[KineJapan] Right wing cinema

Marc Walkow marcwalkow at earthlink.net
Wed Feb 19 09:39:47 EST 2014 

Wow - I had no idea. 
Seems like it was only uploaded a month ago. Maybe they got tired of waiting for some film festival to notice them?

Marc


On Feb 19, 2014, at 5:23 AM, Jasper Sharp wrote:

> Sorry, my computer just fired off that email without my having posted the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ODh9L_Nf0s
> 
> Anyway, it seems it has been uploaded legitimately by the films producers, so you can watch without the guilt of knowing you are ripping someone off.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The Creeping Garden - A Real-Life Science-Fiction Story about Slime Moulds and the People Who Work With them. Currently in production, directed by Tim Grabham and Jasper Sharp. 
> 
> The Historical Dictionary of Japanese Cinema (2011) is out now from Scarecrow Press
> 
> Midnight Eye - Visions of Japanese cinema
> http://www.midnighteye.com
> 
> 
> 
> From: jasper_sharp at hotmail.com
> To: kinejapan at lists.service.ohio-state.edu
> Subject: RE: [KineJapan] Right wing cinema
> Date: Wed, 19 Feb 2014 10:22:31 +0000
> 
> Well, you can easily find out now, as the whole film appears to have been uploaded to youtube:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The Creeping Garden - A Real-Life Science-Fiction Story about Slime Moulds and the People Who Work With them. Currently in production, directed by Tim Grabham and Jasper Sharp. 
> 
> The Historical Dictionary of Japanese Cinema (2011) is out now from Scarecrow Press
> 
> Midnight Eye - Visions of Japanese cinema
> http://www.midnighteye.com
> 
> 
> 
> > Date: Wed, 19 Feb 2014 10:13:51 +0000
> > From: jimharper666 at yahoo.co.uk
> > To: kinejapan at lists.service.ohio-state.edu
> > Subject: Re: [KineJapan] Right wing cinema
> > 
> > Hello!
> > 
> > I'd be very interested in knowing which (alleged) rock star was involved with that feature, if anyone comes across the name.
> > 
> > Best,
> > 
> > Jim Harper.
> > 
> > --------------------------------------------
> > On Wed, 19/2/14, Marc Walkow <marcwalkow at earthlink.net> wrote:
> > 
> > Subject: Re: [KineJapan] Right wing cinema
> > To: "Japanese Cinema Discussion Forum" <kinejapan at lists.service.ohio-state.edu>
> > Date: Wednesday, 19 February, 2014, 4:44
> > 
> > Markus - bizarre
> > you mention that film! I was hired by the company
> > distributing it in Japan, or at least the company who'd
> > produced it, to try to get it booked at overseas film
> > festivals, along with an action film they also
> > produced. 
> > The action film was innocuous enough, if not very
> > well-made or interesting in terms of cast or director's
> > name, and played at a couple of small festivals. But the
> > documentary - called SENKAKU ROCK - didn't generate any
> > interest at all. Not surprisingly, I think. Few overseas
> > people who aren't already interested in either Chinese
> > or Japanese issues have even heard of the Senkaku dispute,
> > and I think those who had might have been scared off by the
> > nationalist feelings expressed in the film. It also
> > wasn't even feature-length, only about 45 minutes long,
> > which made programming difficult. (Of course, nobody had
> > heard of the rock star in it, either.) 
> > The film itself was pretty harmless, I felt.
> > It's presented with a kind of feel-good nationalist
> > tone, if that makes any sense, concentrating on personal and
> > national pride rather than demonizing the Chinese, for the
> > most part. The rocker plays a depressingly tiny concert in
> > Okinawa, then sets out on a boat with a right-wing politico
> > to set foot on one of the Senkaku islands and plant a
> > Japanese flag. It gets interesting at this point, because
> > they run into various problems before being picked up by
> > Japanese maritime police, but manage to land after all, and
> > even play two national rallying-cry songs. 
> > I'm not sure who you might have met, maybe
> > the director (who was also on the boat to the island, of
> > course). I'd met a couple of the company members who
> > were flogging it overseas in Yubari last year, but don't
> > remember their names and I don't think the guy you met
> > was among them. Small world - I thought nobody had ever
> > heard of this movie other than me!
> > If any members of this mailing list is interested
> > in seeing it privately, I can provide a password-protected
> > Vimeo link. Just email me separately, please.
> > Marc
> > 
> > 
> > On Feb 18, 2014, at 11:23 PM, Markus Nornes
