We Were Young

Tusind sole

Tusind sole er en filmvisningsrække i København. Hver måned præsenterer vi én international premierefilm og ét genopdaget historisk værk, der på forskellig vis udvider filmmediets mulighedsrum og vores fælleshorisont.

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A byahme mladi
Binka Zhelyazkova
1961
110 min.
Bulgarien
DCp (digital)
Bulgarsk tale / engelske undertekster

Binka Zhelyazkovas anden spillefilm, We Were Young, foregår under tyskernes besættelse af Bulgarien i 1940’erne. Her følger vi en håndfuld unge, som med en blanding af idealisme og kompromisløs beslutsomhed er klar til at ofre alt i kampen mod besættelsesmagten. Midt i det politiske kaos, som den nystiftede modstandsgruppe befinder sig i, blomstrer kærligheden mellem Dymo og Veska. Men deres spirende romance trues af den vold og uretfærdighed, der omgiver dem.

I langsomme zooms og store, hjemsøgende billeder introduceres vi til et øde og ødelagt Sofia, hvor de unge er tvunget til at leve i byens skygger, kun akkurat oplyst af skæret fra deres lommelygter.

Med den unge kærlighed under en brutal krigstid som omdrejningspunkt undersøger Binka Zhelyazkova den ultimative pris for at gøre oprør. Zhelyazkova var selv en del af modstandsbevægelsen i Sofia under den tyske besættelse, og det er nærliggende at se filmen i lyset af hendes egne erfaringer med kampen og dens mange ofre.

Oprør mod magten blev en rød tråd gennem Binka Zhelyazkovas filmiske virke. Hun var den første kvindelige instruktør i Bulgarien til at instruere en spillefilm, og godt halvdelen af hendes spillefilm blev bandlyst af regimet på grund af deres tydelige kritik af landets autokratiske styre. Flere af Zhelyazkovas film blev derfor først tilgængelige efter kommunismens fald i 1989. I 2021 stod det nationale bulgarske filmarkiv bag restaureringen af We Were Young, som vi er stolte af at kunne præsentere.

Præsenteres i samarbejde med Cinemateket.
Kopi: Filmautor og Svetlana Ganeva.

“The World Doesn’t Know Shinji Somai”
Ryusuke Hamaguchi, 2023

“The world doesn’t know Shinji Somai”. That was the catchphrase coming with the book Yomigaeru Somai Shinji (Shinji Somai Renaissance) published in 2011, 10 years after the director’s death. Now that 10 years has passed again, does the world finally met Shinji Somai? Yes and no. Of course, several retrospectives of his films have been organized in festivals, where he found a new audience. He is still far from achieving the widespread recognition that all Somai lovers feel is his due. This is a thing that I’ve felt precisely while speaking with those involved in cinema around the world. The world still doesn’t know Shinji Somai.

Since his debut in 1980, Shinji Somai is held in the highest esteem by Japanese film fans, just as it is, let's face it, impossible for anyone making cinema in Japan today not to have Somai in mind. Of course, it is easy to imagine the difficulty of mulling over the atmosphere of early Somai films if one is not familiar with the specific context of Japanese cinema in the 1980s. At a time when, with the dismantling of the major studio production system many films were being made by parasitising other industries such as television or music Somai launched his filmography by making "idol films" relying on the popularity of the teenage girls who played the leading roles (which is reminiscent of Hou Hsiao Hsien's debut at the same period).

We often speak of the "sequence shot" or the "long shot" to characterise the stylistic feature he acquired during this period. However, nothing could be more misleading than to regard this as his 'auteurism'. Simply comparing Somai Shinji's long takes with those of Welles, Tarkovsky, Angelopoulos and others will only make his technical coarseness stand out. This could be understood as a reflection of the poor production conditions of Japanese cinema in the 1980s. But no. What he was really aiming for was first and foremost the 'sparkle of life' of the actors. In his work, the long shot allows these young women, seen as "idols", to burst through the frame from within, the better to escape. This inspires the crew, who grew up in studios, to break through the limited circumstances of the time. This 'long shot', which is a by-product of his deep trust in the vitality of the actors' and crew's bodies, is not just a directorial technique, but rather a reflection of his 'attitude to life'.

Moving (selected in Cannes Film Festival's Un Certain Regard section in 1993) is, amongst all of Somai’s films, the one which first created a contact between international audience and his entire oeuvre. However, the film did not simply end up unawarded, nor did it receive the same critical favours as Takeshi Kitano's Sonatine, which was screened in the same year and in the same section. Here again, the world and Somai replayed their failed encounter. Watching the film again today, it seems unbelievable. Especially because of the presence of the lead actress, Tomoko Tabata. Her ability to move, the expression on her face, her eyes - everything is incredible; but it is her voice that I find most captivating. This voice, which alone manages to express her whole being, which plays with distance and time as if it were breaking down all boundaries, to touch and shake the adults who play the other characters, right up to the audience. As a filmmaker, it's hard to believe that such a being could exist in a film. The images are like so much evidence of her vital energy. We are led to reflect on the fact that the life force residing there may also be in us, and we may not be making full use of it. Life, here reinstilled.

There can be no doubt that Moving is still the best gateway for "the World" and Shinji Somai to meet. You don't need to know anything about the history of Japanese cinema to understand this film, which marks a period of the highest refinement in his career, as well as having been brought to life through Tomoko Tabata’s character. But if, thanks to this film, viewers ever become interested in Shinji Somai, I would like them to see his twelve other films. Because in each of them, you will see bodies and hear voices that surprise you. Again and again. There's nothing to be surprised about. We have not yet met Somai Shinji enough.

We still don't know Somai!
Essay udgivet i pressebooklet i forbindelse med den nyrestaurede udgave af Moving.

15. november
16.00
Cinemateket
(Gothersgade 55, 1123 København Ø)

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