Joined: 15 Jun 2004 Posts: 46182 Location: Los Skandolous, California Country:
Posted: Wed Dec 27, 2006 7:47 am Post subject:
gaijin mark wrote:
Saw this today, 2 BIG thumbs up!
this movie was excellent. i have to agree with all the critical acclaim this film has been getting....this is the best movie i've seen this year. it definitely surpasses flags of our father even though it's a complement to that film
bmwracer wrote:
Cool.
Maybe I'll try to catch the movie sometime this week.
definitely worth it.....saw it at the Arc Light.....ah....gotta love a theater with assigned seating and bucket seats with lumbar support.
Joined: 30 May 2004 Posts: 2182 Location: on topic: off forum Country:
Posted: Wed Dec 27, 2006 7:53 am Post subject:
Tu_triky wrote:
definitely worth it.....saw it at the Arc Light.....ah....gotta love a theater with assigned seating and bucket seats with lumbar support.
That's where I saw it as well. The last time I was down there it was still Cinerama Dome (I think Carter was president!) definitely the best place to see a movie!
Joined: 15 Jun 2004 Posts: 46182 Location: Los Skandolous, California Country:
Posted: Wed Dec 27, 2006 7:57 am Post subject:
gaijin mark wrote:
That's where I saw it as well. The last time I was down there it was still Cinerama Dome (I think Carter was president!) definitely the best place to see a movie!
yeah back then it was just a one movie screen affair...at least they kept the Cinerama Dome and remodeled it with state of the art sound and leather seats. it would have been grand to watch the film in the Dome but it wasn't playing there....nevertheless i wholeheartedly agree with you...it's the best place to see a movie become a member free online and you get one dollar off admission and the ability to acrue points for free tickets and such.
your recommendation put me over the top and prompted me to watch the film....thank you.
Joined: 15 Jun 2004 Posts: 46182 Location: Los Skandolous, California Country:
Posted: Wed Dec 27, 2006 8:32 am Post subject:
The man in charge of 'Iwo Jima'
Ken Watanabe speaks commandingly about East-West cooperation.
By Irene Lacher
Special to The Times
December 25, 2006
When filming for "Letters From Iwo Jima" wrapped on that historic island in the Pacific, the movie's star, Ken Watanabe, scaled its dormant volcano with American members of the movie's crew. The group prayed at the cemetery atop Mt. Suribachi, which memorializes the Japanese soldiers who perished in the crucial World War II battle. Then crew members handed him two flags — the Stars and Stripes and Japan's rising sun — and snapped his photo.
The picture was a telling update of the famous World War II photograph that became a symbol of American patriotism — the portrait of American soldiers planting a U.S. flag in the soil of Japan's defeat. "I was so impressed that the American crew completely understood how the Japanese soldiers felt," Watanabe said during a recent swing through Los Angeles to promote director Clint Eastwood's critically esteemed companion film to "Flags of Our Fathers." "It's a collaboration. That was meaningful for me."
Indeed, the artistic collaboration between former enemy sides on the latter of Eastwood's movies examining America's and Japan's respective experiences during the battle of Iwo Jima, in 1945, is one of the more pleasant surprises of globalization. Opening wide Feb. 9, "Letters" already is winning best film plaudits from the Los Angeles Film Critics Assn. and the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures as well as a Golden Globe nomination for best foreign-language picture. And the elegant Watanabe, who has homes in Tokyo and Los Angeles, is one of the brave new globalized world's more dashing sons.
Indeed, he won the official imprimatur of People magazine's "50 Most Beautiful People" arbiters after he grabbed Hollywood's attention with his Oscar-nominated performance in 2003's "The Last Samurai." Watanabe followed that two years later with the role of the Chairman in "Memoirs of a Geisha," prompting one besotted critic to call him "a majestic hunk."
