There's an established pattern of media coverage for major films in Japan. It generally includes a kisha kaiken (press conference) announcing the production itself, which often occurs once shooting is underway or even after it has wrapped (which throws foreign news editors for a loop). After post-production is complete, there are kansei hirô kaiken (production wrap press conferences), shishakai and masukomi shishakai (preview screenings and press-only preview screenings). Usually there's news of which big artist is doing the shudaika (theme song) for the film. Finally there's the fûkiri/kansei hirô jôeikai (premiere), where the director and stars get up on stage to offer comments and answer a few light questions about the film. This is the butai aisatsu (stage greeting). For films that enjoy high profile premieres outside of Japan, such as Sakuran, The Mourning Forest, Dai Nipponjin and Glory to the Filmmaker!, there's of course extra coverage at foreign press conferences, red carpet events and Narita airport.This is how things are done and it rarely goes awry. Once in a while there's an Erika 'betsu ni' Sawajiri incident, which is blown out of proportion precisely because the usual 'workflow' is so smooth and painless.
Which brings me to an interesting story that appeared in Nikkan Sports regarding the Saturday opening day preem of Always: Sunset on Third Street 2 (Always zoku san-chôme no yûhi, 『ＡＬＷＡＹＳ 続・三丁目の夕日』). The headline reads "Toho Takes Desperate Measures for Stage Greeting, Requests Standing Ovation." The article details what followed the screening, stating that an announcer from one of the big networks who was emceeing the event said「出演者の方がそろったら、スタンディングオベーションで迎えてください。ご協力よろしくお願いします」"Once the cast are all present on stage, please give them a standing ovation. Your cooperation is appreciated."
The Nikkan piece posits that Toho, who distribute the Always films and Sawajiri-starrer Closed Note (the above mentioned controversy), want to avoid anything less than 100% positive butai aisatsu events. A Toho ad rep openly stated that they secretly planned the requested SO to make the cast members happy and create a harmonious mood.
Now, in any entertainment industry there are applause signs shown to audiences and of course the standard "Let's have a big round of applause for..." and the like, but to direct audiences to cooperate in a standing ovation is a bit much, no? I assume Japanese people view SO's as everyone else does -- it's more than just a notch up from zealous clapping. Especially when the cast members and director were so bowled over by it.
"For everyone to stand and applause like that...I'm moved," said Koyuki. "I almost cried," said Miura Tomokazu. "I wasn't expecting a standing ovation at all. I'm happy and stunned," said director Yamazaki Takashi. These are quotes from other articles (1, 2, 3) that covered the premiere/SO news as if it happened naturally. Whether this was omission to maintain good relations I don't know but what did the cast members think the next day when they read the news?
Just to show I'm not a complete party pooper, there's a comprehensive campaign at 7-11 with some fairly cool showa-style tie-in products and prizes.
Now, can some of my small band of regular supporters out there help direct some "greatest film blog ever" comments my way -- I need a boost. Your cooperation is appreciated.
Update: According to reports, Always earned over Y500m ($4.37m) on opening weekend, which is a decent haul. But it was beat to the pole position by Biohazard 3, though. Huh?
Update 2: Don over at Ryuganji obviously thought it was as silly and interesting as I did and he's got his own coverage here (with more on the Sawajiri back story).
5 comments:
Spooky! Great minds think alike.
Whoa, I just checked your blog. You don't think Nikkan was calling them out? (none of the other articles mentioned the directive). But at the end they go soft on it and say if the audience likes participating that way, then it's all good.
Both interesting reads. I knew that there was a promotion infrastructure in place but I had no idea it could be so rigid. I'm surprised the studios haven't gone to hand-picking premiere audiences so as to completely control the event perception (or reception as it were). Are all stars expected to be polite and sedated or are some of the more "interesting" talent given a pass? I know Japan likes their female idols to be proper little ladies but do they also like they conversely like their bad boys?
There's a line in the story that says something like: "[Standing ovations] normally occur spontaneously, but people on stage are happy to be made to feel welcome." It almost sounds like Nikkan Sports are trying to justify the yarase on behalf of Toho.
Mmm, but the headline is pretty blunt. Better than just writing about it as if the ovation was genuine, anyway.
I've been to enough press events to say that when things go a little awry, whether by accident or less-than-enthuasiastic participants, it can be awkward. Sawajiri was rude to her director, which is not good, but it shook things up.
With all the talk of 「和気あいあい」in the article it's no wonder the clichés of nihonjinron are still going strong.
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