Sunday, May 31, 2009
Kanikosen at the FCCJ
As I previously tweeted, there was a screening of Sabu's The Crab Cannery Ship (see collected posts) this past Thursday evening at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan.
I've attended a number of screenings at the FCCJ over the past few years and this was definitely a hot ticket. It was a packed house, with what seemed to be a large influx of people from the KineJapan mailing list (did everyone get in?). One nice thing about the screenings there are the Q&A sessions they arrange with directors and producers.
I wrote some very brief impressions of The Crab Cannery Ship a few weeks ago after seeing a preview screening at the film's post-production house, Imagica. Thursday night's showing was on DVD with decent English subtitles. Talking to IMJ I found out a subbed print has yet to be struck. If and when it is depends on you, the foreign film festival or buyer. I'll be periodically inquiring/pushing for a screening of a subtitled version at a Tokyo cinema, similar to what Tokyo Sonata did, but there's a good chance it won't happen.
To the point, I found The Crab Cannery Ship more enjoyable the second time around and could further appreciate Sabu's imaginative interpretation of what is obviously a sobering gensaku. But do the film's politics and thematic threads run deep enough? For some, obviously not.
After the screening ended Sabu was introduced and the questions began (his trademark "I am a genius director" elicited more titters than genuine laughs). KineJapan's Jonathan Hall provided solid interpretation, which included processing some truly pretentious questions and comments.
Things started off with the Q&A microphone wrangler, who felt it necessary to mention he was both a socialist and communist (wha?) with links to actors and film makers back in Sweden (wha? #2). He wanted to know why the film had to express its message in a "manga-like" manner.
"First and foremost, movies have to be entertaining. I don't like films that preach...I could've simply done a faithful adaptation but it wouldn't have spoken to the issues facing the youth of today's Japan," Sabu explained. Answering a later question, Sabu stated that while there may be some manga influence on his work, he doesn't read them and has little interest.
A journalist from The Economist praised the film's balance of tragedy, comedy and surrealism and inquired about the numerous creative choices that must have been made.
"First of all, I wanted to make the historical backdrop ambiguous. I didn't want to make a film that said such and such thing happened during this period at this moment, which is boring. I was thinking of how I could appeal to the largest number of spectators, especially younger ones. I wanted to create something more fashionable. With the visuals, for example, I decided to have them wear kappa (Japanese-style raincoats) because the material has kind of a punk feel and I could put numbers on them which would give a sense of them being prisoners...Because we were working on a limited budget, I decided to focus a lot of the visuals on the canning works and the grueling manual labour involved. It's hard to determine exactly what function the big cogs you see are serving (laughs) but I thought it was a good image not only in terms of labour but the nature of film making itself."
In regards to these considerable alterations Sabu noted that the first draft of the script was in fact very faithful to Kobayashi Takiji's novel but it was the producers at IMJ (Sabu's agency, initiators of the project) who pushed him to make a film true to his own style. Nonetheless, it was important to keep the crab workforce itself as the protagonist.
There was an interesting but somewhat confusing multipart question about the presence of the Imperial army and the film's politics which I think the asker could've answered himself in an essay -- academics are perfectly happy to do this without needing directors to tell them how to read a film. Someone also requested a comparison between the leader of the "toshikoshi haken-mura" in Hibiya Park and Matsuda's character -- also interesting, but head-scratchingly tangential for a movie Q&A. Perhaps they could read this in-depth piece.
While some remained unconvinced of the film's leanings, Sabu revealed it already has a committed following. "When I was interviewed by the Japanese communist party newspaper (Shimbun Akahata) they were very pleased with the film I had made (laughs from audience)".
KineJapan's Eija Niskanen wanted to know about the casting of often docile Nishijima Hidetoshi in such a brutal role (a role I think he pulls off brilliantly).
"I've known Nishijima for quite some time and thought of him when writing an original screenplay and again for Kanikosen. Matsuda is also an actor not known for raising his voice. I thought it would be interesting to cast these rather quiet performers in roles like this where the strain or concerns of playing such characters could produce an effective tension on screen."
Johnny microphone piped up again at the end stating that films "should be made in more than one dimension". Question but don't insult the invited guest, please.
Probing queries, including those of a political nature, are of course as valid as any other but when it becomes an audience member performance you wish there was a mute button built into the armrest. Having said that, if you've ever been to or read a summary of a typical movie kisha kaiken here, 90% of the questions lobbed are big fat softballs. Tokyo FILMeX's crowds create some of the better Q&A sessions out there.
For anybody reading who was there with thoughts on the film, please post comments/links of your own. 
Ultimately, adaptations of well-known novels are bound to leave a segment of the readership disappointed but it's hard to disagree with IMJ and Sabu's decision to avoid creating something overly didactic and earnest. That would've resulted in a film with as much box office life in it as a can of crab meat. You have Kobayashi's original novel, you have prolific director Yamamura Sou's more orthodox rendition, you have the manga, and now you have Sabu's vision, which I think will spark considerable discussion at home and abroad.
There are plenty of materials on the internet about the original work and its various incarnations, but here and there are a couple of older blog posts that feature a clip of Yamamura's 1953 effort, comic panels, and potentially disturbing photos of Kobayashi's corpse after being tortured to death by police.
As a postscript, some good news regarding Sabu's first foreign language production, Arrested Memories (collected posts), came up on the same day. I'll be able to write about that in the next week or two.
12 comments:
Thanks a lot Jason - looking forward to seeing this even more now. C'mon, name and shame Johnny Microphone! Smite them with the hammer of righteousness.
