The Tokyo International Film Festival, Japan's biggest, glitziest film fest, opens Saturday, Oct. 21, and runs for nine days at Toho Cinemas Roppongi Hills in Roppongi, Bunkamura in Shibuya and other venues around the city. The selection is huge, beginning with the four main sections: the Competition, Special Screenings, Winds of Asia and Japanese Eyes. Where to begin?
First of all, you are unlikely to find last-minute tickets for opening and closing films (Clint Eastwood's "Flags of Our Fathers" and Kon Ichikawa's "Murder of the Inugami Clan"), as well as the opening eve and opening night films (Yoji Yamada's "Love and Honor" and Lee Jun Ik's "King and the Clown"). Many of the Special Screenings are also hard or impossible to get into at the last minute, especially ones at which stars are scheduled to attend.
These, however, are mostly commercial films that will be at your local multiplex in a week or a month anyway. If your tastes are more eclectic than the latest Jack Black ("Nacho Libre") or Juri Ueno ("Rainbow Song"), your choices are wider. (To see how much wider, check the TIFF site at www.tiff-jp.net/en/ ).