HIFF Jazz was a no no for the Japanese during the war and those who wanted to listen to it had to hide in their closets.

Postwar Japan gets
to soul of jazz

The post WWII occupation of Japan is a subject rarely touched upon by filmmakers, and that's too bad, as dramatic elements are there aplenty. You have two cultures in uneasy coexistence, trying to get along after a period of the utmost enmity -- it's right under the surface -- with one group trying to redefine itself and the other trying to escape itself, and the old rules don't apply. Add to that dreadful poverty and games of simple survival. It's the Wild West, man; anything goes.

"Out of This World" Rated: None Playing 3:30 p.m. Saturday, part of "Lessons of War" focus

Junji Sakamoto's "Out of This World" finds the common note between cultures, and it's musical. The world realized here is so rich and fraught with fresh drama and humor that it's not only one of the best films ever to play over the history of the film festival, those Hollywood dealmakers who are cannibalizing Japanese horror films at the moment are missing a good bet here to create a series.

Jazz was the enemy's music during the war, and young Japanese who dug it had to listen in their closets. As one soldier puts it, he knew the war was truly over when he could hear jazz records being played.

The GIs in the occupation forces were fresh from the battlefields of Europe, brought around the world specifically because they had no overt prejudices against Asians, unlike the Pacific veterans. It was also a period of race relaxation in the American military, with the Army being forcibly desegregated. Japanese jazz musicians faced their toughest audiences in the clubs frequented by savvy young black servicemen.

IN POSTWAR Japan, playing the clubs was lucrative and cutthroat. A one-night gig could pay as much as a month's salary elsewhere. But Japanese jazz musicians discovered that playing American music wasn't simply a matter of hitting the right notes.

The dramatic arc of the movie is the dawning realization among these musicians that jazz and blues comes from the heart. You can't fake it.

"Out of This World" -- the title is a nod to the Harold Arlen tune covered by Frank Sinatra, but altered here to dramatic effect -- has a tremendous, busy verisimilitude. Japan seems to be one enormous shantytown, with purse-snatching urchins, cigarette-smoking prostitutes with permed hair, maimed and bitter veterans, weary restaurant owners, a pall of dust and desperation. It's all quite accurate and real, down to the peculiar Japanese postwar fascination with Lucky Strike cigarettes.

It's an ensemble piece. The Japanese include Jo Odagiri as a hapless drummer who won't reveal where he comes from; Masato Hagiwara as a veteran who plays his sax as if it's a weapon; Claude Maki as a nisei military go-between and interpreter (the Japanese call him "Hawaii"); Aki Maeda as a nice girl who sees singing as a preferable alternative to prostitution, but a girl's gotta eat, too.

The Americans in the film are real characters, not caricatures. They include Peter Mullan as the paternalistic proprietor of an enlisted man's club and Shea Whigham as talented sax player with a chip on his shoulder and nightmares about the war. It's inevitable that he and Hagiwara cross paths. Dueling saxophones!

The very different acting styles of the Japanese and the Americans adds to the dramatic tension and mirror the musical learning curve for the eager Japanese musicians -- they're technical and precise; the Westerners are method and gut. Even the dark undercurrent of racism here and there gives the music it's edge. But it's the way the music crosses cultures that gives "Out of This World" heart and soul.