CLASSICS
Provocation and Disruption
Radical Japanese Filmmaking from the 1960s to the 2000s
About The Japanese Film Festival (JFF) in Australia is an annual film festival that has been presented by The Japan Foundation, Sydney since 1997. It is one of a number of international Japanese Film Festivals established by The Japan Foundation with the aim of supporting and growing interest in Japanese films and cinema culture throughout the world. 2020 marks the 24th year of JFF Australia, and this year’s Festival includes three programs: Classics, which offers rare 35 and 16mm film screenings for free, Satellite, which tours a hand-picked selection of free films across Australia, and JFF Plus, a brand-new online program for 2020 offering the best of contemporary Japanese cinema. JFF Program Director Yurika Sugie JFF Programmers Susan Bui, Simonne Goran, Anne Lee and Aurora Newton Presented by
@japanesefilmfest @japanfilmfest #jffau2020 japanesefilmfestival.net
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Classics 2020 Provocation and Disruption: Radical Japanese Filmmaking from the 1960s to the 2000s This year’s program celebrates boundary-shattering films through Japanese cinematic history, notoriously recognised for their offbeat, rebellious and eye-opening qualities. With a spotlight on some of Japan’s leading experimental filmmakers working within the zeitgeist of their time, this series presents the visually audacious and sonically shocking—from Japanese New Wave and avant-garde activity during the 1960s and 1970s to gritty cyberpunk and brilliant psychedelic expressions of the late 1980s and early 2000s.
Provocation and Disruption is all about the poetic, the abstract, the visceral and the abrasive in visionary Japanese cinema. The selection broadly encapsulates films that were fiercely uncompromising and transcended convention, each leaving its unique mark on Japan’s film industry. In their own distinct way, these prolific cinematic works eschew traditional narrative structures and genre tropes to embrace distortion and symbolism. From dynamic and provocative colour, editing and camera work to themes of social, political and sexual ferment, these films are nothing like you’ve seen before. This free Classics program is part of the annual Japanese Film Festival presented by The Japan Foundation, Sydney and made possible by The Japan Foundation Film Library.
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Emotion (That Dracula We Once Knew)
Emotion 伝説の午後＝いつか見たドラキュラ Director: Nobuhiko Ōbayashi 1967 • 40mins • 16mm • colour UNCL: Suitable for 15+ (Contains mild violence and sexual references)
Sun-kissed youth, a love triangle and a vampire Opening with a dedication to Roger Vadim’s Blood and Roses, Emotion intersperses slow-motion cuts and colour filters with voiceovers featuring selective English translations by Japanese film scholar Donald Richie, offering a topsyturvy slice of nostalgia-tinted youth. The dreamlike world of this experimental short film from the late Nobuhiko Ōbayashi depicts a young girl named Emi who moves from her seaside home to the city. There, she befriends a girl named Sari, and the two enjoy sunkissed, youthful days together until both Emi and Sari fall in love with the same man, leading one to turn her jealous desire toward an enigmatic vampire played by Ōbayashi himself. But for this surreal short film, the plot takes a back seat to a cross-genre hotchpotch of cinematic styles and techniques in mesmerising succession. From a vampire drinking blood out of a straw to John Wayne-style shootouts, Emotion showcases Ōbayashi’s avantgarde techniques and a whimsical style that would later capture the hearts of horror fans with his cult hit House.
© PSC
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HORROR
House
ハウス
Director: Nobuhiko Ōbayashi 1977 • 88mins • 16mm • colour UNCL: Suitable for 15+ (Contains mild violence and nudity)
A doomed summer vacation, a flesheating house and a feline familiar House is a fusillade on the brain cells and a smorgasbord of filmic delights, which is apt given that it’s about a house that devours schoolgirls. Described as ‘unhinged extreme’, House (aka Hausu) is an experimental horror film that amalgamates 1970s pop culture with mysterious phenomenology. The late auteur Nobuhiko Ōbayashi had his 11-year-old daughter help with many of the story ideas, lending to the film’s dreamy, phantasmagorical sensibilities. House employs unrealistic special effects, stylised sets, and a storyline where literally anything can happen to a group of teenyboppers vacationing at a mysterious aunt’s mansion for the summer. As the bizarre narrative unfolds, outlandishly gruesome attacks on the girls occur in rapid succession—all closely observed by the pet cat. House was Ōbayashi’s first feature film after he pioneered Japanese experimental shorts through the 1960s. Along with his background in commercials, the filmmaker’s spirit of radical invention diverged dramatically from Japanese filmmaking at the time, leading to the film’s cult status. © 1977 Toho Co., Ltd.
FANTASY
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Funeral Parade of Roses
薔薇の葬列
Director: Toshio Matsumoto 1969 • 105mins • 16mm • B&W UNCL: Suitable for 18+ (Contains violence and sexual references)
“What a mix of cruelty and laughter it is!” By branching out of his documentary career, experimental director Toshio Matsumoto produced his most revered work—the intoxicating and surreal debut feature that is Funeral Parade of Roses. A subversive take on the Greek tragedy Oedipus, the film follows Eddie (played by queer icon Shinnosuke Ikehata aka Peter, who later won critical acclaim in Akira Kurosawa’s Ran), a notorious hostess and rising star of a queer nightclub in Tokyo’s underground scene. Eddie is passionately enveloped in destructive intimacy and a violently jealous love triangle, and as a result is confronted with traumatic childhood memories. This all comes to a head with the film’s dizzying climax—fueled by a whirlwind of drugs, sex, music and undeniably fabulous glamour. Matsumoto splices narrative with documentary-style interviews alongside arthouse, avant-garde and brechtian performance devices, all the while confronting the then taboo subjects of gender and sexuality head on. Catch a rare glimpse into the queer community of 1960s Japan through this visual and sonic cacophony of Japanese New Wave cinema. © 1969 Matsumoto Production
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DRAMA
Mind Game
マインド・ゲーム Director: Masaaki Yuasa 2004 • 103mins • 35mm • colour animation R18+ (Contains strong themes, violence and sexual references)
A psychedelic and surreal feast for the eyes Robin Nishi is a 20-year-old with little going for him besides his dream of becoming a manga artist. One day, he runs into his childhood crush Myon and begins to reminisce about what could have been, but his sad life is cut tragically short when he is shot and killed by a yakuza loan shark. Instead of moving on to the great beyond, Nishi’s death gives him a fresh perspective and a new lease on life. What ensues is a psychedelic comedy road trip that takes Nishi and Myon inside the belly of a gigantic whale, with uncanny sequences and montages offering insight into the background of the various characters. Mind Game is the directorial debut from Masaaki Yuasa, introducing his surreal, unconventional style and distinct colour palettes to viewers around the world. His artistry shines in his presentation of complex themes through unique visuals, which set the stage for his future feature films. © 2004 MIND GAME Project
ANIME
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Schedule
National Film and Sound Archive
Canberra 05–06 December Date
Time
English Title
Japanese Title
Genre
05 Dec • Sat
18:00
Emotion (That Dracula We Once Knew)
Emotion 伝説の午後＝いつか見たﾄﾞラキュラ
HORROR
House
ハウス
FANTASY
マインド・ゲーム
ANIME
05 Dec • Sat
19:00
06 Dec • Sun 12:00 06 Dec • Sun 14:15
薔薇の葬列
Funeral Parade of Roses
Mind Game
DRAMA
Venues and Booking Information
Dates and Venues Canberra
Brisbane
Sydney
05–06 December 2020
08–27 January 2021
06 February– 03 March 2021
National Film & Sounds Archive
Queensland Gallery of Modern Art
Art Gallery of NSW
Open during JFF one hour before the first film screening of each day.
Doors to the cinema will open 30 minutes before each film screening.
Open during JFF one hour before the first film screening of each day.
(02) 6248 2000
(07) 3840 7303
(02) 9225 1744
McCoy Circuit Acton ACT
Stanley Place South Brisbane QLD
Art Gallery Road Sydney NSW
Book Your Tickets
Festival Enquiries
Free Admission Reserve Your Tickets japanesefilmfestival.net
The Japan Foundation, Sydney (02) 8239 0055 japanesefilmfestival@jpf.org.au
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