地下幻灯剧画 少女椿

An old friend of mine and an avid collector of 16 and 35mm film prints follows a very strict regime when watching movies: "The celluloid must run through a projector in a theater with a big screen and a crowd, the way those movies were meant to be seen. Watching video copies of them on a couch at home doesn't count. It doesn't provide the true experience of the work in question. You can't say that you have seen a film if you've just watched a video of it."

This is fair enough for most films. But Hiroshi Harada, the director of Shojo Tsubaki (let's stay with the original title for the time being) sets the bar much, much higher. He doesn't even allow his film to be shown in movie theaters in Japan, yet alone let them be consumed on video or DVD.

For his screenings, he created incredibly elaborate "freak show" events which encompass live theater, live music, acrobatic acts, wild stage settings, freaky characters let loose on the audience... and a lot of secrecy. His flyers announcing shows and even those looking for performers were deliberately confusing - nobody was supposed to know what was really going on. In the early years, which means the early 1990s after the film's premiere in 1992, he wouldn't even want anyone to know what kind of show Shojo Tsubaki was at all: a movie, an anime, live theater?

"It would have been not interesting if I had given all that info in advance." Harada wrote me in a recent e-mail. "I wanted surprise. The audience suddenly encountering something totally unexpected - that was the point."

Now, what is Shojo Tsubaki? Well, it's animated, it's on celluloid, it is about a poor young girl who lives a hard life in a freak show circus, and its scenes often switch from being extremely kawaii to extremely graphic, violent, and at times oozing into the territory of far-out sexual fetishism. Sex among disfigured freaks, eye-ball-licking, rape by a disgusting, diseased... it's all there. And yet, Midori, the main character, does find true love here... and then things turn violent again... You never know where the movie is heading. You can't even guess what dangers or pleasures might be coming Midori's way from one second to the next.

Shojo Tsubaki is set in the early years of the Showa emperor's reign, the late 1920s in the Western calender. The original inspiration for the film dates from around the same time: a kami shibai performance going under the same title. Kami shibai translates to 'paper play' or 'picture show' and it dates back to the middle ages. A storyteller would tell a fantastical story in busy market places or wherever else he could find an audience, illustrating his story with a series of drawings. Often, his story was written on the back of the cardboards displaying the pictures to make it easier to do the performance and also to enable the storyteller to sell copies of his act afterwards.

Shojo Tsubaki (which literally means Camelia Girl) is said to have been originally created by a legendary kami shibai performer from the 1920s working under the name Seiun. It was a lengthy performance back then, consisting of 21 chapters and lasting for several hours. One of those original sets of pictures still survives and the play actually has been performed at times as part of the Shojo Tsubaki film events.

The paper play tells the story of a poor family whose father went too far into gambling debts. He runs away and lets the others fend for themselves. Midori, his daughter, goes into the business of flower selling. It's a sad job and one day she is kidnapped by two men and sold to a travelling girl's revue theater where she performs under the name Tsubaki Midori.

In the early 1980s, underground manga artist Suehiro Maruo began to turn the old kami shibai into one of his own disturbing picture stories. The earliest evidence I could dig up was in his 1982 book Das Ungetum der Rosenstck in which the beginning of his unique take on the Midori story is shaping up. The title of the book is of course some sort of flawed German. Though his grasp of the language might have been lacking, Maruo was deeply influenced by 1920s German expressionism and his heroes were Nosferatu, Marlene Dietrich and Doctor Caligari. They all figure prominently in the book - and the drawing style is a fascinating mix of Weimar German influences and vintage Japanese. Truly mesmerizing stuff.

In 1984, Maruo eventually had his final book-length manga of Shojo Tsubaki out in the stores. As already outlined in his Shojo Tsubaki chapter of Das Ungetum, the old kami shibai became now something new altogether... a full blown girl-in-the-freakshow story freely mixing cuteness, violence, perversity and a painstaking accuracy in the depiction of 1920s Japan and its outlaw characters to mindblowing impact.

