Friday, July 03, 2009
Sion Sono's Be Sure To Share
As I tweeted a couple of days ago, I attended a press screening of Be Sure To Share (Chanto Tsutaeru, 『ちゃんと伝える』), the latest film from writer-director Sono Sion (園子温監督), made before we've even "had a chance to recover" after Love Exposure, as the press notes put it. These are just a few thoughts, a review of sorts, which includes spoilers, ahead of the film's world premiere at the New York Asian Film Festival on July 5th (see my June 11 entry).
You can read a good plot summary at the NYAFF link above. In short, 27-year-old Shirô (Akira) finds out his father (Okuda Eiji) has terminal cancer after he collapses at home and is rushed to the ER. Shirô and his mother (Takahashi Keiko) pay daily visits to the hospital. For Shirô it's the most time he's spent with his father since being coached by him in high school. During one of his visits, Shirô finds out he himself has cancer and that it's much worse than his father's -- he's unlikely to outlive him. Shirô struggles with when and if to tell his loving girlfriend (Itô Ayumi) and his family about his condition. As the days count down in both their lives they plan their first, and last, fishing trip together. The impetus for the film was the passing of Sono's own father, whom the film is dedicated to, in January 2008 (he was no fan of his son's movies, Sono has said).
Akira from megahit band EXILE does a fine job in his debut role. He has an easy charm about him. Boys and girls will find him equally likable, I'd guess. There are a few scenes where the drama calls for more than he might be capable of yet, but if he's serious about acting he has the potential to become great.
"With the way he looks in EXILE, the only roles I could think of for Akira were in movies about juvenile delinquents in Shibuya or gangs, but he really shed his sex appeal for this role ...I think his performance will touch people," explained Sono in a recent interview.
The teenaged version of Shirô in the flashbacks looks nothing like him, which I found a little distracting, especially since the time slips are handled so beautifully courtesy of Sono's regular editor Itô Jun'ichi. Not a major gripe -- I honestly don't think "professional" critics will find much, if anything, to be picky about with this film.
Itô Ayumi is a talented actress and beautiful woman who I've been keeping an eye on over the years. She's already worked with many of Japan's best directors (Iwai, Aoyama, Shindô, Sabu etc.) As I also tweeted, I think she has the chance to cross over like Kikuchi Rinko did. No accident she joined Anoré, the same small agency Kikuchi started at ran by Asano Tadanobu's father. She infuses her character of "the girlfriend" Yôko with humanity in a layered performance far removed from the affectations of terebi dorama. Her character is the kind of woman you want to marry (and I did). No wonder Shirô tells her the truth about his condition in the end, in a scene shot at the director's own childhood home.
Okuda plays the role of the bed-ridden father with the perfect amount of vulnerability and gruffness. The scene where he asks his wife to lay in his tiny hospital bed next to him because he misses it had me closer to tears than the "big" scenes.
In the high school flashbacks he's something like Robert Duvall in The Great Santini (comparison courtesy of NYAFF), berating and brutalizing Shirô for daring to call him "dad" during school hours. Off the pitch he's a calm man who barely raises an eyebrow when his son ends up at the local kôban after fighting. Okuda also plays a dead body well (it is one skill in an actor's repertoire after all).
Veteran actress Takahashi Keiko as the wife and mother is also affecting in a very quiet way. There are no histrionics, only superb and often wordless acting -- lonely gazes at the empty space next to her in bed and a warm smile at the young bus driver who drives her to the hospital every morning.
Other roles played by Takaoka Sôsuke (Crows series), Fukikoshi Mitsuru, Denden and Satô Jirô are handled well.
Fans of Mitsushima Hikari (Love Exposure) will be glad to see her as a giggling schoolgirl but might hope for more than her two-minute scene. On a Mitsushima/Okuda tangent I can't resist, during my Skip City pre-selection duty I watched her in the directorial debut of Okuda Eiji's daughter Andô Momoko. Entitled Kakera (『かけら』), Mitsushima plays the object of desire of an older woman. Watch for it!
