(Kyoto Story) The Renaissance Of Film - Richard

It's official, the JFF Blog is a big hit! With over 1,000 views in just under a month, we are glad to provide some exciting content for you all to read over. Thank you for your passion of all things Japanese! Today we have our first entry from Richard Gray, editor of DVD Bits, who takes a look at the Tsutomu Abe & Yoji Yamada directed "Kyoto Story".

Kyoto Story will screen as part of our Special Double Screening session that takes place on Tuesday November 23rd at Event Cinemas on George St. This will include the feature film, plus an award winning short film "Wish You Were Here" and Panel Discussion with Tsutomu Abe (Happy Family Plan), Tadao Sato (Japan's leading film critic) and Shigeki Chiba (Vice Principal of JAMI).

A note to film students and lecturers, FREE tickets to this session are still available, with details about how you can get them here, thanks to Metro Screen.



"Uzumasa Daiei was one of the most famous shopping arcades in Kyoto, housing the now defunct Daiei Studios, producers of such films as Rashomon with Akira Kurosawa and the monster-mashes of Gamera. Now it forms the focal point of an experiment, combining the efforts of some up and coming filmmakers with some veterans in the field. Working with Ritsumeikan University's College of Image Arts and Sciences and Shochiku Co., Ltd., one of the worlds oldest film studios,  directors Yoji Yamada (About Her Brother, the opening night film of this year's Japanese Film Festival) and  his protege Tsutomu Abe (Happy Family Plan, 13th JFF) have guided this simple love story into cinemas across the world.

Using a combination of real conversations with local residents and a screenplay by Yoji Yamada ("Love and Honour" - 12th JFF), Kyoto Story weaves a beautifully simplistic tale of love in a small town. Kyoko (Hana Ebise) is a librarian (yay!) who is fairly settled with the idea that she will live in her small town with her laundromat owning parents until her dying days. However, she soon finds that her affections are torn between boyfriend and aspiring stand-up comedian (USA (EXILE)) and a bumbling visiting academic from Tokyo (Sotaro Tanaka - "About Her Brother") who has fallen head over heels in love with Kyoko. She must decide which path she will follow, and where her heart lies.

The title Kyoto Story naturally brings to mind the work of Yasujiro Ozu (Tokyo Story). In many of his films, Ozu explored the disintegration of traditional family life in post-war Japan. However, in the wake of the economic downturn of the 1990s, many Japanese filmmakers (including Tsutomu Abe) returned to reflect upon the importance of the family unit and the comforting joys it brings (as he so aptly did in Happy Family Plan).

So too is the case with Kyoto Story, a film that gently takes us through the lives of two families and reminds us all that there is no place like home. Kyoko's decision about deciding whether to leave the flock is reminiscent of Ozu's "Late Spring", where everybody seemed to have an idea of what was best for its lead character Noriko. Kyoko's ultimate decision shows that the men around her are far more dependent on her than she will ever be on them.

There is little about Kyoto Story that jumps out and screams at you of its brilliance, but it really isn't a jumpy-out-screamy kind of film. It is a sweet story that is as much a nostalgic love-letter to a bygone era as it is about the love triangle at the heart of the film. It is a rare thing that a film captures the slow vibe of a place yet simultaneously manages to be entertaining and charming all in one neat bundle. Kyoto Story is that bundle, a joyous one at that.

Kyoto Story is screening at the 14th Annual Japanese Film Festival with Eriko Onishi's "Wish You Were Here". Check out the website for further details." - Richard Gray, DVD Bits

Thanks again to Richard for that piece on the interesting production that was Kyoto Story. Does anybody else know of Student / Industry crewed films? Matt Newton's "Three Blind Mice" had a large contingent of Sydney Film School students amongst its crew, and Participate Film Academy has produced the likes of "Sweet Marshall", but it seems to be a very rare thing.

It must have been a wonderful opportunity for the students to work with the likes of Abe and Yamada, make sure you ask Abe-san about it during the Panel Discussion!

