Wednesday, May 07, 2008

Films: May 5 in Japan‐You Know What That Means…

I drafted the following at the beginning of Golden Week, intending to post it on Kodomo no Hi. I filled out the Yasukuni part, but completely forgot about the rest. Now, this reminds me that I did see The Red Balloon, another movie about the world of us little boys and our dreams, so many years ago:

It’s Kodomo no Hi! Let’s hope this movie arrives in time for next year’s Children’s Day.

Speaking of movies, Yasukuni is opening in theaters close to you. According to this Yomiuri report, it opened to a packed crowd (if, unsurprisingly for a documentary, in an 129-132-seat theater used for small-bore films), and no protesters were to be seen. Perhaps the private screening held for some right-wing leaders (no, not the one for the Diet members, in case you wondered) cleared the air, in the same way Western criticism of Shintaro Ishihara’s drama on the final days of Kamikaze pilots died down once the film opened.

No comments: