Festival-Savvy, was Koroshiya Ichi/Ichi The Killer

[Gavin Rees]

Thanks to Mark for sharing his take on Miike. I agree with a lot of it. I 
found DOA almost unwatchable in parts; not just because of the violence, but
also its puerality. Some of the editing is a bit off too. By that I mean
that action cuts aren't properly timed, and the rhythm of the cutting could
be more effective in supporting the violence he was portraying. (Yep timed
differently, it could probably have been even more grotesque!) It is normal
in the UK for a film to spend at 6 months going in and out of the cutting
room. In Japan,  If I am right, it is rare to spend more than a month
editing.

That aside, though, I do think Miike is an extremely talented film maker. He
seems knows exactly what he needs to shoot, and there is a great economy to
the way that he works. Audition feels a little bit like a more blatantly
twisted Truffaut film to me.  I hope to God he wants to be more than just be
Japan's John Woo. Choreography is not the strongest card he has in his pack.
(I suppose if he took a couple of years off and joined a Chinese theatre
school he could be up there.)

Thanks to Stephen too for another frank and informative posting. Once more
the scales have fallen from my eyes, and I feel fully mired in the ways of
the world. It will be interesting to see if the power of the "gatekeepers"
(sounds a
bit like something out of the Lord of Rings, though) increases or decreases,
if the Asian film market continues to attract big money from American
distributors, eager to break into China.

These sorts of goings on aren't technically illegal, I don't think. But it
is interesting to note that the philosopher Roger Scruton, who wrote a
countryside column for the FT, has just been sacked for failing to declare
payments he was receiving as a lobbyist for Japan Tobacco.   Recently there
have also been a few "outings" of Hollywood journalists who have been
receiving kick-backs for plugging films.


All the best,


Gavin


----------
>From: Stephen Cremin <asianfilmlibrary at mac.com>
>To: KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu
>Subject: Re: Festival-Savvy, was Koroshiya Ichi/Ichi The Killer
>Date: Sun, Jan 27, 2002, 6:16 pm
>

> So what makes a sales agent "festival savvy"?  Exploiting the
> insecurities of festivals programmers.  Finding ways to getting money to
> "gatekeepers" as subtitlers (doesn't matter if they only speak English),
> consultants, or press book writers.  And make festival-friendly films,
> even if they haven't got a chance at the domestic or international box
> office.