Eastwood prefers to characterize the 47-year-old actor's charisma as "screen presence" and says he was impressed with Watanabe when he met him at the Oscars a few years ago. "Besides being a terrific actor, he's got a really great face," Eastwood says. "His face just jumps off the screen. He's almost the heir to [Toshiro] Mifune, and I've always liked him and admired him in the few things I'd seen him in."
Watanabe's ripening into middle age has lent him the gravitas he needs to play a leader of men, Eastwood says, explaining his decision to cast him in the key role of Lt. Gen. Tadamichi Kuribayashi, the commander who led 22,000 Japanese in a doomed mission to defend the island 522 miles from Tokyo against 70,000 American troops. Only 1,083 survived.
Watanabe's portrayal of the complicated Kuribayashi was more of a feat, an act of pure imagination, than one might assume. The actor says that war is a distant experience for the Japanese because his country's military hasn't engaged in active combat since World War II. And that dark period in Japan's history is glossed over in its schools, so Watanabe hadn't even heard of Kuribayashi before making the film. By the time he set out to research the role, the general's close relatives had died. And if there are Japanese survivors of the battle, Watanabe says he couldn't find them.
With Iwo Jima only a dim memory for many Japanese, Eastwood, born in what was then enemy territory, is in the ironic position of illuminating Japanese history for the Japanese, even though that wasn't his intent. The director says he was motivated by his interest in exploring both sides of the battle so as to demonstrate the futility of war. While Watanabe collaborated with him by culling the best dialogue from three Japanese translations of the original English-language script, he says he believes Eastwood was better equipped to make the film than a Japanese director would have been. "If a Japanese director had made this film, it would have been more sentimental," Watanabe says. "So Clint could make the film more objectively. He could show the truth of the tragedy."
Much of the film was actually shot in Iceland and on soundstages in Los Angeles. Toward the end of filming, Eastwood and Watanabe flew to Iwo Jima with a small crew. "As I began to see Iwo Jima in the cockpit, I could not stop crying," Watanabe says. "All of Kuribayashi's experiences went through my body, the pain and sadness of battle. When I arrived on the island and stepped on the ground, I got a very warm feeling." Watanabe says he believed the warmth signified the presence of spirits letting him know that the film was on the right track.
He speaks from the edge of an armchair in the West Hollywood office of his publicity firm, PMK-HBH. A translator is on hand to help shore up his delicate stabs at English. He's immaculately dressed in a black turtleneck and suit with a black handkerchief tucked into his breast pocket. Unlike the besieged Kuribayashi, Watanabe seems relaxed, gracefully deflecting questions he'd rather not answer with a joke and an easy laugh. Asked, for example, about the 2001 press conference he gave, declaring that his 170 million-yen home was about to be repossessed after he left the family finances to his soon-to-be ex-wife, he laughs and says with a wave of his hand, "I don't remember."
Watanabe married actress Kaho Minami a year ago, and now his brood has expanded to include Minami's 7-year-old son in addition to his daughter, An Watanabe, a 19-year-old model, and actor son Shin Shinitiro, 22. Watanabe is a familiar sight in his native country, where he made his reputation playing samurai in television serials such as the 50-episode "Dokuganryu Masamune" (One-Eyed Dragon, Masamune) in 1987. Yet he insists he's not a big star in Japan. Then he puckishly mentions the meaning of his first name in Japanese. "My name means 'modest,' " he says and laughs.
Although Kuribayashi's ancestors were samurai, the role represents a departure for Watanabe. The general was more inclined toward progressive, rational thought than were the feudal warriors, who considered death an honor. While the general's body was never found, some accounts say that Kuribayashi probably committed seppuku, or ritual suicide. But Watanabe disagrees. In the film, the general orders his men not to die by their own hands in the waning hours of the battle but to fight until the end to protect the mainland for however long they were able to hold off the American troops.
Knowing that the odds were against him, the general crafted a battle plan inspired in part by his knowledge of Western military strategy. He led his troops in creating an extensive system of caves and tunnels from which they were able to prolong the island's defense for five weeks.
