‘Shiki-Jitsu’: Hideaki Anno’s beautiful reflection on loneliness and trauma
Much of the work of the legendary animator and director Hideki Anno is concerned with the theme of loneliness, a motif that many of the cinematic works from Japan are also keen to explore. At the centre of Anno’s catalogue is his anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion, which dives unflinchingly into the problematic nature of alienation and isolation.
Indeed, Anno is best known for his contributions to anime, but in 2000, he turned in a truly remarkable piece of live-action cinema that still managed to capture the themes with which he had often detailed in his other works. Shiki-Jitsu, known as Ritual in English, followed on the back of Anno’s live-action feature debut, Love & Pop, and similarly explored the inner psychological workings of its characters.
The film is made up of a somewhat enigmatic cast. Ayako Fujitani, who wrote Tohimu, the novella the film is based on, stars in the lead role alongside Japanese cinema legend Shunji Iwai, known for his stunning films Love Letter, Swallowtail Butterfly, All About Lily Chou-Chou and several others. There’s a poignancy in Anno taking on the film, too, seeing as Iwai’s character is an anime director who is seeking a break from the medium to make a live-action movie for the first time.
Shiki-Jitsu focuses on the relationship between Iwai’s disaffected film director and a peculiar young woman that unfolds over the course of 33 days after a chance meeting. The pair are both in the throes of seemingly depressive episodes, and the woman’s eccentric and chaotic attitude (i.e. always claiming that her birthday is tomorrow) is counterposed with the director’s low mood and quietude. However, their contrasting behaviours begin to work in one another’s favour, and their relationship leads to their respective paths of self-discovery.
We learn that the woman is actually under the effects of severe trauma, and all the while, the director has been making a film about her on his handheld camera. As the woman nears the acceptance stage of her grief, Anno shows perhaps the healing power of cinema in that capturing our darkest moments on film can serve as a catalyst for our most significant inner changes.
The cinematography and imagery of Shiki-Jitsu itself are, in fact, some of the most beautiful in the history of 21st-century cinema and Anno clearly seized his opportunity to make live-action movies with both hands, showcasing a remarkable understanding of framing and shot composition. The bright imagery, particularly the clothing of the woman and her many ritualistic props, finds contrast with the always-black garb of Iwai’s character, as Anno details the two starkly different perspectives of a mind turned in on itself, in either grief or abandonment.
As the woman dangles over a set of rooftop railings to remind herself she is alive, we’re reminded of the uncertainty of life itself, and Anno weaves together her past and present to reveal her inner sadness and disillusionment. Shiki-Jitsu manages to tie together the drifting energy of a coming-of-age movie with the intensity of an emotional drama, proof of his prowess as a master storyteller.
While Anno will most likely always be related to his admittedly brilliant anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion, his foray into live-action is more than worth one’s time. With a true mastery of visual narrative, characters of genuine complexity and depth and themes that explore the more difficult facets of the human experience, Shiki-Jitsu is one of the greatest films of the early 2000s, one that offers us a search for meaning amid life’s endless confusion.
Check out the film’s trailer below.
