Friday, October 30, 2009
October Article Roundup
As done previously, here is a collection of some of my recent articles of note. Not everyone is on Twitter where I regularly post such links. I find it's also easy to miss things as they fly by on there.
"Japan at AFM"
Getting more difficult to stick to titles that are market premieres as a lot of stuff is already at TIFFCOM and Pusan's AFM. Other companies hold back and announce at the Santa Monica event. No envy for journos who have to rove one average hotel for days on end or the sales agents practically under house arrest there.
"Hachiko shows its pedigree"
A short case study on the US remake of Shochiku's Hachiko Monogatari, which did quite well here (considering the current box office climate) and has yet to be released in the US.
"Kamen Kalev's Eastern Plays takes top prize in Tokyo"
Short summary of the awards handed out at this year's Tokyo International Film Festival. As I was busy with Tokyo Project Gathering I only ended up seeing a few films. Glad I saw The Cove!
"Japan, caution"
In-depth feature on the woes facing small-medium distributors in Japan, and the foreign sellers realizing the territory is not what it used to be. Also worth checking out my editor Liz Shackleton's accompanying comment piece "Japanese Lessons".
"Tokyo International Film Festival opens with exclusive visit to world of Cameron's 'Avatar'"
My first piece for the new CNNGo site. Check out the Tokyo page and other cities across Asia.
Friday, October 23, 2009
Tokyo Project Gathering - "Family Matters"
It's been a very interesting week. Over the years I've covered the Tokyo International Film Festival and TIFFCOM market as a journalist but this week I was a participant in the Tokyo Project Gathering project market with writer-director Max Mannix's new Japan-set screenplay, tentatively titled Family Matters (Kazoku no Jijô, 『家族の事情』). It was a very valuable opportunity to meet production companies, producers, film commissions, sales agents, casting agents and even musicians. We didn't win the TPG award -- that went to talented Asyl: Park and Love Hotel director Kumasaka Izuru for his new project Secrets on the Table -- but we did have the most meetings of the event!
Special thanks to Hasegawa-san, Sakurai-san, Yoko-san and everyone else who made sure everything ran so smoothly. There's a lot more work to do to make Family Matters become a reality but we believe it has great potential and that the screenplay is even better than Max's work on Tokyo Sonata was.
This is the poster mock-up that appeared in the TPG catalogue, put together on a moment's notice by ultra-talented NYC-based photographer Matt Hoyle. Credits not contractual.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Kitano, Kurosawa and Kore-eda Hit TOKYO FILMeX
The "What's New" page on the official website of TOKYO FILMeX (November 17-25) has just been updated to announce details of a special symposium that will take place at this year's 10th anniversary of the festival.
Entitled "For the Bright Future of Cinema" after the festival's motto, luminaries of the Japanese film world will speak at Meiji University's Surugadai campus (between Ochanomizu and Jinbôchô stations) on November 21st from 1:00~6:00pm.
The day starts with Kitano Takeshi giving a one-hour "Master Class," moderated by respected film critic Yamane Sadao. This will be followed by "Session 1," with directors Kurosawa Kiyoshi and Kore-eda Hirokazu speaking. "Session 2" will then see them joined by popular actors Nishijima Hidetoshi and Terajima Susumu.
Advance tickets are ¥3,300('S' seats) and ¥2,800('A' seats). Tickets at the door are ¥3,500('S' seats) and ¥3,000('A' seats). Tickets go on sale through Pia from November 3-19.
Here's the kicker. Regular folks will be able to submit questions for Kitano through the TOKYO FILMeX website in the very near future. Not sure if English-language questions will be accepted (check for an update here soon) but to be safe, if you have a burning question for the man you might want to get it translated into Japanese.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
The Naked Ambition of Kore-eda's Air Doll
As time goes by I read less and less film reviews. I do take a look at what our well-informed and balanced writers at Screen are saying if it's a movie I'm interested in. I'll also make an effort to check out opinions on films that are dividing audiences (Gaspar Noe's brilliant Enter the Void, for example). Some of the people whose opinions on cinema I respect are not blogging. They talk and I listen.
