Waiting for the Flood-Teibô wa kôzui o matte iru (2005)

Directed by: Masafumi Yamada | 50 minutes | drama | Actors: Mahiro Hattori, Taro Iwai, Teruhiko Nobukuni, Eiji Teshima

The beginning of ‘Waiting for the Flood’ is reminiscent of the factory musical scene from ‘Dancer in the Dark’ or the similar scene in the Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers vehicle ‘Shall We Dance’, which features the chatter and hiss of machines. provides the rhythm in the scenes. In ‘Waiting for the Flood’ it initially seems to be about lifeless characters: we see a welder sitting stock-still behind a machine while now and then a bright light appears from his welding machine. However, the man himself does not move, so that it appears to be a series of photos pasted together. But then we see him raise his head and turn his welding helmet upwards.

The senses and expectations of the viewer are played with in an interesting way. The scene that follows is also surprising in terms of content, as well as comic, in a dark way. The scene in the scene, which involves a mentally retarded employee, a sadistic boss, and the welder just mentioned, sets an attractive absurdist tone, but it is sadly not matched in the rest of the film, although it sometimes comes close. is becoming. The relationship between a woman and one of the factory workers is not entirely clear and does not run smoothly. Communication is problematic. Sex takes place spontaneously when a spoon falls on the floor, but there is hardly any real talking or looking at each other.

Cinematically, ‘Waiting for the Flood’ is aloof, with a camera technique that either uses completely still images in which the characters figure, or a fierce handheld camera is used. A simple move with characters is rare. Then Ozu-like, punctuating shots are introduced, but the many rest points do not provide these, because of the alienating content of the central images and the lack of identification with the characters. Interesting again is the conversation between the man and woman that takes place at the end of the film, and is depicted by showing only shots of a table with empty chairs, from different points of view and distances. We don’t see the characters, but we do hear their voices, as if they are actually sitting in front of us. It is a fascinating effect, and intriguing in terms of (symbolic) implications.

All in all, however, ‘Waiting for the Flood’ is a bit too inscrutable and clinical to be able to do much as a viewer. The often not obvious sequence of images and the characters’ elusive reactions to what happens or is done to them makes this short film by Yamada only a potentially interesting film.