[KineJapan] Kaze ni tatsu Lion

[Peter Larson]

Miike's film was shown with Japanese subtitles from the domestic theatrical
version for all the English, Swahili, Maa and Turkana. Overlapped were
English subtitles for all the Japanese. The films shown at the embassy are
subtitled in English. In Nairobi, just about everyone speaks English.

The Japanese actors in Kaze ni tatsu Lion all all had to speak English at
various points with various level of fluency. Ozawa Takao was probably the
weakest of the bunch, actually but as some of the actors were recruited
from our local Japanese staff, he had some pretty tough competition to deal
with. Unfortunately, the producers didn't have them speaking Swahili which
would have been more appropriate, given the setting and probably easier to
deliver.

I was most surprised that the Kenyans picked up on all of the cues in the
Nagasaki portions of the film. I figured some of it would be lost on them,
but they laughed at all the appropriate places.

Miike's team was only here for a short time but I thought they did a good
job of taking the advice of the people around them (both Kenyans and
Japanese) for the film. I'm hoping that other productions come here at some
point (as does Kenya!).

It would be interesting to do an analysis of Japanese films made on the
Continent, particularly in Kenya and particularly in light of Japan's odd
but lasting connection here. Japan has been here since independence and at
one time was the largest donor of foreign aid to Kenya, out-sizing even the
Americans and the Brits.



On Tue, Sep 29, 2015 at 5:33 PM, Roger Macy <macyroger at yahoo.co.uk> wrote:

> Thanks, Peter for this interesting report.
>
> Could I ask about the languages ?  Are the monthly embassy screenings just
> with english subtitles ?  Similarly for Miike's film ?  And how about in
> the film - how was it conveyed, if at all, when it wasn't japanese that the
> characters would be speaking.
>
> Roger
>
> ------------------------------
> *From:* Peter Larson <pslarson2 at gmail.com>
> *To:* Japanese Cinema Discussion Forum <KineJapan at lists.osu.edu>;
> Japanese Cinema Discussion Forum <kinejapan at lists.service.ohio-state.edu>
> *Sent:* Tuesday, 29 September 2015, 12:17
> *Subject:* [KineJapan] Kaze ni tatsu Lion
>
> The movie is not my personal favorite, but I went to a screening here in
> Nairobi, Kenya of Miike Takashi's "Kaze ni Tatsu Lion" filmed partially
> here in Kenya.
>
> Again, not the greatest of films (a lot of it is downright odd if you live
> here), but it was good to see the Kenyan audience react so
> enthusiastically. Not that Japanese audiences would ever pick up on it, but
> Miike took some serious liberties with the facts, placing people from the
> Lake region in a desert region in the north. I suppose it is just as odd as
> the theme song by Sada Masashi, which places flamingoes native to Lake
> Naivasha at Lake Victoria where they don't exist.
>
> Those were the more minor oddities. I was more perplexed by the constant
> publicity for Nagasaki, which were most certainly compensated somehow and
> the odd peace-nicking and finger pointing at people fighting in the
> Sudanese Civil War. It's a war. Yes, people will go back to it once they've
> recovered from their wounds at a hospital. Actually, the whole treatment of
> the war was fairly thin (but not surprising for an entertainment film).
>
> Not sure why it was even relevant. The main character was based in Nakuru,
> not Turkana and never saw people from the war. Worse yet, the real guy
> isn't dead, unlike in the movie (though the book might be to blame).
>
> The Minister for Sports, Culture and the Arts made an interesting speech
> on the tax incentives to allow filming in Kenya, many of which are the most
> competitive on the continent. Much of the speech was directed at Maeda
> Shigeji, who was on hand to screen the film.
>
> This was the first time that a Japanese film was screened in Kenya,
> outside of the monthly events sponsored by the Embassy here.
>
> It really wasn't clear what Miike wanted to accomplish with the film.
> Maeda had indicated that they had submitted it to Cannes and Berlin, but it
> was rejected for both. Perhaps he thought that this might be his Constant
> Gardener, though there might be better ways of getting in international
> film festivals than imitating films which got in in the past.
>
> Very odd.
>
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