Rhythm and Cutting Techniques: The Four-Beat Artisan
Director Kihachi Okamoto is known for his distinctive visual techniques, particularly his cutting and sense of rhythm. Described as bringing fresh energy to Japanese cinema through brisk, exhilarating entertainment, his characteristic rhythm has influenced many film fans and later directors.
Okamoto described his work with the phrase “an average of 1,000 cuts for 100 minutes,” and this fine-grained cutting is a major characteristic of his films. He said, “The minimum is two frames, but even a single blink goes snap in eight frames. So I think you have to value those eight frames.” On cutting tempo, he said, “I count in fours. It's not eight-beat, but I think it's eight.”
This is a sensibility close to the musical rhythm of four-beat jazz. Indeed, a collection of his work was published in 1992 as kihachi: The Four-Beat Artisan—The Complete Works of Kihachi Okamoto, indicating how central rhythm is to his films.
A Visual Directing Style Combining Humor and Seriousness
Kihachi Okamoto's expression is visually distinctive as well. His films are known for an individual style that exquisitely interweaves humor and seriousness, and the same tendency appears in their visual direction.
Kill!, for example, is described through rhythmic cutting and sharp imagery, with a coolness like a classic spaghetti Western scene in which a skilled gunman appears in a dust-blown ghost town. Ingenuity also appears in visual details, such as occasionally inserting shots of crows crying shrilly or Silkie chickens moving busily around a deserted town.
This visual expression later influenced works such as Shin Godzilla, which has been described as an homage to Kihachi Okamoto, carrying on his rhythm and speedy direction and displaying his influence throughout its distinctive tracking shots and character portrayals.
- Kill! (1968): Rhythmic cutting and sharp imagery
- Japan's Longest Day (1967): Visual expression that sustains tension
- Desperado Outpost (1959): A war film incorporating Western elements
- Blue Christmas (1978): A fusion of science fiction and social criticism
Kihachi Okamoto's Major Works and Distinctive Expression: Tension Without Predictable Resolution
One of Okamoto's major works, Japan's Longest Day (1967), clearly demonstrates his directing techniques. Despite handling an enormous number of cuts, countless performers, and many simultaneous emergencies, it has been praised for sustaining explosive tension throughout without the slightest sense of predetermined harmony.
Its premise is that Japan reached the war's end with Emperor Showa's broadcast on August 15, 1945, and it depicts the 24 hours from August 14 to the broadcast at noon on August 15, literally a long day. It has been praised for narration that brings a documentary perspective, as though one were reading Kazutoshi Hando's writing.
The film strongly influenced later directors, including Hideaki Anno, who has described it as a work he has watched repeatedly throughout his life and been profoundly influenced by.
The Relationship with Music: A Commitment to Rhythm
Music also plays an important role in Okamoto's films. Many were scored by Masaru Sato, whose music is highly regarded, with events such as the Masaru Sato Music Festival: Enjoy the Music of Godzilla and Akira Kurosawa's Films with an Orchestra being held.
Okamoto himself had a strong interest in music, particularly jazz, leaving the statement, “It is far better to devote yourself to jazz than to war.” This affection appears in Jazz Daimyo (1986), whose musical strength includes contributions from Yasutaka Tsutsui and Yosuke Yamashita.
His musical sensibility connects directly to the rhythm of his images. As the term four-beat suggests, he established an individual style incorporating jazz rhythm into visual expression. A musical sense of rhythm can be said to guide his cutting and the flow of his imagery.
