Somai Shinji

[tanaka taro]

Thanks Stefan. I also heard about this catalogue from Roland Domenig and 
Hirasawa Go (who will also contribute to the Jeonju catalogue, along with 
Yomota Inuhiko and two Koreans). I'm trying to get a copy through the Japan 
Foundation office in Cologne. 
(Typhoon Club and Ohikkoshi were also broadcasted on the German/French 
TV-channel ARTE at some point, which we are fortunate to receive here in 
Belgium as well)

Also thanks to Mark for the information. I never had a chance to meet Somai 
myself, but from interviews in Japanese magazines one can easily get the 
impression that self-promotion was not his strong point indeed.

Luk Van Haute


>From: nuzumaki at gmx.net
>Reply-To: KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu
>To: KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu
>Subject: Re: Somai Shinji
>Date: Sun, 27 Feb 2005 15:24:04 +0100 (MET)
>
>if your are looking for more information about somai shinji, there was 
along
>with the retrospective in germany, also a small catalouge published (i 
think
>the text was by olaf mler). i have to look up first, but what i 
can
>remeber it is in german only.
>
>best regards,
>
>stefan nutz
>
>
> > Somai's Typhoon Club won the Grand Prix at the first Tokyo Film 
Festival
> > in
> > 1985. Moving (Ohikkoshi) was screened in the Un Certain Regard section 
at
> > Cannes in 1993. And Wait and See (Ah, Haru) was awarded the FIPRESCI
> > (International critics prize) at Berlin in 1999.
> >
> > So Somai didn't totally strike out on the festival circuit. Why didn't 
he
> > gain more traction? He often worked in a genre, seishun eiga, that got
> > little critical respect. His timing wasn't great, but he could have 
better
> > ridden the Japanese New Wave of the 1990s. Moving had a more visible
> > platform at Cannes in 1993 than did Kitano's Sonatine, which only 
screened
> > in the market -- but we know which film the Western critics whooped up,
> > don't we?
> >
> > Why didn't they also whoop up Moving, a coming-of-age masterpiece? I 
did
> > my
> > little bit in The Japan Times and elsewhere -- but Somai didn't much 
help
> > his own cause. When I interviewed him at Cannes, he struck me as smart,
> > sensitive and very, very shy.As in no eye contact and voice just above 
a
> > whisper. Not the type to dazzle the foreign press with his witty 
repartee.
> > (I believe he spent as much of the festival as possible in his hotel
> > room.)Then there was the matter of the film itself, which did not fit 
any
> > of
> > the then trendy categories (extremely violent, cleverly subversive 
action
> > pic, etc.) So it quietly sank out of sight, as did its director.
> >
> > I compliment the Jeonju festival for raising up him and his criminally
> > under-appreciated films.
> >
> > Mark Schilling
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "tanaka taro" <tarouttt at hotmail.com>
> > To: <KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu>
> > Sent: Sunday, February 27, 2005 7:13 PM
> > Subject: Somai Shinji
> >
> >
> > >
> > > Hello everyone,
> > >
> > > I am writing a piece on Somai Shinji for the catalogue of the 
upcoming
> > > Jeonju International Film Festival (April 28-May 6), which will show 
8
> > > Somai films in a retrospective.
> > > One of the things I'm looking into is Somai's reception (or rather 
lack
> > > thereof) outside of Japan, which already came up on this list a few 
days
> > > ago.
> > > Video and dvd-releases are one thing, but I was wondering if any of 
you
> > > know of other festivals (or events) which have paid attention (gave
> > prizes)
> > > to Somai's work in the past, or places where his films got a 
theatrical
> > > release. I've only heard of one retrospective organised by the Japan
> > > Foundation in Germany a few years ago.
> > >
> > > I wonder how much the reason why so little has been written about him 
in
> > > the West has to do with the age to which the main part of his work
> > belongs,
> > > as the eighties in general are largely overlooked (or dismissed as 
the
> > > decade when Japanese cinema was as good as dead).
> > >
> > > Many thanks for any suggestions you may have,
> > > Luk Van Haute
> > >
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