Re TIFF Indie Program

[Arnault CASTEL]

Sorry to reply to a very old thread but I had no time for the list lately.
Darrel Davies mentioned the success of Bounce Ko gals in HK and the
re-release of Kamikaze Taxi.

I think "Bounce" is still on whereas "Kamikaze" has disappeared from the
screens. The "bounce" phenomenon is nothing new in HK. Since I arrived (3
years ago) I noticed that there's on Japanese movie that is showing for
more than 6 months in one cinema and is drawing "cult" audiences in a city
where many movies disappear after one week showing. So far, we had :
     - Love letter
     - Shall we dance
     - Bounce KO gals

some of the few reasons because Kamikaze taxi was not as successful :
     - re-release vs. new movie
     - Bounce KO gals was shown in "Broadway cinematheque" which is the
hippest movie house in HK (with a mix of arthouse and commercial hits),
mostly because of its innovative design. On the other side, Kamikaze was
shown in an old-style cinema.
     - whereas the audience when this movie was first shown was close top
what darrel Davies call "20-something cyberpunk", it evolved little by
little towards young teenage girls and boys with a liking for the "cute"
aspects of Japan a la Hello Kitty. or "trendy (Cf. shops in Mongkok trying
to emulate Shibuya or harajuku). This is not a negative comments towards
this film, which I found include one of the most articulate and challenging
vision of modern youth.
     - Bounce benefited I guess from a very successful showing at the HK
film festival earlier this year in Eastern, when it was shown to a packed
audience in the HK Cultural centre twice. i attended one of this showing
(with discussions with the director). This was the only standing ovation i
experienced this year and the discussions with the director was
unpretentious and exciting.

To sum up I would enjoy getting your feedback on some topics :
     - the influence of art / film festivals on the success of movies
     - could we characterise the audience of contemporary Japanese cinema
     - is there any movie trying to explore the Japanese/Asian fascination
towards "cute" Hello kitty-style characters.

ArC