Date of a Film
Li Hoo Cheong
lbhcli
Thu Jun 3 20:27:31 EDT 1999
In dating a film, one always follows some reliable sources.
In most cases, a Japanese film may be dated in the year of
its domestic release. Following this rule, <Afterlife> may
be dated 1999, and <Hana-bi>, 1998, but both films were
completed and screened overseas one year earlier. Thus, the
correct dates are 1998 and 1997 respectively.
Variant dates have been cited for some films because they may be
made for television first, and then released, sometimes recut, as
films in later years. Alternatively, some "original videos" may
later be released as films, e.g., <Kamizaki Taxi>.
In these cases, is it correct to cite the year when the film is
released as a feature film because some changes would have occurred
in the change of format? I am asking this as I want to date the
films correctly in my writing and some Japanese independant films
may not be released in the year of their completion.
What is the general rule in dating films in scholarly writing and
in the movie world? Any comment on this issue is appreciated.
H. C. Li
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