Tokyo Filmex have just announced that South Korean filmmaker Lee Chang-dong will be helming the jury at this year’s festival. His latest work “Secret Sunshine” will also be screening as the closing film. Hope I can pull some strings to at least get an autograph…
Right now, male Japanese actors are in greater demand overseas than ever before - Watanabe Ken and Sanada Hiroyuki have used Hollywood to revitalise their careers in middle-age, while Asano Tadanobu’s status as a darling of the international festival circuit is consolidated by the patronage of several foreign directors - but what about the ladies?
Kikuchi Rinko is riding high on the buzz created by her “Babel” role and will be rubbing shoulders with Adrien Brody and Rachel Weisz in “The Brothers Bloom”, Kitagawa Keiko similarly jump-started her domestic acting career with a bit part in “The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift”, Kimura Yoshino (together with her reported boyfriend Iseya Yusuke) has been tapped for Fernando Meirelles’ big-budget Oscar bait “Blindness”, and Koyuki will be seen in both “Blood: The Last Vampire” and John Woo’s “Red Cliff” in 2008, but none of these actresses enjoy the level of recognition or career stability yet outside of Japan that their male compatriots do. The casting of Zhang Ziyi and Gong Li in “Memoirs of a Geisha” is the most obvious proof of that, and then there’s the sad reality check that Kuriyama Chiaki’s triumphant return to international cinema after her star-making turn in “Kill Bill: Vol. 1″ was a pared-down cameo in Steven Seagal’s “Into the Sun“…
Not to cast aspersions on the names mentioned above, but most of the real talent remains at home, relatively unnoticed by the rest of the world. Despite being one of the best Japanese actresses working today, Aso Kumiko hasn’t become quite a household name in her own country but has steadily built a solid reputation through her lengthy filmography. Since her debut in Aikawa Sho’s first directorial effort “Bad Guy Beach”, she’s established herself as a familiar face on the big screen but has generally shied away from television work, hence preventing her from gaining a greater public profile. Up until now she’s been best known for her dramatic roles in films, so it’s ironic that she’s currently experiencing a surge in popularity for a rare comedic role in a television series, Miki Satoshi’s “Jiko Keisatsu”, alongside Odagiri Joe. Now Aso’s making her first foray into international territory with Iranian film “Hafez” (Hafezu: Perusha no Uta), inspired by the legendary Persian poet of the same name. This will be her first appearance in a foreign film, unless you count her part in Imamura Shohei’s contribution to the anthology film “11‘09“01″.
A young man named Shamsadin (Mehdi Moradi) receives the title of Hafez, bestowed only on those who memorise the Koran, and is sent to teach it to Nabat (Aso), the overseas-raised daughter of a religious leader. Although they never see each other’s faces, feelings of love grow between them as they read the holy book. Unable to contain his feelings for Nabat, Hafez breaks his vows as a holy man by composing a poem to her, and is thrown out of her father’s house and forced to relinquish his title. Then Nabat is forced to marry another man. Will the two ever be able to meet again…?
Iranian director and former Tokyo Filmex juror Abolfazl Jalili (”Dance of Dust”, “The First Letter”, “Full or Empty”) has been working on the project for several years, and has utilized his Japanese connections to secure distribution through Bitters End. “Hafez” opens early next year at the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography Hall. (sources: Cinema Cafe, Cinematopics, Big Soccer)
Not long after I wrote my recent piece on the dubious Japanese voice casting for the “The Simpsons Movie”, California-based film critic and Patrick Macias’ pal Machiyama Tomohiro expressed his disgust via his blog. He was particularly upset with these comments by Tokoro Joji at the press conference announcing the cast:
“The recording session was tougher than I thought it’d be. But I couldn’t help laughing when I was watching the movie, so the staff must have thought I was happy doing it. It was tough, so pay me more.”
Considering TV star Tokoro’s no doubt being paid several times what 78-year-old voice actor Ohira Toru, the original voice of Homer, would be getting, Machiyama took umbrage at his apparent lack of respect for his sempai and proceeded to rake his previous half-hearted efforts at voice acting over the coals. Incidentally, Ohira was also the Japanese voice of Darth Vader and Telly Savalas.
The campaign to bring back the original voice cast even has its own blog now, and someone’s translated their call to arms:
Welcome to my blog.
This blog’s name is “The Simpsons Movie Voice Actor Change Opposition Blog”.
The voice actors will be changed by FOX Japan.
This situation is too bad. We Japanese fans want to stop it.
Could you tell this news to many Internet sites or media as soon as possible?
Please help Japanese The Simpsons fans and save The Simpsons!!
I’m collecting signatures of The Simpsons fans to oppose the idea of FOX Japan.
I would like you to sign it.
Please go to this page, http://b4.spline.tv/serizo/.
And write your name, e-mail address and comments.
Nobody can see your e-mail address.
