The end of mini-theaters?

[Alex Zahlten]

There does seem to be a market for older films that is supported mostly by older cinephiles - let's not forget there is a demographic in retirement, or going into retirement (and therefore with time on their hands), that grew up when going to the theater was still one of the main forms of entertainment.

Minitheaters are in a lot of hot water right now, and I think there are a lot of reasons for this. The closing down of these theaters (and there are more closures to come) means that choice (in the movie theaters) will be become more narrow. But I think it's important not to idealize minitheaters either. They were very much a part of the bubble era consumer culture, a strategy deliberately used by large corporations and city administrations for designing certain quarters of the city as consumption hubs. And while they supported film culture, they also - as a whole, I'm not talking about specific theaters here - helped push it in the direction of a fashionable and essentially non-political event. Which, of course, eventually goes out of fashion.

Also, the minitheater boom of the 1980s was largely fueled by synergies with the video market; it was common practice to cooperate to gather funds for buying a film, as the emerging video market desperately needed films, and the minitheaters were great for initial advertising. In that sense too, minitheaters helped introduce home viewing, which has now become a big problem.

On the other hand, the financial difficulties minitheaters are experiencing mean that they have trouble buying screening rights for films (both domestic and foreign). In consequence, the last 2 years have seen a big increase in screenings of very low-budget - often jishu - films from Japan, usually as program supplements in early or late shows (as the theaters barely have to pay anything for them). It has never been easier for young directors to get their films screened at theaters in Tokyo right now. Of course, this will not last if the theaters close down...

Alex





-------- Original-Nachricht --------
> Datum: Sat, 8 Jan 2011 09:55:10 -0500
> Von: shota ogawa <shota.ogawa at gmail.com>
> An: KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu
> Betreff: Re: The end of mini-theaters?

> Could this be attributed to the general shift of young audience's
> preference
> of Japanese films over foreign films?
> 
> Also, two summers ago, I was struck by some new cinemas in Tokyo that were
> devoted to showing Japanese films mostly from the 50s and 60s, often in
> double-bills.
> 
> Shinbungeiza in Ikebukuro seems to be run by the Pachinko giant Maruhan.
> Both Laputa (ogikubo?) and Cinema Vera (shibuya) are, I think, founded by
> a
> cineaste business man
> and a lawyer respectively. Perhaps these cinemas are not new (and the
> tradition of meiga-za certainly is not), but
> does anyone know if these Meiga-za are doing relatively well?
> 
> shota
> 
> 
> 
> On Sat, Jan 8, 2011 at 9:26 AM, amy loa <amyloart at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> > Oh my god!
> > That is a really bad news. What is happening in this world. Seems all
> the
> > lovely things are disappearing;-(
> > Should not we do something to save what we love???
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > 2011/1/8 Aaron Gerow <aaron.gerow at yale.edu>
> >
> > The news services announce that Cine Saison, one of the most important
> >> mini-theaters in Tokyo since the 1980s, will be closing at the end of
> >> February. This follows the announcement about the Ebisu Garden Cinema,
> which
> >> will close at the end of this month. While both specialized in foreign
> >> films, the news only adds to speculations and fears that mini-theaters,
> one
> >> of the only venues for alternative foreign and domestic cinema in Japan
> >> against the stranglehold of the multiplexes, are dying off.
> >>
> >> Aaron Gerow
> >> KineJapan owner
> >>
> >> Associate Professor
> >> Film Studies Program/East Asian Languages and Literatures
> >> Yale University
> >>
> >> For list commands, send "information kinejapan" to
> >> listserver at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu
> >> Kinema Club: http://pears.lib.ohio-state.edu/Markus/Welcome.html
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >
> >
> > --
> > Whatever is worth doing at all is worth doing well.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> 
> 
> -- 
> ----------------------------------------
> Shota Ogawa
> Ph.D. Student
> Graduate Program in Visual and Cultural Studies
> 424 Morey Hall
> University of Rochester
> Rochester, NY 14627
> Eastman-eiga ?Japanese? <http://d.hatena.ne.jp/Eastman-eiga/>
> OnFilm Project (English) <http://www.rochester.edu/College/onfilm/>
> ----------------------------------------

-- 
alex at nipponconnection.de

Empfehlen Sie GMX DSL Ihren Freunden und Bekannten und wir
belohnen Sie mit bis zu 50,- Euro! https://freundschaftswerbung.gmx.de