Jellyfish Eyes (2013), written and directed by the artist Takashi Murakami. Film still courtesy of the artist and Blum & Poe © 2015 Takashi Murakami/Kaikai Kiki Co. Ltd

FILM REVIEW

Famous Japanese artist Takashi Murakami explores the Fukushima disaster in Jellyfish Eyes to confront the consequences of nuclear tragedy and disasters on children.

BY KAZAD

BASEL— At the beginning of Art Basel in Basel, Takashi Murakami’s Jellyfish Eyes was screened to an excited audience made up of artists, curators, gallerists, and other art professionals. Many who had not seen the film before were even more excited at the opening. The 101- minute-long fantasy movie premiered earlier in April 2013 as part of the Film Independent series at LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art). Jellyfish Eyes was a major point of interest at Art Basel weeks before it opened.

Murakami Jellyfish Eyes

Jellyfish Eyes takes a cue from the Fukushima disaster. It reveals the story of a child who tries to shape a new path after confronting one adversity after another.  At the core of the story is Masashi (Takuto Sueoka), a cute, cross-eyed kid whose life had been torn apart by misfortunes.

After the death of his father in a Fukushima-like disaster, Masashi and his mother (Mayu Tsuruta), abandon their homes for an evacuation center. The experience traumatizes Masashi who is unable to adjust to his new life. For a while, nothing mattered to him. But just when things seem to be looking up for Masashi and his family, they encounter another problem that pushes them to the brink of another meltdown. At the center of the problem is a power-hungry group called Black-Cloaked Four.

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Dressed in black capes, the Black-Cloaked Four have evil in their hearts. To perpetuate their wickedness, they take over a lab where Masashi’s uncle (Takumi Saitoh) worked to conduct dangerous experiments. After several experiments, they discover a powerful new energy force. The devious force is capable of influencing children’s emotions including anger and sadness.

The Black-Cloaked Four sees the discovery of this new powerful energy force as an opportunity to manipulate children and also create mayhem. To archive their malicious objective, they create and release hundreds of magical companions call Friends into the community with the clandestine scheme of exploiting the unhappiness they create.

Masashi encounters one of the devious Black-Cloaked Four’s creatures soon after he moves into the small town set in the Japanese countryside. After returning from his new elementary school one day, Masashi discovers a flying jellyfish-like creature. He innocently falls in love with this floating pink Friend, which he calls Kurage-bo (jellyfish boy).

But Masashi is not the only one with a Friend. When he arrives in school, he discovers that his classmates also have their own Friends. Friends are visible only to the children and never the adults. Many of these strange creatures call Friends are beautiful and captivating just like many of Murakami’s art.

Believing that the beautiful creatures are Friends and can be controlled via an iPhone-like device, the children open up their homes and hearts to the creatures. However, it does not take long for Masashi, like his friends, to realize that these creatures are wolves in sheep’s clothing.

Illusion Of Power

Captivated by the illusion of power, the children begin misusing their Friends. They intimidate and bully one other, causing a lot of disaffection. With every act of aggression towards one other, the children aided the Black-Cloaked Four to convert negative emotions into a ‘supra-universal power.’ In the end, however, the children realize they are just puns in the hands of the devious characters. Consequently, Masashi and his fellow classmates combine their effort in order to defeat this wicked plan of the Black-Cloaked Four.

Murakami Designs and Characters

Jellyfish Eyes features many of Murakami’s designs and characters. The Japanese multidisciplinary artist is famous for his flowers, skull paintings, and sculptures. Jellyfish Eyes relies heavily on CGI to impact the viewing audience. Murakami brings his instantly-recognizable, genre-bending superheroes to life in the movie. Although the target audience for this film is children, this is a very scary film with a lot of purposes. It allows the artist to express his concern about social issues, a side of the artist not well-known to many.

The message in Jellyfish Eyes is very touching. It brings to the fore the disastrous 2011 earthquake and the subsequent Fukushima nuclear meltdown. The film conveys Murakami’s abhorrence of nuclear which he did not hide. Speaking through the actors, the artist expresses his disappointment with the Japanese government’s response to the crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant.

Murakami: Tragedy and the Plight of Children

The plight of children in the face of catastrophic events is another issue in Jellyfish Eyes. It is clear that children are the first victims of any In catastrophic events. They lose their homes, parents, and way of life. Some even die. Many of those who survive are forced to leave their homes to live with people who do not know them. In Jellyfish Eyes, Masashi,  the protagonist of the film, explicates the pain of Japanese children after the Fukushima disaster. Many children lost their parents and were forced to leave their homes to avoid radiation. In their new homes and school, they encounter bullying and maltreatment.

Murakami draws inspiration for Jellyfish Eyes from phantasmagorical Tokusatsu aesthetics, which he experienced during his childhood. The film also reveals influences from Steven Spielberg’s ET and the live-action children’s television series Power Rangers. However, the film has its own originality. Murakami combines a cast of flesh and blood young actors to give the film a unique perspective. The array of fantastical animated creatures also help address important social issues. Murakami invested an estimated $7 million in the film.

Jellyfish Eyes by Takashi Murakami (Trailer)

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