For his next role, Watanabe plays a 50-year-old Alzheimer's patient in "Memories of Tomorrow," which he also produced. The film, called "emotionally gripping" by Variety, took in $22 million in Japan, and Watanabe is negotiating U.S. distribution rights.
But he doesn't want people to think he's all about men in crisis. "It's a big challenge for me," he says of his latest film. "But it's not too dark. I wanted to give it the joy of life."
I just saw Fearless. The fight sequences were grand, but the plot was a bit weak. That is, until I realized it was based on a true story. Or I believe it is. If that's the case, I can't exactly find fault with the plot, can you? _________________
Joined: 15 Jun 2004 Posts: 46182 Location: Los Skandolous, California Country:
Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 12:04 pm Post subject:
bmwracer wrote:
Great article... Here's to more success for Watanabe-san...
To his credit, the guy has picked his American film projects with a fair measure of success. His success here has eclipsed that of other Japanese actors by a wide margin.
Joined: 24 Sep 2006 Posts: 688 Location: San Francisco, CA Country:
Posted: Fri Dec 29, 2006 1:27 am Post subject:
anyone was able to see DreamGirls Movie with Beyonce Knowles?, i was not able to see because it sold out in one day, was really shocked! i have to wait again to see it! _________________
anyone was able to see DreamGirls Movie with Beyonce Knowles?, i was not able to see because it sold out in one day, was really shocked! i have to wait again to see it!
Yea, I want to see it, but I dunno when that'll be. It's getting a lot of oscar buzz, and the hype around it is everywhere. _________________
Joined: 15 Jun 2004 Posts: 46182 Location: Los Skandolous, California Country:
Posted: Fri Dec 29, 2006 5:58 am Post subject:
bmwracer wrote:
Yeah, I'm waiting for it to go into general release... I don't wanna hassle and go up to the ArcLight to see it... At least by myself.
i saw it by myself! but then again i don't live in the South Bay so it wasn't a "drive" as it might be for you. i understand your reasoning, although due to the subject matter of the film, i found it might actually be one of those films you'd prefer to see alone...guess it depends on the person of course.
i originally wanted to rally some other ppl to watch it but i figured it would be too much of a headache cuz ppl are busy doing whatevers at this time of the year....moreover i didn't wanna miss the opportunity to see it at the Arc Light
i saw it by myself! but then again i don't live in the South Bay so it wasn't a "drive" as it might be for you. i understand your reasoning, although due to the subject matter of the film, i found it might actually be one of those films you'd prefer to see alone...guess it depends on the person of course.
i originally wanted to rally some other ppl to watch it but i figured it would be too much of a headache cuz ppl are busy doing whatevers at this time of the year....moreover i didn't wanna miss the opportunity to see it at the Arc Light
i originally wanted to rally some other ppl to watch it but i figured it would be too much of a headache cuz ppl are busy doing whatevers at this time of the year....
I hear ya: most of thje people I know just aren't into movies enough to appreciate places like the Arc Light...
Joined: 15 Jun 2004 Posts: 46182 Location: Los Skandolous, California Country:
Posted: Fri Dec 29, 2006 6:12 am Post subject:
bmwracer wrote:
I hear ya: most of thje people I know just aren't into movies enough to appreciate places like the Arc Light...
even gaijin mark, gave the place his stamp of approval.
but yeah i can see your point...as i mentioned before, i don't go there often but i definitely do appreciate the Arc Light...hell, i've never been before, but they even have 21 and over only screenings where they allow you to order an alcoholic drink from the bar!
Quote:
I need new friends.
at some point i think most people feel that way, myself included.
The film is stirring debate as the nation mulls rewriting its pacifist
constitution.
By Jason Miks | Contributor to The Christian Science Monitor
TOKYO
About halfway through a showing of "Letters From Iwo Jima" - Clint Eastwood's epic about Japan's futile stand during the World War II battle - a 30-something Japanese salaryman takes off his glasses to wipe away the tears from his eyes. He does this several times during the movie, the first time after a young American soldier dies.
