Thursday, April 23, 2009
Japan-Related Films In Cannes: Nouvelle Tsunami Goes Tubular!
The film world has been anxiously waiting for the Cannes film festival to announce their full lineup today, and here it is. While there are no Japanese directors with work vying for the Palme d'Or, there are two Japan-related films in competition.
First is Gaspar Noé's hotly anticipated, Tokyo-set drug-induced downward spiral Enter the Void, which is part of what I've coined the Nouvelle Tsunami (see collected posts here). People I know who've seen the promo reel were blown out of the water. Trivia: Noé had production offices at Toho Studios while shooting here. See some images courtesy of Wildgrounds here.
Next is Spanish filmmaker Isabel Coixet, whose awkwardly-titled Map of the Sounds of Tokyo is also (obviously) set here. It stars Babel's Kikuchi Rinko as a contract killer who moonlights at Tokyo's famed Tsukiji fish market. A rich businessman hires her to knock off a wine-importing Spaniard whom he blames for his daughter's suicide.
Also fantastic to see Kore-eda Hirokazu's Air Doll (Kûki Ningyô,『空気人形』) make it into the Un Certain Regard category (the section in which Tokyo Sonata won the Jury Prize last year for those keeping track). I wrote a brief article about the film back in February before the export title of Air Doll was set -- Blow Up Doll would've been better, no? See some delightful making-of footage here. Fortissimo Films is selling the film at the marché.
Along with the rest of the great filmmakers, Asian and otherwise, with work set to screen this looks to be a banner edition.
Update: Twitch tells us that the official site for Enter the Void is now open.
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