Eureka awards at Cannes

[gregory starr]

At 1:04 PM 5/25/00, Aaron Gerow wrote:

> That said, one still feels thankful when there's any reporting on
> Japanese films at all: many publications and critics ignore the Japanese
> product altogether.
>
I agree, Aaron.  But as one who would love to increase reporting
on Japanese films, yet is constantly thwarted by the status quo, I place
equal blame on the industry and the media.  The industry for being so
incredibly bureaucratic, small-minded and hierarchical as to restrict
access to the personalities and the film making process
for serious journalists.  The media for being so incredibly sycophantic,
and--as you say--acting as an extension of PR.  I believe that strong
reportage and criticism of both the industry and the films are
important to sustain a healthy creative atmosphere.  I believe that
being realistic "is" being supportive, but there are times
when I feel pretty negative about the whole situation.  We've been banned
from screening rooms for being critical of films.  We've had to fight
our way past small-minded ADs/publicists on set, intent on
controlling every aspect of a film, and treating everyone like
gossip hacks from one of the sports newspapers.  I've had publicists
try to change the words of actors/directors/you-name-it from
mildly controversial, interesting quotes to pablum in order
not to ruffle any feathers.  It often seems as if there's a conspiracy
to make covering "Japanese film" as difficult and as unrewarding
as is physically possible.
        It's ironic that this subject came up in context with Eureka,
because I think the producer Sento and his team are really trying to break
some molds in the industry and, though he's a master spinner,
he's not one who's afraid of negative publicity or of speaking his
mind.  But I think the media is so used to being spoonfed headlines
that they're blind to the reality around them.
        Anyway, I liked Eureka, and though I thought it was much too long, I
stayed
until the end.  A lot of others didn't.  After talking to several festival-r
elated
personnel (off the record), and a lot of press, I do believe that the length
of the film damaged its chances of being watched in full as well as its chances
of taking any award.  Whether it damaged its chances of overseas rights
being sold is something I'll be sure to ask Sento.
Cheers,
Greg Starr
Premiere Japan