Posted on Saturday, 3 March 2007 at 12:56 pm
Everybody’s favourite nationalistic demagogue, Tokyo governor Ishihara Shintaro, has voiced his disdain for Clint Eastwood’s WWII film “Letters from Iwo Jima”. Speaking at a party on March 2nd celebrating the completion of kamikaze drama “I Go to Die for You” (Ore wa, Kimi no Tame ni koso Shini ni iku), for which he wrote the screenplay and acted as executive producer, Ishihara praised his own film as “well made” and compared it favorably to Eastwood’s Oscar-nominated work. “I went to see it thinking it’d be a rival [for "I Go to Die for You"], but [our film] is far better. There was no sense of the American forces’ frustration, and I couldn’t tell where they were fighting on the island”.
Eastwood actually visited Ishihara back in April of 2005 to seek his support for the production, and it was the governor’s intervention that helped facilitate location shooting on Iwo Jima.
Ishihara also moved to pre-empt criticism of his film’s motives. “It’s not a glorification of the kamikaze, it’s an ensemble youth drama with an antiwar message. There are those foreigners who confuse the kamikaze with suicide bombers, but I want them to know that they are completely different.”
The movie is based on Ishihara’s conversations with the late Torihama Tome, a canteen operator in Chiran, Kagoshima who looked after kamikaze pilots before they took off on their one-way missions.
Also present at the party was Kubozuka Yosuke, one of the film’s leads, who reflected on surviving a nine-storey fall from his apartment balcony in June of 2004. “When I think I could have died that day, everything from then on is a gift from god. The last two or three years have made me realise how fortunate I am to have been born. I live to live. I’ve gone back to basics, and I’ve got a lot to be thankful for.”
“I Go to Die for You”, directed by Shinjo Taku and also starring Tokushige Satoshi, Tsutsui Michitaka and Kishi Keiko, opens on May 12th. You can see trailers for the film here and here. (sources: Sports Hochi, Nikkan Sports)
Posted on Thursday, 1 March 2007 at 10:43 pm
12 songs, 12 directors
Altamira Pictures are putting together “Kayokyoku da yo, Jinsei wa” (unofficial translation: “It’s a Pop Song, Life”), an anthology of twelve shorts by twelve directors, each inspired by a well-known Showa-era pop song. Yaguchi Shinobu reteams with his “Water Boys” lead Tsumabuki Satoshi, manga author and tarento Ebisu Yoshikazu takes a stab at filmmaking with Takeda Shinji and eroterrorist Yinling of Joytoy, and “Isola”’s Mizutani Toshiyuki directs Yo Kimiko. Full details haven’t emerged yet, but the other directors announced so far include Isomura Itsumichi (”Ganbatte Ikimasshoi”, “Gege”), Mihara Mitsuhiro (2005 Shanghai International Film Festival winner “Mura no Shashinshu”) and Yamaguchi Koji (an experienced assistant director whose credits include “Battle Royale II” and “One Missed Call 2″). Other cast members include Osugi Ren, Seto Asaka, Takahashi Keiko, singer Miya Shiro and comedian Nagai Hidekazu. Distributor Xanadeux will release the film during the Golden Week break in May. The official homepage doesn’t have much on it right now, but if you click on the main image you can see a short video from the set of one of the instalments. (sources: Cinema Today, Oricon)
Kadokawa Haruki’s company sued for 150 million yen
The head of the production committee for “Blue Wolf: To the Ends of the Earth and Sea” has filed a suit in the Tokyo District Court against the Kadokawa Haruki Corporation for 150 million yen in damages, claiming they took advantage of the connections he built in Mongolia over five years. The corporation declined comment, saying they hadn’t received anything yet from the court. (source: Nikkan Sports)
Update: Sports Hochi have supplied some more details on the story. According to the lawsuit, the production committee head (as yet unnamed) established the committee in 2001 on commission to the Mongolian government, but later approached the Kadokawa Haruki Corporation for assistance in December of 2005 due to a lack of funds. Talks began regarding transfer of the production rights, but the Corporation allegedly pressed on with photography in Mongolia and made the movie even though a specific agreement had yet to be reached.
First trailer for “Pacchigi! Love and Peace”
The homepage for Izutsu Kazuyuki’s “Pacchigi!: Love and Peace” (previously covered here) has been updated, and you can view an early trailer by clicking on the rectangular red box in the left corner of the main image.
