Japan Forum - Japan's contenders for the Golden Lion

Welcome, Guest. Please Login or Register.

09/03/10 at 07:46:05

	More than 2,000,000 Members... \| With more than 1,000,000 Photos... \| In more than 230 Countries... \| IM, voice & video...Join today FREE!

Japan Forum › General › Japanese Movies
(Moderators: Tenno Heika, Hachiro/八郎)

‹ Previous topic | Next topic ›

Pages: 1

Japan's contenders for the Golden Lion (Read 0 times)

Tenno Heika

The Emperor (What's this?)

Welcome to Japan
Zone, the No.1 site
on Japan.

Posts: 5575
Gender: male

Japan's contenders for the Golden Lion
07/30/08 at 10:17:37

The 21 entrants for this year's Golden Lion, the biggest prize at the annual Venice International Film Festival, have been announced. They include three Japanese movies, two of them anime, from the very best directors in Japan. "Ponyo" is the only one that's opened so far, so we can't compare the movies on their merits yet, but which director/movie will you be rooting for?

This from today's Entertainment News update:

Japan will have a strong presence at this year's Venice International Film Festival. The latest works from Kitano Takeshi, Miyazaki Hayao and Oshii Mamoru have all been chosen to compete for the top prize. Miyazaki's "Gake no Ue no Ponyo" (Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea), and Oshii's "Sukai Kurora" (The Sky Crawlers) are the only animated features among the 21 entries. It'll be the first visit to Venice for both anime directors in four years. Miyazaki's "Hauru no Ugoku Shiro" (Howl's Moving Castle) had its world premiere at Venice in 2004, winning the Golden Osella Award for Technical Achievement, while Oshii's "Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence" was entered in the main competition. Meanwhile Kitano will be hoping that his latest, "Akiresu to Kame" (Achilles and the Tortoise), can achieve the success of 1997 Golden Lion winner "Hana-bi." All three directors are planning to attend the festival which runs from August 27 to September 6. Oshii will be accompanied by the main voice actors in his film, Kase Ryo (33) and last year's Oscar nominee Kikuchi Rinko (27). Actor Odagiri Jo will also be on screen, appearing in Lik-wai Yu's multinational film "Plastic City."

Keep up to date with our Japanese Entertainment News section

IP Logged

Make New Friends in Japan Today!

MetaKnight

Ex Member (What's this?)

Re: Japan's contenders for the Golden Lion
Reply #1 - 07/30/08 at 11:06:21

Like I said before, "Sky Crawlers" does nothing for me. From the trailers, it looks like it will be more musing than shooting - using a war as merely a backdrop for long winded philosophical discussion.

"Ponyo" looks like it will give me just what I expect from a Miyazaki film - a flight of fancy that dances with your own imagination.

Also, on the subject of Rinko, it's too bad the Oscar nom didn't get her some better roles in Japanese cinema. Looking at her roles after Babel, she isn't considered an "A-List" actress in Japan still.

IP Logged

MetaKnight *Ex Member* (What's this?)	Re: Japan's contenders for the Golden Lion Reply #2 - 08/06/08 at 16:02:30 Wow...Sky Crawlers is getting mixed reviews on Goo, where the reader average has it at 55/100. However, the Goo readers completely tore down Gedo Senki and it still ended up in the Top 5 highest grossing that year. It will probably do good business, but a successful trip to Venice is probably out of the question.
Back to top	IP Logged

Tenno Heika

The Emperor (What's this?)

Welcome to Japan
Zone, the No.1 site
on Japan.

Posts: 5575
Gender: male

Re: Japan's contenders for the Golden Lion
Reply #3 - 09/01/08 at 10:41:00

The latest news is in from Venice and, perhaps echoing Meta's prediction, Oshii's name is conspicuous by its absence. This from today's Entertainment News update:

Quote:

The weekend saw the opening of the 65th Venice International Film Festival, and a surprise announcement from anime director Miyazaki Hayao (67). At a packed press conference the night before Sunday's screening of the latest Studio Ghibli feature, "Gake no Ue no Ponyo" (Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea), he revealed that he is now a grandfather. His son Goro, who directed the 2006 Ghibli film "Gedo Senki" (Tales from Earthsea), became a father on August 11, just a week before Ponyo opened in Japan. The movie was the biggest hit of the summer, breaking the ¥10 billion mark in its first month. It's one of three Japanese movies competing for this year's Golden Lion, along with entries from Kitano Takeshi and Oshii Mamoru. Miyazaki has been recognized at Venice before, receiving the Osella award for technical achievement in 2001 for "Hauru no Ugoku Shiro" (Howl's Moving Castle) and an Lifetime Achievement Golden Lion in 2002.

