November 15th Lecture
Hi everyone. Adamo here. Unfortunetly I was unable to attend this past weeks lecture — which is rather upseting because I know the lecture was a special presentation. So i was wondering if someone can fill me in on the key points presented by the lecturer. And what you thought about the films. That would be great. None the less, I hope it was an enjoyable class.
Cheers
Adamo Ruggiero
November 17th, 2007 at 7:08 pm
Hi Adamo-
I’m so sorry you missed it- it was one of the best lectures I have been to. I really wish we had more opportunities to attend these kinds of things becasue they are really inspiring and thought provoking.
There were three presentations, including one by Professor Hayashi (which was the best, in my opinion- hopefully she will give us a hard copy of her lecture). Excuse me for not remembering the names of the other two presenters. The first presenter was an amazing professor from Vienna University.
His lecture approached the study of the history of the cinema in the city, as opposed to simply the study of the history of film. It was like a love letter to the physical space of a Cinema or movie house. Anyone who revels in the magic of actually going out to the cinema, rather than watching a film at home on a computer or something, could feel a kinship with his presentation.
He specifically talked about the Shinjuku Arts Theatre of the 60’s. He gave a vivid description of that time period in Japan, the people who went to the theatre (hippies, radicals, young and old, alternative people), the kinds of films that screened, the connection between the space of the theatre and the political movements that resulted.
The lecture was so thought provoking. I spent some time in Germany this summer- travelling around to all kinds of cities there- and the one thing that struck me was the kinds of movie theatres they had (and the fact that you can buy hard-boil eggs in corner stores, I digress).
Every theatre I attended there had a courtyard, or a balcony, or a cafe, or a bar attached to the theatre that you would congregate in after the film. Going to the movies was an action- it was not simply just going to see the film- but included the rest of the night that you would spend debating the politics of film and meeting all sorts of people- rich, old, poor, young. Everyone wanted to talk about the film they had just saw.
As a case of point too, you could actually drink beer in the theatre itself often- there is a great cinema in Austin Texas like that, too.
The lecture on Thursday made me think about how our cities are now set up to de-politicize culture. Has anyone ever been to the Cinemateque at the AGO in Toronto? Amazing films- but you could not get a more sterile space. It is so..quiet and austere. Think about large movieplexes- mostly in malls- can you get a more de-politicized experience than a movie in a mall?? Sure it is fun that you can play a game of Ski Ball or Dance Dance Revolution before a screening, but does the space encourage discussion, debate? The structures themselves are not conducive to thinking of any kind. I wonder if that is coincidental? I think probably not…
It was such a great lecture- and really made me think about the state of Toronto cinemas. The best I think we have is the Royal on College- situated in the hub of the city and near a slew of places to congregate after a film…but it is still not anywhere near what Shinjuku seemed to be. I really long for Toronto to have a theatre of that callabre, one day. Don’t you think it would make movie going so much more exciting?
Like I said, it was a great afternoon. I’ll let someone esle chime in about other presentations….
November 24th, 2007 at 6:48 pm
Hey Adamo, I can tell you what Sharon was briefly talking about before the presentation and film - “Branded to Kill”.
The film was made in the late 60s or early 70s and it created a scandal in Japanese film at the time. The director, Seijun Suzuki, was fired form Nikkatsu Studios for creating the film. While the studio was making many roman porno/high end pink films, Suzuki created a provocative yakuza film which led to him being fired. Eventually many viewers protested against his firing, such as people from ATG. I think he got re-hired at the studios and apparently this film is supposed to be one of the most famous “underground”/yakuza films.
Erin