Aiding Japanese films
(From The Japan Times June 3 issue)

日本映画の振興策

    The pride in hearing of such prizes always ranks up there with baseball players and beauty pageant contestants (this year's Miss Universe is Japanese). Yet, after the first blush of pride, indifference often settles in toward complex works of art. Ironically, Japanese works of art, in particular film, are often better known abroad than at home.

    Japanese films have always had a bit of a struggle for recognition. The booming interest in recent animation films should be welcomed, but the groundbreaking work of classic realist directors like Yasujiro Ozu or Akira Kurosawa (who won a Cannes prize in 1980) received greater appreciation outside Japan than at home. Other directors, with more provocative themes and ironic styles, such as Shohei Imamura (who won at Cannes in 1983 and 1997) are sadly even less well known.

    As Web sites like You Tube take up the viewing time of many people, films still represent national character and offer insight into culture. For years, the image of Japan around the world was acquired from Japanese films. No one expects samurai and sword fights anymore, but the situations, acting and unique style of Japanese films have influenced the image of Japan abroad perhaps more than any other single factor. Nowadays, Japan is in danger of disappearing from world screens.

    The rich tradition of visual storytelling in Japan may not yet be an endangered species, but it needs an economic sanctuary in which to continue its accomplishments. If the current administration were genuinely concerned about Japan's image abroad, artistic films would seem the best investment. Sending a steady supply of high-quality films overseas to festivals and commercial theaters alike will prove a wise move in the long run. Cooperative film ventures with other countries, like South Korea or China, offer peaceful diplomacy.

    In this regard, France might offer one of the best models. There, the government is unafraid to put its money where its pride is. Grants, schools and promotion have long encouraged and advanced the French film industry while protecting it in a competitive world market.

    In Japan, the puny economic investment in the national film industry would shame any ministry related to construction, information technology or banking. Better funding for film should be a much higher priority in Japan. There are still signs of life in Japanese film, even without political interest. In Tokyo, movie theaters have upgraded everything from seats to the quality of beer sold in the lobby. Shibuya's mini theaters keep multiplying and second-run theaters maintain the tradition of a local walk-to theater. People know that a TV screen, no matter how wide or how flat, just does not deliver the rich experience and visual power of watching a film in a theater.

    Japanese film schools could be improved, or rather, initiated, since almost none operate in Japan. Japanese directors must go abroad to learn even the basics or apprentice themselves to non artistic companies. Creative films offer a vision of a beautiful country and national pride, to mention two of the government's priorities, as strongly as any high-school class in history.

    At many universities, film courses are entering the curriculum and, here and there, departments of media studies are springing up. University classrooms can help build a culture of film and teach vis-ual literacy in this media-saturated age. Visual storytelling offers potent images of culture, human feeling and potential. But without creative and financial support, the offerings are all too often a mish-mash of bland, uninspiring and commercial products.

    Practically speaking, film students and young directors need grants to get started. In this day and age, the visual honesty and creative storytelling of a country's films simply does not exist without support. The film industry can continue only with funding, education and involvement. Otherwise, like the characters in Kawase's prize-winning film, Japanese film may find itself wandering in a dark, confusing forest, only without much hope of understanding and communication.

The Japan Times Weekly: June 9, 2007
(C) All rights reserved

    最近のアニメ映画ブームは歓迎すべきだが、小津安二郎、黒沢明両監督などの古典的作品は、国内よりも海外で評価されてきた。

    映画は国民性を代表し、各国の文化を垣間見ることを可能にする。日本のイメージは映画を通じて形成されることが多い。

    日本映画は公的支援を必要としている。現政権が日本のイメージを高めることを志向するなら、芸術的映画が最善の投資対象になる。中国・韓国などとの共同作品も平和外交の手段になる。映画産業を公的給付金、映画学校、積極的宣伝などで振興してきたフランスがよい模範になる。

    日本の映画産業に対する公的投資は、他産業に比べあまりにも少ない。援助は、積極的に進めねばならない。東京の映画館は座席などの設備を大幅に改善し、渋谷のミニシアターも増え続けている。いくら大型テレビでも、映画館で見る映画にはかなわない。

    国内にほとんどない映画学校を創設すべきである。創造的映画は、政府の目標である「美しい国」「国の誇り」を、教室の授業に劣らず映像として見せることができる。

    多くの大学は、映画関係の講座を提供し、メディア関係学部を創設している。大学の授業で、映画文化を創り、映像制作能力を教えることができる。映画産業は、資金援助、教育、公的関与で存続可能になる。さもなければ、映画産業は、河瀬作品の登場人物のように、暗い森の中をさまようようになるだろう。