[KineJapan] Ghost of Tsushima

[Keung Yoon "Becky" Bae]

I'm very glad Kazu wrote this piece, despite the fact that this will expose
him to a hefty amount of online abuse (he recently privated his twitter
account in preparation). The game studio Sucker Punch's marketing for Ghost
of Tsushima relies heavily on its adherence to a certain kind of
authenticity ("we photoscanned leaves from Tsushima! we invited Real Life
Samurai to our studio!") without, it seems, a consideration for the stakes
of history.

On Thu, Jul 23, 2020 at 3:55 PM Markus Nornes via KineJapan <
kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu> wrote:

> Here is a decent review by Kazuma Hashimoto of the new game that trades on
> the Kurosawa name. I closest I have come to this is the online trailer.
> Ironically, the “Kurosawa Mode” is just black and white, while a few of the
> color bits included are direct quotes of Kagemusha. This review suggests
> the game is pretty much what you’d expect:
>
> “ A game that so heavily carries itself on the laurels of one of the most
> prolific Japanese filmmakers should investigate and reflect on his work in
> the same way that the audience engages with other pieces of media like film
> and literature. What is the intent of the creator versus the work’s broader
> meaning in relation to current events, or the history of the culture that
> is ultimately serving as a backdrop to yet another open-world romp? And how
> do these things intertwine and create something that can flirt on an edge
> of misunderstanding? Ghost of Tsushimais a surface-level reflection of
> these questions and quandaries, sporting a lens through which to experience
> Kurosawa, but not to understand his work. It ultimately doesn’t deal with
> the politics of the country it uses as a backdrop. For the makers of the
> game, recreating Kurosawa is just black and white.”
>
>
> https://www.polygon.com/2020/7/23/21333631/ghost-of-tsushima-kurosawa-films-samurai-japan-abe-politics
>
> Markus
>
>
>
>
> --
> ---
>
> *Markus Nornes*
> *Professor of Asian Cinema*
> Department of Film, Television and Media, Department of Asian Languages
> and Cultures, Penny Stamps School of Art & Design
>
> *Department of Film, Television and Media*
> *6348 North Quad*
> *105 S. State Street*
> *Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1285*
>
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-- 
*Keung Yoon "Becky" Bae*
*PhD Student, East Asian Languages and Civilizations*
*Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Harvard University*
*Cambridge, MA*
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