North Korea in Japanese Cinema since 1990

[J.sharp]

I'm pretty sure Shiri kicked off the kanryu boom  - before that no one ever
thought a Korean film would be popular in Japan.

North Korean spies are at the heart of the quest for Goege Bush's replica
finger in Mitsuru Meike's The Glamorous Life of Sachiko Hanai, now available
on subbed DVD in the US - great family fun although the political aspect of
this film is rather simplistic admittedly.

While on the subject of pink, there was a hilarious TV report of veteran
director Shinya Yamamoto, now a fairly famous TV personality, taking one of
his recent (non-pink) films to the 2004 Pyongyang Film Festival. Did anyone
else see this? It was very funny.

I second Aaron's recommendation for The New God / Atarashii kami-sama, which
should be pretty easy to get to see (even more so in the next few days,
though I'll have more to say on that later) - it features a sequence of
Karin Amamiya meeting with the Yogo-go hijackers in Pyongyang.

Outside of a Japanese context, I wonder if you've ever seen any of the
trilogy of documentaries by Daniel Gordan? A State of Mind / Crossing the
Line / The Game of their Lives - nothing relevant to Japan, but films about
North Korea are so rare these are definitely worth seeing.


Finally, outside of film, if you can read Japanese (and not at a
particularly sophisticated level either) there's a fascinating book called
Kim Jong Il's Chef (Kim Jong Il no ryourinin), which as the title suggests,
is an account by a top sushi chef invited over to Pyongyang to work in a new
hotel over there, and ends up personal chef to the great dictator himself -
unfortunately they wouldnt let him leave afterwards! The chef in question,
Kenji Fujimoto has made something of a career for himself after his return
talking bout his experiences.

See Amazon:
http://www.amazon.co.jp/%E9%87%91%E6%AD%A3%E6%97%A5%E3%81%AE%E6%96%99%E7%90%86%E4%BA%BA%E2%80%95%E9%96%93%E8%BF%91%E3%81%A7%E8%A6%8B%E3%81%9F%E6%A8%A9%E5%8A%9B%E8%80%85%E3%81%AE%E7%B4%A0%E9%A1%94-%E8%97%A4%E6%9C%AC-%E5%81%A5%E4%BA%8C/dp/459404106X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/249-9487335-7601138?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1181147186&sr=8-1

and
http://www.amazon.co.jp/%E9%87%91%E6%AD%A3%E6%97%A5%E3%81%AE%E7%A7%81%E7%94%9F%E6%B4%BB%E2%80%95%E7%9F%A5%E3%82%89%E3%82%8C%E3%81%96%E3%82%8B%E6%8B%9B%E5%BE%85%E6%89%80%E3%81%AE%E5%85%A8%E8%B2%8C-%E8%97%A4%E6%9C%AC-%E5%81%A5%E4%BA%8C/dp/4594046819/ref=sr_1_2/249-9487335-7601138?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1181147186&sr=8-2


As films about Zainichi resident in Japan, there are so many I dont know
where to start - mayb with Tetsuaki Matsue's documentary about his family
Anyong Kimchee. However, I guess this is not really the type of thing you
are after.

Hope this helps.

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



> > Date: Wed, 6 Jun 2007 14:39:53 +0100> From: badotaku at gmail.com>
To: KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu> Subject: North Korea in Japanese
Cinema since 1990> > I am a Politics student writing my Masters on
North Korea and fear in > Japan. As a means of tapping popular sentiment,
I was hoping to examine > some movies that depict North Korea or North
Koreans (or hot topics, > such as fushinsen or the abduction issue) from
the Japanese perspective. > I hope I can pick the brains of some of the
forum members on this issue. > If anyone can think of any films between
1990 and today that fit the > bill, I would be very glad to hear about
them.> > I can only think of Nihon igai zenbu chinbotsu off hand.
Perhaps > Umizaru, although I am not sure if the film is as relevant as I
hear the > drama might be. Apart from those, does anyone know how popular
Shiri > (Swiri, 1999 - South Korean movie by Kang Je-gyu) in Japan?>
> Any help would be appreciated,> > With kind regards,> >
James SimpsonHotmail to go? Get your Hotmail, news, sports and much more!  
Check out the New MSN Mobile
>

________________________________________________
Message sent using Hunter Point Online WebMail