White Calligraphy

‘Writing the Kojiki, the oldest story in Japan. An abstract film written in Japanese letters in each frame. A trial of Zen film.’ – T.I.

‘To make this abstract film, Iimura drew the Japanese characters for the Kojiki, “the oldest story in Japan,” directly onto dark leader. Since each frame contains a different character, the finished film creates a continually changing retinal collage, which is interrupted intermittently during the final minutes of the film by moments of dark leader. All in all White Calligraphy is a sort of filmic concrete poem that offers an early foreshadowing of effects more fully explored in the films of Iimura’s second and third periods.’
–Scott MacDonald (The author of “A Critical Cinema,” California University Press)