Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Minamata’ on Hulu, a Solid Drama That’s Somehow Not Torpedoed By Johnny Depp

Now on Hulu, Minamata stars Johnny Depp, and the mere mention of his name derails the sentence. But all the baggage associated with the guy doesn’t mean he’s incapable of a respectful depiction of celebrated Life magazine photographer W. Eugene Smith, whose famous photo ‘Tomoko and Mother in the Bath’ exposed the Chisso Corporation’s gross misdeeds in the 1970s. The company spent years dumping toxic chemicals in the waters near Minamata, Japan, poisoning its residents with mercury. Depp plays yet another character with crazy hair and/or beard, but despite that, the movie’s a pretty conventional BOATS (Based On A True Story) movie paying tribute to a people who suffered mightily, and unnecessarily, at the hands of corporate greed. (Oh, by the way, if the title Minamata rings a bell despite it flying far, far under the radar for its initial release, the movie enjoyed a split-second of fame when it came in third place in the joke of a farce that was the Oscars Fan Favorite category. We live in strange times.)

MINAMATA: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: New York City, 1971: Gene (Depp) is a shitshow. He’s drunk, stoned, tired, weary, scarred, haunted, he has no friends, he never talks to his kids. He walks into the Life offices and tells his editor (Bill Nighy) he quits. You might be worn down too, after years of photographing wars, political strife, poverty and other heavinesses. Then he unquits, spurred by Aileen (Minami), who drops by his apartment for an interview, but also forces an envelope into his hand. It contains grievous photographs of people in Minamata, Japan, in the throes of debilitating convulsions, their extremities twisted by mercury poisoning. He sets it aside but wakes up in the middle of the night and looks at them. The next day he marches back into the Life office. It’s the usual testy exchange; Gene’s a testy guy. He’s going to Japan. The magazine needs this story – it’s mostly ads now.

So there’s desperation everywhere, but none more dire and upsetting than in Minamata, a small seaside town in Kumamoto Prefecture. He and Aileen stay with a kind family whose daughter was born blind and with severe physical disabilities due to mercury poisoning. Many in the village have eaten fish and drunk water polluted with toxic waste from the Chisso chemical factory; some struggle to pay for 24-hour care for their suffering loved ones; others still work at Chisso in spite of its leadership’s denials and cruel indifference, because they have little choice. Even before Gene sees all this firsthand, he needs whiskey to sleep at night and whiskey to wake up in the morning. One day he gets sloshed and gives his camera away to a friendly teenage boy with braces on his legs and fingers twisted by ataxia. That same day, the locals present to him a darkroom full of equipment they scrounged up. He can be a hero for these people, if he can pull himself together.

The guy’s a mess, but he by no means lacks empathy, and he gets to work. He pokes around, follows activists, attends protests, meets families, participates in a darkroom montage conveying his flurry of obsessive craftsmanship. There’s a hint of romantic electricity between him and Aileen; he gives the teenage boy more photography tips. He’s bullied and intimidated by Chisso goons and executives alike, and is offered a bribe to pack up and leave. We know he won’t budge – that illustrious photograph destined to be a catalyst for change has yet to be taken, you know.

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: Nobody outdoes the outsized-character-vs.-the-evil-polluting-corporation drama that Julia Roberts gave us in Erin Brockovich. Dark Waters trods similar territory as well.

Performance Worth Watching: There’s no denying that Depp is the dominant force here – after all, he’s playing a drunk, tortured artist, and the de-emphasizing of pretty much every supporting character is one of the screenplay’s failings. But Depp at least plays a drunk, tortured artist with nuance and complexity, forgoing his usual over-the-top kinesics for a thoughtful, less-showy characterization – by Depp’s standards, anyway, and thank the movie gods he doesn’t force us to invoke the horrors that are Mortdecai and The Lone Ranger.

Memorable Dialogue: Gene’s advice to a budding photographer: “If you take it, take it seriously.”

Sex and Skin: None.

Our Take: Minamata is a perfectly accessible, acceptable “issue” movie that might’ve enjoyed a higher profile if Depp’s public image wasn’t so scandalously crud-caked. In a vacuum, he’s a capable anchor for a David-vs.-Goliath movie that satisfactorily balances the big personality of its central character with real-life humanitarian conflict. Gene’s primary arc involves him setting aside his myriad personal troubles and rediscovering his selfless self, and Depp shows us a man who’s sacrificing his psychological well-being for a greater good – a greater good that comes to the foreground, replacing the protagonist’s internal conflict as the film progresses.

Credit director Andrew Levitas for keeping Depp on a relatively short leash, maintaining an even keel tonally and overseeing a handsomely photographed film. There’s no attempt to break the mold on conventional dramas of this ilk, whose “prestige” has faded as of late, and in that sense, it’s a throwback of sorts, with big names and big topical fodder stirring up our emotions and awareness. It’s not the most exciting or engrossing watch, but Minamata fulfills its modest goals, something you can’t say about too many movies.

Our Call: STREAM IT. Minamata is a perfectly watchable BOATS movie, and if that sounds like faint praise, so be it.

John Serba is a freelance writer and film critic based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Read more of his work at johnserbaatlarge.com.

Stream Minamata