A TREMBLING AND SHIVERING WOR LD: KOJI YAMAMU RA’S FRANZ KAFKA ’S A COUNTRY DOCTOR

A trembling and shivering world:

Koji Yamamura’s Franz Kafka’s
A Country Doctor

By Nobuaki Doi However, at the end of the film, he continuously change. Their identities
glances at the pond on his own head. are not consistent either. The
If watching a live-action film is He witnesses a multitude of his selves skull-like moon turns into a noose.
analogous to looking into a mirror, behaving in a manner similar to his The doctor who hangs himself from
then watching an animated film is own. The stingy man goes mad and it turns into a horse as the stars in the
similar to looking into water. When throws himself into the water. night sky fall and change into
calm, the surface of water can be Watching the surface of the water is snowflakes.
reflective like a mirror. However, on always a confusing experience in Why is the appearance of the
being disturbed, the reflection in Yamamura’s world. characters in this film never stable?
water becomes distorted. In Aquatic In Franz Kafka’s A Country Doctor In Yamamura’s words, this film
(1987), Koji Yamamura’s graduation (2007), water is not actually adopts a “perspective of mind”. This
work, the reflection of a man who depicted; however, there is a sense perspective does not adhere to the
was looking into a river started to that you are observing the trembling convention of the manner in which
tremble and metamorphose when an surface of water. The characters the eyes see but depicts the world as
apple dropped into it. Water does constantly vibrate, and their contours the mind perceives it. For example,
not always throw up an accurate when the doctor thinks about his
reflection. At the beginning of Mt. Nobuaki Doi is an animation critic serving girl who is left with the brutal
Head (2002), the stingy man looked and the manager of the site called groom, the disturbance in the
into a mirror and confirmed that a Animations doctor’s mind manifests itself in the
22 tree had started to grow on his head. http://www.animations-cc.net violent trembling of his contour. The
A TREMBLING AND SHIVERING WORLD: KOJI YAMAMURA’S FRANZ KAFKA’S A COUNTRY DOCTOR
doctor’s internal turmoil can be
judged based on his appearance.
Animation does not simply reflect the
world as it is. It has the possibility of
making an inner vision visible. A
Country Doctor utilizes this possibility
to the farthest extent.
It is difficult to move freely in
water. If one were to experience
drowning under the strong currents
of the sea, they would have felt their
bodies being tossed at the mercy of
its uncontrollable power. In A Country
Doctor, the doctor is depicted as
though he were being swallowed by
the current of his fate. At midnight,
he is summoned by the sound of the
bell. Without his permission, horses
take him to the patient’s house.
When he concludes his diagnosis and
attempts to leave for home, his body
turns against his will in the opposite
direction and he is prevented from
leaving the house. Public servants
show up one after another, strip the
doctor naked, and carry him to the
bed with the sick boy. He believes
that he acts independently; however,
the truth is that the strong current of
his fate carries him without giving
consideration to his own wishes.
The water of A Country Doctor
trembles too much. It is cruel for the
doctor who is in the water, but
amusing to the viewer, who views
him from the outside of water. The
viewer is in a safe place, so watching
the swaying surface of water is
comical once you adjust to its rhythm
and learn to “hear” this film with the
eyes. The two horses move their
necks together. The patient’s sister
swings the bloodied cloth in circles.
The doctor repeatedly turns his head
round. These repetitive movements
lend this film its humorous element.
Shaking contours also have their own
rhythm. This film features an
instrument known as the Ondes
Martenot. “Ondes” is French for
“waves”. The waves of sound
harmonize with the pictorial waves,
and the vibration gradually gets
stronger. If you are in tune with this
rhythm, a comfortable feeling
develops around this swaying surface
of water.
However, you soon realize that
the silence gradually grows stronger
as the film moves toward its end.
This silence creates a sense of
foreboding. You begin to notice the
strange scenery. What are those eyes
and noses buried in the snow? Where
is the doctor heading? The doctor
seems to be going in the wrong
direction. As you begin to feel
uneasy, the images reflected on the
screen start to lose their stability. The
flashlights blink repeatedly and the
field of vision slips frequently. The
connection between the scenes
gradually loses flow. The horses walk
indoors. Behind them, there sit a
large number of doctors with their
bodies shaking, as if demonstrating
their bad moods. Confusion sets in
your mind. The excessively violent
shaking of the water creates an
uneasy sensation as though the water
were about to swallow the viewer.
This feeling also emerges during the
last part of the film. At this point, the
viewer’s hitherto unquestioning
perception of the world is altered.
You find it difficult to decide whether
the scene is real. Animation can
depict a world that does not exist.
However, you start to wish that it
should belong to somewhere.
At the end of the film, the doctor
says, “Betrayed! Betrayed! Respond
to a false alarm in the dead of night ...
and it will never be made good
again!” Subsequently, the bell rings,
someone opens the door, and the
film ends. You have heard the sound
of the bell. Therefore, it will never be
the same again for you as well. It is
too late.
A Country Doctor is basically a
faithful adaptation of the original
story; however, one exception was
made. An aphorism by Kafka, “The
true path goes by way of a rope that is
not stretched at any height, but is just
above the ground. It seems meant
more for one to trip on than to be
walked upon”, was quoted at the
beginning of the film. This describes
the film aptly. It causes you to
experience the sensation of tripping
or stumbling. By watching this film,
you feel dizzy, stumble, and, with
tottering steps, drop into the water.
Watching A Country Doctor is like
waking up from a nightmare. A
dream can be more vivid than banal
daily existence. The confused brain
cannot distinguish between a dream
and reality. Unless one awakens from
the dream, one cannot be sure that it
was simply a dream. It is possible that
this seemingly real world is nothing
but a dream that you have yet to
awaken from. What the stingy man in
“Mt. Head” experienced is not
another person’s problem any more.
You cannot deny the possibility that
there is someone watching and
laughing at you from the other side of
the water. You suddenly realize that
you remain alone in the middle of
nowhere. Is this real, or is it a dream?
You start to tremble and shiver
between the two worlds. 23