The technical credits are solid. Shot and set in the city of Toyohashi, the cinematography by Ueno Shôgo (All Around Us) is espcially effective during the nighttime scenes along the deserted old shôtengai and the lake where the fateful fishing trip takes place. On a weather-beaten bench from a bygone era, Okuda's character comes to understand the pleasures of fishing from a senior colleague at school (Denden). The lake is flanked by a mountain on one side and swaying wheat on the other (we'll ignore the commuter bridge in the profile shots). Add to that the acoustic guitar on the soundtrack and it recalls early Michael Cimino. The lake develops an almost mythical status in their lives because it represents the will for both Shirô and his father to fight for the day they can fish it together.
You'd swear Be Sure to Share was based on a best-selling novel but the screenplay is yet another colour in the prism of Sono's originality. The characters and dialogue are honest and to the point, moving the story forward in a 109m film with no fat. Additionally, if you're studying Japanese and tired of simplistic dorama, this is a perfect film for an intermediate speaker.
To think Sono crafted this modest gem right after the treasure chest of pop culture insanity that was Love Exposure is startling. "Using music as an example, after a rock album tour de force you want to move right into something 'unplugged'," was Sono's analogy. What he may not be conscious of is that he's working toward the title of Japan's greatest living director right now.
Ryuganji Migrates to Blogspot / Sabu Talks Crab Cannery
As Don Brown explains over at Ryuganji.net, he has now migrated over to Blogger, here. I've been fairly happy on this service over the past 4+ years. Okay, it's not a web designer's paradise but it's constantly being tweaked on the surface and under the hood.
While the net may be awash in J-trailers with bad soundtrack songs and news aggregation ad infinitum, there are very few people knowledgeable about Japanese film on the ground in Tokyo (or Kanagawa) transmitting outward -- watching and reading in the local language every day, providing context not possible otherwise. And aren't afraid to call turd a turd. Ryuganji does all of that.
To start things off Don has translated an interesting interview with Sabu from edgy culture and issues magazine Cyzo. They don't ask the bog standard questions and have obviously been following Sabu's career (you'd be amazed at how many journalists here do interviews without seeing the film in question).
Audiences found out at the Crab Cannery Ship screening in May that Sabu doesn't read manga. As is revealed in this interview, he's not big on novels either (unless he's adapting one). Sabu subsists on DVDs and his iPod -- Tsutaya should grant him lifetime rentals. He's not devouring written stories, he's writing his own.
Also glad to see the interviewer pick up on Sabu's use of sound. One thing I've noticed when translating his screenplays is his description of what's being heard (or not heard). He's as particular about it as he is his storyboards. In Arrested Memories sound is as important as the visuals and dialogue in depicting Hollerman's various states of amnesia and dementia. And the brutality. Here's the opening sequence:
BLACK SCREEN
WHAM! THUD! CRASH!
A succession of VIOLENT SOUNDS over the OPENING CREDITS.
A fist connects with someone's face. They're kicked.
Someone is BASHED with a metal chair and SLAMMED onto a desk.
An aluminum ashtray hits the floor and SPINS like a top.
The sound of someone dragged up off the floor.
They SOB and GASP for breath.
Bones CRACK, like a shoulder being dislocated.
A CRY of pain.
They're CRUNCHED into a wall.
The Crab Cannery Ship opens this weekend at Shibuya's Cinema Rise, Theatre Shinjuku and other locations across the country (schedule here, Japanese only). Sabu and the cast will be doing butai aisatsu (stage greetings) at the aforementioned two locations on the first day.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Yasuharu Hasebe (1932 - 2009) / Decreased Asia Coverage at Screen
The below obituary for director Hasebe Yasuharu (長谷部安春監督) was written for Screen but unfortunately the budget daleks in London feel that unless a story holds a strong interest for readers in "the West", news from Asia is about as relevant as the surface temperature on Mars. Obituaries of well-known Japanese directors fall into the latter category.
