More trouble for Yasukuni documentary as remaining cinemas pull out
Posted on Monday, 31 March 2008 at 9:36 pm
How’s this for some bullshit? As Aceface just announced in the comments section of this post, the three Tokyo cinemas and single Osaka theatre that decided to go ahead with plans to screen Li Ying’s “Yasukuni” documentary from April 12th despite Shinjuku’s Wald9 wussing out have now caved in to what appears to be political pressure, leaving the film currently without a single screen to play on. Naming names, that’s Cine Pathos in Ginza, Cinemart Roppongi, Q-AX Cinema in Shibuya and Cinemart Shinsaibashi in Osaka. Humax Cinemas, who manage Cine Pathos, gave a similar excuse as Wald9’s handlers in attributing possible disturbances to neighbouring commercial establishments for their decision. This Iza article anonymously quotes someone connected with the film as saying that some “political organisations” have been working to prevent it from screening after certain MPs demanded a preview screening. Let’s hope some cinema owner with cojones steps up and gives the finger to these ideological bullies.
Update: Cinema Today reports that distributor Argo Pictures has been forced to cancel the film’s scheduled opening date of April 12th. A spokesperson announced “It is extremely regrettable that we find ourselves in this kind of situation, and sense that freedom of speech and freedom of expression in Japanese society is endangered.” Argo will try to find new screening venues, but none have been found as yet.
Update: The Asahi adds a claim by Humax Cinemas that right-wing sound trucks held a demo near Cine Pathos on March 20th. Subsequently, on the 27th Humax told Argos Pictures of their change of heart about screening the film.
Update: Kyodo’s coverage as featured in the Japan Times.
Update: Reaction from Japanese bloggers, as collated by Global Voices Online.
Update: Mark Schilling covers the story for Variety.
comment by don
posted on Monday, March 31 2008 at 9:36 pm
What I really don’t get is, what did the cinemas think was going to happen in the first place? Surely they’re not so stupid as to be ignorant of the potential repercussions of screening a movie called “Yasukuni”? Why agree to show it and then pull out when the inevitable harassment begins? I can’t argue with their commercial logic either, but why not just refuse up front?
comment by Aceface
posted on Monday, March 31 2008 at 9:36 pm
I was actually surprised to hear when “YASUKUNI” was scheduled to be shown in four theaters and not just one in Tokyo.Pretty rare case for Japanese documentary.
Perhaps,the distributors were encourage to see recent hits like “EARTH” and “FAHRENHEIT 911″ and think the documentaries are “in” and the fact that the “YASUKUNI” had partially funded from Cultural Agency related organization,gave theaters some confidence in the contents.
There were no such problem when “The Sun”was shown at Chanter Cine two years ago.So maybe they undermined the potential risks assorted to the subject.
(But the director,Alexandre Sokurov did ask for”support”to Suzuki Kunio,the right wing activist not to have any fus around the theater).
Oh I don’t know.The thing is no one wants to take responsibility of “what-if”situation nowadays.
comment by Klaus
posted on Monday, March 31 2008 at 9:36 pm
Well, this is really a shame and doesn’t cast good light on the cinemas as well as japanese society and how it deals with it’s own past.
But in contrary to other comments I think it may have made sense for the cinemas. I mean the documentary toured festivals like the Berlinale and was a real publicity stunt. Maybe they were hoping to attract viewers beyond their usual clientele, like intelligentsia etc. And now that it’s becoming too hot and damaging their image, they pull out.
Now the question is, how the movie will do in those cinemas that actually have the guts to show it. With all the talk going on, it could be a huge success in smaller, independent cinemas. That, in turn, might then encourage big multiplexes in the future.
comment by Aceface
posted on Monday, March 31 2008 at 9:36 pm
“Well, this is really a shame and doesn’t cast good light on the cinemas as well as japanese society and how it deals with it’s own past. ”
That perception is unavoidable it seems,but the cabinet and LDP is scrambling to distance themselves from the decision of the theaters.
Cabinet Spokesman Machimura Nobutaka said in the daily briefing that cancel is “inappropriate”(Machimura has been going to Yasukuni as a member of the diet,but stopped during his term as educational minister in Mori admin,and foreign minister during Koizumi admin.)
Educatonal Minister Tokai Kisaburo has expressed concern and said “something mut be done by the authority of Ministry of Education”.
I believe this is because Fukuda became PM as the man to fix relation with China and rejected of going to Yasukuni and expecting Chinese premire Hu JIntao’s first state visit to Tokyo scheduled in early May.However,Fukuda already has enough source of troubles (East China Sea gas mine,Poisoned dumplings,Taiwan, Tibet and Boycott of opening ceremony of Olympic)and this flic had just added to the list.
