Heads up for NY movie nerds (if you like 60's jap cinema)

drizzle · Post by **drizzle** » Mon Sep 24, 2007 1:10 pm

The Japan Society is doing a series of Nikkatsu screenings through may of next year. Judging by the description it's going to be all free-jazz/pop art action stuff, "like Seijun Suzuki but lesser known" to paraphrase their own write-up.

This is a huge opportunity if you're a fan of this kind of thing, there's not a lot of it out on DVD or VHS (even in bootleg form) outside the aforementioned Suzuki stuff and some of the titles in the retrospective are so obscure they don't even come up on imdb.

This is from their website:

"Nikkatsu Action films--with their stories influenced by Hollywood and the Nouvelle Vague, with the Ginza standing in for Manhattan -- reflected the Westernization that was sweeping away old values, while teaching an entire generation a new Japanese meaning of cool."

- Mark Schilling, series curator

Nikkatsu, Japan's oldest major film studio, produced over 500 Nikkatsu Action genre films, of which Seijun Suzuki's Tokyo Drifter and Branded to Kill may be the best known. For this series, Schilling goes beyond Suzuki, selecting 8 films long overlooked by critics and audiences, presented for the first time in the U.S. with new digital subtitles.

2007-2008 Schedule

Friday, September 28
A Colt is My Passport (1967)
Launch Screening with Curatorגs introduction, reception & book signing

Friday, November 9
The Warped Ones (1960)

Friday, December 14
Like a Shooting Star (1967)

Friday, January 18
Red Handkerchief (1964)

Friday, February 22
Gangster VIP (1968)

Friday, March 14
Plains Wanderer (1960)

Friday, April 4
Glass Johnny: Looks Like a Beast (1962)

Friday, May 2
Roughneck (1969)

About Mark Schilling
Author and critic Mark Schilling has lived in Tokyo since 1975. He began reviewing Japanese films for The Japan Times in 1989 and is currently the Japan correspondent for Variety. A program advisor to the Udine Far East Film Festival in Udine, Italy since 2001, Schilling curated a retrospective of Nikkatsu Action films for the 2005 festival that was the first of its kind in the West. His latest book, published by FAB Press, is No Borders, No Limits: Nikkatsu Action Cinema.

link (with descriptions for every movie)
http://www.japansociety.org/events/even ... 1449785411

I'm going this friday, if you decide to go and see a shady kid huddled in the corner up the block from the place smoking weed or later on eating all the fancy cheeze at the reception, that will probably be me.

StormShadow · Post by **StormShadow** » Mon Sep 24, 2007 2:46 pm

Sounds great! I'll be there!

drizzle · Post by **drizzle** » Mon Sep 24, 2007 2:47 pm

StormShadow wrote:Sounds great! I'll be there!

i think they're doing this in other places as well, california maybe, look it up

richard lamplighter · Post by **richard lamplighter** » Tue Sep 25, 2007 4:47 am

if i'm in town i'm there for this

would you recommend securing a ticket beforehand, drizzle?

drizzle · Post by **drizzle** » Tue Sep 25, 2007 10:41 am

i did just in case, but i doubt that was really necessary. shit like this usually doesn't sell out all the way.

StormShadow · Post by **StormShadow** » Tue Sep 25, 2007 2:06 pm

drizzle wrote:
StormShadow wrote:Sounds great! I'll be there!

i think they're doing this in other places as well, california maybe, look it up

I'm only here for two more weeks anyway so don't worry about it

drizzle · Post by **drizzle** » Tue Sep 25, 2007 2:07 pm

StormShadow wrote:
drizzle wrote:
StormShadow wrote:Sounds great! I'll be there!

i think they're doing this in other places as well, california maybe, look it up
I'm only here for two more weeks anyway so don't worry about it

you're going back to ireland? i though you were done?

drizzle · Post by **drizzle** » Mon Oct 01, 2007 4:56 pm

so i'm probably all alone in this thread, but that was one of the best screenings i've ever been to, maybe my favorite actually

- the theatre itself is comfy as hell, a deep ampitheatre so no matter who is sitting in front of you the screen is not blocked at all. The place was surprisingly packed but i didn't feel cramped or uncomfortable for a moment, more established art house joints around NY could learn from this (BAM and Film Forum come to mind for example, shitty shitty venues)

- fairly informative intro by the series curator, which put the presentation into some historical perspective

- the movie was really good. Nothing earth shattering, but i'm a big fan of this style and subject matter and this stuff is rare in the US. A very nice treat for a fan of the genre, especially since the movie never actually screened outside of Japan until this series started touring

- a reception after the movie was over, free drinks and ill japanese finger food. I filled up on dumplings, rolls, little teriayki kebobs, and whatever else so well i didn't even have to eat dinner before hitting the bars.

now THAT is how you do a screening. def going to every single one of the series

StormShadow · Post by **StormShadow** » Mon Oct 01, 2007 4:58 pm

drizzle wrote:
StormShadow wrote:
drizzle wrote:
StormShadow wrote:Sounds great! I'll be there!

i think they're doing this in other places as well, california maybe, look it up
I'm only here for two more weeks anyway so don't worry about it
you're going back to ireland? i though you were done?

thought I responded to this

Anyway, yeah, going back for a while to (hopefully) work and then I'll probably move to the bay area or LA

pen · Post by **pen** » Mon Oct 01, 2007 8:51 pm

that sounds amazing.
gotta get something like that popping over here.