All the trades are suffering cuts as we know -- Screen is no exception. Unfortunately there will be less of our great reporting in the Asia bureau (and a shorter standard article length) but we're not down for the count yet.
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Japanese director Yasuharu Hasebe dies at 77
77-year-old Japanese director Yasuharu Hasebe died of pneumonia on June 14, local media reported on Saturday. Hasebe was known for his action and exploitation films of the 1960s and 70s. In 2009 he made a return to mainstream feature films with a sequel in Toei's hit Partners franchise.
Tokyo native Hasebe joined Nikkatsu studios in 1958 as an assistant director under the likes of Suzuki Seijun. With 1966 directorial debut Black Tight Killers he became a key director in the company's line of action pictures including cult series Stray Cat Rock. He later spearheaded the "violent pink" line of hit exploitation releases.
Hasebe's work screened in the "No Borders, No Limits" Nikkatsu action retrospective at the Udine Far East Film Festival in 2005, which later toured the US.
In the 1980s Hasebe worked primarily in TV, heading up Nippon Television series Dangerous Detectives as well as its successful feature film version.
He later became a regular director on TV Asahi's Partners series, which Toei adapted into a $46m (Y4.44b) grossing 2008 smash. As reported on Screendaily.com last July, Toei announced a spin-off to be directed by Hasebe, marking his return to features.
In March of this year the lower profile sequel Partners: Investigator Mamoru Yonezawa’s Case File, based on a novel by Hasebe's son, earned approximately $7m.
Pia Film Festival Unveils Full 2009 Lineup
Received some materials from the Pia Film Festival the other day. They've announced the lineup of the 31st edition, which runs July 17 - 31 at the National Film Center in Kyôbashi (no more screenings at Shibuya's Cross Tower). The main competition lineup titles had been announced back in April but now you can check out the updated official site and download the flyer here (both Japanese only).
One of the competition features, Sasaki Sô's Puritan, was shortlisted during my stint as a pre-selection committee member for Skip City's new domestic feature category (article on Screen, collected SC entries). Puritan is an odd, schizophrenic film. Festival darling Ishii Yûya's Kawa no Soko kara Konnichiwa (『川の底からこんにちは』) will have its world premiere as this year's PFF scholarship film.
There's also a 16-film Clint Eastwood tokushû (which runs August 1 - 5, after the festival proper) and 3-film one on Ôshima Nagisa. A Treatise on Japanese Bawdy Songs (Nihon Shunka-kô, 『日本春歌考』) and Death By Hanging (Kôshikei,『絞死刑』) will be introduced by Kurosawa Kiyoshi while In the Realm of the Senses (Ai No Corrida, 『愛のコリーだ』) will be introduced by Wakamatsu Kôji. Director Kore-eda Hirokazu will give a special talk on Ôshima's TV documentary work on July 30 (free entry).
If that wasn't enough, Pia and the National Film Center are running the second installment of their "History of Japanese Independent Cinema" from June 30 - July 24. Details here (Japanese only, for now).
I'm pleased that Skip City and PFF only overlap 3 days this year instead of fully. You'll see me loitering at both events.
Collected entries on the Pia Film Festival.
Friday, June 19, 2009
Image Set: The Shock Labyrinth (Sets 1 & 2)
Second batch of images from Shimizu Takashi's in-production 3D horror-thriller The Shock Labyrinth (Senritsu Meikyû 3D, 『戦慄迷宮3D』). Shooting wraps at the end of this month and it'll be in cinemas for October. Quick! Images are (c) The Shock Labyrinth Production Committee
Edit: Somehow the first set got deleted when I created this post, so now I've put them all below. Not sure what happened.
Monday, June 15, 2009
Poll: Why Aren't You Living In Japan?