I really appreciate your coming. Thank you.
All power to them, but the only way I can see them really getting any traction is by petitioning Matt Groening directly. It worked for Japanese “Lord of the Rings” fans who brought Peter Jackson around to their way of thinking about the poor job that veteran subtitler Toda Natsuko was allegedly doing, resulting in her being dropped for the two remaining films in the trilogy. Let’s hope fan power wins out again.
I was recently in Hawaii for a mate’s wedding but sadly missed out on seeing “The Simpsons” movie (I tagged along to see “Superbad” instead, which was the only one of the recent spate of Judd Apatow films to make me laugh out loud).
Anyway, this morning as I’m debating whether to use the typhoon as an excuse for ditching work, what should come on the wide shows but footage from a press conference announcing the Japanese voice cast for said Simpsons flick, to be released next year. I should probably just shut up and be happy that I’ll get to see it on the big screen here, but let’s hope there’ll also be a subtitled version because boy, they’ve really fucked up big time with this line-up.
Homer: singer, raconteur and top variety host Tokoro Joji (also had a role in Kurosawa Akira’s “Madadayo”)
Marge: singer, “Stray Cat Rock: Delinquent Girl Boss” star and top variety host WADA MOTHERLOVING AKIKO
Bart: half of Yoshimoto comedy duo variety show hosts “London Boots 1-go 2-go” Tamura Atsushi
Lisa: half-English ‘genki’ variety tarento Becky
The totally inappropriate selection of Wada for Marge is either the worst or best of the casting choices (depending on your mental health), and is especially mindblowing considering that the show has built up a loyal fanbase since screening on pay TV here since 1992 and already has an established cast of Japanese voice actors. Distributors 20th Century Fox explained that the switch was made in order to create “the ideal fun Japanese family”, but local aficionados are up in arms about what they see as a negligent and overly obvious bid for publicity. In fact, even high-profile voice actor Yamadera Koichi, whose filmography ranges from to “Anpanman” to “Full House” to “Ghost in the Shell”, felt moved to weigh in on the issue:
As a voice actor, I’m given the opportunity to be involved in a variety of animated works and films, and it’s something I’m very grateful for, but lately I get the feeling that the use of various celebrities and other famous people has become quite conspicuous. Well, at least I get to become acquainted with people I wouldn’t normally come into contact with, and that can be extremely stimulating, but there are times when I look at the casting and want to say “Isn’t this a bit too desperate?” Of course, it’s important to generate a buzz, and you can’t disregard the fact that it draws large audiences, but I’m also looking at it from the viewer’s perspective when I say that I wish [the producers] would think long and hard about whether they’re casting someone who’s perfect for a role.
Sometimes when a person is cast who’s not a voice actor, it makes you say “They’re so right for the part!” or “So this is the kind of performance you get from someone who doesn’t normally do voice acting!”, but the opposite case is more common still. It’s especially inexcusable when a long-running TV show is made into a movie, and the regular cast of voice actors is abruptly replaced. The feelings of the voice cast who’ve been doing it until then is one thing, but isn’t it really about a lack of consideration for the viewers who have supported the show all that time? I myself felt extremely angered by such a situation, which is why I chose to write about it here.
Even so, the use of celebrities was probably inevitable considering the current climate. As is the practice in many other countries, all the big U.S. animated films are localised for Japanese audiences, with the participation of an array of familiar faces from the small screen rather than genuine voice talent (usually a subtitled version is also on offer for those who prefer the real thing).
You could probably argue that the fault for this lies with Hollywood itself, which has reduced most of its animated output to a glorified celebrity circle-jerk by employing well-known actors and personalities largely for the audience they bring rather than an ability to disappear into a role and merge with a character. The ultimately futile outcry over “The Simpsons”‘ situation is a reminder that the exact same approach has also taken hold here in Japan, meaning professional voice actors (of which Japan has a particularly large pool, thanks to anime and the widespread use of dubbing on TV and in film) are often shunted out of their regular roles and/or passed over in favour of celebrities. (sources: Itai News, Wikipedia)
And now for another instalment in Ichise Taka’s regular blog feature “Biting the Hands That Feed Me”*, this time from his account of showing “Heroes” star Masi Oka around during his recent promotional sojourn in Japan:
I invited him to visit some Japanese film sets with me, so we went to the currently shooting “Goemon” and Nakata Hideo’s “L”. He was surprised by Japan’s lack of a union [for film workers], the run-down condition of the studios, the crappiness of craft services, and the fact that the average production cost for a Japanese film is less than a single episode of “Heroes”, but he was amazed by the crews’ energy and the speed of setups, and was impressed by the unmistakable fact that it’s all thanks to Japanese film workers’ great love of cinema. It’s sad to think that love is exploited by film and television companies who only think about making money. (source: Ichise Taka blog)
* Not really, but it’s fairly apt.
