Cinematic Liars of Asahi-za (浜の朝日の嘘つきどもと)

(TV Drama Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of Fukushima Central Television)

Teacher, how have you been?

The weather here has gotten hot.

How about over there? Are you living comfortably?

I've been doing well.

It's just that... I've been unable to find my way.

【Cinematic Liars of Asahi-za】

Ah, that was close.

Hey, Yasuzo-chan!

Oh, Sadatchi, are you taking it for a walk?

"Wild Horse Chase" has been canceled. It'll decline if it doesn't go for walks.

Oh, I see. Will you be going to the festival?

No, I won't go.

Okay then, take care.

Good horse.

"Asahi Theater"... Finally found it.

Hey, wait...

Hold on, hold on.

- Water, water... - What's wrong? What happened?

What's going on?

Little girl, what are you doing?

What's going on?

I'm about to burn it all.

Isn't this film reels? Why burn them?

Why?

Film reels are valuable assets of the cinema, right?

This place is about to close down.

It's going to be demolished next month. Keeping the film reels is pointless.

I don't understand what you're saying.

What's there not to understand?

Isn't this cinema nearly a hundred years old?

Oh, is it going to be renovated?

Is that so? That's great. Nobody watches movies anymore these days.

Hey, hey, hey, hey.

Ah, this is "Way Down East" (title of a movie).

Do you know it if you watch it?

Anna, a country girl, was deceived by a man and had a miscarriage.

She hides the truth and works as a maid for a living.

But she gets exposed and gets kicked out in the heavy snow.

Oh, this is Anna. Anna's being washed out on the ice floe.

Lilian Gish, who plays Anna, is so beautiful, so I remember.

What the... I've made up my mind to burn the film reels.

This theater was built by my grandfather, probably in the Taisho era.

"Way Down East" was released in Tokyo in 1922.

The following year, this theater was established.

My grandfather watched that film in Tokyo

and decided to screen it as the first film at Asahi Theater.

How can we burn such an important film?

If we don't burn this important film, how can we make up our minds?

They say a grocery store can survive for three generations.

There's no choice. Times change, you know?

Times change?

If this place disappears, where will the locals watch movies?

Who should I ask if you ask me?

It has survived many disasters over the past century, even earthquakes.

That means this theater shouldn't disappear even more.

In the end, it was defeated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

It will take another year or two to return to normal life.

It can't hold on for that long.

Relying on donations... and such?

We don't accept donations. They should go to other theaters, right?

It would be meaningful if other theaters could be saved.

That's how I convinced myself and made up my mind to burn the film reels.

Alright? If you understood, just leave.

What are you doing?

- I'm telling you... - What are you doing?

What's going on?

I stepped on something.

I'll have a headache if this place is gone.

I don't care what you do. I've already decided.

I don't know your reasons, but it will give me a headache.

Okay, fine. Go sightseeing then.

I'm not here for sightseeing.

Then why are you here?

I'm here... to rebuild this theater.

Huh?

Someone asked me to find an old man with a beer belly...

Um... that is... to find the person in charge here.

They said the venue is good, but the film lineup is lousy, and they asked me to rebuild it.

You're really stubborn, old man.

What's with the "old man" attitude?

Well, you're an old man. What's wrong with calling you that?

Shut up, kid. I'm not playing around.

I'm not playing around... ah!

By the way, who are you?

It doesn't matter who I am.

It does matter. Being pointed at by a stranger...

You better give me your name, or I'll call the police.

Mogi...

Mogi?

Mogi Riko .

Right, Mogi Riko.

I'm Mogi Riko.

My real name is Asahi Hamano.

Hamano as in "seaside" and "field", "Asahi" in hiragana.

During my first year of high school, the Great East Japan Earthquake happened.

My dad used to work at a taxi company in Koriyama.

But all transportation companies were afraid of radiation

and didn't send cars for decontamination workers.

So, he decided to go to Minamisoma alone to be in charge of transportation.

Gasoline was scarce, and natural gas taxis were in high demand.

At first, he received praise,

but when it was known that he made a lot of money,

people's attitudes changed, and they accused him of profiting from the national disaster.

His company was called "Hamano Asahi Transportation."

And my name, including both my first and last names, was associated with it.

As a result, my family faced harassment.

My mother and younger brother, who stayed in Koriyama, were also ostracized.

Our family was on the verge of falling apart.

Because of those rumors,

I lost all my friends. They all left me like the receding tide.

Hey.

How did you get the key to the rooftop?

You can't go up there without permission from the teachers.

- Sorry. - Hmm.

So... how did you get the key?

I... made a spare.

Huh?

I also have a spare key.

This place is nice for some alone time.

But... it's not good if you jump from here.

What's with that expression?

Why...

I've seen you before.

And you're kind of famous at our school too.

Every time, you look like you want to die.

Today, seeing you like that, I had to stop you.

It's like I'm the monitor for the cliffs of Toshinbo or something.

It's up to you how you want to do it; it's your freedom.

But now is also my precious time to relax.

If someone jumps off a building in front of me, it will be traumatizing for my soul.

I heard you're transferring to another school?

Where are you transferring to?

Tokyo.

Tokyo is great. I used to live there.

It has everything and is very convenient.

But I don't want to go.

Maybe it's better than living here with no friends.

I've been here for years, and I still have two more to go.

I feel really sorry about it.

But... the world is not just this place, you know?

Come with me.

This place is perfect for secretly watching movies.

Here we are.

Hey, Tanaka-sensei. Are you using this room?

Sorry, Principal. I'm tutoring a student.

Okay, I just saw the door was unlocked.

Goodbye.

Take care.

That was close. Thankfully, it hadn't started playing yet.

Dad, it's because he doesn't truly love someone that he acts like this.

If you love Mom, why did you abandon her?

If you don't want to leave Mom, why don't you love her?

Dad is just full of lies

Dad, please use your true heart to love Mom

You can't tell on DVDs, but with film,

say half the time is pitch black.

Do you have a notebook?

I need a pen too.

Film is made up of frames, 24 frames per second.

When you connect them, it becomes a film strip.

To project it onto a screen, you need a projector.

The projector allows light to pass through the film and onto the screen.

But there are lines between each frame of the film.

If you directly project it continuously, you'll see those lines.

So the projector uses a shutter to block those lines.

The shutter has notches that look like a fan.

Between the fan blades, a brief ray of light emerges.

The shutter only allows light to pass through the fan blades.

It relies on the lingering afterimage of that moment to carry over to the next frame.

Have you heard of the phenomenon of visual persistence in human eyes?

It means that half the time, you're looking at a dark screen.

Sounds quite interesting, doesn't it?

Half the time, watching darkness, yet still moved and laughing.

That's why movie enthusiasts tend to have a gloomy personality, right?

But that's not a bad thing, right?

Tokyo has many movie theaters, you know.

Mostly multiplexes, I guess.

Let me tell you something.

Imagine what it will be like 100 years from now.

Anyway, you won't be in this world by then.

How about it?

I thought you were going to say something inspiring.

Can adults who say such things be trusted?

Anyway, it's okay not to hurry and die today.

"It's okay"... It sounds strange to say "it's okay."

Riko Mogi?

Yes, Mogi... Riko Mogi.

I'm Riko Mogi.

Mogi... the ticket collector...

Are you messing with me, you little brat?

I'm serious, that's my real name. I won't change it.

You can't even speak clearly.

I was born for movies, and I can operate projectors too.

Once you teach me, I'll be able to do it.

I told you, we're closing.

There's no need to hire anyone.

And even before the pandemic, nobody came anymore.

Although I'm the owner, my real profession is electrical work.

Otherwise, how could I make a living?