Meanwhile, Kitano has already returned from Venice. He told reporters at Narita Airport that he was returning for the scheduled recording of a TV show and that producer Mori Masayuki will be attending the Venice awards ceremony. Asked whether "Akiresu to Kame" (Achilles and the Tortoise) was likely to win him a second Golden Lion, he said "It was certainly well received. And the critics liked it. All the feedback was good but I'm trying not to keep my hopes up."

IP Logged

MetaKnight

Ex Member (What's this?)

Re: Japan's contenders for the Golden Lion
Reply #4 - 09/01/08 at 12:41:12

Yeah, I heard from more than one person that it's a major disappointment because, like I thought, the battles in the movie amount to about 5 minutes of the movie's total screen time. Also, it's a love story. It sounds like a serious bait and switch.

And my prediction wasn't totally correct as it dropped out of the Top 10 after 2 weeks whereas Gedo Senki spent the good part of two months as the #1 film in Japan.

Perhaps Oshii should stick to Cyberpunk. He and Otomo captured the hearts of an entire generation worldwide in the early 90s. Sky Crawlers to him is like "Windtalkers" was to John Woo.

IP Logged

Tenno Heika

The Emperor (What's this?)

Welcome to Japan
Zone, the No.1 site
on Japan.

Posts: 5575
Gender: male

Re: Japan's contenders for the Golden Lion
Reply #5 - 09/01/08 at 14:43:35

Takeshi has proven that a solid track record and critical adulation in the past can allow to get away with quite a lot. His trilogy of the last few years has been non-commercial in the extreme (though I haven't seen the latest) but he's still the international film fest darling. Hopefully he's got whatever it is out of his system and we can look forward to something much better. He says his next project is another jidaigeki, but completely different to "Zatoichi." Time will tell.

As for Oshii and cyberpunk, it has to be creatively a good idea to get away from a genre every now and then, recharge your batteries, maybe pick up some new ideas and insights. Maybe, like Takeshi, he had a project he just wanted to do regardless of what the public or critics might say. I imagine that, seeing as it was chosen to compete at Venice, "Sky Crawlers" must have some merit as a film even if it is a disappointment to fans of Oshii's more successful work. He's long had a reputation as an independent thinker who's more of a philosopher than an entertainer. Remember it was just that difference in approach that led Oshii and Miyazaki Hayao to go their separate ways back in the early 80s.

I wonder if they're still friends and hanging out together in Venice...

IP Logged

Tenno Heika

The Emperor (What's this?)

Welcome to Japan
Zone, the No.1 site
on Japan.

Posts: 5575
Gender: male

Re: Japan's contenders for the Golden Lion
Reply #6 - 09/02/08 at 10:15:12

It looks like Ponyo might be the strongest contender so far for the Golden Lion, with Achilles in second. Still, there's more than half the competition entries yet to be screened.

This from today's Entertainment News update:

Venice Loves Ponyo

Critics and movie fans alike are raving about Japan's entries at the Venice International Film Festival. "Gake no Ue no Ponyo" (Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea), the latest anime feature from Miyazaki Hayao (67), had its screening on Sunday and received a five-minute standing ovation. Afterwards, in a scene such as organizers said they'd never seen before, the "maestro" was mobbed by autograph hunters (photo). Of the 21 movies entered in the competition, nine had been screened as of Sunday and Ponyo had received the best newspaper reviews so far. Four of the major papers gave it four stars, while Il Manifesto gave it the maximum five. And the Hollywood Reporter website has described Ponyo as the only "masterpiece" so far in an otherwise "lethargic" festival. Up until Monday's reviews, the best-received film had been Kitano Takeshi's "Akiresu to Kame" (Achilles and the Tortoise
), so the chances of a Japanese movie taking the Golden Lion have to be considered good.

