The great blog, SciFi Japan, announced that on September 9, Classic Media will release on DVD a double-bill of the landmark Toho Studios Kaiju Eiga (怪獣映画), 1956's RODAN (ラドン Radon), and 1966's WAR OF THE GARGANTUAS (フランケンシュタインの怪獣 サンダ対ガイラ Furankenshutain no Kaijū: Sanda taiGaira, lit. "Frankenstein's Monsters: Sanda Versus Gaira"). War of the Gargantuas will appear for the first time ever in the U.S. on DVD!
Tonight, at New York's 100 year-old Japan Society, I had an incomparable experience. This month and next, the Japan Society is featuring two major film events: one entitled "Japan Cuts"; and a retrospective of the work of Nakadai Tatsuya (仲代 達矢), arguably Japan's greatest living actor. The latter is the Nakadai Retrospective--a co-production with Film Forum (where the films are being screened).
Nakadai Tatsuya and Nogami Teruyo at the Japan Society 6/25/2008
This, however, was not the only extraordinary moment for me in this already unbelievable evening. I literally dragged myself to the event--I have been suffering for the past several months with an illness that seemed to have healed but relapsed a few days before. I had been in the hospital (on antibiotics both in hospital and at home) and I am now, unfortunately, back on antibiotics. This makes me very tired. Still, I would have regretted so much missing the opportunity to see and hear this special interview with Nogami-san, so I forced myself to the Japan Society tonight.
I attended the event alone. By "alone", I mean that no one else I know personally attended the talk with me. A tall woman of a bright and friendly countenance, and a definite "presence", sat next to me in the auditorium. We began to talk and she asked about my interest in the event and in Japanese Cinema. I explained as much as I could muster in my semi-delirious state (from the tiredness that comes with taking antibiotics). She was very charming. She followed by explaining her introduction to Japan many years ago--as a teacher, on a Fullbright grant after she graduated from college (Wesleyan). She also described her long journey of interest in Japan, Japanese culture and Japanese cinema and that she had even been an essayist on Japanese film. She then mentioned that, at one time, she would write film-related essays in the sometimes absence of the person who became her husband. She then revealed that her husband, as she pointed to my copy of Nogami-san's "Waiting on the Weather", was "him". It was no less than the person who wrote the foreward to Nogami's book, the great American scholar (and popularizer) of Japanese film, Donald Richie, one of my heroes! The woman was MARY RICHIE, Donald Richie's former spouse, about whom I had read extensively, especially in Richie's highly expressive, revealing book, "The Japan Journals: 1947-2004". I couldn't believe it. Mrs. Richie and I spent much of the evening talking. What a profound pleasure to meet her!
Mary Richie and me, Japan Society 6/25/2008
Simultaneously with the NYAFF 2008, the Japan Society is hosting its own important film program, Japan Cuts. Some films overlap with NYAFF, but there are other gems in this festival that should not be missed.
For anyone interested in "Kaiju Eiga" cinema, don't miss the great blog/information resource called SciFi Japan. It covers far more than just Godzilla and his cohorts and has excellent photos and links to other Sci-Fi resources.
There have been many remarkable actors in the history of Japanese film. None, however, surpassed the late, magnificent Shimura Takashi (志村 喬) for introspection and dignity. Where Mifune Toshiro (三船 敏郎) was the power of the genius, Kurosawa Akira's (黒澤 明) finest work, Shimura was its heart and conscience.
I can't recommend more enthusiastically the adorable Japanese comedy, Hula Girls (フラガール Hura Gāru). It is directed by Korean director, Sang-il Lee, and features a wonderful ensemble of Japanese actors. Hula Girls is the story, set in 1965, of the people of the economically depressed mining town of Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture. When unemployment became rampant in the town -- because coal was being replaced by fuel and mines were progressively shut down -- the mine owners turned to new sources of revenue. In this case, they decide to build, in this cold, northern Japanese prefecture, a Hawaiian theme park and recruit local girls to learn to dance the Hula (and a feisty dance teacher from the big city to teach them) at the park and on tour. I won't reveal much more, but suffice to say that what occurs is the stuff of great, sometimes hillarious, sometimes sentimental humor.
Midnight Eye is one of the best online resources for those interested in Japanese Cinema. It features hundreds of articles, reviews and interviews about, and with, the great Japanese masters in all cinematic genres.
