Alexander Jacoby has written a very informative and interesting article at The Japan Times about how film festivals are trying to explode the preconceptions of what Japanese cinema is. Alex Zahlten, program director for Nippon Connection, Jasper Sharp of Midnight Eye and programmer of the Japanese series at London’s Raindance Festival, and Luc LaFleur, director of the Dejima Japanese Film Festival all discuss how Japanese cinema is so much more than the genteel films of Ozu, J-Horror, yakuza eiga, and genre filmmakers like Miike, Tsukamoto, and Ishii.
Frankly, I couldn’t agree more. While there’s absolutely nothing wrong with genre filmmaking or some of the deliberately zany films that get DVD releases here in North America (there’s so many of those films I love) I do think that the constant stream of bloodletting, pink film exploitation, and cartoonish comedy skews the perceptions of the general public, not to mention fans like you and me, as to the true face of contemporary Japanese cinema.
Just as an example, doesn’t it seem strange that the films of award winning directors Naomi Kawase (pictured above), Ryosuke Hashiguchi, Sabu, Makato Shinozaki, Ryuichi Hiroki, and the list goes on and on, can only be read about as opposed to seen and in some cases totally unavailable in North America?
Whether you agree or not it’s well worth the time to read through: http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/ff20080403r1.html
Frankly, I couldn’t agree more. While there’s absolutely nothing wrong with genre filmmaking or some of the deliberately zany films that get DVD releases here in North America (there’s so many of those films I love) I do think that the constant stream of bloodletting, pink film exploitation, and cartoonish comedy skews the perceptions of the general public, not to mention fans like you and me, as to the true face of contemporary Japanese cinema.
Just as an example, doesn’t it seem strange that the films of award winning directors Naomi Kawase (pictured above), Ryosuke Hashiguchi, Sabu, Makato Shinozaki, Ryuichi Hiroki, and the list goes on and on, can only be read about as opposed to seen and in some cases totally unavailable in North America?
Whether you agree or not it’s well worth the time to read through: http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/ff20080403r1.html
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1 comment:
certain festivals will try intentionally to realign perceptions of the range of material people have become familiar with over the past decade, certainly. a certain amount of more atypical stuff does make it out stateside - including hashiguchi's "hush!" and several hiroki, and sabu too this year - but not only do genre pictures represent the largest body of whats taken as commercial in the last few decades, its important to remember the subversion and subtlety of how ideas hide away within such films, that the more obviously artistic isn't necessarily more likely to be creative or as ready for a major American audience waiting with open arms, and that much of whats been selected for DVD has been through the same festival channels as the greyer areas of films that it would admitedly be nice seeing more people becoming keen on... the predominant "ready" audience is perhaps only currently slightly ready to demand more shades of choice in what they watch, as the majority live within America - still the best served country for easy access to subbed viewing opportunities, still more recently based on DVD than in festivals, it seems - and theyve little perception if being short-changed bwcaused the relative quantity and range there is a lit to cope with at times, and yet japan itself needs to be in charge of offering subbed experiences that allow more individualistic, free-flowing choices to be available and supportable in foreign climates
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