Déracine (film)

Déracine (Japanese: でらしね)^[1][2] is a 2004 Japanese drama film directed by Shun Nakahara and written by Masahiro Kobayashi.^[1][2] The film's title translates to "rootless" in French. It stars Eiji Okuda as a homeless painter named Jouji and Asuka Kurosawa as Kyoko, a young art dealer who becomes his muse.^[1][2] The film also stars Toru Masuoka, Noboru Mitani and Kenichiro Tanabe.^[1][2] Yoshihide Otomo composed its soundtrack.^[1][2] Déracine was theatrically released by Media Box on November 27, 2004, in Japan.^[1][2]

Jouji Mizuki is a painter. Abandoned by society as well as his wife and children, he has become an alcoholic street dweller. Every day, he wanders around with a piece of cardboard and comes back having painted several pictures. Using crude art supplies, he paints mundane subjects such as cigarette butts, telephone poles, liquor bottles, roadside trash and buildings. Yet under his hand, they explode vibrantly into life. His fellow homeless people, Aka-chan and Kii-chan, sell Jouji's paintings for 500 yen each, and the three of them share the earnings. Aka-chan and Kii-chan are friendly with Jouji, though he refuses to divulge his past to them.

One day, a woman dressed in a suit and high heels, identifying herself as Kyoko Tachibana, stumbles into them. She is drawn to Jouji and his work, and begins buying one of his cardboard paintings a day. After a few weeks of this, Kyoko says to Jouji: "I like your paintings. I'll give you some money, and I want you to paint a masterpiece for me." Kyoko reveals that she is a buyer working at Okamoto Gallery. She has ambitions to break away from the owner, Kotaro Okamoto, and open her own gallery. To achieve this, she says she needs Jouji's talent, as she claims to be his "discoverer". She also wants to help Jouji break into the art world. However, Jouji flatly rejects her offer, turned off by what he perceives to be her arrogant demeanor. Aka-chan and Kii-chan express their disappointment, but Jouji still stubbornly refuses. After Kyoko leaves, Jouji continues drowning himself in alcohol. His body slowly begins to deteriorate, and he becomes plagued by a serious illness.

As he drinks himself into oblivion, Jouji remembers his past. He had been praised for his genius talent at art school, particularly for his ability to paint women. But after the tragic suicide of the woman who served as his model, Jouji was unable to paint. He got a job as a salaryman, but even after switching careers, he could not forget about painting. Yet he also could not cope with his depression, and proceeded to drown himself in alcohol and sex. One day, Jouji happened to walk into an art gallery and was deeply struck by Kyosai Kawanabe's "Winter Crow on a Withered Branch."^[3] Shortly afterwards, he lost his job due to his alcoholism. Later, after staggering into a construction site, Jouji began painting on a piece of wood with a brush that he found there. In that moment, he rediscovered his desire to paint, and continued to do so ever since, even after becoming homeless.

That night, as he reminisces, Jouji suffers a seizure and is rushed to the hospital. Kyoko, called by Aka-chan, rushes over. Jouji recovers from the seizure. After paying his hospital bills, Kyoko urges Jouji to paint the masterpiece. Feeling the weight of his own mortality, Jouji agrees to paint her commission.

Kyoko prepares a secluded mountain lodge for Jouji so he will have space and time to complete the work. They live together in the lodge, where they grow closer. However, Jouji's masterpiece does not come to him easily. When he tries painting the lodge's surroundings, he is overcome by his own smallness in the face of nature. After days of escaping into alcohol, Jouji finally rediscovers inspiration. He had once painted women, a theme he had sealed away for decades. He decides to try painting a woman once again. Jouji bangs on the door of Kyoko's room, and when she opens it, he shouts, "I want to paint you naked." Kyoko cautiously agrees to model for Jouji due to his intense enthusiasm. She hopes this might bring out Jouji's hidden talent. With Kyoko as his muse, Jouji dedicates himself to painting. The two grow even closer through this process. When Jouji has finished, both agree that it is his masterpiece.

Déracine was theatrically released by Media Box on November 27, 2004, in Japan.^[1][2] The film was later released to DVD on August 26, 2005.^[4]

• Déracine at IMDb