> > wrote:
> > Anecdotally, one of my strong
> > experiences of the last Yamagata festival occurred late at
> > night at Komian Club (the venue everyone gathers at after
> > the films). I noticed a slightly awkward looking fellow
> > flitting from one clutch of people to the other. At some
> > point, it was my turn. He pushed a chirashi into my hand. It
> > was a film he had produced about the Senkaku Islands, and
> > featuring some aged rock star. Probably because I didn't
> > turn and walk away from him, he become increasingly agitated
> > as he described his film and explained Japan's natural
> > right to the rocks—along with China's pernicious
> > claims to sovereignty. After a few minutes, his eyes started
> > to gleam and thanks to his vigorous, clipped speech he began
> > foaming at the mouth. Becoming nervous, I found an excuse to
> > hand him off to the next poor soul. The pattern continued
> > until the end of the festival, I noticed. What amazed me was
> > the way his body language and speech took on the conventions
> > of the New Order films—think Abe Yutaka's war films,
> > for example. I'd actually like to see his film. He
> > wanted me to buy the rights and distribute it for him, but
> > didn't offer a screener. 
> > 
> > Markus
> > 
> > On Tue, Feb 18, 2014
> > at 10:38 PM, Gerow Aaron <aaron.gerow at yale.edu>
> > wrote:
> > 
> > I had
> > forgotten to respond to this, sorry.
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > There are many ways one could talk about right wing cinema.
> > Personally, I would argue it was more marginal to what at
> > least the film studios and film critics wanted to say was
> > Japanese film culture. What has changed now is this marginal
> > status.
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > Shintoho of course had its Meiji Tenno films, but those
> > occupied an odd position, especially next to the eruguro
> > Shintoho was also selling.
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > Clearly there were a lot of war films. Some talk of films by
> > Matsubayashi Shu'e or Abe Yutaka as rightist, in part
> > because of their backgrounds, though Matsubayashi also made
> > some great comedies. And Abe's Senkan Yamato is very
> > different from Otokotachi no Yamato. Also, not a small
> > number of war films were anti-war films, and others, like
> > Okamoto's Gurentai films or the Heitai yakuza films,
> > made mockery of the military.
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > Isolde Standish has written about some of the war films and
> > masculinity. Yoshikuni Igarashi has written about recent
> > kamikaze films. I have several articles on Japan Focus about
> > recent neo-nationalist war and fantasy films, one of which
> > is a shorter version of a much longer piece about Yamato
> > films that is forthcoming.
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > Aaron Gerow
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > On Feb 15, 2014, at 8:40 AM, Peter Larson wrote:
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > > All,
> > 
> > >
> > 
> > > A friend and I were discussing the recent success of
> > Eien no zero (a recent war piece about Kamikaze pilots in
> > WWII) in the context of the recent "resurgence"
> > (did they ever go away?) of right wingers in Japanese
> > politics.
> > 
> > 
> > >
> > 
> > > It seems like every few years a film with nationalist
> > undertones comes out of Japan. Does anyone know if anyone
> > has ever done any work on right wing cinema?
> > 
> > >
> > 
> > > Pete
> > 
> > >
> > _______________________________________________
> > 
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> > 
> > > KineJapan at lists.service.ohio-state.edu
> > 
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> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > _______________________________________________
> > 
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> > 
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> > 
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> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > -- 
> > Markus
> > NornesChair,
> > Department of Screen Arts and Cultures
> > Professor of Asian Cinema,
> > Department of Asian Languages and CulturesProfessor, School of Art &
> > Design
> > 
> > Department of Screen Arts and
> > Cultures
> > 6348 North
> > Quad105 S. State
> > StreetAnn Arbor, MI
> > 48109-1285
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
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