Fest Track On Sirk TV Film Review: CODENAME - NAGASAKI [North Bend Film Festival 2021 - Virtual]
The search for self is always interesting but to pair it with an artistic endeavor can run the risk of compromising the message because it becomes whether it is for the art or for the self. With "Codename: Nagaski", directors Frederick Hana with subject/actor Marius Lunde exploring a personal journey is done in an interesting format. Even though there is an inherent Japanese texture with culture and genre references, the story originates from Norway where they both live, where Lunde grew up and from where his mother left from when he was a child to return to Japan. This movie is in the capturing of his attempts to find her while also understanding their might be reasons (some inherently relating to culture) why she doesn't want to be found. The small vignettes which intertwine to show state of mind from samurai to noir to simple drama to Japanese style drama all work in their own way though at times it seems disjointed (yet still visually evocative). But then it does pull back together.
Lunde's speaking to his mother in Japanese (which he doesn't really speak or hasn't in years) is interesting because of the doc low res camera capturing a side view while the high resolution DSLR provides a different perspective (which makes for a differing intention). Their subsequent trip to Japan is engaging as well but filming was likely done on the down low so the way the meetings are captured hold resepct both to the subject and the family he is trying to contact without breaking their privacy. It is an interesting balance and done with creativity through animation. Hana also seems to be very close with Lunde so the situation does closely affect him as well. He himself features at a certain point with an assumed 3rd cameraman capturing his responses. The textured meta-on-meta is an interesting approach despite some shoddy transitions. The realizations are not so much revelatory but they are honest in the sense that life sometimes does not turn out as certain people might have hoped. B-
By Tim Wassberg