As I dive into work for a couple weeks I thought I'd set up a quick poll in the sidebar on a topic I've been thinking about for a while now. It's only tangentially related to film and other Japanese contents but asks the rarely (never?) posed flipside to the single most asked question from Japanese to non-Japanese residents here ("Why did you come to Japan?"). The question is "Why aren't you living in Japan?"
With the vast and growing number of Japanese-themed movie, dorama, anime and music blogs run outside of the country I'm curious why people who obsess over this culture (far more than I do) don't make an attempt at living here. Are visits enough? Is it logistically impossible? Are you afraid of leaving your old life behind? Financial issues?
Hope to see some interesting comments and poll results.
Screenplay Submersible
As I just tweeted, I will be under the radar for a while as I work on a longish feature screenplay translation. Was hoping to offer up a movie/manga comparison of Tezuka adaptation MW and a look at two exciting new filmmakers that nobody's heard of yet, but work calls. I am grateful it's there.
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Sabu's Arrested Memories Participates in Paris Project!
As I mentioned at the end of my Kanikosen post on May 31, there would be some good news regarding Sabu's first foreign language production Arrested Memories (collected entries).
Arrested Memories will participate in Paris Project 2009, a co-production initiative established under the Paris Cinema International Film Festival. Now in its 7th edition, it's one of the key project markets in the EU. The fine people at Korea's Finecut are representing Arrested Memories (as well as handling international sales of Kanikosen). Things are looking good for Sabu's English language debut...
Here's the full list of 14 projects. You'll notice the first in line is Kawase Naomi's And Protect, Protected. I wrote a profile on this project for the Hong Kong Asian Film Financing Forum in March. There, it won a prize to participate in Paris Project.
Edit: And congratulations to Edmund Yeo on his short film Love Suicides making it into the short film competition, up against the likes of Tsai Ming-liang and an artist I admire very much called "Blu" (see my Jan. 15 entry). As I wrote on Twitter, I saw Edmund's Kingyo at Shinjuku's Wald 9 last week and was very impressed.
Update: The project book is available as a PDF here. You can read the synopsis for Arrested Memories (I didn't write it), And Protect, Protected and the other projects.
AND PROTECT, PROTECTED de Naomi Kawase
Japon / Kumie Inc.
ARRESTED MEMORIES de Sabu
Corée du Sud / Finecut co.
BLUE BIRDS de Christophe Van Rompey
Belgique – Chine / Sancta Media - Xstream Pictures
COME TO MY VOICE (Sesime Gel) de Hüseyin Karabey
Turquie / A-si Film
CORNEA de Jochem de Vries
Pays-Bas / NFI Productions
HARD LABOUR (Trabalhar Cansa) de Juliana Rojas et Marco Dutra
Brésil / Dezenove Som e Imagens
LEONES de Jazmin Lopez
Argentine / Rei Cine
MARINA de Stijn Coninx
Belgique / Eyeworks Film & TV Drama
MOSAIQUE (Jialefou) de Xiaoshuai Wang
Chine / Chinese Shadows - Tempo Films Investment
NAHUEL THE HUMAN SUBMARINE de Fernando Díaz
Espagne – Mexique – Argentine / Diagonal TV - Alebrije Producciones - Machaco Films
REMOTE CONTROL de Byamba Sakhya
Mongolie / Guru Media
RHAPSODY IN PERA (Beyolu Rapsodisi) de Umut Aral
Turquie / Atlantik Film
THE YEAR WITHOUT A SUMMER de Tan Chui Mui
Malaisie / Da Huang Pictures
TUESDAY AFTER CHRISTMAS (Marti, Dupa Craciun) de Radu Muntean
Roumanie / Multi Media East
Friday, June 12, 2009
Release date and promo materials for Hitoshi Matsumoto's Symbol
Matsumoto Hitoshi's Symbol (『しんぼる』, see March 22 entry) is set for a September 12th release, distributor Shochiku announced today. Trailers, posters and flyers will hit cinemas nationwide tomorrow. You can see the teaser on the official site linked above. Some wild CG work! The film itself features dialogue in Japanese, Spanish, English and Russian as well as some foreign location work.
