Do Japanese films really stink??

ironhart ironhart
Sun Mar 28 20:29:36 EST 1999


 Firstly, as one of the Asian representatives of the Hollywood Jewish 
conspiracy I must officially and categorically deny the existence of any 
such organization. 

I would also like to invite you to contact me individually if you are 
interested in becoming an associate member of the group.

( Since I am Jewish - I am permitted by holy providence to make such 
jokes. All gentile members of this mailing list should refrain from any 
such humor attempts. Afterall - WE do have your address.:-)

Secondly, I must thank Mark from his astute assessment of the Japanese 
film industry's self perpetuating institutionalization of mediocrity. (He 
also did a fine job calling the final day of Sumo today. Way to go 
Musashimaru!)  The way the system has been established it's a miracle if 
any film of true merit outside of the "seniority system" could ever make 
a run for it. As a budding film maker myself - I find the whole 
environment quite discouraging. Not that I would ever give up but just 
like so many other aspects of life in Japan where the bureaucracy 
strangles so much life out of the experience - it just takes some of the 
joi de vivre(sp?) out of the process.

I do have some doubts though about the "foreign" cold shoulder towards 
Japan. Many countries around the world, and perhaps the United States in 
particular, have a history of cultural xenophobia. Like it or not - 
that's just the way it is.  There may be a slight bias towards films 
coming from Europe because of the obvious cultural proximity but when you 
look in the theaters that play "foreign" films there doesn't seem to be 
that large of a gap. If people around the world aren't interested in 
Japanese films I believe that it comes down to two main issues.

First ,is the below average marketing and PR effort that Japanese 
production/distribution companies put behind their product. It's a 
competitive market place out there and if Japanese film companies want a 
cut of the pie they are going to have to aggressively fight for their 
share just like everyone else. I am not an expert in the field, but in 
conversations I've had with industry folks on both sides of the ocean it 
seems to me there is a relatively passive attitude towards making 
Japanese films a part of the staple film going diet around the world. In 
the cases where Japanese films have done well it's generally because of 
an enthusiastic American partner takes the lead (Spielberg/Lucas for 
Kurosawa - Miramax for Shall We Dance). I spent more hours than I care to 
count in Shochiku offices trying to discuss with colleagues how they 
could exploit their own products abroad. For every plan I came up with - 
they had some quick excuse for why it wouldn't work. You don't hear the 
folks at DreamWorks talking like that!! 

Second, (and this will be a bit controversial no doubt) there are issues 
concerning the content of the films produced here. As Hollywood product 
became more and more prevalent in the Japanese marketplace, Japanese 
companies for the most part retreated to the production of animation and 
culturally specific projects (jidai geki, domestic melodramas, pop 
comedies, etc.) Of course there were exceptions which we all hold dear - 
but they were the exceptions. In order for Japanese films to become 
noticed again, and players in the international marketplace - they will 
have to become relevent, insightful, humanistic and better produced. 
Again, there are several fine films out there now but I believe that the 
overwhelming majority of them do not cross cultural borders. They only 
make sense to the Japanese people. And as much as this may serve an 
important social function - is it really art?  Is it worth watching? 
Until something worth watching is produced, I don't see why there should 
be any expection of anyone outside of Japan taking any interest.

Well, that should get some heaters gassed up. Let the flames roll in! 

paul silverman
iron heart productions
tetsugyuji
oita, japan




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