Metropolis

Kevin Mcgue

Most Japanese filmmakers aim to have their works screened overseas, but that rarely happens even with big budgets and household-name stars. However, director Keiichi Kobayashi is seeing the dream come true with a low-budget, black-and-white debut starring first-time actors. About the Pink Sky tells the story of three high-school girls whose lives take an unexpected turn when one of them finds a wallet stuffed with cash and the owner convinces them to produce a “good news newspaper” for a hospitalized friend. The total staff and crew for the indie numbered fewer than 10 people. Norihiko Miyazaki, who acted as the production manager, explains “when you reduce the number of staff, you lower the budget but you also increase your freedom. It never felt like hard work.” Since the teenage stars were acting for the first time, two months of rehearsal preceded the filming. The result is a slow, naturalistic pace that sets the film apart from the usual fare from Japan and has garnered considerable attention, winning the “Japanese Eyes” award at the 2011 Tokyo International Film Festival, and being picked up as an official selection at last month’s Sundance Film Festival in Utah. “My father used to say that you could name anything and find 20,000 fans of that in Japan,” Kobayashi recalls. “My goal was to make a film that would be seen by that many people.” The way things are going, he will achieve that goal many times over.

Feb 2, 2012 | No Comments | 93 views

Kevin Mcgue

Prolific German director Wim Wenders (pictured) has worked on projects as diverse as a drama about angels watching over Berlin, a documentary on the blues, and a music video for U2. He has now expanded his filmography with a documentary about famed choreographer Pina Bausch. “I first saw Pina perform in 1985,” Wenders recalled during a recent visit to Tokyo. “It was the most beautiful thing I ever saw. It blew me away and completely changed my life. I met her the next day and in my juvenile enthusiasm, I said one day we will make a film together.” The filmmaker then realized he had no idea how to capture the elaborate stage performances of Bausch, who founded the Tanztheater style. “Over the years we would meet and she would raise an eyebrow and I would shrug my shoulders,” he says, explaining the long-gestating project. The emergence of digital 3D technology finally convinced Wenders he could transport viewers into her world. Tragically, Bausch died suddenly of cancer at the age of 68, just days before the scheduled start of filming. When he tried to call off the project, the surviving members of her troupe convinced him to film their performance, and the result is a touching tribute to an artist and friend.

Pina opens at Yurakucho Human Trust Cinema and Shinjuku Wald 9 on February 25.

By: Kevin Mcgue | Jan 18, 2012 | No Comments | 348 views

Cult director Shinya Tsukamoto made a name for himself and put Japanese independent film on the map in 1989 with his low-budget urban fantasy Tetsuo: The Iron Man, which he followed up with a number of gory thrillers. So it came as a surprise last year when he directed a musical video filled with gentle imagery for folk-pop singer Cocco, shot on the calm beaches of her native Okinawa. The two creators, known for working outside of the mainstream, enjoyed their collaboration so much they extended it to the feature-length film Kotoko. The story of a psychologically fragile single mother struggling to keep custody of her son, the film marks a return to Tsukamoto’s high-impact visual style to represent her state of mind. The director has been a fan of Cocco’s music for over a decade and when queried on what it was like to finally work with her as an actress, he replied simply, “She’s a genius.” Indeed, when the film picked up the top award in the Horizons sections of the 2011 Venice Film Festival, Tsukamoto commented that it was actually a recognition of the lead performance by Cocco, who appears in every scene of the film. The singer remarked that acting was quite a departure from her usual stage appearances, explaining, “99% of my energy in a stage performance goes to singing, while 99% of making a movie is preparation, including the decorations for the character’s apartment, which I made myself.”

Kotoko opens at Cinema Rise in Shibuya this spring.

By: Kevin Mcgue | Jan 4, 2012 | No Comments | 133 views

Kevin Mcgue

Films are often born from a single chance meeting, sometimes one that crosses international borders and generations. When veteran Iranian director Amir Naderi, himself an avid filmgoer, attended the Filmex festival in Tokyo, he happened to meet the indie favorite Hidetoshi Nishijima (Dolls; Tony Takitani), and bluntly told the young actor, “It is fate that we make a movie together.” Six years later, the result is the drama Cut in which Nishijima plays a dedicated cinephile and struggling director who falls in with the gangsters from whom his late brother borrowed money. “I wanted to make a completely Japanese movie,” the director said at a recent sneak preview at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan. “Not a movie made by a tourist.” To insure the story was culturally authentic, Japanese director Shinji Aoyama was brought in as a script advisor. When questioned about the violence in the film, Naderi explained, “Each time a scriptwriter writes a script and no one is interested, and each time a filmmaker takes a film to a festival and nothing happens, it feels as if they are hit. I wanted to show that feeling literally.”

Cut opens Dec 17 at Cinemart Shinjuku, and with English subtitles at Cinemart Roppongi from Jan 7. www.bitters.co.jp/cut

See Rob Schwartz’s review here.

By: Kevin Mcgue | Dec 14, 2011 | No Comments | 247 views

Kevin Mcgue

Many Japanese actors dream of working in Hollywood, but few get the chance—and fewer still work with acclaimed directors. Ryo Kase is one, having appeared in Clint Eastwood’s Letters from Iwo Jima (2006) and in Gus Van Sant’s latest film, Restless. The 37-year-old actor plays the ghost of a kamikaze pilot who befriends a gloomy young man (Henry Hopper) and watches over his relationship with a terminally-ill woman (Mia Wasikowska). Introducing the film at the recent Tokyo International Film Festival, Kase recalled the fun of shooting in Van Sant’s hometown of Portland. “The director told me to hang out with Henry, since we are friends in the film.” Hopper took the advice to heart, using the fire escape of the hotel where they were staying to literally drop into Kase’s room for late-night chats. “He definitely has his father’s blood in him,” referring to legendary film rebel Dennis Hopper. Not everything was fun and games though as the actor was called on by the property master to translate a wartime letter into Japanese. Having grown up in Washington state, English was not a problem, but Kase was worried about writing Japanese authentic to the period, and consulted a war veteran and a 100-year-old retired professor before penning the letter in his own hand.

Restless opens December 23 at Toho Cinemas Chanter and Cinema Rise. www.eien-bokutachi.jp

By: Kevin Mcgue | Nov 30, 2011 | No Comments | 229 views