Edit: In my March article on the film for Screen I purposely avoided calling it "prison" or "jail" when I wrote that Matsumoto played "a man plotting to escape some manner of entrapment". You knew it would be something much stranger...
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Image Set: Be Sure To Share
A few images from Sono Sion's Be Sure To Share (Chanto Tsutaeru, 『ちゃんと伝える』). For some good plot and background info on the film you can check out this page on the official site of the New York Asian Film Festival (June 19 - July 5). NYAFF also posted an English-subtitled trailer on Youtube here.
Be Sure To Share will close NYAFF on July 5 as a world premiere. Very much looking forward to seeing the film later this month. Images（C）2009 "Be Sure To Share" Production Committee.
Update: I got lightbox (2.0) working again. Not sure how long the place I'm hosting the .js files will last, though. Any (free) suggestions welcome.
Sunday, June 07, 2009
Midnight Eye Update / Shinsedai Cinema Festival
A couple of of updates that I'm sure J-cinema fans are already aware of, but just in case.
First is a fresh batch of material on Midnight Eye including reviews of Taiwan-set Japanese propaganda film The Story of Wu Fong, Ichikawa Kon's Alone Across the Pacific, and Shimizu Hiroshi's Sayon's Bell, which starred "Shirley" Yamaguchi Yoshiko.
There's also an interview with author Ian Buruma (always thought that was a great name for a Japan expert) about his intriguing 2008 novel The China Lover, which casts Yamaguchi as the protagonist. Film rights are mentioned at the end which reminded me of Kore-eda Hirokazu's 2007 HAF project Night-fragrant Flower (PDF notes here) which unfortunately never got off the ground.
Next is the launch of a new Japanese film event in my old hometown of Toronto at the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre. Dubbed the Shinsedai Cinema Festival (Aug 21-23), the event will introduce Torontonians to some key independent films from recent years. I've championed two of them previously -- Chikuma Yasutomo's Now, I... (collected posts) and Ichii Masahide's Naked Of Defenses (Midnight Eye Best of 2008).
I spent a lot of time in Phlegmingdon Park as a child and recall a field trip to the pleasant JCCC for a shodô lesson where I learned to write the kanji for the numbers 1-3. I seem to remember 4 blowing my mind.
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.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Presenting: The Akira Kurosawa Digital Archive
The "Akira Kurosawa Digital Archive" (「黒澤デジタルアーカイブ」) is now open. The archive presents over 20,000 pages of photos, screenplays, storyboards, notes and other materials, many for the first time.
The archive was created in collaboration between Kyoto's Ryukoku University and Kurosawa Productions. This is yet another initiative leading up to the 100th anniversary of the master's birth in 2010.
It's surely one of the most important online endeavors in the history of Japanese cinema. The site is only in Japanese (what better excuse to learn the language?) but the materials are generally presented in chronological order. Prepare to put hours, days and weeks aside.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
The Crab Cannery Ship Opens July 4
As the title says. Sabu let me know the exact release date for his latest movie The Crab Cannery Ship (see collected posts) a couple days ago -- it opens July 4. I just checked the official site and it confirms said. Check it out!
Monday, May 25, 2009
Nerima: Animation Wonderland
I don't think I've ever stated it outright -- there's been no reason to -- but I live in Nerima, the second most populous of Tokyo's 23 wards (though way down at 14th in terms of pop. density, thankfully). Those of you who live in Tokyo or are familiar with the city probably have little or no impression of Nerima beyond Toshimaen (where the excellent United Cinemas have a house) and daikon. But if you're J-film literate then you know Nerima is where Juon festers and more importantly is ground zero for much of the Japanese animation that entertains the nation and the world.
Why cover this now after having lived in Nerima for a number of years? I've been meaning to write about it for a while. If you follow the blog you know I'm more of a jissha eiga person but some recent news stories tied to my 'hood motivated me to get something down.
