Minamata

 2.5/4

Starring: Johnny Depp, Minami, Ryo Kase, Aoki Yuzu, Billy Nighy, Jun Kunimura

Rated R for Language Throughout

I occasionally pause to look at W. Eugene Smith's photo, "Tomoko and Mother in the Bath."  Few photos are so striking, so disturbing, and so powerful.  It has been called one of the most important works in photojournalism.  No wonder.  It puts a human face on the victims of Minamata disease, which came from environmental mercury pollution by the local Chisso Corporation.  It shows the horrific suffering endured by Tomoko and other victims of Chisso's negligence.  At the same time, it shows the enduring power of a mother's love.  As painful as it is to look at Tomato, her mother looks at her with such tenderness that it brings a tear to the eye.

With "Minamata," director Andrew Levitas explores Smith's work in the community of Minamata and how he brought the results of environmental pollution to the world stage.  That could have been a riveting film.  But what disappointed me is that the photographer takes the attention away from the victims.  Any good journalist knows that they should report the news, not be the news.  They're observers and recorders, and that's where they should stay.  Had Smith been better developed, I might not have minded so much, but Levitas uses cliches to develop him and formulas to chart his all-too-obvious character arc.

Smith (Depp) is a washed up photographer.  By his own admission, he disappoints everyone, and has taken to booze to quiet the screams from his past.  One night he is tasked to do a quote for an ad (that he doesn't remember agreeing to do).  But Aileen (Minami) has ulterior motives for her visit.  She comes from Minamata, Japan and shows him evidence of poisoning by the local factory.  Aileen believes that if a world renowned photographer can bring evidence to the world about what is happening to her people, they can stop it.  Smith reluctantly agrees.

It would be unfair to call Johnny Depp's performance "bad," because it isn't.  But the problem is two-fold: Smith is thinly written and Depp's star power overshadows his ability to play him.  Even with the makeup and beard, I still saw Johnny Depp.  More importantly, Smith isn't nearly as interesting as the people in Minamata.  He's just a burned-out drunk who, through his work, finds his conscience and redemption.  By putting Smith at the screenplay's nexus, everyone else is shortchanged.  We don't know these people or their stories.  Chisso's wrongdoing is obvious but poorly explained.  And I barely learned a thing about photojournalism or Smith's approach to his work.  For a movie that seeks to highlight a social issue, this is a huge mistake.

Depp is surrounded by a gifted supporting cast, including Japanese stars Tadanobu Asano and the irreplaceable Hiroyuki Sanada.  His co-star Minami has some trouble with her English, but she's a good actress.  And Jun Kunimura is appropriately oily as the CEO of Chisso.  Unfortunately they aren't given the chance to escape the cliches they have been cast as.  They exist not as people with their own stories to tell, but as props to propel the story along.  The ever reliable Bill Nighy appears as Smith's exasperated boss, whose sole purpose is to tell us the stakes for Life Magazine and to yell at Smith to get off his ass when the going gets tough.

That being said, this movie does contain scenes of raw power.  Levitas doesn't spare the audience from the results of Chisso's actions.  He shows us the mutilated bodies and devastating neurological damage that many have suffered because of it.  It's genuinely disturbing, just as it should be.  Levitas is careful not to exploit their pain.  But the fact remains that they are details surrounding Smith, not the other way around.  As a result, the film's climax (where Smith composes his famous photo), doesn't generate nearly the power  it deserves.  It should have been an emotional powerhouse, but these people only show up at the beginning and the end.  I should have been moved nearly to tears, but I wasn't.

"Minamata" had its world premiere in 2020 and was slated for release early the next year.  Levitas accused MGM of burying the film due to Depp's off screen problems (MGM denied this).  Watching the film now, it's not hard to understand why they gave it such shoddy treatment.  What should have been an Oscar contender ends up being a forgettable disappointment.