Fans of foreign films, your call has been answered.
With the help of the Japanese Program, the Japan-America Societyof Dallas/Fort Worth and the Consulate General of Japan, the SMUJapanese Club is putting on a four day Japanese film-festival inthe McCord Auditorium in Dallas Hall.
The festival starts tonight with free admission to all fourmovies, a welcomed bonus for those students saving up inpreparation for the quickly approaching gift-giving season.
Thursday’s film, starting at 7 p.m., is Go-Con!Japanese Love Culture, a romantic comedy created by directedNobuyuki Shintani that shows the life of three young men who meetin a café to hangout (“Go-Con!” in Japaneseslang means hanging out) and pick up young women. This interestinglook at modern Japanese life promises to entertain and give us abetter understanding of the way people go about their day-by-dayactivities on the other side of the world.
Friday’s 7 p.m. showing is Shall We Dance? aPG-rated comedy that was recently remade in Hollywood, with RichardGere, Jennifer Lopez and Susan Surrandon. The original version,released in 1997, was critically acclaimed all over the world forits amusing look at a middle-aged man’s decision to take upballroom dancing. As a general rule, originals are always betterthan the sequel, and it will certainly be interesting to see whatthe movie is like sans-J. Lo.
On Saturday, at 7 p.m., Minbo: The Gentle Art of JapaneseExtortion, a satiric look at Japanese culture, will be shown inDallas Hall. The portrayal of the Japanese gangsters of”Yakuza” was so realistic that the director wasactually attacked in retaliation.
Nausicaa of the Valley of Winds, the last film of thefestival, will be showing at 2 p.m. on Sunday. This anime filmdates all the way back to 1984 and is an elaborate tale of the endof the world and the survival of few, including a Princess.
This weekend’s Japanese Film Festival will provideexamples of Japanese cinematography beyond chilling horror flickssuch as Ju-On: The Grudge and Ringu. With the coldweather rolling in, it’s the perfect time to grab a friendand see something different for once — and for free.