Told from a Japanese perspective, the film recounts the 36-day struggle for an island the soldiers were led to believe was essential for the survival of their homeland, but which ended up costing more than 20,000 Japanese lives.
Eastwood took a huge risk in planting an American flag in a historical episode so haunting to the Japanese that the nation has largely shied away from producing movies about it. But instead of being shunned as the work of an ignorant outsider, "Letters From Iwo Jima" is resonating with critics and public alike during a pivotal political moment. The film is stirring emotions - reports of men weeping during screenings aren't uncommon - and debate as Japan mulls rewriting its pacifist constitution and some look longingly to a more patriotic past.
"The way [the movie] has been advertised certainly has something of a nationalist drumbeat. And yet the left is taking this as an antiwar film," says Aaron Gerow, an assistant professor of film studies at Yale university who spent 12 years working for the Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival.
Both sides of the political spectrum are battling over the soul of the nation's future direction. Current Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has already pressed to have the Defense Agency upgraded to ministry status and last week succeeded in getting laws through the upper house requiring schools to teach patriotism.
"Letters From Iwo Jima" arrives during a time of general debate about whether young Japanese know enough about the war. Certainly, some younger moviegoers have been surprised by the brutality of the fighting.
"I didn't really know what to expect, but it seemed very real," says 20something Wakako Hattori after a recent screening. "My boyfriend even cried when he saw it."
But outside the cinema here in the Roppongi Hills district - its luxury high-rise apartments and upscale restaurants a testament to the city's rise from the devastation of the war - a theater manager bemoans how few youngsters have seen the movie. "Mostly it has been older people who have been coming to see it, and people in their 30s," says the manager, who asked not to be identified for fear of his cinema being embroiled in a controversy. "Young people haven't come as much because they don't know as much about the war."
Eastwood's movie, which has been top of the Japanese box office for the past two weekends even as it generates buzz in the US as an Oscar front-runner, is one of few to tackle Iwo Jima. (Earlier this fall, the director released a companion piece, "Flags of Our Fathers," which explored the American experience in the battle as well.) Just two nondocumentary Japanese movies have previously focused on the assault, a 1959 effort called "Iwo Jima" and "Kaigun Tokubetsu Shonenhei" ("Special Naval Youth Soldiers"), released in 1972.
"More movies have focused on Okinawa, primarily because they could take up the story of suffering civilians," says Mr. Gerow. "But in Iwo Jima it was just soldiers."
"Letters" has been winning over Japanese film critics. The Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper praised the way the movie was able to personalize the soldiers, while the Mainichi applauded its sympathetic portrayal of some of the young Japanese soldiers, arguing that a film showing the soldiers' humanity could in fact only be shot by an outsider - that it would be impossible for a country that is constitutionally denied its own military to properly honor them.
Indeed, Japan is wrestling with the idea of revising its American-drafted constitution. A powerful movement argues that Japan should adopt a more assertive national pride and take a more active role militarily in its US-led defenses.
"Japan needs to have a discussion with its people about what sort of nationalism it wants," says Steven Clemons, founder of the Japan Policy Research Institute. He believes this discussion must include the younger generation of Japanese.
The decision to cast Kazunari Ninomiya, better known for his role in the pop band Arashi, may have been with a view to broadening the movie's appeal to a younger audience in what is the second-largest movie market in the world.
"I thought the movie was very good," says Kenji Tanigaki, a young viewer. "But it was sad to see so many people dying for no reason. I don't think I could do what they did."
Joined: 15 Jun 2004 Posts: 46182 Location: Los Skandolous, California Country:
Posted: Fri Dec 29, 2006 2:49 pm Post subject:
bmwracer wrote:
Excellent.
Mondo kudos to Eastwood's direction and it stirring up intelligent discussion.
yeah any film that can generate discussion about an episode in japanese history that is often glossed over (for obvious reasons) must be given its due.
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become a member free online and you get one dollar off admission and the ability to acrue points for free tickets and such.
