I AM in an Ozu mood, with the days becoming like a series of autumn afternoons. That was his last film—An Autumn Afternoon, a film that has been called “one of cinema’s fondest farewells. But if the master filmmaker’s works have always been elegiac, my autumn is more celebratory. I am going back to my favorite city in my favorite season: Tokyo in autumn.
The gift of the season comes to me through an unexpected invitation from 32nd Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF) and the Japan Foundation Asia Center. The letter bears a heading in bold “Personal Invitation For.” It says: “It is our great pleasure to invite you as our ‘Invited Press’ to participate in the 32nd TIFF.” Explaining the invite, the communication states: “Following last year, TIFF and the Japan Foundation Asia Center have initiated the ‘Film Culture Exchange Projects.’ This includes various sub-projects that are all designed to deepen ties between Japan and other Asian countries.”
The invitation offered to Asian journalists to the TIFF “is one of initiatives of the Film Culture Exchange Projects, which aims to encourage people exchanges and networking opportunities among Asian film professionals, key figures, including representatives of film festivals, journalists and film critics in Asia.”
My first experience of TIFF in 2015 afforded me a view of a very organized film concourse, from the arrival at the airport to the on-time gala opening, press conferences, invitational lunches and dinners, and film screenings. Having lived in Japan for many years, this did not surprise me in general. The fact though that this punctuality and subtle rigor was happening in the domain of cinema and art was no less than awesome.
It was, however, the last event I attended which took my breath away: a screening of Akira Kurosawa’s They Who Step on Tiger’s Tail. Any Kurosawa work is magic enough but for the theater to be preceded by a Kabuki performance of Kanjincho, upon which the film was based, made the whole night mesmerizing and memorable. Aside from the famous Kabuki play, the film was partly based also on the older Noh work, called Ataka. The geographical location of the Noh theater piece had implication on the “o-bento” (food) box given to guests (audiences are allowed to eat during a Kabuki performance). The mushroom in the meat dish came from Ataka, and the overall color and motif of the tray on which the food was laid out was colored by the season of autumn.
For this year, I am ready to be starstruck again, as I was in 2015, when Helen Mirren took on the red carpet with the grandeur and theatricality of a great actress—with both hands raised, the inner part of the palms facing and framing her face.
As early as August, it was announced that Zhang Ziyi was going to head the jury. The presence of the actress in Japan is interesting because she was the one selected by Rob Marshall to play the lead role of the geisha in Memoirs of a Geisha. The role earned her the ire of Chinese authorities who, it was said, felt slighted that a Chinese actress would play the role of the submissive woman in the context of the abuse of Chinese women in two wars of the Chinese against the Japanese. From the side of Japan, it was said that the film industry felt strange to be told that there was no Japanese actress big enough to play such an iconic and much misunderstood Japanese character.
This year’s opening film is Tora-san, Wish You Were Here. The film from legendary director Yoji Yamada has been completed in time to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Japan’s most beloved comed film series, Otoko wa Tsurai yo (It’s Tough Being a Man). The series is a holder of a Guinness World Record for longest-running film series starring the same lead actor, Kiyoshi Atsumi. This film is the first to be released since 1995, following the untimely death of Atsumi.
On October 31, TIFF will be holding the gala premiere of the Japanese film Talking the Pictures, directed by Masayuki Suo. The filmmaker is noted for having produced compelling films like Shall We Dance? and I Just Didn’t Do it.
Will Robert de Niro and Al Pacino be around when TIFF screens The Irishman? The film, which also stars Joe Pesci, will close the festival on November 5. It is directed by Martin Scorsese, on his first-ever Netflix project. The film is described as an epic saga of organized crime in postwar America. It is expected that the Netflix film will do events that will create buzz similar to what the company did for Roma, Netflix’s Oscar-winning 2018 film.
For its 32nd edition, the TIFF also announced that its Crosscut Asia section will carry the title “Fantastic Southeast Asia.” This will focus on Southeast Asian genre films, from thrillers to romantic horrors, reflecting regional characteristics in the region. This sixth edition of the section has been programmed in collaboration with the Japan Foundation Asia Center.
The 32nd TIFF will take place from October 28 to November 5 at Roppongi Hills and other venues in Tokyo. All the events will take place within the splendor of autumn, way before the chill of winter. Caught in between the busy events are the condolences of those who were shocked with the death by fire in Kyoto of many members of the Kyoto Animation Studio. Some say it was a case of arson.
2 comments
Lucky, talented, gifted you!
Thank you, Lia.