Yesterday, Taylor and I went to go see
Seppuku (Harakiri) at the Film Forum, which was followed by a Q&A session with the star of the film, Tatsuya Nakadai. There were many great questions. I can't remember all of them but here are a few:
Q:"How much of the film was improvised/ad lib and how much was it scripted?"
A: "Everything was scripted. None of it was improvised."
Q: "How do you feel about the messages of Harakiri?"
A: "Concerning bushido and authority, I feel that every individual should be free to choose how one lives. When I was brought up, I was told that we must give our lives to the Emperor, which of course is not the case today. Nowadays, we are all free to choose how we think which is a great thing."
Q: "How was the film received in Japan?"
A: "The film met with a decent amount of praise in Japan, but the funniest part was at Cannes. During the screening, apparently, at least 10 french ladies fainted at the harakiri scene and so the director and I thought that the film was doomed. However, after the screening, we were met with so much praise that the Japanese media thought that we would win the Grand Prix. I specifically remember going to several interviews being asked how I felt about winning the Grand Prix when the winner wasn't even announced yet. In the end, Luchino Visconti's
The Leopard, ended up winning it. At the dinner party, I saw Visconti and Alain Delon celebrating at the other table and we were sort of huddling together in jealousy at our table. It was quite funny."
I also had the great opportunity to ask my own question:
"So I heard a story that during the shooting for this film that you and Rentaro Mikuni had an argument regarding projection of voice. Mikuni, being a film actor, argued that he didn't need to speak loud because the mic was right in front of him but you, being from theatre, argued that you can't respond if you can't hear his lines. Director, Masaki Kobayashi, finally stepped in and stopped shooting for 3 days until you two came to a resolution. Is that true?"
A:"That is absolutely true. During the scenes where we are speaking, the distance was just like where you and I are standing (app. 20 ft.) so it was difficult for me to hear him if he didn't speak loudly. We got into an argument and so the director told us to resolve our conflict and stopped shooting for three days. I can't imagine that happening today in the U.S., or in Japan for that matter, but back then we had lots of time to spare."
So apparently, my question was pretty interesting and a man from the
Japan Foundation pulled me to the side and gave me an invitation to a special screening of
Ran followed by a reception with Nakadai and Nogami, which was to be held the next day.
Before the screening, however, Nakadai and Nogami visited the Japanese bookstore, Kinokunia (located across the street from Bryant Park), for a book signing.
Mr. Nakadai signing my Criterion DVD inserts for Harakiri and Ran.
Ms. Nogami signing my copy of her book. She's drawing the Seven Samurai flag t-shirt I was wearing today (or rather yesterday seeing that's it's 1 AM)
After the book signing, I hurried off to the Japan Society and saw Ran again and was blown away. It's really something to see on the big screen. Mr. Nakadai said a few words after the show and then we hurried on to the reception.
Ms. Nogami and I at the reception following Ran.
Mr. Nakadai and I.
Well there are two more chances that I'll see them. One on Tuesday for
Nakadai's lecture at 8:20 PM at the Film Forum, and one the next day for
Nogami's lecture at 6:30 at the Japan Society. I don't know if tickets are still available but if they are, you should definitely go and check them out!!
I was told by somebody today after kendo class that director Miike will be in town this Saturday. I was just on the Japan Society website yesterday and I didn't see it so I was skeptical. When I went home to verify, sure enough, it was there!
Now moving on to new Criterion Collection releases: they are now making the transition to Blu-Ray DVDs. Starting November, they will be re-releasing old DVDs (The Third Man, The Last Emperor, The Man Who Fell to Earth) and releasing Wes Anderson's Bottle Rocket and Wong Kar-Wai's Chungking Express on Blu-Ray and regular DVDs. They also have plans to release great films such as Wages of Fear, Contempt, and The 400 Blows later. Also, make sure to check out their Eclipse series which features hard-to-find films by famous directors.
Legendary director, Akira Kurosawa's, script supervisor will be coming to New York City on Wednesday the 25th of June to lecture about Kurosawa and the inner workings of his creative mind. Nogami stood by Kurosawa from Rashomon to Madadayo and has been through the ups as well as the downs with the master filmmaker. It's definitely worth checking out and a must if you are a Kurosawa fan.
On a different note, last Friday I had the wonderful opportunity to go see Michel Gondry speak at the Times Center. Excluding myself, there were about 6 other Hunter students who also went. I sat up front as he spoke about his music videos (Bjork, The White Stripes, and The Rolling Stones in particular) and about his 5 feature films (Human Nature, Eternal Sunshine, Science of Sleep, Be Kind Rewind, and Dave Chappelle's Block Party). He told some interesting anecdotes about stuff that happened during filming and his influences for his film concepts. He also spoke a little about the importance of scripts. Unfortunately, we ran out of time and we couldn't ask any questions directly but it was overall a very interesting and fun experience. We got a very personal look at Gondry as well as a little glimpse into his creative mind. I recorded the whole conversation so if anybody is interested, I could give them a copy. I must warn you though that his french accent is pretty hard to understand at times, especially through a recording.
