Mark Schilling - The Japan Times

Today's print edition

Subscribe for more access

Meta

Mark Schilling

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Jan 13, 2012

Japanese commercial films nearly always run on the well-worn rails of franchise and formula. Originality in script and concept is gifted to only a chosen few with strong box-office track records — Hayao Miyazaki, Koki Mitani and Shinobu Yaguchi among them. Though not as well-known as the anime...

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Jan 6, 2012

Violence, director Kinji Fukasaku once told me, is "a pillar of filmmaking." But on-screen mayhem regarded as extreme in Fukasaku's 1970s heyday (see his "Jingi Naki Tatakai [Battles Without Honor & Humanity]" series for examples) looks mild in ours.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Dec 30, 2011

Lacking powerhouses, it was a lean year for Japanese movies

Some years, the top four or five Japanese films quickly leap off my short list to my annual Best Ten. But this was not a great year for the local film industry, in terms of either box office or major awards winners. No masterpieces, in other words, though several have stayed with me, usually more for...

Japan Times

COMMUNITY / LIGHT GIST

Dec 27, 2011

2011: a year of disaster in quotes

This year produced more than its share of memorable quotes, many of which were inspired by the March 11 disaster and its aftermath. But figures from other fields, from sports to entertainment, also said things worth repeating. Here is a sampling, in chronological order:

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Dec 23, 2011

'Kodoku na Wakusei (In a Lonely Planet)'

Watching movies is like dreaming with your eyes open. Hardly an original thought, I know. In fact, it's been a staple of film commentary for nearly a century.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Dec 23, 2011

Disaster not the only reason for Japan's sluggish 2011 box office

After several years of boom, Japanese films finally had a bust in 2011. Although official overall figures have not been released, domestic box-office leader Toho has announced that total revenues from its titles will be down about 20 percent this year compared with 2010. The industry as a whole will...

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Dec 16, 2011

A director who makes a film that loudly complains about the sad state of current cinema is setting himself up as a critics' punching bag ("You, sir, are part of the problem ..."). Also, if he inserts his list of 100 all-time best films into his climax he is asking for some impolite comments about his...

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Dec 16, 2011

Iran's Naderi explains why he shot 'Cut' in Japan

A founding member of Iranian cinema's 1970s New Wave, Amir Naderi made his directorial debut with his 1971 film "Goodbye Friend." Since the 1980s he has been screening his film at festivals around the world, including Venice, Cannes and Sundance.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Dec 9, 2011

'Genji Monogatari: Sennen no Nazo (Tale of Genji — A Thousand Year Enigma)'

Filming "Genji Monogatari (The Tale of Genji)," Murasaki Shikibu's epic 1,000-year-old tale of love and intrigue among Heian Period (794-1185) nobles, would seem to be an impossible task, like putting the Bible on the screen. (The 1966 John Huston film of that title covers only part of the book of Genesis.)...

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Dec 2, 2011

'Yubiwa wo Hametai (Looking For a True Fiance)'

An average guy, I once read, could have a reasonably happy married life with any one of the thousands of single women out there on the streets of Tokyo. This, of course, is the opposite of the Platonic ideal embraced by Carrie, the heroine of the American series "Sex and the City," who, through dozens...

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Nov 25, 2011

'Antoki no Inochi (Life Back Then)'

At Hollywood pitch meetings, the pitchers (presenters) typically sell their movie ideas with the "meets" technique, as in, "It's a monster animation for the whole family: 'Bambi' meets 'Godzilla.' "

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Nov 18, 2011

Volunteer-led Tohoku cinema provides welcome escapism

Following the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11 in the Tohoku region, survivors received nearly every type of aid imaginable from thousands of volunteers, ranging from hot meals to haircuts. But they also faced long, soul-deadening hours in shelters and temporary housing, with little in the way...

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Nov 18, 2011

'Koi no Tsumi (Guilty of Romance)'

How can a film shock today's jaded audiences, for whom blood spurts and flying body parts prompt laughter instead of gasps? How can a filmmaker transgress when nearly everything is allowed? Taken far enough, this line of inquiry can lead to the attention of the police. It can also be the starting point...

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Nov 11, 2011

'Sarariman Neo Gekijoban (Warai) (Japanese Salaryman Neo)'

These are hard, uncertain times, especially for young Japanese who have failed to get the right degree from a prestigious university and the right job with a big-name company. If they can find work at all, it is often well below expectations for the rising generation of that onetime economic powerhouse,...

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Nov 11, 2011

An audience with Kyoko Kagawa

Kyoko Kagawa is among the fast dwindling number of living witnesses to Japanese cinema's Golden Age of the 1950s and '60s.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Nov 4, 2011

'Suteki na Kanashibari (Once In a Blue Moon/A Ghost of a Chance)'

Koki Mitani is Japan's most successful comedy writer and director, with a long string of hit plays, TV dramas and films to his credit, most recently "The Uchoten Hoteru (Suite Dreams)" and "The Magic Hour."

CULTURE / Film

Nov 4, 2011

Tokyo film fest shuns controversy

The 24th edition of the Tokyo International Film Festival ended on Sunday, after nine days and 128 films, without any major mishaps or controversies. This was a disappointment to one journalist friend: "A good film festival invites controversy," she told me at the closing party. "TIFF hates it."

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Oct 28, 2011

'Sumagura (Smuggler)'

Katsuhito Ishii was an early avatar of Japanese quirk, making films that celebrated the wilder, goofier side of the local pop culture while flouting the conventions of commercial cinema, including at least a veneer of sanity.

LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL

Oct 24, 2011

Foreign films' Japanese titles often read like riddles

Japanese distributors of foreign films usually follow the path of least resistance in titling their products for the local market, either rendering the title in katakana or translating it more or less directly. One recently released example is the shocker "The Last Exorcism," whose katakana-ized Japanese...

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Oct 21, 2011

Now's your chance to catch up on Japanese cinema

Non-Japanese residents in Tokyo who want to see new and classic Japanese films but are frustrated by the small number of subtitled screenings can catch up — and move ahead — at the Tokyo International Film Festival (Oct. 22-30).

You can often see generations of families enjoying performances together at Fuji Rock Festival.

Japan’s summer music festivals are feeling the heat in more ways than one

Akiko Trush says her experience with the neurological disorder dystonia left her feeling like she wanted to chop her own hand off.

The neurological disorder that 'kills culture'

By Tomoko Otake

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Exploring Japanese culturevia Tohoku’s festivals

Exploring Japanese culturevia Tohoku’s festivals

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER

international-reports