Inugoe: Yet another dog movie

[Stephen Cremin]

Follow the money.  QUILL made US$18m in Japan and did great overseas:  
US$1.2m in Taipei (perhaps double that in Taiwan as a whole), another  
US$1.8m in Hong Kong.

But in Taiwan at least there's been diminishing returns: ALL ABOUT MY  
DOG and GOODBYE, KURO combined did less than 10% of the box office of  
QUILL.  Taiwan, a pet-loving nation, had its fill of dog movies in  
QUILL and has moved on to films with other animals including  
penguins, foxes, hippos, etc.  (Elephants didn't working out so well  
with SHINING BOY AND LITTLE RANDY making only US$30,000 in Taipei,  
but that's because audiences seemed to think it was a Thai film and  
not a Japanese movie.)

So, I guess Japanese producers think there's still money to be made.   
But perhaps the dog has had its day at the box office.

Stephen



On Dec 16, 2005, at 7:02 PM, J.sharp wrote:

> Hi everyone,
>
> My attention was drawn the other day to yet another movie ? due to be
> released in Japan next February- featuring a dog. It?s called  
> INUGOE, and
> features one of those ugly little mutts with bulbous eyes.
>
> In the past few years there have been at least 5 other dog movies I  
> can
> think of offhand: Takahisa Zeze?s DOG STAR, Yoichi Sai?s QUILL,  
> WALKING WITH
> THE DOG, SAYONARA KURO and the Takachise Ishige-produced ALL ABOUT  
> MY DOG. I
> wonder what has sparked off this seemingly endless string of them,  
> and do
> people REALLY go and watch them ? I know Makoto Shinozaki told me that
> WALKING WITH THE DOG was not a big hit at all.
>
> But my main question is why now? The dog movie, or rather the  
> animal movie
> in general, seemed to be a big thing during the 80s, with films  
> such as
> ANTARTICA (NANGOKU MONOGATARI), THE ADVENTURES OF MILO AND OTIS  
> (CHATRAN
> MONOGATARI) and I know there was also a film about a fox ? it had  
> KITSUNE in
> the title, can?t remember the exact title. I am sure I have missed  
> a few.
> There?s also been a change in shift in the role of the animal ? in  
> the 80s,
> they were anthropomorphized proxies for their less adventurous human
> counterparts, charging across antartica and saving the world, while  
> in the
> 90s, they seem to be sniffling panaceas for any ailing human  
> relationship.
>
> With all this talk recently of writers and academics (not to  
> mention DVD and
> theatrical distributors, who actually have a lot more power than  
> the other
> two) constructing an image of Japan through the films they focus  
> upon, I am
> wondering why no one has thought about covering this peculiar yet  
> enduringly
> popular strain of cinema in more depth. I had thought it would make an
> interesting article in theory, but have been rather put off by the  
> fact that
> it would mean I?d actually have to watch all these films.
>
> In the meantime, Tokyo dog-lovers don?t despair- there?s a new British
> remake of Lassie starring Samantha Morton and Peter O?Toole just  
> out in the
> UK. The critics have been very enthusiastic, but somehow I just  
> can?t get
> excited. However, I am pretty sure it will prove very lucrative in the
> Japanese market.
>
> Jasper
>
> --
> Midnight Eye: The Latest and Best in Japanese Cinema
> www.midnighteye.com
>
> ===
>
> Available now in bookstores everywhere:
> The Midnight Eye Guide to New Japanese Film (Stone Bridge Press)
> by Tom Mes and Jasper Sharp
> http://www.midnighteye.com/features/midnighteye_guide.shtml
> "Easily one of the most important books on Japanese cinema ever  
> released in
> English."
> - Newtype USA
>
>
>
>
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