July 18 through 20: “Desert of Namibia” follows a disenchanted, 21-year-old Japanese beautician
At two hours and 17 minutes running time, Kana’s aimless wandering, and her lack of concern for others wear thin
As amply demonstrated in “Desert of Namibia,” for 21-year-old, disenchanted beautician Kana, life in Japan proves frustratingly unrewarding, even alienating. Working an unfulfilling, uninteresting job at a laser hair removal salon, Kana bounces back and forth between two boyfriends, Hayashi and Honda. Hayashi wants exclusivity, urging Kana to move in with him. By contrast, Honda tolerates Kana’s ways in an unassuming, casual way. She lies to and manipulates both of them, indifferent to their wishes. At times vaguely affectionate, Kana can also fly into unpredictable, explosive rages, apparently to provoke reactions.
Wandering aimlessly among her close friends and distant acquaintances, Kana is untethered and unambitious, with anger and angst dominant in her personality. Exasperated, she complains that “Japan will be ruined by poverty and the declining birth rate. So many people are media illiterate.” Kana’s lack of introspection combined with self-absorbed behavior establishes her as, at a minimum, narcissistic. A doctor tentatively gives her a more categorical diagnosis, suggesting Kana is either bipolar or has a borderline personality disorder, though she shrugs this off. More accurately, several of Kana’s comments align with writer/director Yôko Yamanaka description in press notes that Kana pushes back “against a rigid and patriarchal Tokyo with few resonant paths to offer her.” This suggests that Kana’s emotional detachment and pervasive irascibility derive more directly from an unsupportive social environment. That Kana has Chinese heritage may contribute, though this detail is not pursued.
Helping to clarify further her intent, Yamanaka explains that the catalyst for the unusual, elusive title “Desert of Namibia” came from her watching streaming, live YouTube footage of what turned out to be artificial water troughs in the Namibian desert. Run by a national park, the channel capitalizes on luring viewers to watch occasionally combative animals, a metaphorical parallel to Kana. Astonished at this “overt artificial intervention,” Yamanaka realizes audiences remain comfortably and safely observing exhilarating animal interaction at a distance. Further learning that the Namibian desert name reportedly means nothingness, Yamanaka felt this subjective detachment, this emotional indifference, “matched well with the themes of this work.” Heightening that connection, Kana occasionally watches the Namibian desert footage and, at other times, it appears on her television at the edges of the frame.
At two hours and 17 minutes running time, Kana’s aimless wandering, her strolling from place to place with no significant interaction, and her lack of concern for others wear thin. Without question, however, Yamanaka captures the existential ennui of this young Japanese woman looking for equality, a rewarding job, emotional honesty and support, all promising a desirable future she seems incapable of working to achieve. In Japanese with English subtitles, “Desert of Namibia” screens at Webster University’s Winifred Moore auditorium Friday, July 18, through Sunday, July 20, at 7:30 each of those evenings. For more information, you may visit the film series website.