Monday, October 26, 2009

Tetsuaki Matsue's "Live Tape" wins top prize in the Japanese Eyes programme at Tokyo IFF

by Chris MaGee

The 22nd Annual Tokyo International Film Festival wrapped up on Sunday with awards being handed out in a ceremony in the Japanese capitol. The top prize for the fest went to the Bulgarian drama "Eastern Plays" in which director Kamen Kalev explored issues of racism in the former Eastern Bloc. Meanwhile the top prize in the Japanese Eyes programme went to Tetsuaki Matsue's concert film "Live Tape".

Shot in one single 74-minute take on this past New Year's Day Matsue literally follows steet musician Kenta Maeno as he makes his way from Kichijoji Hachiman Shrine in Kichijoji, a neighbourhood in Musashino, Tokyo, to Inokashira Park. All the way along Maeno strums his guitar and performs, with only the occasional break to speak with Matsue, and eventually ends his pilgrimage with a rousing concert with his band.

Matsue, whose previous credits include an acting role in Mitsuru Meike's genre defying pink film "The Glamorous Life of Sachiko Hanai" and directing the zainichi, Japanese of Korean ancestry, documentaries "Annyong Yumika" and "Annyong Kimchi", calls "Live Tape" as much as a love letter to Kichijoji, the area where he grew up, as it is a tribute to Maeno's music.

Check out the full trailer for "Live Tape" below" and then check out more about the film at its official site here.

2 comments:

Edmund Yeo said...

Yup, I met them at the Tokyo Film Fest closing reception. Didn't see the film, but saw an actress being with the entourage, I wonder why there was an actress with them when it's a documentary. Hmm.

Marc said...

The actress Tsugumi Nagasawa appears in the opening scene, praying at the shrine.

She's also in TOKYO GORE POLICE (as Crocodile Girl), GROTESQUE, and others. She must be friends with the director, I imagine.