LES ILLUMINATIONS (Short Version)

An 8mm film by Isao Yamada.

A director faces creative block while working on his latest film – a reimagination of his adolescence growing up in a mountain village in rural Japan.

Crystal unfolds as a series of evocative, non-linear vignettes where fleeting images and sensations merge into a meditation on memory and time. A solitary figure moves through shifting urban and natural landscapes—fragments of childhood recollections, dreamlike encounters, and dissolving reflections in water or glass. Objects transform unexpectedly - a lantern flickers into a memory, a stranger’s face blurs into light - blurring boundaries between past and present.

A young geologist is traveling by train to visit his sister in the countryside after having received a mysterious letter from her.

Akira is haunted by a "bouncing ball" song that he remembers his mother singing when he was a small child, and now on the verge of a sexually active adulthood, he wants to find the origins of the song. The young man ostensibly wanders into a time-warp in which aspects from his childhood and adulthood mix together. In this never-never land he comes across a beautiful woman/witch who is lost inside the labyrinth of her mansion, just as the young man is lost in the labyrinth of time — and on some levels, perhaps the labyrinth of his subconscious.

In the midst of a match, Hayato, a successful boxer, has had enough of the sport. He lets himself get knocked out, and quits boxing, leaving his wife and living alone with his mangy dog. One day a young mediocre boxer knocks at the door and wants to be Hayato's apprentice.

Experimental work by Isao Yamada (Color, 8mm).

Why do people wave their hands when they say goodbye? We embarked on a dream journey from Borges' The Circular Ruins. Filmed in 16mm by the Japanese Isao Yamada, filmmaker, graphic artist and manga author.

Shot on 8mm by Isao Yamada.