Dec. 7 - Motion pictures have been a central part of American culture for many decades. One hundred years ago, a small band of entrepreneurs moved west to establish America's first movie studios in Hollywood. Coming from Southern California myself, I know movies have occupied a special place in my life, not only for their entertainment value, but because I enjoyed seeing familiar places portrayed on the silver screen.
Ken Watanabe describes his film experiences on stage at the Tokyo International Film Festival.
One scene from the movie "The Graduate" showed Dustin Hoffman emerging from a house just down the street from my college residence. Marilyn Monroe, in the movie "Some Like it Hot," frolicked on a San Diego beach my family frequently visited.
Japan's cinema industry is also quite old, and American cinema buffs treasure Japanese movies from directors such as Kenji Mizoguchi, Yasujiro Ozu and Akira Kurosawa. My Japanese professor at UC Berkeley, Dr. Francis Motofuji, assigned us to watch one Japanese movie per week as part of our lessons.
Answering questions from the audience
Thanks to his urging, I saw many Japanese classics such as "Seven Samurai" and "Tokyo Story." Although my classmates sometimes struggled with the Japanese dialogue, my professor told us that by viewing the works of Japan's great directors, actors, and producers, we could better understand the range of human experience in Japan.
Ann and I with friends met famous actor Ken Watanabe backstage.
Ann and I were very excited to attend a lecture by the actor Ken Watanabe at the Tokyo International Film Festival recently. Mr. Watanabe described his experience as a Japanese actor in Hollywood, making movies such as "The Last Samurai" and "Inception." He much admired Director Clint Eastwood, who paid enormous attention to detail in depicting Japanese army life in "Letters from Iwo Jima." Mr. Watanabe pointed out that America and Japan share a cinematic tradition, but we also have differences that can cross-fertilize each other's movie-making industries.
I hope that young students in America and Japan will heed my Japanese professor's advice and watch movies made in the other country. Watching movies truly is an excellent way to learn about a new culture.
Until next time,
Jim
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