Swallowtail

[Mark Schilling]

 Keeping in mind just as a general proposition that statistics have to be
> interpreted, where do you get that fantastic information, Mark?

I get Kogyo Tsushin's box office numbers every week for the nine major
cities and, after tracking Swallowtail weekly throughout its run, I had no
doubt that, for a domestic film, it was a major hit. It debuted at number
six on the weekend of September 14, 15 and 16, 1996 and steadily climbed
the rankings, peaking at number two on the weekend of October 12 and 13,
with The Rock at number one. It was still ranked at number 12 in the 14th
week of its first run -- an amazing performance for a Japanese film. The
people I know at Herald were quite proud of the film's success -- Iwai was
their golden-haired boy. That's why I was surprised by Aaron's comment that
Swallowtail was a "disappointment." 

The figures I quoted in the post came from the distributor, Nippon Herald,
and are for the entire country. Can we trust Nippon Herald? Good question
-- Herald, like everyone in the industry, gets its numbers from Kogyo
Tsushin and Kogyo Tsushin in turn gets its numbers from theater owners. Of
course, those numbers are not coming from computerized ticketing systems.
Also, theater owners are known for reporting advance tickets as sold when
they are really lying in someone's tansu. 

So, shall we take Nippon Herald's numbers with a grain of salt? Perhaps,
though we can say the same about the numbers for more than a few Japanese
films. Do those numbers indicate that Swallowtail was more than a "mild"
hit? I think so.  

Mark Schilling (schill at gol.com)