When you alight at Nerima station you're greeted with the above pictured sign, installed last year, that proudly describes Nerima ward as anime hasshô no chi, "the birthplace of anime". The sign also displays images from Japan's first animated colour feature film The Tale of the White Serpent aka Panda and the Magic Serpent (Hakujaden, 『白蛇伝』).
Indeed, this adaptation of the Chinese fairy tale was Toei Animation's inaugural production after acquiring education-oriented animation house Nichidô Eiga, established a decade earlier as the country's first animation company. Toei Animation moved out to Ôizumi, five train stops west of Nerima station, a year before Hakujaden's 1958 release and remains there today (Google street view -- you can see mascot Pero the cat on the façade of the building). The Toei film studios themselves are also nearby. Jasper Sharp and I shot an interview with Miike there back in 2003 when he was in production on Gozu, I believe it was.
It's quite amazing that then Toei president Ôkawa Hiroshi had the ambition to compete with Disney features and export Japan's own brand of animation to the world, all from Nerima. And he succeeded. Hakujaden was the also the first Japanese animated feature to gain a US release, in 1961.
Miyazaki Hayao and other luminaries cite this film as the reason for entering the animated world, with Miyazaki going on to work at Toei Animation along with Takahata Isao and Nagai Gô. Hakujaden "inbetweener" Rintarô would later go on to co-found Madhouse, which is just outside of Nerima in neighbouring Suginami ward (I did an interview with Kon Satoshi there). Miyazaki and Takahata of course set up Studio Ghibli in Musashino City, bordering Nerima to the south west.
In fact, Rintarô-directed T.A. production Galaxy Express 999 (Ginga Tetsudô Three-Nine『銀河鉄道９９９』) would become the territory's first animated feature to become the top grossing film of the year in '79. Toei cleverly capitalized on the TV show and manga's popularity by releasing the movie version in the middle of the broadcast season.
As we know, T.A. also went on to produce pop culture sensations Sailor Moon, Dragon Ball, One Piece and on and on. Cels ad infinitum.
On a Toei tangent, they took over theatrical distribution of Matsumoto/Nishizaki/Masuda's Space Battleship Yamato aka Space Cruiser Yamato (Uchû Senkan Yamato,『宇宙戦艦ヤマト』), a feature-length edit of Yomuri TV/NTV show of the same name (exported as Star Blazers, which I enjoyed as a kiddy). It was apparently the first movie in Japan to see patrons lining up the night before and turned into a box office hit, as did its sequels.
Now, I know Space Battleship Yamato was developed at Zuiyo in Sumida ward, but the actual production ended up being done at Nishizaki Yoshinobu's Office Academy. Where was that located? In any case, Nerima is where (in)famous producer "the Nish", as he's affectionately known, chose to set up production offices last year on the stalled, re-stalled and finally greenlit Uchû Senkan Yamato Fukkatsu-hen (something like Space Battleship Yamato: Revival Chapter, or Redux). 
See this translated article on Anime News Network for the latest update, and the official site here.
Nishizaki graduated from the Nihon University College of Art a couple stops away from here in Ekoda and joined Mushi Production subsidiary Mushi Pro Shôji before they collapsed. And can I just say that Nishizaki exec-produced Legend of the Overfiend was a mondo touchstone in my VHS bootleg days? Its tentacle-penised demons were spawned at Phoenix Entertainment, a couple of stops the other way in Fujimidai.
Aforementioned Mushi Pro of course brings us to the Godfather, the genius of geniuses, Tezuka Osamu. After being commissioned for several features at Toei Animation he set up Mushi Pro in the early 60s where he produced a TV series based on his slightly popular manga Tetsuwan Atomu. It became known around the world as Astro Boy. Need I write more? Tezuka stepped down from the company some time before it eventually went bankrupt and set up Tezuka Production (in Shinjuku ward/Saitama prefecture). A revived incarnation of Mushi Pro was established in '77 in Fujimidai (and has a website that looks like it dates back to '97). Tezuka Pro's site, other on the hand, is brand spanking new.
