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 Japan Brief |
| 【Japan Brief】Japanese Films Win in Two Academy Awards Categories |
Japan Brief / FPCJ, No. 0911
February 25, 2009
Japanese Films Win in Two Academy Awards Categories
At the 81st Academy Awards ceremony held in Hollywood on February 22, the film Departures (Okuribito), directed by Yojiro Takita, won in the Foreign Language Film category, and La Maison en Petits Cubes (Tsumiki no Ie), directed by Kunio Kato, won in the Animated Short Film category. This is the first time that Japanese films have won awards in these two categories, and the first time two Japanese films have received awards simultaneously. Among the many cities where film festivals are held, those in Cannes, Venice, and Berlin attract much attention every year. But it is the Academy Awards ceremony in the United States, where the film industry grew up, that most excites film aficionados around the world. Televised with elaborate fanfare to all the world, the Academy Awards ceremony is without doubt the largest and most flamboyant celebration of film.
Given all this, the winning of two Oscars was the biggest news item of the day for the Japanese media. The three major newspapers, the Yomiuri, Asahi, and Mainichi, put the news on the front page of their February 23 evening editions, and in their morning editions for February 24 they covered the news of the extraordinary achievement of winning two awards in greater detail, including many anecdotes, and even special long articles on the contemporary significance of the awards.
Two Award-winning Films Offering “Gentle Salvation”
To date, Japanese films have won Academy Awards for costume design, music score, short documentary, and animated feature film. But Japan has never before won an award in the Foreign Language Film category which was created in 1956, despite having been nominated 11 times, including nominations for the works of world-renowned masters such as Akira Kurosawa’s Shadow Warrior (Kagemusha) and Yoji Yamada’s The Twilight Samurai (Tasogare Seibei).
This year’s award-winning Departures was directed by Yojiro Takita, a virtual unknown outside of Japan, and is about the work of a nokanshi, a mortician whose job is to apply make-up to the deceased, dress the body, and place it in a coffin, in the presence of the family. Through its quiet depiction of this ritual, the film expresses a deep respect for the dead and the sorrow of the bereaved family. It is a subdued film that eschews the fancy camera techniques and action-packed stories of more flamboyant pictures.
Of the five nominations for the category of best foreign film, expectations were high that the award would go to one of the films with a weighty theme, such as the Israeli film, Waltz with Bashir, which is about the invasion of Lebanon. Yet what was chosen was a work that contemplated the very personal ceremony of parting with a deceased loved one. Says Masahiro Motoki who played the leading role, “Death comes equally to everyone. I think the appeal of the film is this universal theme. Departures is full of gentle salvation, of positive salvation. Perhaps this is what made it stand out.”
The hero of La Maison en Petits Cubes, winner in the Animated Short Film category, is an old man who keeps building additions onto his home to escape flooding in a world of rising seas. Here, too, the themes are of loneliness and family memories.
Japanese Film Regains Its Vitality
The golden era of Japanese film was from the 1950s through the 1960s. Works by such masters as Akira Kurosawa, Yasujiro Ozu, and Kenji Mizoguchi had profound influence on film-makers around the world and won high praise from film critics. But not long after this era, the Japanese film industry began to stagnate and there ensued a long period in which domestic films were eclipsed by foreign films that dominated the Japanese market in terms of both popularity and earnings.
The past few years have seen a turnaround in this trend, however. Last year’s box-office revenues for both Japanese and foreign films totaled 194.836 billion yen. Of this amount, Japanese films earned 115.859 billion yen, a 22.4 percent increase over the preceding year, and 59.5 percent of the total, significantly more than the share earned by foreign films. What has been particularly notable about this is the decline in popularity of so-called Hollywood-style extravaganza with loud sound effects and other tricks of the trade.
The main force behind the revival of Japanese films has been a surge of entertaining films based on popular television dramas. But that is not all. So-called “arts” films of high artistic quality have also been doing well and should not be overlooked. Departures has attracted 2.77 million viewers since it was released in September last year and is still being shown at 180 theaters. At this point, it is scheduled to be distributed to 36 countries, including the United States, an indication that it is on its way to earning simultaneous acclaim both in Japan and internationally.
Commentary of the Major Newspapers on the Two Awards
In its February 24 editorial, the Yomiuri Shimbun said, “This double award should help to further invigorate Japanese films.” It continued, “This is an affirmation of the high esteem shown on the international stage for the universal themes of life and death that are the subject of these films.” At the same time, the Yomiuri noted that “A short animated film like La Maison en Petits Cubes has very few opportunities to be shown, even when it has high artistic value, and because of this it is not profitable. Films like this are generally shown at media festivals such as that sponsored by the Agency for Cultural Affairs. There needs to be an expansion of such opportunities for screening.”
The Nikkei February 24 editorial said, “If the intent is to develop Japanese film into a ‘soft power’ that we can be proud of, there is a need for measures to support strongly motivated people. The system of earlier times in which film studios functioned as the training ground for young talent has long since broken down. There is a need to conceive of a new system to train professionals who can meet international standards.”
The Mainichi Shimbun commented in its February 24 editorial, “In the midst of the current critical economic impasse, there is growing debate calling for a changeover from the conventional industrial model and a re-examination of the way we plan and live our lives. In this regard, the two award-winning films are especially timely. We wonder if there is not some way the vigor and youthful culture of these kinds of films could be applied to forging a new national vitality. The government is particularly lacking in this kind of sensibility. We would like to hope that these awards will stimulate a change in thinking.”
The February 25 editorial of the Sankei Shimbun started out, “There has never been an Academy Award ceremony in all its 81 occasions, in which Japan has had such a strong presence.” It continued, “We would like to stress the fact that Departures is the first Japanese film, and the first contemporary Japanese film, to win the Foreign Language Film award. It will surely change such Japanese film stereotypes of samurai and ninja. Films transcend national boundaries. The Academy Awards should be put to good use not only for business, but also to deepen understanding of the Japanese people and Japanese culture.”
(Copyright 2009 Foreign Press Center / Japan) |
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