Enter Harada. He was a young overworked pen-and-inker in the animation industry in 1970's Japan and he hated it. He realized that artistic ambition and the need to sustain oneself had always been a great conflict artists had to fight out with themselves ... but the animation industry didn't even give him the freedom to choose one or the other. The boss told the guys on the drawing boards what to do and they just had to hurry on with their mindnumbing work. He wanted out of the system and he did manage eventually to get out. He quit his job and premiered his first independent animated production City Nocturne in 1979. In 1985, he had 2 new animated works ready for release: Eternal Paradise (Kagirinaki Rakuen) and Lullaby to the Big Sleep (Nido to Mezamenu Komori Uta). The latter, shot on Super 8 and 27 minutes long, told of the adventures of a young boy getting sucked into the violent demonstrations held by leftist groups resisting the construction of Narita Airport. It played the Pia Film Festival in Tokyo, the main showcase for young Japanese independent cinema. Jury member and punk / biker movie director Sogo Ishii loved it and thanks to his lobbying, Harada won a major festival award.

Lullaby had already strong Maruo-esque tendencies: an unpredictable, sexually-charged story, experimental techniques and a main character who underwent a wide variety of forms of bizarre abuse. Even the drawing style appears to be heavily inspired by Maruo. So it seems almost logical that Harada choose a real Maruo as his next project: Shojo Tsubaki.

Knowing that this would demand much bigger resources than his previous films, he went back to the studios and tried to find financing. None was to be found at all. The subject matter of Maruo's book simply scared all potential investors away. Undeterred, Harada sacrificed his life savings, even went to money lending outfits to keep going. Maruo himself had told him "to make the film any way he wanted", as Harada told me. They did stay in close contact during the production period, though, with Maruo providing readings of old-fashioned kanji he had used in his book, advising on what colors to use for scenes and otherwise providing a great influx of ideas - some of which Harada then used. Maruo also lent his original source material to Harada, photo books on Tokyo of the period for example.

Harada started the great work in 1987 - and then continued drawing for 5 years, all by himself. Every single image of the movie was drawn by just one man alone! Harada did however receive a great deal of volunteer support from the Tokyo underground scene of the time for the final completion of his work: from musicians who provided the soundtrack, animators, people at independent documentary film studios, theater groups, even S/M clubs.

In 1992, the premiere of Shojo Tsubaki was held as a giant spectacle in a red tent on the grounds of Mitake Jinja, a Tokyo Shinto Shrine. Amidst strange decorations and exhibits, undergound theater group Aka Neko Za (Red Cat Theater) staged acts which are also performed by the freaks in the movie, and smoke was blown into the audience.

Here's what was projected onto the big screen: To a collage of violent freak show images, an announcer screams out what kind of an incredible story the audience is about to witness - in rhyming vintage carney lingo which almost no young Japanese would be able to understand. Then Midori, a poor girl about the age of 12, selling flowers in 1920s Tokyo. One of her regular customers is a strange man she calls "Mister Bowler Hat" due to the hat he wears. One night, she comes back home and finds her mother dead in her bed, rats already feading on her corpse. She runs away... With nowhere to go she turns to "Mr. Bowler Hat", who turns out to be a freak show impressario going under the name of Mr. Arashi. She joins his travelling circus... and right from the beginning becomes the focus of endless abuse by the real freaks, grotesquely disfigured perverts with bizarre fetishes and giant egos to boot. Relief comes in the form of Wonder Masanitsu, a magician who can squeeze his entire body through the tiny opening of a glass bottle. She falls in love with him but Masanitsu has powerful dark sides too...

It's an animation film, for sure, but the animation is extremely limited. In many instances, it's just a series of drawings, held together by music and dialogues... a modern-day kami shibai. Which of course is quite fitting to the origins of the tale and the time it takes place in.

More screenings of the film followed in rapid succession. Harada himself developed a new modus operandus of screening the work which made it even more difficult to access: he handed audience members who had made a reservation a map of a residential neighborhood. The people had to follow cryptic signs like dolls placed on street corners or folks in strange attire standing by the street to evenutally find an unassuming building and enter its basement. There they were handed candles and had to make their way through a dark labyrinth of corridors and rooms before they could enter the actual venue. Couples were separated, smoke was blown in, fans blew paper snippets resembling cherry blossom petals. While the film ran, theater group members threw objects at the audience that were also thrown around on screen...

