A new biopic chronicles the complex life and work of Japan’s most celebrated and iconic photographer Masahisa Fukase.
Ravens stars Emmy-nominated Shogun actor Tadanobu Asano as the acclaimed and deeply troubled photographer Fukase.
Ravens, which is directed by Mark Gill, explores the life of Fukase and his tumultuous relationship with his wife Yoko Wanibe (who is played by Kumi Takiuchi).
“The first time I saw Fukase’s photographs, I sensed the presence of genius and felt a hunger to discover the man behind the camera,” Gill tells Variety. “I soon realized Fukase’s story was intertwined with that of Yoko, his wife, collaborator, and survivor. (I don’t call her a muse — she was more active than passive, and the film is her story, too.)”
The movie takes its title from Fukase’s 1986 photobook Karasu (Ravens or The Solitude of Ravens). The 10-year black-and-white photo project, in which Fukase photographed Ravens, is considered his masterpiece.
In a review of Ravens, Richard Kuipers of Variety described the biopic as an “arresting and engrossing slice of artistic life on the edge” which will appeal to “adventurous viewers whether or not they’re familiar with Fukase.”
A Lifelong Obsession with Photography
Born in Bifuka, Hokkaido in 1934 to a family who ran a successful photo studio in the small town, Fukase revealed his inner world through autobiographical images — turning his life experiences into powerful works of art.
From 1963 to 1976, Fukase focused his lens obsessively on his second wife and muse Yoko from the day they met until the day she left.
During their 13-year-relationship, Yoko was the subject of Fukase’s fascinating photo series From Window.
Every morning, Fukase obsessively photographed Yoko from his fourth-floor window using a telephoto lens as she headed off to work. The project was devoted solely to images of Yoko as she pulled faces, posed, and shouted up at him from below as she left their apartment every day.
According to Dazed, Fukase’s expression of love for his wife through his photography wound up as destructive. In 1982, Fukase admitted that he was haunted by the paradox of “being with others just to photograph them,” a compulsion to take pictures that ultimately drove his loved ones away and left him in deep loneliness.
“He has only seen me through the lens,” Yoko reportedly said. “I believe that all the photographs of me were unquestionably photographs of himself.”
Believing that Fukase was only with her for the sake of his photography, Yoko divorced him in 1976, sending the photographer into a profound and dark depression.
The Making of His Masterpiece
When Yoko left him, Fukase started drinking heavily. Fukase began photographing ravens he encountered at train stations with the same intense focus he once devoted to photographing Yoko. Fukase continued capturing images of ravens until 1982, by which time he had remarried.
The images became the basis of his 1986 photobook Ravens which has been hailed as a modern masterpiece and one of the best photobooks of all time.
According to The Guardian, ravens are disruptive creatures and omens of turbulent times in Japanese culture. However in Fukase’s images, they become obscure symbols of lost love and almost unendurable heartbreak.
However, just before his 60th birthday in 1992, Fukase, while intoxicated, fell down the stairs of his favorite bar and suffered a traumatic brain injury. This fall would be the end of Fukase’s photographic endeavors and he remained in a coma for the next 20 years.
Throughout his prolonged limbo, Yoko visited him twice a month, though tragically, he remained unaware of her presence.
“He remains part of my identity,” Yoko said according to The Guardian, “With a camera in front of his eye, he could see; not without.”
Fukase passed away in 2012 without ever making a recovery. After his death, his work was gradually made accessible by the Masahisa Fukase Archives, established in Tokyo in 2014.
Ravens was reportedly made with the full support of Tomo Kosuga, the director of the Masahisa Fukase Archives and with full access to all his photographic images.