Mushi Pro offshoot Sunrise, creators of Mobile Suit Gundam and later Cowboy Bebop, also took a hop, skip and a jump out of Nerima into Suginami ward like Madhouse did and set up shop. Is there a feudal angle I'm not picking up on?
What else? Erm...I used to live down the street from AIC (Anime International Inc). They've produced everything from Bubblegum Crisis to Tenchi Muyo! (see a partial list in English here). They apparently did some outsource work on the Don Adams-voiced Inspector Gadget, another show on tee-vee when I was small.
One of the big Asia stories to come out of Cannes was of course the six country co-production of a $30m live action version of Bubblegum Crisis, one of the most famous OAVs ever produced.
At the time the apartment next door to me doubled as an AIC cel/graphics production hovel. The chubby male and female inhabitants would beaver away day and night churning out images in cramped confines. On the rare occasion we crossed paths it was all averted eyes and zero verbal interaction -- the most anti-social people I've ever "met". But very quiet, needless to say!
A couple other companies based in my ku are Studio Nue (Macross) and a little outfit called Gonzo is walking distance from my crib. According to a recent white paper published by Nerima ward, there are some 94 companies extant.
If all that wasn't enough there's even the Nerima Animation Association and people like Matsumoto Leiji joining the ward to increase synergy between all of these contents producers, especially in light of the anime bubble bursting in the last couple years. A recent pact formed with France's legendary Annecy animation festival adds another lip to the Nouvelle Tsunami.
There's plenty more to be said about Nerima's undeniable place in animation history. Someone should write a book. That won't be me, though I have the time -- Nerima's life expectancy for male residents is the highest in the city...
Monday, May 18, 2009
Miike To Take On Terasawa's Takeru
Hot on the heels of the news about Thirteen Assassins, Screen has scooped more Miike news in Cannes (with a little facilitation from my end, ahem) regarding a big budget, pan-Asian adaptation of Terasawa Buichi's Takeru. Read all about it here.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
J-Films at Cannes Market
I meant to do this before the market in Cannes got under way. To the left is a brief summary of just a few of the Japanese films available there that ran in last Friday's weekly (the first issue of our new, more magazine-like format). Click the image for a full size version.
Hardcore hôga honchos will know about most of these already, but below is a synopsis for the above mentioned Kaiji plus a little more info on the latest team up between Maiko Haaaan!!!'s Mizuta Nobuo and Kudô Kankurô entitled No More Cry (Nakumonka, 『なくもんか』). I receive a constant stream of material like this but time, time, time...
NO MORE CRY (2009/ Comedy/aprox 120min)
Directed by Nobuo Mizuta
Written by Kankuro Kudo (scriptwriter for “Maiko Haaaan!!!” “Ping Pong”)
Japanese Release: November 2009
Two brothers were abandoned by their irresponsible father and were separated when they were still small. The big brother, Yuta (Sadawo Abe) and the little brother, Yusuke (Eita). Despite their unhappy childhood, each of them decided not cry and remain strong and optimistic. Years past, and now Yuta takes over the deli he grew up and becomes popular as a workaholic and an ultimate people pleaser in the town he lives. The little brother, Yusuke, is half of a popular comic duo. They don’t know each other’s faces or names yet, and one day, Yusuke visits Yuta’s shop as a reporter of a TV show! Then, suddenly, a daughter of the former deli owner (Yuko Takeuchi) comes back home after 10 years absence…
Laughter in all the tears, and tears in all the laughter. Is it a funny tragedy or a sad comedy?
This is a story about a unique family amidst a whirlwind of laughter and tears.