In 1994, the film had its international premiere at the Orleans Biennale in France. It has since been shown at a number of Western festivals under a variety of titles like The Girl in the Freak Show or Midori - The Girl in the Freak Show, though without any of the trappings that come with the film in Japan. Harada wouldn't have been able to stage anything similar in a foreign country. The Japanese shows were difficult enough to arrange. Still, Midori stood her ground up on the Western screens, despite being all alone with the vicious freaks in the movie and the quiet lurkers in the seats. Poor girl... so many cruel things have been done to her...

That the film is now available on DVD in France under the title Midori with subtitles in 5 European languages for private home viewing might be the worst abuse Midori ever encountered, though. At home in Japan, however, the film can still be seen only on the rare occasions of a real full-blown freak event, the way it was meant to be seen....

以前和编辑一起过讨论动动漫选题时，说到现在做的动漫题材几近泛滥，稍有名气的作者和作品，都在各大门户站个杂志都络绎不绝的刊登得不亦乐乎。再写也只是重复GOOGLE中的搜索作业而已。所以到了编辑大人223同志约我写漫画稿，问到我写什么好的时候，第一个反应就是，我写丸尾末广吧。
只不过，潮流而健康的时尚杂志，在动漫方面每期都会有一定的信息量给到读者，但我一来就写丸尾末广，不有点冒险吗？

异色与禁忌同行
——丸尾末广，挑战你的官能尺度的《少女椿》

如果阁下是作为某类型作品的读者，循序渐进地第增阅读深度，才会带来升级的快感，就以恐怖漫画为例，要看恐怖漫画，大可以从手塚治虫的恐怖短篇读起，再看犬木加奈子、御茶漬海苔，继而到伊藤润二，再来然后进阶到古屋兎丸、楳图一雄，最后才是丸尾末广……
但今天读到本文的单纯的你一开始接触的就至极的丸尾末广，实在有点恐怖得令人汗颜。

在3月底举行的29届香港国际电影节，丸尾末广的动画电影《地下幻灯剧画——少女椿》作为其中一部展示动画高调上映，一部被禁多年的作品能在香港这样的地方放出，都算一个异数。

《少女椿》作为丸尾末广一部重要的长漫画，讲就是异人的世界
大正时代，过着无助生活的纤弱少女阿绿，被异人杂技团收留，杂技团有着行为怪异的团长、大力巨人，截去双手的木乃伊男、阴险怪戾的蛇女、男扮女装的少年等，阿绿在团中先后不断被这些奇人异士人骚扰强暴，，就在她最痛苦之时，团中来了一名懂幻术的侏儒魔术师，他对阿绿的友好令二人产生爱意，使阿绿在裸露变态的杂技团中找到一丝的慰寂。
魔术师的加入令本来无人问津的杂技团变得人气旺盛，，在团中的地位也巩固起来，当阿绿以为自己找到真爱之时候，因爱意嫉妒的魔术师对团中侵犯过阿绿的成员尽行无情的报复……最后，在阿绿与魔术师打算离开杂技团时魔术师因意外被杀，以为可以摆脱过往一起重新开始的阿绿，猛然却发觉一切依然没变，她在天地间呼叫嚎哭，恶梦仍旧挥之不去……

易装男孩虐杀阿绿的小狗
异人们把小蛇放进阿绿的下体
阿绿每次看见火车驶过都追着挥手，希望离开这个地方
愤怒的魔术师用幻术把剧场无辜的观众变为异肉横流的地狱，十足一幅浮世绘