See you at the festival!

(The Summit) The Mountain Of Death - Samson

Welcome back to the JFF Blog! Today we have a great review of The Summit: A Chronicle of Stones from Samson Kwok. If you subscribe to our newsletter you would have read about the project in our latest issue. It is the debut directorial piece by Daisaku Kimura, one of the greatest cinematographers of our time, and has been picking up awards left, right and centre.

You can subscribe to the newsletter via our website, in which we will be hosting some great competitions in the lead up to the Sydney leg of the 14th Japanese Film Festival. For now, you can get a taste of what will be on offer as Samson takes us on a journey to the edge of the world!

A team of explorers risk their lives to reach the peak of Mount Tsurugidake also known as “The Mountain of Death” in order to complete a map of Japan in 1907.

"Movies about mountain climbing are usually epic tales of human survival, and The Summit: A Chronicle of Stones is another fine example of this genre. We live in an era when every peak of every mountain has been conquered, but it is not uncommon for even today’s mountain climbers to run into trouble during their expeditions, despite having available to them sophisticated equipment, greater understanding about the human body’s functioning at high altitudes, and knowledge passed on by previous generations of mountain climbers. So if you think it is tough these days, think about the mountaineers of the past who did not have any of those things and had to rely instead on instincts, determination and luck.

Watching The Summit: A Chronicle of Stones, I have a complaint. It is a positive one though (yes, a positive complaint, if there is ever such a thing), and this relates to my viewing of the film on  a small screen. OK, let me explain. The film was directed by veteran cinematographer Daisaku Kimura, and his past experience really shows here. The cinematography is truly breathtaking, so much so that if you randomly take a screen shot, chances are that it will be beautiful enough to be made into a postcard. So Kimura really deserves the Japanese Academy Award for Best Cinematography that he won. I was just disappointed that my television screen isn’t big enough to allow me to fully enjoy the film, but I guess no TV screen is big enough for something this grand. Hence my advice is: catch this on the big screen if you can!

Kimura also won the Best Director Award for this film, which is not bad at all for a directorial debut. He has certainly done a fine job, but the stellar cast have no doubt helped him a lot. Asano Tadanobu (Villon’s Wife - 14th JFF, Ichi the Killer), Aoi Miyazaki (Solanin - 14th JFF) and Nakamura Toru (Oppai Volleyball, The Kiss, K-20: Legend of the Mask - 13th JFF) are all solid, while Teruyuki Kagawa (Dear Doctor - 14th JFF, Memories of Matsuko - 12th JFF) is outstanding in his award-winning role as the humble mountain guide. The cast playing the members of the mountain climbing teams in particular deserve much respect for their fearless portrayal of this extremely difficult journey. The narrative is at times a bit slow (which will be frustrating for some viewers), but this does add to one’s appreciation of the magnitude of the challenges faced by the film’s characters.

In the end, this story of mountaineers of the past risking their lives and trying to survive the most extreme weather conditions to achieve their goals is both touching and humbling. The audience is treated to a wonderful and stunning journey to a place most of us would never get to go to. There is a message from the film that I find particularly meaningful, which is ‘nature is eternal but life is fleeting.’ So let us cherish every moment of the journey and be not afraid to fulfil our dreams, just like the mountain-climbing teams in The Summit.

Of the 5 films nominated for Best Picture at this year’s Japanese Academy Awards, 4 will be showcased at the upcoming Japanese Film Festival in Australia, and The Summit: A Chronicle of Stones is one of them. There are also heaps of others to choose from in a particularly strong line-up of films at this year's festival." -  Samson Kwok, Heroic Cinema

Samson will be covering more films from the festival over the next week, which you can catch on this blog so be on the look out. Meanwhile we are still after more people who are passionate about Japanese cinema to get involved with this blog. If you want to be a part of it please get send your blog idea to assistantcoordinator@jpf.org.au

See you at the festival!