The Sun

[Eija Margit Niskanen]

> Also Issey Miyake writes his name with a y, so why not other Issei/ys 
> as well?
Eya from Tokio

> As for the Romanization "Issey" instead of "Issei" -- I say it's his 
> name
> and thus his choice. Sometimes it's hard to tell if a Japanese actor 
> really
> wants a "non-standard" Romanization for his name, but Ogata has been 
> using
> "Issey" for years, so we can assume it's his idea, not that of a former
> English major in the kokusaibu.
>
> If Mick Jagger's girlfriend can get away with spelling her first name
> "L'Wren" (which is quite clever actually), why not Ogata with "Issey"?
>
> M'Arc Schilling
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "J.sharp" <j.sharp at hpo.net>
> To: <KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu>
> Sent: Thursday, October 06, 2005 1:18 AM
> Subject: The Sun
>
>
> Just had a chance to catch Russian director Sukorov's THE SUN, about 
> the
> Emperor Hirohito yesterday, and wasnt really sure what to make of it, 
> so I
> was wondering what the general consensus on the list was.
> The reviews in the UK have been positive from what I have seen, 
> praising
> Issey Ogata's central performance with words like "powerful" and
> "captivating".
> I came out of the cinema with rather mixed feelings. The first half is
> incredibly slow - no surprise with this particular director. You know 
> its a
> bad sign when you first check your watch only 17 minutes into the 
> film. I
> did wonder if I was going to make it all the way through, but 
> fortunately
> things did pick up from their.
> The high point of the film is the fictionalised hypothetical encounter
> between Hirohito and General MacArthur after Japan's defeat, and I was
> reminded in interviews that Hirohito had no interest in trying to 
> recreate
> this encounter with any patricular historical veracity. There's no way 
> he
> could have, as the conversations all took place between the two in 
> secret
> and behind closed doors.
> So what really remains at the end is an atmospheric character study, 
> based
> on what Sukorov imagined the characters to be like. MacArthur mouths 
> the
> line that he thought the emperor was childlike, and basically this is 
> the
> way he is portrayed in the film - a bumbling, detached character who is
> compared at one point to Charlie Chaplin. I imagine this sort of thing
> wouldnt go down too well in Japan. I was also a little annoyed by the 
> main
> actors constant fish-mouth actions, which seemed a little overdone for 
> my
> liking.
> As I said, I am still wondering if the film is any good, or if a 
> director
> such as Sukorov is seen as beyond proper criticism by the critics, so 
> any
> opinions would be greatly welcomed.
> Where has the film screened so far? Will it get a Japanese release?
>
> Jasper Sharp
>
>
>
>
>
>
> --
> 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
>
>
>
> ________________________________________________
> Message sent using Hunter Point Online WebMail
>