[KineJapan] Bowing before Eastwood

Fri Mar 9 07:58:23 EST 2018

I was wondering about this, Mark. All the people I've had the Clintwood
argument with are men. I do think his swaggering masculinity is part of the
attraction. Combined with auteurism, it's a heady mix.

Markus

---

*Markus Nornes*
*Professor of Asian Cinema*
Department of Screen Arts and Cultures, Department of Asian Languages and
Cultures, Penny Stamps School of Art & Design

*Department of Screen Arts and Cultures*
*6348 North Quad*
*105 S. State Street*
*Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1285*

On Fri, Mar 9, 2018 at 12:23 PM, Japanese Cinema Discussion Forum via
KineJapan <kinejapan at lists.osu.edu> wrote:

> Thanks for the reference to Stéphane Bouquet's book, Jeremy.
>
> I guess a follow-up question would be: is the "Eastwood effect" in Japan
> similar to what Bouquet describes amongst audiences in France. I.e., does
> his work enjoy a generally favorable reception, not so much because of any
> quality of his films, but rather because of an aura that surrounds the man
> himself, an imaginary of "la vieille Amérique, ... l’Amérique idéale" ?
>
> M. Roberts
> University of Tokyo Center for Philosophy (UTCP)
>
> On Mar 9, 2018, at 11:17, Japanese Cinema Discussion Forum via KineJapan <
> kinejapan at lists.osu.edu> wrote:
>
> Wow, yeah.
> I've had the American Sniper fight too. Good read, this article.
>
> I want to concede that being from the same country can leave one blind to
> an artist's beauty, but it's so true that no one will ever say what they
> think is so *good* about his movies. And it’s not like they’re all terrible
> enough to knock down one by one. They just don’t feel very meticulously
> considered or crafted. It has led to many very frustrating nights of
> drinking with othewise great friends (possibly on this list?) - cinefils
> and movie lovers. The first time it started happening, around 2008, I went
> and watched every movie he’d made for the previous ten years. And they just
> don’t even begin to warrant comparisons to other American masters—say John
> Ford, whose name has come up in these conversations. (nor, per the article,
> Hitchcok and Ozu)
>
> I do have a modest response to (Japanese) people I’ve met who were
> apparently moved by Gran Torino as some kind of redemption for US wars in
> Asia, which is to ask them to imagine the same movie made by and starring
> Takeshi as a racist cold-hearted war veteran, with the audience laughing
> along with him cursing up a storm of racial slurs for the first half, until
> he warms to some delicious food and underage kids whom only he can save,
> through literal sacrifice in a shower of cherry blossoms. Set in Okubo or
> someplace. Call the film Yamazakura or Yaezakura or something.
> This comparision doesn’t work for Eastwood fans who don’t like Gran Torino
> though.
>
> Apparently it’s a scourge in France too:
> Clint Fucking Eastwood
> <http://www.capricci.fr/clint-fucking-eastwood-80.html>
> "Eastwood a le droit à un étrange traitement de faveur qui s’explique, me
> semble-t-il, par le fait qu’on a cru, et continue à croire, au fétiche. Il
> y a une façon d’héroïsation du cinéaste qui fonctionne à plein chez les
> spectateurs, comme s’ils étaient contents d’avoir encore un objet à
> vénérer. Je pousserais volontiers un pas plus loin en précisant que le
> fétiche que vénèrent les spectateurs français ce n’est pas seulement
> l’homme Eastwood mais l’homme qui se prend pour la vieille Amérique, pour
> l’Amérique idéale."
>
>
> Jeremy Harley
> Mabashi Movie Festival
>
> On Thu, Mar 8, 2018 at 7:15 PM, Japanese Cinema Discussion Forum via
> KineJapan <kinejapan at lists.osu.edu> wrote:
>
>> Is Hasumi really that influential at Kinema Junpo?
>>
>> On Thu, Mar 8, 2018 at 6:11 PM Japanese Cinema Discussion Forum via
>> KineJapan <kinejapan at lists.osu.edu> wrote:
>>
>>>  Nice Hadfield article on the critical fawning for Clint Eastwood on
>>> Japan. I once had a conversation with Funahashi-san about American Sniper
>>> that devolved into an argument where neither of us could understand the
>>> other or care to budge. Since then I studiously avoid the subject. I can’t
>>> say Hadfield has cracked the Clint Code—-unless I is, indeed, Hasumi’s
>>> fault—- but it’s an entertaining read.
>>>
>>> Markus
>>>
>>> https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2018/03/07/films/clint-
>>> eastwoods-japan-critics-always-make-day/--
>>> ---
>>>
>>> *Markus Nornes*
>>> *Professor of Asian Cinema*
>>> Department of Screen Arts and Cultures, Department of Asian Languages
>>> and Cultures, Penny Stamps School of Art & Design
>>>
>>> *Department of Screen Arts and Cultures*
>>> *6348 North Quad*
>>> *105 S. State Street*
>>> *Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1285*
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> KineJapan mailing list
>>> KineJapan at lists.osu.edu
>>> https://lists.osu.edu/mailman/listinfo/kinejapan
>>>
>>
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>>
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