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<P>Here’s a few titles for you:</P>
<P>Ai Ni Tsuite, Tokyo / About Love, Tokyo, 1992 : Mitsuo Yanagimachi’s film got
him into hot water at the 1992 Tokyo Film Festival regarding its portrayal of
Chinese characters living in Japan, though it’s quite a nice little film - if
you can get to see it.</P>
<P>World Apartment Horror, 1991 : Akira director Katsuhiro Otomo’s cartoonish
horror focuses on the plight of an apartment load of immigrants menaced by local
yakuza Hiroyuki Tanaka (now better known as the director, Sabu)</P>
<P>Chugoku no Tojin / Bird People of China, 1998 : Takashi Miike’s eulogy to
China.</P>
<P>Shiko Funjatta / Sumo Do, Sumo Don’t , 1992 : This Sumo wrestling paradoy
courtesy of Shall We Dance? director Masayuki Suo features an outrageous British
stereotypes that would rival anything in Titanic or Independence Day.</P>
<P>Tsuki Wa Dotchi ni Deteiru / All Under the Moon, 1993 : A Korean cab-driving
comedy from Yoichi Sai</P>
<P>Zegen, 1988 : There’s some interesting European reactions to Japan’s
expansionism contained within this brothel eye view of the Japanese empire
pre-Pacific War from Shohei Imamura.</P>
<P>Kuroi Yuki / Black Snow, 1965 : Now this is interesting - the rape of a
Japanese girl by an American GI. I’m a little curious as to why Americans are
frequently black in Japanese films of this time - Seijun Suzuki’s Nikutai No Mon
/ Gates of Flesh, 1994 also features a black preacher, the only sympathetic
character out of all the Americans. </P>
<P>Takechi Tetsuji’s much later Oiran (1982) also seems to have some subtext
about the corrupting force of American imperialism, and the heroine’s
"abduction" to the US.</P>
<P>I’m sure there’s plenty more, if you dig more deeply, though these are the
ones that immediately spring to mind. There’s also several films shot by
Japanese directors in Europe using European casts, such as Ikeda’s Dedicato Al
Mare Egeo and Roma Dalla Finestra, from the mid/late 70s which are seldom
mentioned in conversations about Japanese film. Anyone seen these would like to
pass comment?</P>
<P>The trite 80s kids movie, Drifting Classroom is also quite fascinating in its
portrayal of Japan cultural values vs American ones through the eyes of its
adolescent characters.</P>
<P>One thing I’ve been quite amazed about recently is the lack of films that
deal with inter-racial relationships in Japan. It’s something you’d think that
would be worthy of some mention given how predominant it is in the cinema of
other countries, the prevalence of such scenarios and the latent tension that
seems to exist between "foreingers" in Japan and some certain sectors of the
Japanese population (ie. the ones that, should they see a gaijin walking along
the street with a Japanese girl, start cursing quite loudly, or barge into the
girl). Are there films out that their deal with this subject, or is this a film
still waiting to be made?</P>
<P>Food for though, at least,</P>
<P>Jasper Sharp</P>
<P><FONT face=Arial><BR>Midnight Eye: The Latest and Best in Japanese
Cinema<BR><A
href="http://www.midnighteye.com">www.midnighteye.com</A></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </P></FONT></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=donnahelliwell@yahoo.com href="mailto:donnahelliwell@yahoo.com">donna
helliwell</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A
title=KineJapan@lists.acs.ohio-state.edu
href="mailto:KineJapan@lists.acs.ohio-state.edu">KineJapan@lists.acs.ohio-state.edu</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Thursday, June 13, 2002 5:23
AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Japan's portrayal of the
'foreign'</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<P>Dear all, </P>
<P>I'm currently researching for my dissertation on Japan's representation of
the foreign as a reaffirmation of japanese cultural identity and homogeneity.
Could anyone help me by naming films that show portrayals of foreigners or the
'foreign'? </P>
<P>With many thanks in advance,</P>
<P>Donna Helliwell</P>
<P><BR>
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