H Story

Japan

2001

111 Min

Color

1.85:1

Japanese

Currently 3.4/5 Stars.
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CAST Béatrice Dalle, Kou Machida, Hiroaki Umano, Nobuhiro Suwa, Caroline Champetier, Michiko Yoshitake, Motoko Suhama

SOUND Nobuyuki Kikuchi

Cannes (Un Certain Regard), Rotterdam (Looking Glass)

Synopsis

The film revolves around the French actress Béatrice Dalle who plays the French actress Béatrice Dalle in a Japanese film. The film in the film is a Japanese remake of the famous French classic Hiroshima mon amour (1959) by Alain Resnais. So Dalle does not just play herself as actress, she also has to literally follow in the footsteps of Emmanuelle Riva who played the lead in the original film. In the film-in-the-film, she plays an actress who has come from France to Hiroshima to play a role in a film about peace. The film looks at itself in the mirror and sees a film is also looking at itself in the mirror. If there is one film that aptly fits this looking glass theme, then this is it. Suwa himself plays the filmmaker making the film who eventually doesn’t succeed in his ambitious mirror images of film and history, history and film. Suwa, himself born in Hiroshima, takes this indirect path in an attempt to express something of the tragedy of the city that cannot be directly designated. Between the scenes on the set, there are several documentary-like conversations between Suwa and the well-known novelist Kou Machida. The essayist character of the film and the impossibility of portraying the horror of Hiroshima are strengthened by these conversations, and by the recurring archive footage of the devastated city. –IFFR

Director

Nobuhiro Suwa

Nobuhiro Suwa (諏訪敦彦, Suwa Nobuhiro, born May 28, 1960 in Hiroshima, Hiroshima Prefecture) is a Japanese film director. His directorial works and screenplays often make use of improvisation techniques. Currently, Suwa is the President of Tokyo Zokei University.

Having graduated from Hiroshima Prefectural Hatsukaichi High School (located in Hatsukaichi, Hiroshima), Suwa studied at Tokyo Zokei University, under the tutorship of Nobuhiro Kawanaka. While at the college, he began working producing independent films, of which Hanasareru Gang was chosen for the Pia Film Festival. After graduating from Tokyo Zokei, Suwa began directing television documentary films, and worked with directors such as Sōgo Ishii and Masashi Yamamoto.

In 1996, his feature film directorial debut, 2/Duo (2/デュオ, 2/Dyuo) was released. Suwa’s second film, M/Other, was released soon after in 1999, winning the prestigious FIPRESCI Prize at the 1999 Cannes Film Festiva and being the subject of several other… read more

Nobuhiro Suwa (諏訪敦彦, Suwa Nobuhiro, born May 28, 1960 in Hiroshima, Hiroshima Prefecture) is a Japanese film director. His directorial works and screenplays often make use of improvisation techniques. Currently, Suwa is the President of Tokyo Zokei University.

Having graduated from Hiroshima Prefectural Hatsukaichi High School (located in Hatsukaichi, Hiroshima), Suwa studied at Tokyo Zokei University, under the tutorship of Nobuhiro Kawanaka. While at the college, he began working producing independent films, of which Hanasareru Gang was chosen for the Pia Film Festival. After graduating from Tokyo Zokei, Suwa began directing television documentary films, and worked with directors such as Sōgo Ishii and Masashi Yamamoto.

In 1996, his feature film directorial debut, 2/Duo (2/デュオ, 2/Dyuo) was released. Suwa’s second film, M/Other, was released soon after in 1999, winning the prestigious FIPRESCI Prize at the 1999 Cannes Film Festiva and being the subject of several other awards and critical acclaim, both in Japan and internationally. M/Other also won the award for best screenplay at the 50th Mainichi Film Awards. His assistant director in the film was Miwa Nishikawa.

Suwa’s third feature film, H Story (starring Kō Machida), was released in March 2000. It was a remake of Alain Resnais’ Hiroshima Mon Amour, and had been noted as an audacious attempt at a Nouvelle Vague portrayal of his hometown, Hiroshima. Also during the same year, he guest-appeared in and co-created the Sōgo Ishii-directed samurai epic Gojoe Reisenki: GOJEI.

In 2005, he directed and wrote Un Couple Parfait (不完全なふたり, Fukanzen no Futar, a.k.a. A Perfect Couple), which featured a French cast and crew. The film won the Special Prize of the Jury Award and the C.I.C.A.E. Award at the 58th Locarno Film Festival.

Later, in 2006, Suwa participated in the French omnibus film Paris, je t’aime. He directed and wrote the segment representing the IIe arrondissement, filmed at Place des Victoires. Paris, je t’aime was the opening film of the Un Certain Regard selection at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival. —wikipedia

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