[KineJapan] Bohemian Rhapsody in Japan

[Jim Harper]

I too have been surprised by its reception in Japan. There's been a lot of publicity on TV here. My twitter feed was buzzing heavily about it for a while, with a number of Japanese musicians I follow tweeting enthusiastically about it, as well as Tsuruta Norio. The main focus of their tweets (perhaps not surprising from musicians) has been the music and the live recreations. For many of them it's been a nostalgic opportunity to revisit music they loved when they were younger. There's also been a lot of interest in the accompanying CD.

Jim Harper. 

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On Sat, 29/12/18, Gerow Aaron <aaron.gerow at yale.edu> wrote:

 Subject: [KineJapan] Bohemian Rhapsody in Japan
 To: "Japanese Cinema Discussion Forum" <kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu>
 Date: Saturday, 29 December, 2018, 11:12
 
 On our last
 day in Portland, the family and I went to see Bohemian
 Rhapsody in the theater. I am not really a Queen fan; in
 fact my main interest was trying to think why this was such
 a huge hit in Japan. As of today, it’s made $55 million at
 the Japanese BO (with predictions it will go over $70
 million), with Japan being the film’s third biggest non-US
 market (the South Korean BO numbers are higher, but it
 opened there earlier). 
 I did
 not like the film that much, for its mythification of
 Freddie and predictable direction, but I wonder why it has
 not only made a bunch at the Japanese BO, but also came in
 number 1 in Pia’s satisfaction survey for all of
 2018. 
 My
 inclination is to look at both its melodrama and its
 depiction of family—and the promise of mass unity—but I
 was wondering what others think, or what others might have
 written about this.
 
 
 Aaron Gerow
 Professor
 Film and Media Studies Program/East
 Asian Languages and LiteraturesDirector of Graduate Studies, Film and
 Media StudiesYale University143 Elm Street, Room 210
 PO Box 208324
 New Haven, CT 06520-8324
 USA
 Phone:
 1-203-432-7082
 Fax:
 1-203-432-6729
 e-mail: aaron.gerow at yale.eduwebsite: www.aarongerow.com
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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