Last night I finally saw Kore-eda Hirokazu's Air Doll (Kûki Ningyô, 『空気人形』) at my local cinema. You review hounds have been reading all about it since Cannes. I didn't get a chance to see it at the Toronto fest but it opened domestically on the weekend I got back. In this era of struggling indies I was glad to see it playing to a pretty full house two weeks into its release.
So, with images from the film fresh in my mind I dialed up around ten opinions put out there by trades/newspapers/blogs I like. Most were in agreement on Bae Doo-na's touching and otherworldly performance, the gorgeous images conjured up by cinematographer Mark Lee Ping-bin (who's currently shooting Tran Ahn Hung's adaptation of Norwegian Wood), the dreamy soundtrack by World's End Girlfriend and of course Kore-eda's skillful direction. Feelings about the film's pretensions and length seem to vary from niggling to negative.
But what prompted me to write a blog entry was that other than Derek Elley's take in Variety nobody mentioned the nudity. I didn't know going in that I'd be able to enjoy that much of Bae's body that frequently throughout the film's 126m running time. Kore-eda obviously loved shooting it -- who can blame him? Having spent an hour or two of green room time with Bae and the other Linda Linda Lindas years ago I don't recall feeling any particular frisson upon meeting her -- I thought she was quite boyish. But on screen? Prepare to be walloped.
Maybe pro-am critics took it for granted that an actress playing a dutch wife who springs to life would have to at least show some skin. After all, Kore-eda's impetus for making the film was the eroticism of that deflate/inflate scene in the manga (which I admit I haven't read). Kore-eda told Korean director Bong Joon-ho his idea and Bong recommended two-time collaborator Bae. The stilted nihongo aspect of doll "Nozomi"'s awakening made the role an even better fit. Had Japanese actresses even been in contention for the lead role?
You do know that another unsaid reason is that aside from a couple of exceptions (Terashima Shinobu being one), well-known Japanese actresses will not take off their clothes for movies in this day and age. They just will not do it. I've heard complaints from a couple of film producers (no, not only male). It sounds laughable but there are so many projects that producers forgo simply because nobody with established name value will get their kit off. Never mind erotic thrillers and the like, think of how many literary adaptations, Japanese and foreign, have to be watered down/covered up or shelved for good because of this. I mean, how can you make a movie about the Yoshiwara pleasure district (coughSakurancough) and barely show what men went there to buy?
[SPOILER] Aside from the flesh on display in Air Doll I was also surprised by Arata's ero-guroesque demise. I generally dig detours into darker domains like that but I'm not sure if it was the right choice for this film. I don't think his kind character deserved what he got. The redemption of the hikikomoriette who's eating and drinking herself to death and the geek who masturbates to upskirt videos of his own desktop doll (you have to see it) had me groaning slightly, but every look of Bae's expressive eyes erased any complaints I had.[/SPOILER]
I also enjoyed the Tsukishima and surrounding area location work. Years ago I searched for an apartment in that neighbourhood. If I had looked a little harder, I might've seen "Nozomi" in her window with the sun shining through her latex hand.
Tuesday, October 06, 2009
Japanese Films in Pusan 2009 / Lost Paradise in Tokyo
The full program of films at this year's Pusan International Film Festival (October 8-16) has been available for a while now, but the below press release from UniJapan issued today is a convenient list of all the J-cinema showing there (not including market screenings).
I really enjoyed being dispatched to Pusan last year and the year before (see my collected Pusan posts here) but cuts in the publishing world mean I'll be here in Tokyo instead of stalking the Asian Film Market, gawking at parties and walking Haeundae beach.
Echoing my recent entry about Andô Momoko's Kakera - A Piece of Our Life, another film entitled Lost Paradise in Tokyo (and here) also began life at Skip City International D-Cinema Festival as a work I and my fellow selection committee members pushed for except in this case it actually screened, going on to win the Skip City Prize (see my Screen articles here and there). It has secured a slot in Pusan's New Currents section. Congrats to director Shiraishi Kazuya.
