few lights. (fig6, fig7) And Audience will see a highly stylish scene with the setting of characters and lighting that represent Opium Street. There are three kinds of lighting in the scenes, one is the nature sunlight from outdoor, second is the light bulb and the last one is the highlighting light.

Sunlight crossed over the windows gives a deep and shadow with many layers. It is used as a kind of texture of the background and gives a shadow and laying the Opium Street. (fig7, fig8) At the same time, light bulbs with moves give a fantasy motion fur and shadow of side character with the different colored tones of lighting. The image is under exposure even darker than the first few scenes, what audience can recognize are light bulb and people shadow. The different colors and deeps are showing some different characteristic of different side characters. For examples, death, children or selling drug are highlight with the signal of light bulb. (fig9, fig A) While light bulb existed, faces with sadness or darkness are appeared. And the last highlighting lights give the general tones to the film and to cut out the outline of person. (fig B) With the discontinuity of spatial and time montage of the POV shot of Ageha, the Opium Street is cutting into segments. In the segments, many setting is reddish blood, the noise and the person showing with prison, sex, death, drug, blood, high, and they are really condense space of darkest side of human. Ageha and audience get in and get in a more deep of dark, but the destination is a hospital. It is about the other kind of hope. Also this is the other amazing montage to me representing a kind of memory and dream. (fig C)But it is not the focus of the essay.

In conclude there are still many rooms to talk with the construction of the mixed reality. Lighting, setting and montage play very important role to setting up such atmosphere. I really hope to try once to do these kinds of treatment in my video work. Thanks Cindy.