Kokusai Chikagekijo on Youtube

[Eija Niskanen]

Mitani Koki's Magic Hour is kind of an homage to old Toho action (as
well as to classical Hollywood comedy) - the "hero" (played by Sato
Koichi) spends his free time in an old theater watching a Toho yakuza
classic over and over again. I think it is a set, though, as
everything in Magic Hour is.

Eija

On Tue, Nov 3, 2009 at 1:31 AM, =%UTF-8?Q?Alo_J=C3=B5ekalda?=
<alojoekalda at gmail.com> wrote:
> It seems I have been missing the best part of Shinsekai! I sure hope
> the theatre is still there the next time I pay a visit. Speaking of
> which, while historical movie theatres are increasingly hard to come
> by in Japan, they do make the occasional appearance in films. Any
> prominent examples that spring to mind? There was, after all, over
> 7,000 theatres in Japan in the industry's heyday...
>
> The few titles I can think of:
> - the Hama Maiku films,
> - Suzuki Seijun's "Yaju no seishun" (Youth of the Beast) -- the yakuza
> gang that has set up shop behind the movie screen (and storms out the
> front entrance of the cinema like regular moviegoers) is a brilliantly
> suggestive touch,
> - "Subarashiki kyujitsu", Kitano's memorable contribution to "To Each
> His Own Cinema" -- although the theatre does not look like it could be
> real,
> - several works by Wakamatsu -- I recall a lengthy scene in the Koma
> Gekijo area in "Teroru no kisetsu", glimpsing the Kokusai Meigaza in
> "Riyu naki boko", and the final shootout in the latter film takes
> place in front of no less than the Sasori-za.
>
> Sasori-za is actually something I am very curious about. I am writing
> my thesis on ATG (or rather it's role in the development of
> independent cinema in 1960s), which involves going through a lot of
> materials on the Art Theatre Shinjuku Bunka. Consequently, I have been
> mulling over what the exact configuration of the cinema might have
> been like. There is a handful of images in Kuzui Kinshiro's books, the
> 2003 Viennale program catalogue and the like, but none of them include
> a significant part of the building, let alone the surroundings. I
> think it is safe to assume Shinjuku Bunka stood where the Shinjuku
> Bunka Biru (with Kadokawa Cinema and Cinemart on the upper storeys)
> stands today, with the main entrance towards Meiji-dori. Where does
> that leave Sasori-za, though? Perhaps the far corner on the southern
> side, where they have a small entrance these days? Shinjuku being what
> it is, the aforementioned Wakamatsu does not quite unmuddy the waters
> either.
>
> Alo Joekalda
>
> 2009/11/2 Nornes, Markus <amnornes at umich.edu>:
>> I stumbled over a curious collection of youtube videos that are nothing but
>> loving pans over the front of the Shinsekai Kokusai Gekijo (Naniwa, Osaka).
>> It’s an old neighborhood theater, with Hollywood films running in the main
>> theater and a screen for pink bills in the basement (naturally). This might
>> be one of the last movie theaters out there where their billboards out front
>> are all hand painted. Check it out:
>>
>> http://www.youtube.com/user/francedeforce#p/u/347/AksGR1cbxiQ
>>
>> It makes you wish you could watch youtube videos of Taisho Era Asakusa.
>>
>> Markus
>



-- 
Eija Niskanen
c/o Fujita
Kichijoji Honcho 4-12-6
Musashino-shi
Tokyo 180-0004