October 27, 2008
Arakimentari
What is photography? That is the question that opens Travis Klose’s Arakimentari (2004). It is a bio-doc that looks at the life of infamous Japanese photographer Araki Nobuyoshi (perhaps the most published photographer in the world), his art and his impact on Japanese culture.
I must make a disclaimer I enjoy Araki’s photographs a lot. In fact once on a date I found an old Phaidon book of his work in a used bookstore and was absentmindedly skimming through it while my girlfriend glanced over my shoulder (this was our first official date). This led to an extremely embarrassing discussion on fetish and kink and how I was not actually going to tie her up from ropes suspended from the ceiling. In retrospect picking up a photo book from an artist primarily known for his erotic bondage photographs was not the smoothest move on my part, but lessons are meant to be learned.
Yet Araki is far more than a porn photographer (and he is exactly that sometimes). His early portrait work is stunning, and among my favorite works in the genre. Thankfully this documentary gives uninitiated viewers a glimpse further than the ropes and wax that come up when you Google image search his name. Araki is larger than life. He has an immense energy that shows itself in the documentary. A portly figure with horned hair and glasses, who wears suspenders and a shirt with an anime caricature of himself, Araki springs off the screen. He is always snapping photographs seeming to document every moment and loving it. Alas, Klose seems infected by this manic state and edits his film in the same manner. Often showing photographs in a montage that is near seizure inducing.
The film is not an in depth portrait, but sort of an Araki 101, with interviews of his friends and critics (although there are admittedly not enough detractors to create a balanced look) and an overview of his work. The film plays on the salacious side with Araki making lots of sex jokes and loving the women around him (although I suppose who wouldn’t when you are surrounded by women who willingly take their clothes off for you?) one woman even asks him “Why do you always talk about sex?” To which he replies: “Because sex is life.” Also sex sells, and he knows this and he also knows that this is generally why he is so famous the world over.
I would have liked to see a more in depth look at the relationship with his deceased wife. He has documented their entire relationship from their honeymoon to her deathbed when she died of cancer in my favorite collection of his. These scenes of remembrance are the most touching in the film and they give him a humanity and depth. Even when he is fluffing a models pubic hair just so or arranging the ropes just right, one cannot help but to like Araki.
So in all I highly recommend this as a rental. Be warned that there is a large amount of female nudity and some scenes of bondage but you also see his wonderful landscape and portrait photos, as well as a series of haunting photos he did for the 50th anniversary of Hiroshima where he developed the photographs in boiling liquid to the point where the emulsion was burned off the paper. Klose creates a great introduction but falls into the trap that almost all bio-docs of artists or musicians do: hero worship. You can tell Klose loves Araki, and as such we as viewers will naturally love him too. Is Araki a great photographer? This documentary doesn’t attempt to answer that, and it is a contentious question anyway. After all what is a photographer?
