Saturday September 22, 2012
Treat for Japanese movie buffs
MOVIE buffs are in for a treat this weekend, as the Japanese Film Festival 2012 has returned to Golden Screen Cinemas (GSC) Gurney Plaza with critically-acclaimed flicks from the Land of the Rising Sun.
The cinematic showcase in Penang, which ends tomorrow, features a dozen titles spanning various genres. Held for the ninth year, it is organised by The Japan Foundation in partnership with GSC and Mitsubishi Corporation.
At the opening ceremony on Thursday, Deputy Consul General of Japan in Penang, Hiroko Taniguchi, urged locals to come and experience the best of Japanese cinema, and get a taste of her country’s charms.
State Tourism Development and Culture Committee chairman Danny Law Heng Kiang said the festival was a great platform for cultural exchange, and had given Malaysians a wonderful insight into Japanese culture since its inception in 2004.
“It is a rare opportunity for locals to enjoy Japanese films on the big screen. Japanese cinema has a rich history, and ranks among the best in the world,” he said.
With Japanese tourist arrivals at the Penang International Airport numbering around 29,000 last year, the fourth highest, Law believed such collaborations could only bode well for the future.
Later, dignitaries and invited guests adjourned for a screening of I Wish, a family drama chronicling the story of two young brothers who are forced to live separately after their parents’ break-up.
With their band of school friends, the siblings formulate a plan to reunite their parents, wishing for a miracle.
Today’s movie line-up kicks off with Ninja Kids!!! at noon, a live-action adaptation of the animated TV series Ninja Boys that youngsters are bound to love.
It is followed by another screening of I Wish at 2.10pm, Always - Sunset on Third Street-3 at 4.50pm, and Hayabusa, which chronicles an astronautical team’s efforts to land a spacecraft on the asteroid Itokawa, at 6pm.
The day’s line-up culminates with A Good Husband at 7.40pm, a tale of a womaniser not appreciating what he had until he loses it.
On Sunday, the showcase opens with Permanent Nobara at noon, followed by one of the event highlights, Key of Life at 2pm, which audiences here get to enjoy even before its commercial release in Japan.
The suspense comedy recently won the Best Screenplay Award at the 15th Shanghai International Film Festival.
That is followed by Death of a Japanese Salesman at 4.40pm, an entertaining documentary about a terminally-ill retiree’s ‘end note’ for his family.
The festival concludes with the screening of Rebirth, which scooped up 10 major awards at the 35th Japan Academy Prize, at 6.30pm.
All films are in Japanese with English subtitles.
Ticket prices are RM5 per screening. For more information, visit www.jfkl.org.my or call 03-22846228.
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