"Minamata" movie available for streaming

[tom_halfhill]

After two years of waiting, last night I finally saw "Minamata," the postponed movie about W. Eugene Smith's famous Life magazine photo essay exposing the mercury pollution at a Japanese fishing village. The Covid-19 pandemic delayed this film's theatrical release until 2021, then near-empty theaters cut it short. Last night, to my surprise, I discovered it has landed on a free Internet-streaming service (Kanopy). In my opinion, it features one of Johnny Depp's best performances.

 

Depp plays Smith, the famous photojournalist and master of photo essays during the peak popularity of weekly picture magazines such as Life and Look. Depp virtually vanishes into his lead character. He's a dead ringer for Smith in the photographer's later years as an uncompromising man suffering from health problems, chronic pain, and alcoholism. Reluctant at first, he's recruited in 1971 by desperate Japanese villagers poisoned by pollution from a chemical plant. Smith convinces Life to assign him the story, which is emotionally draining and physically dangerous. His pictures still stand as monumental photojournalism. This excellent drama shows how he made them, and Depp's largely unseen performance was Oscar-worthy.

 

I haven't read the book on which the screenplay is based, so I can't comment on the realism. The photography and darkroom scenes are relatively accurate, by Hollywood standards. One possible invention is a scene in which a drunken Smith gives his camera to a crippled boy. To keep Smith working after he sobers, the villagers donate their cameras to replace his. I doubt that a professional photojournalist of Smith's stature would embark on a Life magazine assignment with only one camera. In the 1950s he carried nine cameras.

 

Anyway, I recommend this movie. I found it on Kanopy, a U.S. streaming service that's free in some cities if you have a library card from a participating public library. After registering your card number, you can watch up to ten films per month. The selection is huge. Most offerings are documentaries and educational films, but there are also many recent dramas, old classics, silent films, and foreign-language films.

[Tony Parsons]

Hope someone pops it on YouTube soon.

[ericphelps]

Thanks Tom - Looking forward to finally seeing this film. We've got Kanopy here locally but after starting at 10 films per month, they've reduced the allotment now to 5.

[tom_halfhill]

Interesting. I didn't know that Kanopy has different limits in different places. My ration is still 10 views per month, although I rarely watch that many.

[robert_bowring]

This is good to hear. I wanted to see this movie when it was released a couple of years ago but it seemed to disappear. I bought and read the book when it came out and it is a gripping story with great photographs. As for the cameras he used, if I remember correctly, they were supplied by Minolta. I can’t wait to see it.

[ericphelps]

Interesting. I didn't know that Kanopy has different limits in different places. My ration is still 10 views per month, although I rarely watch that many.

 

I contacted the library on 9/21 when the halving occurred, and was told the demand showing here was for 5 or less films per month. And that the library must pay a fee for each film watched beyond 30 seconds, which adds to the local financial burden.

 

Here in Taliban country, Arizona, there isn't much call for non-Hollywood films.

[tom_halfhill]

I contacted the library on 9/21 when the halving occurred, and was told the demand showing here was for 5 or less films per month. And that the library must pay a fee for each film watched beyond 30 seconds, which adds to the local financial burden.

 

More interesting! I knew that public libraries sponsored Kanopy but didn't know they pay a fee for everything we watch. As for "non-Hollywood films," that's what I like best about Kanopy. I've been watching many silent films, foreign films, and documentaries that I've heard about for years but are rarely broadcast on TV or cable.

 

The cameras W. Eugene Smith uses in "Minamata" are indeed Minolta SLRs. I don't know if that's authentic. Smith used many different cameras during his long career.

 

In the 1950s, Smith carried nine cameras comprising three "sets," as he called them. Each set of three cameras had one with a wide-angle lens, one with a normal lens, and one with a short telephoto lens (probably 35/50/90mm or 35/50/85mm). He loaded one set with fine-grain slow b&w film, one set with medium-speed b&w film, and one set with fast b&w film. Thus he could shoot under any lighting conditions without changing lenses or film. At that time he favored Canon rangefinder cameras or Leica RFs with Canon lenses.

 

Note that his nine cameras could be replaced today with one digital camera mounting a midrange zoom lens -- and it would shoot color as well as b&w.

[Ricochetrider]

Hmmm, the film sounds interesting- seems Mr Depp may something of a slo mo train wreck- but he does have moments of brilliance. I'll add it to the List and see where it pops up. Don't know Kanopy, thin it's available via Roku?

[rodeo_joe1]

Thanks for the recommendation Tom. Just downloaded it and now need to find a couple of spare hours to watch it.

 

The YTS/YIFY movie torrent site also has it listed BTW. Just sayin'.

[tom_mccabe]

The film is available on Hulu, YouTube ($3.99), Google play ($3.99), Amazon Prime ($3.99) and Vudu ($4.99).