BY MASAFUMI KITAGAWA
On February seventh, an event, "The Blizzard of Midwinter! All Night at the Winter Festival," was held at the SY Yuraku Theater. Five movies; "Kuroi Junin no Onna" (ten black women) with Kon Ichikawa, "2 Duo" with Suwa Atsuhiko, "Bounce ko GALS" with Masato Harada, "Raigyo" (a loach) with Sese Takahisa and "Gokudo Sengoku Shi Fudo" (warring spirit of the Fudo gang) with Takashi Miike run from 10 p.m. The event was held to advertise the relocation of the Kino Theater on April 24th. A large audience came and some kept standing, in spite of the time from midnight to morning, and the special program of Japanese pictures which were hardly known. I interviewed Hiromi Nakajima, the manager of the Kino, who prepared the event.
First I asked her why she held this special program of Japanese films. "Last year, "Unagi" (an eel) directed by Shohei Imamura won the Palme d'or at the Cannes International Cinema Festival, "HANA-BI" (fire woks) with Takeshi Kitano received the Golden Bear Prize at the Venetian International Cinema Festival and "Tokyo Yakyoku" (Tokyo serenade) directed by Jun Ichikawa won the Most Valuable Director Prize at the Montreal International Cinema Festival. Japanese films have been catching a lot of attention in foreign countries. They were not, however, necessarily hits in Japan. Furthermore, young Japanese directors hardly have any chances to present their works. We held the event to highlight the works of young Japanese directors to whom attention should be paid." She said that the project was an adventure. "What should we do in order to attract an audience?" They decided to show "Kuroi Junin no Onna" with Kon Ichikawa from 1961, is newly reissued. In this "adventure" the tickets did not sell well at first, but gradually started to be in demand and sold out a week before the event. The day was a great success with a full house. Although she thought if one-third of the audience stayed till morning, the event would be a success, almost none of the spectators left early but enjoyed the pictures to the end.
"Our theater will put on films of which something remain in our minds." This is their criterion for selecting films. "We will find works in which we see what the director wants to express, even if it has immature aspects." Except for "Kuroi Junin no Onna" they chose the four movies for such reasons. "The four pictures were each of a different type and each had a sense of value unfixed and ununified. What each person who saw the works felt and got from them might have differed." "Bounce ko GALS" had been shown once on the road. When Hiromi saw it, she felt sorry about the small audiences, and picked it up this time because she thought that she would like to let more people see it. On the other hand, she said that a film in which they cannot understand what the director intends and that does not move them is not shown, even though the distributing agency recommends it. This is her stubbornness about cinema.
Kino is a mini-theater. I asked her about Sapporo's audiences from the standpoint of running mini-theater. "As Kino is in its fifth year, I can talk about only that period, but audiences of from 30 to 50-year-old women are increasing. Also, though the number who come is different according to the scale of the theater, it seems that there is no audience gap between the big-money action movies from Hollywood and the independent, minor low-cost movies put on at mini-theater." Recently the number of mini-theaters in Japan is increasing. "Certainly I see large-scale action movies. However they leave nothing in my heart. So I like to see films shown at mini-theaters." She analyzes this tendency against the background of the spread of satellite-channel and rental-video movies making up the basis for minor films. "These two media have spread the interest in works having been presented in theaters, old films and movies from Asia, Europe and countries all over the world. And people who want to see such films in movie theaters are increasing."
Ten movie theaters closed five years ago in Sapporo, and she thought that it might become impossible to see the pictures she wanted to, so she established Kino. "The 60's-70's were called the golden age of cinema and it was the king of amusement. The background was that entertainment was not varied and theater was easy and inexpensive to go to. Nowadays buying a ticket, going to the theater and seeing a movie are merely one of many amusements; concerts, plays and sports. That is why it seems that people go to theater demanding something special in exchange for their money." Amusements must reward people's needs. "Our theater is small and in a poor location. In order to attract people in spite of such drawbacks, we have to show cinema which they enjoy and that make them want to see another one our theater." So they decide on films to be put on by seeing them themselves. "It needs a relationship of trust; a picture in which the film maker's idea can be seen, a movie theater to show it, and people to see it. This trust is Kino." It is a relationship without budget or border.
She said that she would like to invite to Kino as many film makers as she can because cinema is a passive media for the audience. "If we invite them here and have a chance to meet them, an interactive relationship is born." It might make the relation of trust stronger.
Kino will be relocated to the second floor of So. 3 Grand Bldg. in Tanukikoji 6 on April 24th. There will be two theaters with 100 and 63 seats respectively. It is to be regretted that their catch phrase," the smallest movie theater in Japan," will be given up, but it will become a theater rewarding people's needs more. She said that she wants to plan a cinema festival in the future again.
Kino is a neighborhood theater. This means that they have made a theater with their own hands and are concerned with all the things they believe in. "Nobody makes a film thinking to make a Japanese film." This phrase remains deeply impressed on me. Also "We want to make the basis showing new artists' work." With these sensitive and global viewpoints, they show their movies. And this is Kino. Thanks to Hiromi Nakajima for accepting our interview in the midst of her busy schedule.
