Film Review: Minamata

Johnny Depp As war photographer W. Eugene Smith in Minamata.

Minamata is one of those special finds that you happen upon unexpectedly and are forever grateful you did so. Possessing the coveted blend of graceful yet vibrant cinematography with an engrossing story, director Andrew Levitas is successfully able lend his artistic touch, without diminishing or distracting from the impact of this devastating, true story. 

The film begins in New York, 1971 with W. Eugene Smith played by Johnny Depp in what may go on to be remembered as one of his greatest performances. Eugene is a renowned war photographer, now past the point of his peak, who is grappling with the realisation that life has nothing left for him. He is sarcastic, grizzled, and alcohol-soaked, reminiscent of Love Actually’s past-the-point of caring Billy Mack, played by Bill Nighy who coincidentally is also in this film, in the role of editor of Life magazine. Both men it seems, are in the midst of an internal battle in which artistic integrity and passion are evidently losing against advertisements and money. The true catalyst of the film occurs when Gene, as Eugene is often called, is visited one night by Eileen, a woman desperate to shed light on events taking place in her homeland of Japan, specifically in Kumamoto. Chemical conglomerate Chisso Corporation is dumping their toxic waste into the lake of the neighbouring village, a village that predominantly survives off of the sea life in that lake.  Faced with little else to eat, the village has continued to fish from the poisoned lake, resulting in hundreds of men, women and children over the years developing what has come to be known as Minamata disease, a neurological disease caused by severe mercury poisoning whose effects can include numbness in the hands and feet, muscle weakness, convulsions, loss of vision, hearing damage and paralysis. Gene is devastated by what Eileen shows him, and immediately offers his services in bringing widespread, international awareness to this issue by having Life magazine publish this story. 

I was apprehensive that this story would fall into the trap of becoming a ‘white saviour’ piece, in which the crux of the story shifts from the plight of the Kumamoto people to Gene reawakening his passion for photography, and single-handedly saving the day. It quickly becomes clear however that this is not what Minamata is about. Whilst the audience’s first point of contact is with Gene, the fact is that he is utterly secondary to the cause at hand. One of the Kumamoto protest organisers surmises the film’s attitude most succinctly, “some people may come and go with the best intentions, but we can’t count on them. This is our fight”. Gene does not empower the villagers to fight or rally, but rather captures what was already taking place. The film then exhibits an interesting and compelling example of using one’s privilege, platform and power, for the good of those who need it.  

Visually, what was most striking about the film was the ghostly neon green and vibrant red lighting with which the imagery is repeatedly soaked by cinematographer Benoit Delhomme . The sickly green haze that permeates the Kumamoto scenes is evocative of the poisoned environment that Chisso is manufacturing, with the burning vibrancy of the particular shade of green clearly being used to represent the unnaturalness of the chemicals present in the water, and of the situation at large. Red shows most prominently in Gene’s dark room, where his photographs of the sick villagers and their families are splashed in red hues, representing the passion and anger we should all possess for such issues of social justice. The prevalence of these warring greens and reds embodies the central conflicts that the film is imploring us to take notice of; the people versus the power, integrity versus selling out, apathy versus moral obligation. The critique of corporate greed and capitalism also cannot go unnoticed, and imbues the film with a thrilling revolutionary vibration, constantly humming beneath the tatami shots and placid Kumamoto tableaus. 

Minamata’s painterly composition paired with its desperate, clawing story of inequality and the exposing of truths creates a multilayered masterpiece that is equal in its depiction of beauty and pain.

Minamata is showing in select Victorian cinemas from June 3rd 2021.