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Okiku and the World

せかいのおきく

A love story in 19th century Edo, the metropolis we call Tokyo today.

 ©2023 FANTASIA

Description

In the mid-19th century, Okiku, a young woman, lives in a tenement row house among ordinary people in the sprawling city of Edo – known as Tokyo today. Okiku lives with her father, Genbei, a former samurai, now reduced to a penniless ronin, whom she supports by teaching children to read and write in a temple school. Two Manure Men, Yasuke, and his newly recruited partner, Chuji, regularly visit Okiku’s tenement to collect the human manure from the outhouse the tenants share. Okiku, a young woman in her prime, seems to take a special interest in Chuji.

After days of rain prevent Yasuke and Chuji from making their rounds, the tenement outhouse overflows. Enraged by the stink and the disgusting state of the outhouse, the tenants complain to the landlord. Just as their protests grow hostile, Yasuke and Chuji arrive, and everyone begs them to “take all this shit away.” Among them is Okiku, who

insists, “my items are not in there,” and walks away, flustered.

One day, several samurai visit the tenement and take Okiku’s father with them. Sensing trouble, Okiku quickly follows them, but she is too late, for they have already killed her father. Although Okiku’s life is spared, her vocal cords are damaged and she can no longer speak. Surrendering to despair, Okiku refuses all visitors, but when her pupils from the temple school beg her to return, she finds the courage to leave her rooms.

Before her father was killed, Genbei had a chance conversation with Chuji, telling him about “the world,” a word that is unfamiliar to Chuji, who lives in Japan, cut off from even the idea of a wider world. Okiku’s father tells Chuji, “if you ever find a woman you love, tell her you cherish her more than anyone else in the world. It’s the highest

compliment ...”

Details

Directed By

SAKAMOTO Junji

Starring

KUROKI Haru | Kanichiro | IKEMATSU Sosuke

About The Director

Okiku and the World is director SAKAMOTO Junji’s 30th film, including KT (Competition, Berlin International Film Festival, 2002) and FACE (San Sebastian Film Festival 2000).

Director's Statement

In the natural disasters caused by climate change and the wars that those in power refuse to end, the first to die are always the people left behind by global prosperity. We not only waste things, but also the dignity of people who struggle at the margins of society. There have been many films made from their perspective, depicting society from a low horizon, but I have lowered that bar even further, to envision society from a different angle. I have tried to imagine how the world might look from the perspective of what we consider filthy and disgusting.

Inspired by Japan’s “food recycling” customs from a century and a half ago, I wanted to tell a coming-of-age story, featuring the daughter of a fallen samurai and two outcasts who dispose of human waste, brimming with a bottomless wit. Because their wit is the wellspring of their resilience, the forum for their deepest truths, and their fierce refusal to surrender their self-respect to anyone. Their wit is also a scathing and bitter mockery of our “modern” world. You could say with this film, I also indict myself.

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