Arab News Japan

TOKYO: Thanks to the lead role being played by Johnny Depp, a film depicting the tragic events in Minamata in the early 70s, sold out quickly in Tokyo.

An almost unrecognizable Depp plays the character of Eugène Smith, one of Life magazine’s photojournalists, who documented the Minamata disaster in Japan between 1970 and 1972.

Minamata is a small fishing town in the Kumamoto region of southern Japan which suffered severe pollution over a period of 34 years last century from the Chisso Chemical plant, which dumped toxic waste into the sea and contaminated the food chain causing terrible neurological diseases that affected the central nervous system of humans and animals.

The film evokes the documentary photos of Eugène Smith including the photo “Tomoko In the Bath,” one of the most important photos in the history of photojournalism. 

The film faithfully traces the photographer’s journey in his darkroom and the loss of his eye following a beating from guards and staff at the Chisso plant. The film evokes the closeness and intimacy that the photographer maintained with his subjects and the power of images to change the course of events.

Johnny Depp, in addition to playing the lead role, is also a co-producer of the Andrew Levitas film, which also has contributions from colorist Peter Doyle, composer Ryuichi Sakamoto and leading Japanese actors such as Tadano Asanobu and Hiroyuki Sanada.

More than 2,000 people suffering from “Minamata Disease” sued the Chisso company, but have yet to be compensated. The legal battle continues.