Through a series of trials and errors, Tampopo learns the way to a perfect bowl of ramen. The importance of the ingredients, the method of cooking, the style of eating, and the atmosphere in the restaurant all contribute to the ideal experience a customer to down his or her bowl to the last drop, and for others to wait impatiently outside in line to get in.

Gun: “Master, soup first or noodles first?”

Ramen Sensei: “First, observe the whole bowl. Appreciate its gestalt. Savor the aromas. Jewels of fat glittering on the surface. Shinachiku roots shining. Seaweed slowly sinking. Spring onions floating. Concentrate on the three pork slices…They play the key role, but stay modestly hidden. First caress the surface…with the chopstick tips… To express affection. Then poke the pork…Caress it with the chopstick tips. Gently pick it up and dip it into the soup on the right of the bowl. What’s important here is to apologize to the pork by saying, ‘See you soon.’ Finally start eating, the noodles first.”

Tampopo’s journey is interspersed with a series of other yummy, and equally exaggerated sketches. Whether it’s the group of homeless men who have perfected their own style of cooking, the bumbling intern who upstages his superiors with his knowledge of French cuisine, an etiquette lesson comparing the silent slurping of western spaghetti with the noisy slurping of a bowl of ramen, a yakuza couple who fetishize their food, or a husband who forces his dying wife to make one last dinner, Itami continually surprises us with the number of ways one can think about food. The film even opens with an annoying spectator in a movie theatre enjoying a noisy snack.

So if you feel like working up an appetite, check out this film. Then pop into one of Montreal’s own ramen shops (including one named for the film) to practice your new skills. How will you start: chopsticks, spoon, or bowl?

Sebastian Samur

Ramen suggestions:

Ramen-Ya
www.ramen-ya.ca

Sakura Gardens (more upscale)
www.sakuragardens.com

Tampopo – Asian Fusion
www.tampopo-resto.com

Usually, to say that a satire is very much of its time is to give it the kiss of death. But in the case of Giants and Toys, this actually makes the film more appealing. This 1958 Japanese satire of business culture and advertising is dated in all the details but still resonant in its points on consumerism. This split between anachronistic aspects and modern themes end up making the film only more interesting now, serving as both a time capsule and a resonant portrait of the way in which business consumes those who practice it.

There’s no question that this film was meant to be very modern when it originally came out in 1958. The director, Yasuzo Masumura, lends the film a modern sensibility and quick pace. The film tells the story of Nishi, a young advertising executive who finds himself drawn into an ad war between three different candy companies. For Nishi, business is personal: he works for World candy, but his best friend works for Apollo candy and he starts seeing a girl from Giant candy. Each of these companies is scrambling for a way to sell more caramels than the other, and Nishi’s cynical boss Goda thinks World can get an advantage through making a promotional star out of Kyoko, a ghetto girl plucked off the streets. As the film charges ahead, Masumura reveals more and more of the price of success in the new world of capitalism, with Goda literally destroying himself through work (he starts coughing up blood) and Nishi scrambling ever harder to succeed while watching his personal life thrown into turmoil.

Masumura and screenwriter Takeshi Kaiko (working from a novel by Yoshio Shirasaka) pick all of this apart with a sharp eye. The film is awash in kitsch. The companies are desperately pushing toys and media mythology at kids in order to sell more caramel. World latches onto a space theme that is very Cold War; in a sharp touch the film notes that since this is already a big trend in the United States it will thus become a hit for Japanese kids. The low culture under attack goes beyond children’s toys, however. The clip below shows Kyoko, the budding promotional starlet trying for a wider audience through an over the top song and dance number about cannibalism.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Beyond the deliberate cheese factor and the brassy score, the most noticeable thing about this scene is the vivid colors. This is a film that seems to pop off the screen. The whole thing is shot with a pulsing energy, pouring on the bright colors to go along with its manic plot. The film stock from this period carries its own unique look that still looks great now.

It all makes for a mix of fast-paced plotting, pop visual verve, and cutting commentary. This is black humor, but it is humor nonetheless, especially in the way the film revels in the marketing overdrive of these competing companies. Kyoko has horrible teeth but Goda is convinced that she’ll make for a candy selling star anyway. At one point an enthusiastic advertiser exhorts a group of student protestors to buy caramel for when they get tired from protesting.

These kind of details are what make the film so of its time. Advertising is still very much with us today, but it has been a long time since prize giveaways and shouting at people from the backs of trucks were considered cutting-edge advertising techniques. However, what makes this film interesting instead of irrelevant is the way in which chronicles the emergence of this new business and advertising culture as it was actually emerging. The film is very much a product of a nation becoming an economic power and unsure about what that means. Everything in this film is undergoing change, from old codes of business conduct to the place of women in society. Giants and Toys is also refreshingly non-sexist for a Japanese film from this period, when many Japanese films featured rape-seduction scenes. It’s nice to see that the women in this film are as well thought out and considered as the men.

