This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/13/movies/at-japan-cuts-festival-films-by-sion-sono-that-dont-fit-his-bad-boy-label.html

The article has changed 2 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
At Japan Cuts Festival, Films by Sion Sono That Don’t Fit His Bad-Boy Label At Japan Cuts Festival, Films by Sion Sono That Don’t Fit His Bad-Boy Label
(about 3 hours later)
A dead girl’s body continues to grow hair, which is made into extensions that kill the people who wear them (“Exte,” 2007). A teenage boy discovers that he has an exceptional talent for taking photos up women’s skirts (“Love Exposure,” 2008). A crooked dealer in fancy pet fish is also a serial killer who, along with his half-clothed wife, joyously dismembers the bodies of his victims (“Cold Fish,” 2010).A dead girl’s body continues to grow hair, which is made into extensions that kill the people who wear them (“Exte,” 2007). A teenage boy discovers that he has an exceptional talent for taking photos up women’s skirts (“Love Exposure,” 2008). A crooked dealer in fancy pet fish is also a serial killer who, along with his half-clothed wife, joyously dismembers the bodies of his victims (“Cold Fish,” 2010).
These are some of the movies that Sion Sono, the most recognizable, if not the most universally celebrated, director in Japan, is best known for in the United States. Perhaps you can spot a trend. Labels like provocateur, bad boy, maverick and cult favorite follow Mr. Sono around like Pokémon Go players chasing a Weedle.These are some of the movies that Sion Sono, the most recognizable, if not the most universally celebrated, director in Japan, is best known for in the United States. Perhaps you can spot a trend. Labels like provocateur, bad boy, maverick and cult favorite follow Mr. Sono around like Pokémon Go players chasing a Weedle.
But Mr. Sono, 54, also known for being prolific — six feature-length works he directed made their debuts last year — is not that easy to pin down. Two of those recent films, both making their New York premieres on Saturday at Japan Society in its annual Japan Cuts festival, belie his reputation for extremity, and in very different ways.But Mr. Sono, 54, also known for being prolific — six feature-length works he directed made their debuts last year — is not that easy to pin down. Two of those recent films, both making their New York premieres on Saturday at Japan Society in its annual Japan Cuts festival, belie his reputation for extremity, and in very different ways.
“Love & Peace” (2015) is a merry mix of social satire (targeting know-nothing youth and their smugly dissatisfied elders); sly tribute to the tokusatsu mutant-monster tradition (featuring a tiny pet turtle that grows to Godzilla proportions); and sentimental Christmas tale. It’s as over the top as Mr. Sono’s more typical sex-and-violence-soaked spectaculars, but it’s largely family-friendly. (Children will appreciate the menagerie of discarded dolls, mechanical toys and live animals living in the sewer beneath Tokyo without necessarily grasping Mr. Sono’s commentary on consumer culture and kawaii, the Japanese predilection for childish cuteness.)“Love & Peace” (2015) is a merry mix of social satire (targeting know-nothing youth and their smugly dissatisfied elders); sly tribute to the tokusatsu mutant-monster tradition (featuring a tiny pet turtle that grows to Godzilla proportions); and sentimental Christmas tale. It’s as over the top as Mr. Sono’s more typical sex-and-violence-soaked spectaculars, but it’s largely family-friendly. (Children will appreciate the menagerie of discarded dolls, mechanical toys and live animals living in the sewer beneath Tokyo without necessarily grasping Mr. Sono’s commentary on consumer culture and kawaii, the Japanese predilection for childish cuteness.)
“The Whispering Star” (2016) is a more radical departure from Mr. Sono’s norm but also a return to his earliest efforts, particularly “The Room” (1993), a minimalist black-and-white mystery shot in long, quiet takes that he has called “career suicide.” Set in a not-so-distant future when people have largely been replaced by humanistic androids, “Star” is not postapocalyptic but anti-apocalyptic: Humanity is simply fading from the universe, a victim of its own lassitude and lack of foresight.“The Whispering Star” (2016) is a more radical departure from Mr. Sono’s norm but also a return to his earliest efforts, particularly “The Room” (1993), a minimalist black-and-white mystery shot in long, quiet takes that he has called “career suicide.” Set in a not-so-distant future when people have largely been replaced by humanistic androids, “Star” is not postapocalyptic but anti-apocalyptic: Humanity is simply fading from the universe, a victim of its own lassitude and lack of foresight.
