Rockbund Art Museum 上海外滩美术馆

After the success of Hong Kong’s film Ten Years, Japan quickly followed suit by producing its own version. The five stories in the film focus on the themes of population aging, artificial intelligence, digital inheritance, nuclear power, and the Japanese military. Overall the film presents issues which are much-discussed topics in Japan today, and attempts to predict the situation of Japan ten years into the future. Although the premise of the film is nothing novel or extraordinary, the work nevertheless remains an excellent window to look into the current state of affairs of Japanese society. The issues revealed in the film, such as the general anxiety pervading the nation and the political apathy of the young generation, are still quite worth contemplation and reflection.

It is necessary to point out however that compared to the radical political overtones of Hong Kong’s Ten Years, and the strong aesthetic awareness of Thailand’s version, the Japanese version, which makes use of fresh new talent, is undoubtedly less sophisticated in its depth of thought and expression. Despite having Hirokazu Kore-eda as the executive producer, the film did not inspire significant public response after its screening in Japan. Nevertheless, the backgrounds of these five directors give us a clue as to the direction of their development and the unique environment of the Japanese film industry.

Launching the discussion with Japan’s Ten Years, Yuancheng Song will trace the theme of “anxiety” down the historical timeline of Japanese film, going through the topics which have occupied Japanese filmmakers for decades: fear of nuclear and industrial technologies as expressed in the Godzilla series; obscure allusions to religious cults in movies like Canary and Cure; and worries and predictions regarding the near future portrayed in Wilderness. When the anxieties of an era are expressed through the format of fiction, they echo more profoundly in the hearts of viewers. And although these movies speak of the future, their ability to also compellingly portray the present must not be ignored.

《十年日本》的五个故事分别聚焦于老龄化、人工智能、数码遗产、原发和自卫队。大体上是依据当下的热门社会话题，来对十年后的情形进行预想。虽然并不是多么新鲜的主题，但也不失为一个透视日本社会现状的绝佳窗口。其中所流露出的社会焦虑，以及当代年轻人的政治冷感等问题依然耐人寻味。

不得不承认，比起泰国版强烈的美学自觉，启用新人的日本版十年无论在思想还是表达上都稍显稚嫩。尽管有是枝裕和作为总监制，但公映之后在日本并未激起足够的反响。不过，通过五位年轻导演的履历，也可以一窥年轻影人的成长路径和日本电影界的独特生态。

深焦DeepFocus作者宋远程将以《十年》为起点，追溯日本电影史上关于“焦虑”的谱系，梳理那些困扰一代代日本电影人的议题——从上世纪《哥斯拉》系列里对核与工业技术的恐惧，到《金丝雀》《X圣治》中的对邪教的隐隐指涉，再到《啊，荒野》里对近未来的忧思与想像。当时代的阴影以某种虚构的方式呈现出来，无疑会产生更悠远的回响。即使电影本身关乎未来，但它亦是当下的有力写照。