Giants and Toys works as a social or historical document, but also goes beyond that thanks to Masumura’s blunt but powerful filmmaking and consideration of the human aspect. The dramatic elements of the film come to overwhelm the comedic ones, and it is these dramatic aspects that really make the film stick. Beyond the cultural details, the film is concerned with the way in which consumerist drive comes to dominate and subsume the individual and his/her ideals; its larger themes seem to remain constantly applicable. Unfortunately not enough of Yasuzo Masumura’s films have been put out on Region 1 DVD, but we are lucky enough to have a release of Giants and Toys on Region 1 thanks to Fantoma. Giants and Toys is underrated but definitely deserves a look, working as both an of its time satire and a lingering drama on larger themes.

Review by Aaron Fox-Lerner

Montreal, February 28, 2010

“You may never see the results of your action, but if you do nothing there will be no result” –Gandhi

In the aftermath of the earthquake that hit Haiti on January 12th, the Ciné-Asie team has joined the collective world effort to support relief organizations who have mobilized their workers and resources, by organizing its first team fundraiser: we have collected a total of $285. 93 from our pocket. The amount is insignificant, but our action is valuable when combined with broader efforts.

This small fund will be contributed with our full hearts to MÉDECINS SANS FRONTIÈRES / DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS (MSF): an international non-profit organization which has been present in Haiti since 1991.  MSF presently holds 10 fully-functioning operating rooms in the regions most affected by the earthquake, where an average of 130 people are assisted daily.

Here at Ciné-Asie, we have every intention of continuing our efforts for as long as possible until Haiti has gathered the strength to recover.

Thank you all for your support.

The easiest thing to say about The Taste of Tea is that it’s odd. And this is true. The Taste of Tea is, without a doubt, an odd movie. What sets this 2004 film directed by Katsuhito Ishii apart, however, is its focus on the mundane, an interest in daily life and small moments that makes the film an immensely resonant and pleasant experience.

The film follows a short period in the lives of a rural Japanese family, the Harunos. The family includes a daughter who is trying to rid herself of a gigantic doppelganger, a son with a high school crush, an uncle who is taking a break from working as a music producer in Tokyo, a mother trying to finish her assignment as an animator, a father working with a steady commute, and a seemingly senile grandfather.

The Taste of Tea makes this large assemblage of characters work through a passive, mostly plotless observation. The camera calmly follows each family member in his or her activities, and the family members themselves never seem to be in much of a rush. It’s certainly a change of pace from Katsuhito Ishii’s previous two films, both of which were frantic, hyper-stylized crime movies. Ishii has handled the transition well, however. The film is certainly not fast, but it’s also not boring. The characters are all well-drawn and the film itself has plenty of comic moments, with a couple of surprisingly funny bits.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The director’s weird streak and the character’s eccentricities all seem to warn of excessive quirkiness, but the main victory of the film lies in avoiding this trap. In an era where it seems increasingly popular for films to give characters a list of quirks instead of actual personality, it’s refreshing to see a film like The Taste of Tea where all the trains coming out of foreheads, giant doubles, and yakuza ghosts serve to enhance our understanding of the characters rather than overwhelm or define them. Ishii occasionally tips a little too far into the realm of the bizarre, but he mostly maintains a remarkable balance for the vast majority of the film. All of the expressive oddities of the film serve to reinforce its vision of daily life as something marvelous. It helps that many of the film’s most magical moments, like an encounter with a pair of cosplayers aboard a train, are entirely possible within real life.

This combination of calm, basic human observation with fantastic elements helps make The Taste of Tea an enjoyable film to watch, but the film is also such a pleasure because it is a manifestly nice movie. This is a film that harbors no contempt for its characters, most of whom initially appear to be easily mockable. The characters’ interactions are driven by a basic kindness and consideration for each other that comes to inhabit the entire film. The film pulls off this basic human concern without resorting to sappiness; by the end of the film the warmth that it shows towards its characters can rub off on the audience, imparting a feeling of blissful calmness.

Review by Aaron Fox-Lerner.

Even though their popularity is gaining, manga certainly aren’t read nearly as much as in Japan, where they are ubiquitous on trains, in convenience stores, and in schools (often against teachers’ wishes). Weekly and monthly anthologies are still relatively rare here, and merchandise is usually restricted to comic shops. And it will take at least another generation (if ever) before adults are found reading manga with comparable frequency to Japan.

In Asia, the most popular manga propel forth without any foreseeable end, spawning sequels, prequels, TV series, video games, full-length films, and even live action films. Original music and collector’s merchandise help guarantee a series’ immortality in manga history, but the absence of the majority of these elements here tends to restrict this phenomenon, even for western comics and animated series.

One reason a successful manga can jump so easily between media is that most of the work has already been done. Unlike transferring a book to film, the animation and script are already perfectly laid out and can easily be made into a TV series. The only major mystery is whose voices to use, and which theme song. If feature-length films are to be made, there will naturally be greater challenges, but if the manga and TV series have proven popular, it is often just a question of ensuring the cuts don’t ruin the storyline.