丸尾末广的有这么恐怖么？
如单纯地把丸尾末广推断为恐怖太便宜了他、归列为变态系又不能完全解构得当，丸尾末广作品风格强烈，题材全部涉及恐怖、异类、性禁忌、变态、殘暴、亂倫、性虐、恋童、飼育、肢解、、糞便、SM和各种花样的古怪异常行为。丸尾笔下，绝对在挑战阅读者的宫能极限。，但把这些变态元素运用得这么自如又不讨人厌的作者还是第一个，内容的过火位总不会成为故事发展的绊脚，从变态走向最原本的人格裸露的高潮的升华，自成一套的高超体系。

与别不同的作画风格
本人一直认为摒弃网纸是令一个作者成为大师的一个重要原因，熟悉漫画的人细想一下那些被尊崇的大师门，都是甚少用网纸的，丸尾也一样，他的画有很重的旧式广告插画风格，画面干净、清晰，在鲜明的黑白色调之间充满一种冷竣的优美，正是这种怪异残酷的笔触，在融合恐怖与性器之中让你目不暇接，把读者的深层意识钩现出来。

当你以为恐怖结束之时候，更真正恐怖和变态才刚刚降临。
但对主流读者他的确是太另类过分了，画面表现出的一切就已是为伦常所不容，但一个作家只依靠标榜自己的另类是不能成为被推崇和认同的对象的，丸尾自然有他过人的一套。元素都是外在的，而读者的冲击是内在的，画面的张力超越读者内心的挣扎，就和寺山修司的电影一样，处处充满异色和超越伦常色元素，在最后又把这些元素一一打破，再统一，再打破，叫读者在支离破碎的感观刺激中重新寻觅到自己的天空，当被画面把感官带到极处之时，把内心深处欲望彻底解放，把一切道德观念反向还原，只在掩卷之时才发现自己依然存在现实虚伪的世界中，轻叹一句，真他妈变态之余，回味已寻回隐末在童年的深层那一种蠢蠢欲动的“物神”情结，难以释怀。估计，爱看丸尾末广的大多是童年有过一些古怪经历的人……

丸尾末广
1956年1月28日、出生于日本長崎县的雲仙，1972年中学毕业后去了东京。辗转转换了各种不同类型的职业。
1980年11月以发表「リボンの骑士」初次登场，晋身为漫画家。除了作为漫画人外，在小说，杂志封面，挿画、海报， CD 、夹克等各式各样的领域当中都十分活跃。
20多年来陆续发表许多短篇作品，大部分后都集结成册由青林堂出版。同样被尊崇为恐怖大师的楳圖一雄，也是以画面的张力见称，有看《飄流教室》的人都知道楳圖一雄的恐怖功力，有传说楳圖一雄和丸尾末广本来是师徒，但楳圖觉得丸尾画的东西太过分了而不愿意承认关系，虽然这些传说一直没被正式确认，却更令丸尾末广的引人入胜。

异人经历的记忆
在记忆中有这样个事件。几岁的时候，（8几年）去看花瓶人头表演，简陋的场外搭建起的帐篷，走进室内，两边是木板宣传标语，在一个4、5米的高台上放了个一米多高的大花瓶，一个小姑娘模样的头放在花瓶上，只有头！看不到任何身体，脖子的位置放着一把古老的宝剑，剑穗长长地垂下，室内一把广播电台式的声音在介绍花瓶人头的故事，忽然间小姑娘开口说话，把许多人都吓了一大跳，我当时叮和小姑娘的脸，又害怕又好奇，心头一直被着一种迷惑与恐怖萦绕着……很久很久

         世间最可怕的大概就是从噩梦中醒来时，却发觉现实更是一场噩梦。
     尾丸末广的这部怪异之作风格上有点类似于大卫林奇的那部备受争议的《双峰之与火同行》，满篇皆充斥着种种的怪异荒诞的虚幻想象，但不同的是《少女桩》保留了日本浮世绘的表现方式，以旧式广告画为基调，充分的展现了日本人所特有的种种低级趣味，因此显得更为怪诞，荒谬。但此种怪诞绝又不是作者一厢情愿的想象或是其特有的特殊嗜好，它却是来源于我们共有的突发的幻想或是意识深处完全偏离正常世界的原始冲动。作者只是在这个看似光鲜的的世界里描绘出其阴影下的那些永无尽头的黑暗........