Keep up to date with our Japanese Entertainment News section

IP Logged

Tenno Heika

The Emperor (What's this?)

Welcome to Japan
Zone, the No.1 site
on Japan.

Posts: 5575
Gender: male

Re: Japan's contenders for the Golden Lion
Reply #7 - 09/04/08 at 10:44:49

This from today's Entertainment News update:

Quote:

Last night, Oshii Mamoru's "The Sky Crawlers" was the last of the three Japanese entries to be screened in the competition at the Venice International Film Festival. The movie has been far less of a commercial success at home than "Gake no Ue no Ponyo," the summer's other big anime release from Miyazaki Hayao and a favorite for the Golden Lion. But it received an enthusiastic standing ovation from the Venice audience, who enjoyed the mix of beautiful imagery and philosophical themes. Some said however that they had trouble following the story. Oshii, who attended along with actress Kikuchi Rinko and actor Kase Ryo, said, "I was touched by the long ovation. I had a good time. Now we just wait for awards announcement."

Keep up to date with our Japanese Entertainment News section

IP Logged

Tenno Heika

The Emperor (What's this?)

Welcome to Japan
Zone, the No.1 site
on Japan.

Posts: 5575
Gender: male

Re: Japan's contenders for the Golden Lion
Reply #8 - 09/04/08 at 10:48:45

As a follow up to the above story, here's an interesting article from Reuters that includes revealing comments on Oshii's sense of rivalry with Miyazaki. Miyazaki has included aerial scenes and dogfights in several of his films and is obviously fascinated with airplanes. Perhaps this is once reason why Oshii chose this particular story, as a chance to one-up his rival.

Quote:

Bleak Japanese animation film brings war to screen
Wed Sep 3, 2008 8:52pm EDT
By Mike Collett-White

VENICE, Italy (Reuters) - The presence of two Japanese animation movies in competition at the Venice film festival this year has created a contest within a contest, and brought to the big screen two strikingly different pictures.

The revered Hayao Miyazaki is among the favorites for the top prize at Saturday's awards ceremony with "Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea," his uplifting, colorful take on "The Little Mermaid" that has already stormed the box office in Japan.

Up against him in the 21-film competition is Mamoru Oshii, whose bleak yet spectacular "The Sky Crawlers" has received mixed reviews and, according to trade press, fallen well behind Miyazaki in domestic ticket sales over the summer.

In "The Sky Crawlers," humanoids are genetically designed to live forever as teenaged pilots until they are shot dead in fierce air battles.

The "reality TV" wars fought by so-called "Kildren" are between global corporations and are staged purely for the entertainment of the general population which tracks the battles, advances and retreats on television.

Oshii was quick to draw comparisons between himself and his more famous competitor, who won an Oscar for "Spirited Away" and has a sizeable following overseas.

In production notes for "The Sky Crawlers," 57-year-old Oshii says that with stunning air battle scenes, "I am confident I can beat Miyazaki. Of course he is known to argue he is the best."

When asked in a Reuters interview to compare his work with that of Miyazaki, he added: "If you see Miyazaki movies, I just think it is pleasant, it is joyful, it's eye candy and it is a pleasure to watch his movies, of course. But you have to realize that that's not reality," he added, speaking through an interpreter.

"If you see the dog fight air battle scenes in his movies, people don't die there, so they are nice to watch but there is no realism in his movies. This is exactly the opposite approach to mine."

In Oshii's dark vision of humanity in "The Sky Crawlers," "Kildren" fight for their lives for the sake of entertainment.

The point, the director explained, is that people cannot appreciate peace time and reality itself unless there is war.

"As long as men are as they are, war will never disappear," he told a press briefing in Venice.

"It's unfortunately something that we can't eliminate from our very nature. We'll never achieve a state of perfect peace, and from my point of view this is just linked to human nature and is something we can't free ourselves from."

"The Sky Crawlers" is a combination of hand drawn, 2-D animation, used mainly for the scenes on land, and computer-generated 3-D graphics used for the air battle scenes.

The recreations of World War Two dog fights, featuring propeller aircraft and a "retro" look, contrast with the boredom and listlessness of life back on the ground.

One "Kildren" questions the point of flying sorties that go on forever, or at least until she is killed in battle, and she and others suffer acute depression and contemplate suicide as an alternative to their fate.