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  • Kitano Takeshi hits out at Japanese cinema at Tokyo filmfest

    Kitano Takeshi hits out at Japanese cinema at Tokyo filmfest

    NEW DELHI: Eminent Japanese filmmaker Kitano Takeshi used the occasion of receiving the ‘Lifetime Achievement Samurai Award’ at the Tokyo International Film Festival to speak about the current state of Japanese film industry.

     

    He was one of the two filmmakers who received the award, the other being American filmmaker Tim Burton known for his dark, gothic, macabre and quirky horror and fantasy films such as Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Ed Wood, Sleepy Hollow, Corpse Bride, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Dark Shadows and Frankenweenie, and for blockbusters such as Pee-wee’s Big Adventure,Batman, its first sequel Batman Returns, Planet of the Apes, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Alice in Wonderland.

     

    Speaking on the occasion, Kitano said: “The bad thing about the Japanese film industry is that production companies have relationships with cinemas. Look at the Academy Awards. The Japanese representative needs to be recommended by the film industry, and that is the only one that can be nominated… it irritates me, but if you look at all the Japanese representatives at the Academy Awards, I do not think there is hardly any case in which the film selected is not from the same three or four companies. This year, it would be Shochiku, then it would be Toho, and then it would be Toei. It’s ridiculous!”

     

    Kitano went on to criticise Japanese media for turning a blind eye to industry problems and exaggerating the reception of Japanese films at international film festivals in order to sell ads.

    In a mentoring session of sorts between Kitano and eight award-winning young filmmakers, he said: “I know you are up-and-coming, so make sure that you do not get entangled with the major studios.”

     

    The second half of the event mostly consisted of curator and critic Tony Rayns and Cannes Film Festival selector Christian Jeune discussing Kitano’s films and their cultural impact. But Kitano offered little but polite responses to the two foreign guests’ praise, and had to be reminded of the moderator’s questions multiple times after Rayns and Jeune made their respective comments.

     

    Although Kitano himself also insisted that his works are left to the audience to interpret it in their own way, he did explain the way he creates his films.

     

    “I do not have any themes in my mind. I start with a final scene. With that final image in mind, I decide how much story I can put in,” Kitano said, “I create a shot list, and I shoot a film in order to realise that. As for the theme, it is up to the critics to decide what that might be.” 

  • Twenty one animated films vying for Academy honours

    Twenty one animated films vying for Academy honours

    MUMBAI: A record twenty one animated features have been submitted for Oscar consideration.
    Computer-animated films continue to dominate, generating big box office as four of the year‘s top 10 highest-grossing films have been computer generated creations. For the first time, stop-motion animation films also had a big year with more than one of the nominees in the feature animation category, being a stop-motion film. Several small time producers at home and overseas served up traditional, hand-drawn fare.
    CGI

    Since Pixar‘s Toy Story became the first feature-length computer-animated film released way back in 1995, CG has been used to produce a string of animated hits. This year, Disney offered Pixar‘s Brave and Disney Animation‘s Wreck-It Ralph; DreamWorks Animation fielded both Madagascar 3: Europe‘s Most Wanted and Rise of the Guardians which opened on 21 November; and Fox/Blue Sky Studio‘s Ice Age: Continental Drift, Universal/Illumination‘s Dr. Seuss‘ The Lorax and Sony Pictures Animation‘s Hotel Transylvania all hit it big.
    Stop-Motion

    Among the hopefuls this year are Tim Burton‘s Frankenweenie, which to date has grossed $63.2 million worldwide for Disney. Producer Laika‘s sophomore feature ParaNorman that has collected $97.3 million worldwide is the second film in the category. They are followed by director Peter Lord‘s The Pirates! Band of Misfits.

    Hand drawn

    This year, contenders include three hand-drawn features from GKIDS Films, the New York-based distributor that crashed the Oscar party one year ago with the surprise animated feature nominations for Chico and Rita and A Cat in Paris, grabbing slots that many expected to go to more high-profile contenders such as Steven Spielberg‘s The Adventures of Tintin.

    GKIDS is putting up for consideration From Up on Poppy Hill from Studio Ghibli, The Rabbi‘s Cat, and Zarafa. Rounding up the list of contenders in the category are Walter & Tandoori‘s Christmas and The Mystical Laws.