As a Sabu fan I'm sure you'll appreciate both the obvious and subtle in the film. He's raring to get back to original work.
The microphone wrangler's name? I have no idea...I had him down as "red-faced cueball" in the original draft but I thought that was a bit juvenile.
It wasn't the most successful Q&A session but it wasn't boring!
I`ve been there, too, and first of all have to say, that I really felt sorry for Sabu. The questions were stupid, not in a brainless way, but in a "topic missed" way. The microphone guy was really annoying and the responsible persons really should rethink their choice of personnel. It can`t be that their own people insult the guest.
Despite that, I thought Sabu was a bit too quiet. I would have thought that he is a little less shy. The film itself was ok. I don`t know the original novel, but I thought the message was oversimplified and not very interessting. The setting was nice and I liked the humor in it though. Maybe I`ll give it a second chance when I get the chance, but I am not eagerly waiting for it.
ps.: there was also a very annoying fat guy (last question asked) who felt the need to think loud all the time...negative thinking...always mumbling and wheezing in my back. He should team up with the microphone guy and invite more socialistic communists.
Hi Daniel,
Thanks for your comments. It's too bad you didn't like the film more (catch it again if you have the chance) but at least you said what you did like about it.
I didn't feel sorry for Sabu. Usually he's surrounded by an audience of his peers -- "movie hooligans" he likes to call them. It's probably good practice to be hit with some harder questions, but it was the manner in which some of them were asked! Was it wheezer who actually asked if Sabu had read the original novel? Sabu is a polite guy -- can you imagine someone like von Trier responding to that? I've often heard people say Sabu's a little "scary", until he talks.
Speaking of insulting press conferences, did you see Lars Von Trier's one at Cannes for "Antichrist"? http://www.festival-cannes.fr/en/mediaPlayer/9902.html
Yeah, the journo from the UK sounds like he's auditioning for Fox News with that question. Trier is a changed man after his serious bout of depression -- he's got the shakes from the medicine, poor guy.
Hey Jason,
okay, I didn't really feel sorry for Sabu, but as you said, the manners of some people were missing. I felt some kind of ashamed to be part of this audience. I do not remember wheerzers question exactly, but he was the guy wo liked the soundtrack, especially the guitar part of the film (he didn't say it out loud, but mumbled all the time, that it was the only thing he actually liked about the film).
Btw: I saw you there, but wasn't sure who you actually are. Saw you now for 2-3 times in Tokyo though :)
At the risk of developing a rep for being a naysayer (oops, am I too late there?) I'm going to say that I thought the Q&A revealed some serious shortcomings of the film.
Agreed the guy with the 'one dimension' comment needs to learn some manners but Ken Shima's point was spot-on. There is nothing contemporary about this material but Sabu claimed he had made it contemporary. how? And he really didn't have anything to say about the politics involved.
And I'm sorry, but any artist whose 'jokes' are so self-serving is bound to make an audience of journalists somewhat combative.
Lastly, I'm a bit surprised at your comment about FilmeX Q&As vs. FCCJ Q&As. Certainly the former are always highly deferential to the filmmaker and the latter can veer off into subjective territory (as Kanikosen's did rather embarrassingly, and this has been pointed out) but in terms of intellectual rigor of the Qs, I think the scales tip towards FCCJ.
As for the film, there were good parts to be sure, but I felt it lost its humor in the 3rd reel and was tough going after that. Overall I would say it was a nice attempt. Success? I'm not so sure.
-Rob Schwartz
Hi Rob,
I think the film is contemporary in that it captures how hopeless and resigned to a less than satisfying life so many young people in today's Japan are. Whether that's "political" is arguable.
"I'm a bit surprised at your comment about FilmeX Q&As vs. FCCJ Q&As. Certainly the former are always highly deferential to the filmmaker and the latter can veer off into subjective territory (as Kanikosen's did rather embarrassingly, and this has been pointed out but in terms of intellectual rigor of the Qs, I think the scales tip towards FCCJ."
Remove the inevitable "audience member performance" element from the FCCJ Q&As and I might agree with you. I think the open bar might be part of the problem...
Jason-
Agreed on the FCCJ member 'performance' shortcomings, but I think it's inevitable when you have people who are paid to give their opinion (oops, author included).
I'm not sold on the contemporary tie-in though. "It captures how hopeless and resigned to a less than satisfying life so many young people in today's Japan are." Well, yes, but a 'less than satisfying life' and being beaten to death are quite different things. But that's still not the point, how is Sabu's version capturing something more contemporary (in content, not style) than Yamamura's? I think that is the question Shima was trying to ask.
Thanks for such a great clearinghouse of info on Japanese film btw, it's a real treasure trove! Much appreciated.
The violence seemed more symbolic to me (they hardly refer to Nishijima's character in the dlg). The image of the workers laying in an almost comatose state in their capsule hotel-like bunks was very effective. I also think the suicide scene said something about modern Japanese society, completely separate from any antiquated notion of honour.
Academic questions demand thought out (and usually written) answers. I've been going to festivals since the 80s like you and other than very cerebral directors they're rarely able to handle these on the spot, which is no surprise.
Thanks for the comments on the blog -- not the volume it used to be but I'm plugging along.
"I'll be periodically inquiring/pushing for a screening of a subtitled version at a Tokyo cinema"
Who do you go to when you want to push for something like that? Is there a theater that is particularly accomodating? Someplace in Roppongi perhaps?
Thanks for the news. I am going to see it at some special screening thing on Sunday, but it sounds like yours was much more fun!
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