TEZUKA’S BARBARA
Directed by: Macoto Tezuka
Starring: Gorô Inagaki, Fumi Nikaidô, Shizuka Ishibashi, Minami
Yosuke Mikura, a popular novelist, comes across a seemingly down and out waif in an underpass, and invites her home when she impresses him with her knowledge of literature. Thus begins a surreal and intense relationship between the pair which leads to obsession and tragedy…
Based on a manga series by director Macoto's father, Osamu Tezuka, originally published in the early 1970s, Tezuks's Barbara is a tale of mystery and obsession, sexual deviancy and the occult, all wrapped up in a style which is reminiscent of the French New Wave.
Yosuke Mikura is a famous novelist who is trying to walk the fine line between being an Important writer and a Popular writer. He has managed to court the favours of literary critics and fawning fans alike but is wracked with self doubt which manifests itself in very strange ways.
Yosuke is treated a bit like a movie star, with people instantly recognising him on the street and in bars. Its hard to think of many actual authors who are given that level of celebrity in the west but it works for the benefit of the story.
We first learn that something is off-kilter when Yosuke - looking very cool dressed in a black suit and tie and sunglasses - is enticed by a shop assistant/window dresser. He follows her into a changing room in a very erotically charged scene which features her asking to be hit repeatedly while she tells him how shallow and forgettable his novels are.
The scene ends in a very unexpected manner as the girl is revealed to be something other than she appeared. From what I've read about the original manga, Yosuke would have known exactly what he was doing but here he is shocked to see what had happened, as if suddenly waking from a dream.
Yosuke is being groomed by a local politician to marry his daughter Satomi and this leads to a similar encounter in the forest. On both occasions the situation is interrupted by Barbara who seems to suddenly appear out of nowhere.
Barbara goes from being a muse to a full-on obsession. Yosuke starts to neglect other people in his life, including Satomi who hires one of her father's investigators to find out what is happening, and Kanako, his assistant. There are implications that Barbara is using some form of voodoo to help cut these people out of Yosuke's life.
We get to see the transformation manifest itself in the state of Yosuke's apartment. At first it is the epitome of cool, with his extensive collection of jazz records and aged single-malt whiskeys. Over time however the apartment is littered with dirty laundry, empty bottles and every surface graffitied with the word "Barbara" over and over. Interestingly, when Kanako visits Yosuke she doesn't actually see Barbara herself (although finds a voodoo doll..).
There is an element of the Occult/Supernatural to the narrative but it isn't its main driving force. Yosuke is entranced by an ethereal Muse (both the film and its source draw upon the Greek myth of the Nine Muses). The film also feels out of place and time. Other than the odd use of a mobile phone there is little here to pinpoint when the film is set. Yosuke doesn't seem to own a television, preferring to listen to his old record collection instead. Further the film reminds me in spirit of the Avant Guarde film-maker Luis Brunel, and That Obscure Object of Desire (which was made 5 years after the manga was published).
THE VERDICT
The coolness and style of this film is nearly off the charts, and you get the impression its not even trying to be cool, it just is. As an adaptation of a longer story, the film gives enough flavour to Yosuke's inner turmoil and desires without doggedly trying to recount every incident (it mostly covers the first two chapters then jumps ahead significantly). It is such a wonderful, enigmatic film and I would recommend pairing this film with THE LOVE WITCH, another film dealing with love, obsession and the occult but from the opposite perspective.