ROUNDUP: BIFF 2017
Japanese Films and Co-productions Surge at BIFF
Despite its organizational team being in a state of disarray, with the upcoming resignations of its two top positions already announced in advance, the 22nd annual Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) went forward, from October 12 to 21.
©Kenta Kato
As always, this year’s dazzling lineup included many Japanese films. There were 41 titles from Japan as part of the festival, from big-studio releases like Isao Yukisada’s Narratage and Japanese auteur Hirokazu Kore-eda’s latest hit at home, The Third Murder, in Gala Presentations, to a retrospective of legendary filmmaker Seijun Suzuki, who passed away earlier this year.
Great attention was given to Yoshiyuki Kishi’s Wilderness and Daihachi Yoshida’s The Scythian Lamb, two world-premiere screenings that were vying for the Kim Ji-seok Award. Created to commemorate late program director Kim Ji-seok, who had tragically passed away in May, this newly established award honors two features among 10 world premieres in the Window on Asian Cinema section.
Kishi’s Wilderness was presented as a 5-hour-long feature, instead of dividing the story into two parts as was done for the theatrical release in Japan. As a result, this fervent boxing drama, set in 2021 Japan, seemed to tire the jury, in spite of powerful performances by rising Japanese star Masaki Suda and popular Korean actor-director Yang Ik-june. In the end, the award went to Anucha Boonyawatana’s Malila: The Farewell Flower from Thailand and The Scythian Lamb.
Yoshida’s latest film is an off-beat comedy about a governmental project that offers residences and jobs to ex-convicts upon release, as a way to increase the population in rural areas of Japan. The protagonist, a young city official (Ryo Nishikido) is put in charge of this new program without being told that the six have just been released from prison. He is told there is one rule that he is required to follow: the ex-cons should not get to know each other.
The Scythian Lamb stars Ryuhei Matsuda and other well-known faces.
Although this dramedy is not as engaging and dramatic as the career-making masterpiece The Kirishima Thing, Yoshida proves to be an adroit craftsman who can establish a singular pace, reminiscent of his previous work A Beautiful Star, another entry at BIFF this year. Following a conventional trajectory, Yoshida extracts oddball humor and pathos that should resonate with general audiences.
There were also a number of co-productions presented in Busan, including Jeong Jae-eun’s Butterfly Sleep, which had its world premiere. Shot in Japan and co-produced by Korea and Japan, this romantic tale deals with the memory loss of its female protagonist, who has Alzheimer’s. She is played by Miho Nakayama, who has been a Japanese goddess in Korea since the 1995 release of Shunji Iwai’s Love Letter.
Hong Kong and China co-produced a contemporary remake of a 1976 Japanese film, Manhunt (also called Hot Pursuit or Dangerous Chase), which starred Ken Takakura. The new film takes the same title and features such international stars as Zhang Hanyu from China, Masaharu Fukuyama from Japan (Like Father, Like Son, Scoop!) and Ha Ji-won from South Korea. Directed by Hong Kong action master John Woo, this giant Asian project comes across as a cheap parody of Woo’s previous works that should at least appeal to genre fans who can appreciate the intentional B-movie approach.
John Woo talks about Manhunt.
Lastly, Japan and France co-produced The Lion Sleeps Tonight, making it possible for Nobuhiro Suwa (M/Other, H Story) and Jean-Pierre Léaud, François Truffaut’s alter ego, to collaborate together. Through the cheerful interactions between an aged actor and playful children who are interested in filmmaking, Suwa quietly combines an upcoming death with a celebration of life. The appearance of Léaud after the BIFF screening ignited intense excitement among die-hard cinephiles.
Jean-Pierre Léaud discusses The Lion Sleeps Tonight.
In addition, BIFF held a special press conference to announce a series of future international projects, local spinoffs of Ten Years, the controversial Hong Kong omnibus that predicted what would happen to the country in 10 years’ time. Politically driven and challenging, the original was both celebrated for the brave cinematic visions of its young filmmakers and derided as left-wing propaganda. It was announced that Japan, Taiwan and Thailand would all be producing omnibus films with the same concept. Hirokazu Kore-eda is on board as the executive producer of Ten Years Japan, supporting five young filmmakers: Akiyo Fujimura, Chie Hayakawa, Yusuke Kinoshita, Megumi Tsuno and Kei Ishikawa. The project is promising just imagining how these directors will tackle diverse political issues in Japan, during a period when the apolitical industry is reluctant to depict any kind of social issue on screen.
The 10 Years Japan announcement, with all directors present.
By Kenta Kato
Kenta Kato is a Tokyo-based writer, film critic and festival programmer, currently working on a PhD degree in Film at Waseda University.