The film traces the very uneventful days of an android who’s a kind of interstellar U.P.S. driver, delivering packages containing tokens of memory — a fishing lure, a cigarette butt, a crumpled paper cup — to lonely humans. It recalls Tarkovsky, Antonioni or the Japanese avant-gardist Hiroshi Teshigahara, rather than more customary Sono comparisons like John Waters or Lars von Trier, and viewers who like their Sono films fast and furious may find its rhythms too slow and its messages too opaque. But this is not a chilly film — it’s warm and funny in its own low-key way. Some of that comes from the production design, with a spaceship that, inside and out, looks and functions like a small house in a Japanese village. More comes from the very human performance of Megumi Kagarazaka, Mr. Sono’s wife, as the android delivery woman. The film traces the very uneventful days of an android who’s a kind of interstellar U.P.S. driver, delivering packages containing tokens of memory — a fishing lure, a cigarette butt, a crumpled paper cup — to lonely humans. It recalls Tarkovsky, Antonioni or the Japanese avant-gardist Hiroshi Teshigahara, rather than more customary Sono comparisons like John Waters or Lars von Trier, and viewers who like their Sono films fast and furious may find its rhythms too slow and its messages too opaque. But this is not a chilly film — it’s warm and funny in its own low-key way. Some of that comes from the production design, with a spaceship that, inside and out, looks and functions like a small house in a Japanese village. More comes from the very human performance of Megumi Kagurazaka, Mr. Sono’s wife, as the android delivery woman.
It makes sense that both “Love & Peace” and “The Whispering Star” were projects that Mr. Sono first thought of decades ago. “Simply put, 25 years ago, they weren’t the kind of films that would be accepted by the Japanese film industry,” he said recently, though an interpreter, by Skype from Japan. Financing for both films materialized around the same time, with a benefactor putting up the money for “Love & Peace,” and Mr. Sono forming his own production company to make “The Whispering Star.”It makes sense that both “Love & Peace” and “The Whispering Star” were projects that Mr. Sono first thought of decades ago. “Simply put, 25 years ago, they weren’t the kind of films that would be accepted by the Japanese film industry,” he said recently, though an interpreter, by Skype from Japan. Financing for both films materialized around the same time, with a benefactor putting up the money for “Love & Peace,” and Mr. Sono forming his own production company to make “The Whispering Star.”
The Japan Cuts festival, which will present 29 features from Thursday through July 24, also includes “The Sion Sono,” a documentary about this filmmaker directed by Arata Oshima, son of another controversial Japanese director, Nagisa Oshima. (The full Japanese title is “A Creature Named Sion Sono.”) It was shot while Mr. Sono was directing “The Whispering Star,” and in it he says: “If I were 30 making this and ‘Love & Peace,’ I’d have been called a genius. With girls after me.”The Japan Cuts festival, which will present 29 features from Thursday through July 24, also includes “The Sion Sono,” a documentary about this filmmaker directed by Arata Oshima, son of another controversial Japanese director, Nagisa Oshima. (The full Japanese title is “A Creature Named Sion Sono.”) It was shot while Mr. Sono was directing “The Whispering Star,” and in it he says: “If I were 30 making this and ‘Love & Peace,’ I’d have been called a genius. With girls after me.”
In the documentary, he also discusses the attitude of Japanese critics and moviegoers toward his films, saying that they reserve their approval for work that doesn’t “embarrass” the nation. “Often, when my films do well in Japan, it’s like a reimport — it’s when they’ve done very well abroad, and then they come back into Japan,” he said in the Skype interview. “In that sense, I do think an international audience understands my work more.”In the documentary, he also discusses the attitude of Japanese critics and moviegoers toward his films, saying that they reserve their approval for work that doesn’t “embarrass” the nation. “Often, when my films do well in Japan, it’s like a reimport — it’s when they’ve done very well abroad, and then they come back into Japan,” he said in the Skype interview. “In that sense, I do think an international audience understands my work more.”
Aiko Masubuchi, a programmer of Japan Cuts, described the appeal of Mr. Sono’s movies in auteurist terms. “No matter how over the top the movie is, the person is always there,” she said. “Whether it’s talking about something that’s very serious or sad, or something incredibly juvenile, like up-skirt photography, it feels very much like the person is still behind it, no matter what.”Aiko Masubuchi, a programmer of Japan Cuts, described the appeal of Mr. Sono’s movies in auteurist terms. “No matter how over the top the movie is, the person is always there,” she said. “Whether it’s talking about something that’s very serious or sad, or something incredibly juvenile, like up-skirt photography, it feels very much like the person is still behind it, no matter what.”
While acknowledging that the Sono films in the festival were departures from the style American viewers are accustomed to, she said that they share with all his work a profound sense of inquiry and curiosity. “It’s a serious engagement in the big questions we have,” she said. “In ‘Whispering Star,’ why do people do these things? Why do people have memories? Why do people send these packages? Why are we even living in this world?”While acknowledging that the Sono films in the festival were departures from the style American viewers are accustomed to, she said that they share with all his work a profound sense of inquiry and curiosity. “It’s a serious engagement in the big questions we have,” she said. “In ‘Whispering Star,’ why do people do these things? Why do people have memories? Why do people send these packages? Why are we even living in this world?”
For the viewer looking forward to another “Cold Fish” or “Love Exposure,” she said, keeping an open mind would be worth the trouble.For the viewer looking forward to another “Cold Fish” or “Love Exposure,” she said, keeping an open mind would be worth the trouble.
“I would ask them to come to see Sion Sono,” she said, adding, “If you come into these movies wanting to know more about the filmmaker behind them, I think you might discover something new about somebody you thought you knew.”“I would ask them to come to see Sion Sono,” she said, adding, “If you come into these movies wanting to know more about the filmmaker behind them, I think you might discover something new about somebody you thought you knew.”