このページはフレーム対応ブラウザ用に作成されています。下のリンクは非フレーム使用ページですのでそちらをご覧ください。
この記事をプリントする
映画館でお会いしましょう!
最近、日本の映画界では『もののけ姫』などのヒット作はあったが、全体的な日本映画界の観客動員数はいまだ低迷している。ハリウッドに限らず、香港やインドの映画も活発な動きを見せているというのに、日本映画だけが立ち直れないのは、内容のせいではなく、映画館通いを気楽に楽しめないからではないだろうか、と筆者は見ている…。
See You At the Flicks!
By SCOTT T. HARDS
I don't know about you, but I'm a movie nut. I frequently go to the theater to catch the latest shows and I also own a collection of a few hundred laser discs of my favorite movies from the past. I love to re-watch my favorite scenes in these films, sometimes dozens of times.
So you can understand that I was shocked and saddened by the news of the deaths of two of Japan's most internationally respected movie personalities late last year: the director Juzo Itami and the actor Toshiro Mifune. I've seen all of Itami's works and most of Mifune's. The loss of such talented men certainly won't help Japan's movie industry get itself out of the doldrums it's been stuck in for the last several years.
1997 was not all bad for Japanese films. Hayao Miyazaki's "The Princess Mononoke" was a smash hit and broke all previous box-office records for a movie in Japan, either Japanese or foreign. But such blockbusters are too few and far between here, and theater attendance has declined. What's the problem? Hollywood's not the only place that can produce crowd-pleasing films. Both Hong Kong and India have vibrant domestic film industries. Certainly Japan can do better.
Many in the Japanese film industry lament a system that stifles creativity and individuality ― keys to a successful film. It's a problem that hits many other areas of Japanese society as well. Others cite the lack of money, but this is a classic chicken and egg problem: Theater attendance is down, so there's little money to make big-scale films. But since there are no big-scale films, few people go out to the theater.
My view of the problems of the Japanese film industry focuses on something that is not usually discussed: the movie-going experience itself. Japan has, per capita, less than one quarter of the number of movie screens in the United States. I live in Tokyo, but I still need to travel for the better part of an hour just to get to a cinema.
For people in rural Japan, the trip is even longer. And when you get there, you pay a ticket price that is double or even triple the cost of seeing a movie in the States. All the most interesting films are subtitled on top of that. Plus, most movie theaters' last show is around 7 p.m. That makes it impossible for anybody who works full-time to see a movie on a weekday, and is also very inconvenient for anybody who wants to have dinner and then see a film. Under such conditions, how can you possibly expect people to show up in crowds for a movie like they do in many other countries?
So what's the answer? I suggest a restructuring of the theater system. Instead of a few large theaters located only near major train stations, how about many smaller ones located all over the place, showing movies up until about midnight for prices about half of what they currently charge? It would be like applying the idea of the convenience store to movie theaters. This would make it much, much easier for the average citizen to get to the movies. After that, it will be up to Japanese filmmakers to provide the software to fill those screens
I promise you, if that happened, I'd be seeing a couple of movies every week, at least. And I bet I wouldn't be the only one!
I don't know about you, but I'm a movie nut. I frequently go to the theater to catch the latest shows and I also own a collection of a few hundred laser discs of my favorite movies from the past. I love to re-watch my favorite scenes in these films, sometimes dozens of times.
So you can understand that I was shocked and saddened by the news of the deaths of two of Japan's most internationally respected movie personalities late last year: the director Juzo Itami and the actor Toshiro Mifune. I've seen all of Itami's works and most of Mifune's. The loss of such talented men certainly won't help Japan's movie industry get itself out of the doldrums it's been stuck in for the last several years.
1997 was not all bad for Japanese films. Hayao Miyazaki's "The Princess Mononoke" was a smash hit and broke all previous box-office records for a movie in Japan, either Japanese or foreign. But such blockbusters are too few and far between here, and theater attendance has declined. What's the problem? Hollywood's not the only place that can produce crowd-pleasing films. Both Hong Kong and India have vibrant domestic film industries. Certainly Japan can do better.
