"Mu" Produces Purpose of Life 山田洋二監督のぼやき

Japanese follows English.　英語の後に日本語が続きます。

I watched an interview with Mr. Yoji Yamada, the director of "otoko wa tsuraiyo (It's tough being a man)," on TV. (If you are interested in my post on the "otoko wa tsuraiyo" series, click here.) Yamada is famous for making great movies about families, but during the interview he said that he had hated such films when he had started his career in the film industry. At that time, Yasujiro Ozu was the "maestro" director of such films while prospective directors, who weren't interested in such movies at all (including Yamada), wanting to shoot Italian neorealist films, such as Federico Fellini's "La Strada." He said that as time went by, however, people started to regard him as a family movie maestro.......
   
Does a life need a purpose? I don't think so. It's okay for someone to have his or her purpose of life. But others may be given it by a religion or philosophy, or by other people, like Yamada by fans of his films. He once "killed" Tora-san, the main character of "otoko wa tsuraiyo," because he'd been bored of the series, but revived him due to the strong opposition from Tora-san's fans. So, if you have no purpose of life, why don't you do nothing, see around and keep doing what you currently are doing? Does it sound too passive? Again, I don't think so, because being passive or "mu" requires a strong will and determination. Yamada said that actors and actresses can't help but doing something since doing nothing is difficult. Doing nothing requires you to concentrate on immersing yourself in what surrounds you, i.e., be "mu."

Yamada was talkative, but calm and seemed a little sad. Was it because he gave up on something? I don't know, but he seemed natural and to have been living his own life.

山田洋二監督のインタビュー番組を見た。「男はつらいよ」シリーズについて聞かれていた。映画会社に入社した時は、小津安二郎のような家族を描く映画は大嫌いで、イタリアのネオリアリズム映画のようなものを撮りたかったが、寅さんファンの存在を知り、それに応えるのが自分の役目なのか、と考えを変えたと言っていた。日本的だなと思った。

人には、案外、自分には見えない自分というものがあって、時にそれを人に教えられたりする。そして、そういうチャンスは、受け身というか、無でないと見逃してしまうような気がする。受け身というと悪い意味で使われることが最近多いようだが、「能動的に受け身になる」という選択もあるのではなかろうか。受け身、無でいながらも、常に「考え続け」られる強さが欲しい。そして、必要になればすぐに動ける自分でありたいと思う。

誰が見ても「成功者」の山田監督はそうは見えなかった。サラリーマンの悲哀というか、少し悲しそうにも見えた。でも、なぜかインタビューは最後まで見てしまった。