Notes #1 - Naomi Kawase's intimate portraits

(Ni Tsutsumarete, 1992)

Ni Tsutsumarete (Embracing, 1992), Katatsumori (1994), Ten Mitake (See Heaven, 1995), Hi Wa Katabuki (1997) and Kya ka ra ba a (Sky, Wind, Fire, Water, Earth, 2001) form , all together, entirely dysfunctional portraits of Naomi Kawase. It seems that Kawase's main concern in these invulgar documentaries is to search for her own identity, in a way that is sometimes mundane, and other times, poetical and abstract. What we will see through her lens is the mutation of reality: Kawase is both subject and object of her own films. She gives us her body (often her voice), for us to look at. Her past is depicted in a filmic experience. Such is the egoism of Kawase. But, he seems that this process is overturned by the simple fact that to film is to share. That way, Kawase's films are also atypically altruist, because they represent the shattered experience of the director. In a way, there is sadness, longing and its transparence...