Many in the Japanese film industry lament a system that stifles creativity and individuality ― keys to a successful film. It's a problem that hits many other areas of Japanese society as well. Others cite the lack of money, but this is a classic chicken and egg problem: Theater attendance is down, so there's little money to make big-scale films. But since there are no big-scale films, few people go out to the theater.
My view of the problems of the Japanese film industry focuses on something that is not usually discussed: the movie-going experience itself. Japan has, per capita, less than one quarter of the number of movie screens in the United States. I live in Tokyo, but I still need to travel for the better part of an hour just to get to a cinema.
For people in rural Japan, the trip is even longer. And when you get there, you pay a ticket price that is double or even triple the cost of seeing a movie in the States. All the most interesting films are subtitled on top of that. Plus, most movie theaters' last show is around 7 p.m. That makes it impossible for anybody who works full-time to see a movie on a weekday, and is also very inconvenient for anybody who wants to have dinner and then see a film. Under such conditions, how can you possibly expect people to show up in crowds for a movie like they do in many other countries?
So what's the answer? I suggest a restructuring of the theater system. Instead of a few large theaters located only near major train stations, how about many smaller ones located all over the place, showing movies up until about midnight for prices about half of what they currently charge? It would be like applying the idea of the convenience store to movie theaters. This would make it much, much easier for the average citizen to get to the movies. After that, it will be up to Japanese filmmakers to provide the software to fill those screens
I promise you, if that happened, I'd be seeing a couple of movies every week, at least. And I bet I wouldn't be the only one!
Shukan ST: Jan. 23, 1998
(C) All rights reserved
- I don't know about you, but 〜
- 皆さんがどうなのかは知らないが、 〜
- 〜 nut
- 〜 の熱狂的な愛好者
- frequently
- たびたび
- catch the latest shows
- 最新の映画を見る
- favorite
- お気に入りの
- rewatch
- 再び見る
- dozens of times
- 何十回も
- was shocked and saddened by 〜
- 〜 を驚き、悲しんだ
- internationally respected
- 世界的に尊敬されている
- movie personalities
- 映画で名の通った人
- director
- 監督
- works
- 作品
- talented
- 才能のある
- certainly won't help 〜 get itself out of the doldrums it's been stuck in for 〜
- 〜 が 〜 の間おちいっている停滞状態から抜け出すための助けには当然ならない
- movie industry
- 映画産業
- "The Princess Mononoke"
- 『もののけ姫』(宮崎駿監督)
- smash hit
- 大当たりの映画
- broke all previous box-office records in Japan
- 日本で上映されたすべての映画の興業成績をを上回った
- blockbusters
- 大当たりの映画
- few and far between
- 極めてまれな
- theater attendance
- 映画館に足を運ぶ人の数
- has declined
- 減少している
- crowd-pleasing 〜
- 大衆受けする 〜
- vibrant domestic film industries
- 活気ある国内の映画産業
- lament
- 嘆く
- stifles
- 押しつぶす
- individuality
- 個性
- cite
- 挙げる
- classic
- 典型的な
- chicken and egg problem
- (少ない予算で製作した映画だから観客が入らないのか、観客が少ないからお金をかけた映画が作れないのか)どちらが原因でどちらが結果だといえない問題
- focuses on 〜
- 〜 に焦点を当てる
- movie-going experience itself
- 映画を観に行くという経験そのもの
- per capita
- 一人につき
- for the better part of an hour
- 1時間近くかけて
- rural
- 地方の
- are subtitled
- (吹き替えでなく)字幕がついている
- on top of that
- そのうえ
- full-time
- 常勤で
- show up in crowds for 〜
- 〜 を大勢で観に来る
- suggest
- 提案する
- restructuring of 〜
- 〜 の建て直し
- charge
- 請求する
- It would be like applying the idea of 〜 to 〜
- 〜 の方法を 〜 に応用するような感じである
- After that, it will be up to 〜
- それ以降のことは、 〜 にかかっている
- software
- プログラム内容
- I promise you
- 断言してもいい
- I bet 〜
- 〜 に違いない