There is also a classic” The Adversity makes strange bedfellow”situation ongoing.
Diet member Inada Tomomi who has expressed concern over funding of the film from Cultural Agency related organization,has also expressed concern only this time she thinks the doc should be screened to protect the freedom of expression.She had conducted screening of “YASUKUNI”at the upper house in the diet
last month and director Li had protested as it is a political censorship.
Inada is one of the core member of Nanjing revisionist in the diet and also filed lawsuits against newspapers and journalist Honda Katcuichi who had reported so-called contest to kill one hundred people using sword in 2003.This “contest”was said to be an atrocity conducted by two Japanese officers racing by chopping off the Chinese head on their way to Nanjing and it is an episode playing inportant role in “YASUKUNI”.http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%99%BE%E4%BA%BA%E6%96%AC%E3%82%8A%E7%AB%B6%E4%BA%89
Inada is also a supporter of the movie “Truth about Nanjing南京の真実”now at work by Mizushima Satoru.
comment by Aceface
posted on Monday, March 31 2008 at 9:36 pm
Li’s interview with Tawara Souichiro in the full page ad(on today’s evening Asahi(Metropolitan).
There’s also a discussion with Sai Youichi in Asahi’s monthly,RONZA May issue sold today.
However,Li is pretty much saying the same thing in the two interviews as the one in EIGA HIHO.
comment by don
posted on Monday, March 31 2008 at 9:36 pm
Did Sai have anything interesting to say? I hadn’t heard of Ronza until you mentioned it.
Since so many politicians are coming out with sympathetic comments, maybe they should hold some more preview screenings in Kasumigaseki and open them up to the public…?
comment by Aceface
posted on Monday, March 31 2008 at 9:36 pm
”Did Sai have anything interesting to say? I hadn’t heard of Ronza until you mentioned it.”
Yes,he did,And actually he was a lot more interesting than Li,but then again he is more “Japanese”than Li.
Li is basically speaking samething,
“maybe they should hold some more preview screenings in Kasumigaseki and open them up to the public…?”
That’s exactly what I was thinking,But I think there will be some independent distributor will raise their hand,since now the doc got enourmous PR.
comment by don
posted on Monday, March 31 2008 at 9:36 pm
I see even PM Fukuda has weighed in on the issue now.
http://mainichi.jp/select/seiji/news/20080403k0000m010136000c.html
How much longer before some cinema owner takes up the challenge, I wonder?
comment by Aceface
posted on Monday, March 31 2008 at 9:36 pm
The one in Osaka would.And sad news is Nagoya Cinematheque has postponed screening.Which is a shocking news to me,because they are run by citizen group of cinephile and used to have retrospective of Ogawa Shinsuke documentary.What would he be saying if he heard this.
I know SDJ’s Fukushima is organizing another screening in diet,this time for a support of the movie and she is condemning Inada’s move.But the problem is the theaters,not politicians.I think politicians should make some legal measure to assure screening and protect theaters from these threats.
comment by Aceface
posted on Monday, March 31 2008 at 9:36 pm
Good news.
At least one theater in Tokyo decides to screen “YASUKUNI”.
20 other theater through out the country will screen and many more are likely follow,but the distributor ARGO Pictures denounced to name the theater,Asahi says this morning.
comment by Aceface
posted on Monday, March 31 2008 at 9:36 pm
So far I heared that these theater chains chose to drop “yasukuni” only hearing black vans coming near to the theaters(no actual threats have been made),which in my opinion that would probably give the film goers some added virtual experience of being in Yasukuni hence good publication for the film without paying a single yen to DENTSU.But that’s not the way they think.
Spineless they can be,but there is an undeniable commercial logic that lies underneath since these theaters are now associated in a multiplex with shopping malls and loud and noisy black vans may make customers go shop somewhere else for the weekends.
Which leads to some bigger problem,that from now on the theaters may not even blink their eyes to the logic of freedom of speech and would probably reject controvertial films been shown in their multiplex.
The only theater that so far showing “YASUKUNI” is Nagoya Cinematheque in Nagoya,and it’s run by independent cinema club and only has 40 seats in the theater and it’s in the second floor of the office building.Before Michael Moore had made documentary a money making genre,documentaries were only shown in mini-theaters like Pole Pole Nakano and Eurospace or public center and library.With this “YASUKUNI”fiasco,the situation may drift backwards.