new "youth film'?

David Desser desser at uiuc.edu
Thu Apr 24 23:01:38 EDT 2008


Thanks to all who have replied so far.  Very interesting and helpful!

I think Aaron has added to what I had in mind with the notion of a kind of
youth collective.  That is why I hadn't included the youth films of Iwai --
though he is certainly an auteur of youth -- gentle (April Story, Love
Letter) and not-so-gentle (All About Lily Chou-chou).  And Aaron is also
right to think that I imagine this as a kind of generic film "cycle" since,
of course, children's films and youth films date back quite a ways in
Japanese film history - Shimizu Hiroshi made quite a few and a number of
films of Ozu also come to mind.  And the Naruse film mentioned by Michael
Kerpan sounds intriguing. 

I also appreciate Rob Smith's idea that the genre is not confined to Japan,
as in the Taiwanese films he mentioned.  Youth films of a certain kind
predominate in the cinemas of Yang, Hou and Tsai, but hardly are in the
"gentle" category I have in mind, so it's good to know there are more recent
films that seem to fit the notion I'm developing.

As for Take Care of My Cat:  wonderful film, but not quite in the category
I'm thinking of.  This is a bit more bittersweet than sweet, about the
(inevitable) breakup of what once was a kind of collective.  I also can't
think of other Korean youth films that work quite the same way as the
Japanese films I started out with.

David

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu
[mailto:owner-KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu] On Behalf Of Aaron Gerow
Sent: Thursday, April 24, 2008 8:53 PM
To: KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu
Subject: Re: new "youth film'?

As with any genre or film cycle, there is the problem of definition.  
David cites films that I consider quite similar narratively: they  
featured not just gentle youth, but youth getting together in a  
collective to succeed at some unusual task in an atmosphere that is  
rather light, comedic, and positive. In this more exclusive  
definition, many of the films mentioned by others would not fit.  
Sekachu and other melodramatic works seem to me to have different  
world views. But some, like Nana would probably work. It definitely  
overlaps with some sports narratives like Touch or Ganbatte ikimassho.

Yaguchi seemed to be making this a cottage industry, but note that  
Suo did it much earlier with Shiko funjatta. It also doesn't quite  
work as an auteurist trait, given that Yaguchi's first two features  
are a bit more satirical if not cynical, and don't really feature  
collectives.

Note also that Waterboys was turned into a TV drama as well. And  
there are manga like Nodame no kantabire that could fit in this  
phenomenon as well.

David posits the interesting hypothesis that some youth films could  
be considered as working as alternatives to more horrific tales of  
youth. Perhaps in that formula, the definition based on narrative  
structure that I propose above is not necessary, but I do feel that  
if we accept this hypothesis, we should consider that different kinds  
of youth films offer different alternatives.


 




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