Kinema Club V in Tokyo: post-mortem 1 (J + E)

[M Arnold]

I kept meaning to write up a few comments about KCV but never got around to 
it. With another big KC event around the corner, maybe now is a good time 
for it. I don't have a lot of time right now so I'll just mention a few 
things.

Misono Ryoko published an essay about KCV in the September 2005 issue of 
Mirai. I also wrote a small article (in very clumsy Japanese) for the July 
23 issue of Tosho Shinbun. One issue we both mentioned is Rey Chow. There 
seemed to be a very mixed reaction following her Japan Foundation 
presentation on Kurosawa's "No Regrets for Our Youth." The comments I heard 
from scholars and students in Tokyo were along the lines that Chow's theory 
was too far out of touch with Japanese (Kurosawa's?) film history.

This is similar to one of the worries that kept popping up as we were 
planning for the event last spring. A number of people I spoke to behind the 
scenes in Tokyo were afraid that there would be a lot of friction between 
the very theoretical approach of scholars and students from the U.S. and 
overseas, and the more historical and research-oriented approach of those 
from Japan. Of course when the panels got rolling it was obvious things 
weren't so clear-cut, but that question was lurking in the back of people's 
minds . . . Come to think of it, this is an issue that I've discussed with 
other Kinema Clubbers at previous events too, although not across the same 
national boundaries.

I thought the Oshii Mamoru presentation was one of the highlights of the 
entire conference, "kamiattenai" or otherwise. Very interesting points came 
out when the conversation trailed off this way and that. At the obligatory 
post-event nomikai, Oshii was a very pleasant and talkative fellow, chatting 
about baseball and trips overseas, definitely not fitting the reputation (at 
least the one I heard) of being an introverted, nervous anime auteur. And as 
expected, he's a great film fan. I mentioned Suzuki Seijun to him and his 
eyes sure lit up. He did say he hated being on the set while directing 
though.

I found a few blog entries with comments about the Oshii/Lamarre/Ueno talk:
http://d.hatena.ne.jp/ozim/20050624 (Ozim)
http://usayama.exblog.jp/3005041/
http://sixaplusoneo.net/jp/2005/06/27_010412.php

Oshii's new film comes out this spring:
http://www.tachiguishi.com/top.html

Michael Arnold