Lost Paradise in Tokyo is just as startling a feature debut as some of the other films I've championed in the past -- This World of Ours and Now, I... among them. Eager to read reviews coming out of PIFF.
19 Japanese films invited to Pusan International Film Festival 2009
Dear Friends of Japanese films,
UNIJAPAN will attend the Asian Film Market in Pusan and look forward to meeting you.
Japanese Films in 14th Pusan International Film Festival
-Gala Presentation
Symbol by MATSUMOTO Hitoshi
-New Currents
Lost Paradise in Tokyo by SHIRAISHI Kazuya
-A Window on Asian Cinema
A White Night by KOBAYASHI Masahiro
Air Doll by KORE-EDA Hirokazu
Dear Doctor by NISHIKAWA Miwa
Itsuji Itao's King of the Escape by ITAO Itsuji
Kanikosen by SABU
Killer Bride's Perfect Crime by KISHITANI Goro
Parade by YUKISADA Isao
Tetsuo: The Bullet Man by TSUKAMOTO Shinya
Toad’s Oil by YAKUSYO Koji
Where are you? by KOBAYASHI Masahiro
-Open Cinema
A Good Husband by YUKISADA Isao
Yatterman by MIIKE Takashi
-Wide Angle
Beautiful Islands by KANA Tomoko
Path of Anna by NAOI Riyo
-Ani Asia! A Leap of Asia Feature Animation
First Squad - The Moment Of Truth by ASHINO Yoshiharu and others
Mai Mai Miracle by KATABUCHI Sunao
-Midnight Passion
Crows II by MIIKE Takashi
Japan Booth (#705)
In the Seacloud Hotel Haeundae, the main venue of the AFM, on the 7th floor,
UNIJAPAN will have a sales & promotion booth for Japanese films from 11th to 14th October.
Thursday, October 01, 2009
Kitano's New Yakuza Film Before Cameras
As we've all heard, Kitano Takeshi is back behind the camera for his 15th feature film, which will see him return to the yakuza genre that made him famous (as a director). I was lucky enough to hang out on set for about an hour last weekend.
I can't expand much on my tweets (1,2,3) from last Saturday due to the very thick veil of secrecy that Kitano films are always produced under but I thought I'd write a few notes here as it seems a good number of you haven't bought into life at 140 characters.
It was a sweltering summer fall day. Near the end of a residential cul-de-sac in central Tokyo was the crew of 25-30 people and the man himself, dressed in white t-shirt, track pants and flip flops (he wasn't acting in the particular scene being shot). As lookie-loos were hurried along the crew carefully set up and rehearsed. I'd love to describe what went down but that would probably be the end of good graces from Office Kitano. I can say that the scene being shot was crime cinema through and through. I can also say it's being filmed in 35mm and, as previously reported, will be distributed by Warner Brothers. We're back to a more commercial, higher profile effort along the lines of Zatoichi.
It should be a barnstormer.
Inlet that Inspired Ponyo Location Saved from Development
Nature lovers and fans of Miyazaki Hayao's Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea (or just Ponyo as it's known Stateside) will be glad to know that the Tomonoura (鞆の浦) seaside location that inspired the story's main setting has been saved from a proposed landfill and bridge development plan. A class action lawsuit filed by local residents against Hiroshima Prefecture resulted in a favorable ruling to stop the project, which would've seen much of the famed sightseeing area erased from the landscape.
A press conference was held at Studio Ghibli today with Miyazaki himself happily reporting the good news. Miyazaki first visited the inlet in 2004 on one of the company's regular vacation outings and was charmed by the Edo-like atmosphere of the local town. In 2005 he enjoyed an extended stay there, breathing life into the character of Ponyo.
See this article on All About (Japanese only) for an image of the town and more about how it inspired the master.