KAIJI (2009/ Thriller/aprox 120min)
Directed by Toya Sato
Written by Mika Omori (scriptwriter for “Detroit Metal City”)
Japanese Release: Fall 2009
Kaiji is a deadbeat job hopper living hand to mouth. One day, Endo, the female president of a loan company, introduces herself to him and tells him that he has to pay her 2.02 million yen for a debt he casually cosigned for a friend at work, who is now missing. But Kaiji has no way to get a hold of such money…
Then Endo invites Kaiji to board a ship where he can not only clear the debt overnight but can also make a lot of money for himself at the same time.
Onboard the ship named Espoir (“hope”), he must play a card game called Restricted Rock Scissors Paper whose rules are simple but takes advantage of human psychology. Kaiji manages to beat one player, but opponents keep coming his way one after the other. The game that will change Kaiji’s life has begun.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
More Details on Nakata's Chatroom and Tran's Norwegian Wood
News on two important films -- one by a Japanese director working outside of Japan and the other by a French-Vietnamese director working inside of Japan.
More news on Nakata Hideo's Chatroom courtesy of our own Audrey Ward in the UK.
I did an interview with the man back in early April, in case you missed it.
Also part of the best news stream coming out of Cannes -- Fortissimo will handle international sales for Tran Anh Hung's Norwegian Wood. Read about it here. The piece should be updated very soon to include news of stars Matsuyama Ken'ichi and Kikuchi Rinko being cast in the lead roles.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Image Set: Air Doll
Following up on my Air Doll image post on May 7, now that the Cannes official site has run the images for Kore-eda's film (reposted on Wild Grounds), here are the rest of them as promised:
Friday, May 08, 2009
An Extra's Adventures On the Set of Sabu's The Crab Cannery Ship
I haven't had time to post thoughts on any films for quite a while, but I've been meaning to write a few paragraphs about Sabu's The Crab Cannery Ship (Kanikôsen, 『蟹工船』) (collected posts here).
My second tweet on Twitter, which I joined about a week after the screening at the beginning of April, was: "SABU's 'The Crab Cannery Ship' 1 gô shisha at Imagica: surreal, stylish, smart, sick, subversive, suicidal, sadistic and funny!"
I think foreign audiences will be fascinated by Sabu's take on Kobayashi's famed novel -- probably even moreso without the context of the book to place it in. How it's received in Japan is anybody's guess but Sabu told me it's gaining a very good reputation among industry and preview audiences alike. Indeed, the atmosphere at the uchiage was very positive.
Impressive, oppressive set design and some surprisingly effective use of CG for when the action moves above deck. I talked with the costume designer because I was curious about Nishijima Hidetoshi's look and she said his white wear avec cane was inspired by A Clockwork Orange, and I have to agree it suited his violent demeanor well. And there is violence, some of it quite graphic, amplified by the cramped surroundings. And the weirdest, comedic mass suicide scene in cinema history.
Seeing Matsuda at the screening I didn't recognize him for the first 20m or so -- he looked like a malnourished bike courier and was wearing a cold mask (when he wasn't lighting up). I ran into his ratty Nightmare Detective manteau hanging up at the Movie-Eye offices a week or two prior. But on screen he has a quiet power. Would you follow him into battle? You'll have to wait until late June or early July, when the film is set for release (confirmed there's not a confirmed date a couple days ago).
There's also another ship in the film -- the Russian boat Matsuda and his comrade escape to. What starts as a chance to eat, drink and be merry becomes a scene of self realization that doubles as a chapter from Sabu's own world view.
An American guy named John Milito happens to live in Ashikaga City, where the sets for the film were built. He got to become a Russian sailor and kept copious notes, photos and Youtube videos of the experience here. I regret missing out on all the fun while in Thailand, but I was gagging for a vacation and it was already long booked.
Finecut is selling Kanikosen in Cannes, apparently sans English title. See their page here.
And as I've mentioned previously, Finecut is on board with Sabu's Arrested Memories (collected posts here). There's new interest and a new location, which I'm excited about. Hope to bring in another producer to help get it going.
Here's an article from last September I missed about FC coming on board the good ship Sabu.