Of course, the most difficult jump requiring the most discretion is the jump from manga to live-action film. This jump is, for obvious reasons, rare, and has certainly met with the same mixed success as jumps from books to movies (or western animation to live-action). But it can be surprising to discover which manga have successfully made the transition. The Deathnote* series, for example, with its CGI shinigami (death god – see image), topped the Japanese box office for two weeks, moving The Da Vinci Code to second place (the film, however, was only shown for one night in Canadian theatres before being released to DVD). While live-action versions are rare, beautiful examples like Old Boy and Sakuran, successful internationally, prove that with a good crew, manga series can provide rich and unique material for filmmaking.

-Sebastian Samur

*Deathnote follows a high school student, Light Yagami, who finds a book that allows him to kill people by simply writing their names in it.

CINÉ-ASIE CREATIVES REPRESENTS CANADIAN AND ASIAN FILM MARKETS AT THE 2010 BERLIN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

Montreal, February 10th, 2010 – CINÉ-ASIE CREATIVES is proud to be present at the 2010 edition of the Berlin International Film Festival. Two internationally acclaimed Korean films (“My Dear Enemy” & “Breathless”) are gearing up for theatrical release and distribution in Canada. We have all rights for these two great films: Theatre, TV, DVD and more.

Meanwhile, Ciné-Asie Creatives is currently in development of an omnibus feature film, “MIDNIGHT TO FOUR AM”, composed of six short films each shot by six different directors from Asia or of Asian origin. Countries currently participating include Canada, Korea, and Singapore. The omnibus feature film project has been selected for the Pusan Promotion Plan at the Pusan International Film Festival 2009.

For further information and inquiries about the two Korean titles and about the co-production film, please refer to the following contact information.

Ms. Mi-Jeong Lee / Mr. David Cohen

Phone: +1 514 799 6880

Fax: +1 514 439 1283

Email: mijeong@cineasiecreatives.com / dcohen@cineasiecreatives.com:

“MY DEAR ENEMY” Available for Canada

Official selection for the 2009 Berlin International Film Festival, the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival 2009, and the 2009 Fantasia Film Festival.

LEE Yoon-ki’s classy and quiet fourth feature film stars KIM Do-yeon and HA Jung-woo as Hee-soo and Byoung-woon, a mismatched pair on an odd one-day journey through Seoul. Hee-soo, a reserved and timid thirty-something, seeks out her ex-boyfriend Byoung-woon, a friendly and happy-go-lucky charmer, to reclaim the $3,500 that she lent him a year ago. Amidst a host of beautiful shots and wonderful, understated comedy, the two set out to gather the money from Byoung-woon’s legion of female acquaintances.

“BREATHLESS” Available for Canada

Tiger award at the 2009 International Film Festival of Rotterdam, Jury and Le Lotus du meilleur film awards at the Deauville Asian Film Festival, Best film and best actor awards at the 2009 Fantasia International Film Festival, Jury award the 2009 New York Asian Film Festival, SIGNIS Prize and Audience Awards at the 2009 Buenos Aires International Independent Film Festival, Official competition at Vancouver International Film Festival 2009, Closing Film at Reel Asia International.

YANG Ik-june’s superb directorial debut stars himself as Sang-hoon, as a merciless debt collector with a troubled past. He meets Yeon-hee, a high school student struggling through her own difficult home life. The odd friendship that springs from this meeting rapidly becomes a support to both of them as they each begin to discover a hope amidst their hardships that they had not thought could still be found.

Midnight to Four A.M. is an omnibus feature film that presents six stories occurring from midnight to dawn about our daily life, or more specifically, our nights. Taking place in six different cities, these short films are directed by several acclaimed filmmakers from Asia, Europe and North America. Each story unfolds unique moments captured through an intimate lens, looking into a person’s life from the most simple to the most complex. The city at night is a canvas of blurred boundaries but can also be source of familiarity. Each story, dealing from suicide to prostitution, portrays an idea, a vision, an engagement and a desire to bring out what lies behind these late hours of the night. From the most ordinary story to the most unusual, anything could happen. Different places, different protagonists, different habits and different points of view are depicted in this multicultural feature film through an innovative combination of both seasoned and emerging directors.

About Ciné-Asie Creatives

Headquartered in Montreal, CINÉ-ASIE CREATIVES specializes with co-production and distribution between Canada and Asia. A rapidly growing entity, Ciné-Asie Creatives was established in 2008 under the parent umbrella of Ciné-Asie; spanning over twenty years of experience with the Asian and North American film industries. We are committed to discovering and exposing emerging talents in film making.

CINÉ-ASIE CREATIVES co-distributed of Korean blockbuster HAEUNDAE with CJ Entertainment in 2009.

For more information and interviews, please call our Berlin Festival contact Mi-Jeong Lee at

+1-514-799-6880 or email at cineasie@gmail.com mijeonglee@cineasiecreatives.com
–
Mi-Jeong Lee

Fantasia International Film Festival
www.fantasiafestival.com

–
Ciné-Asie Group
Ciné-Asie/Ciné-Asie Creatives
Office: (+1)514 564 0838
Address: 4374, Bld. St. Laurent, 2nd Floor
Montréal, Québec H2W 1Z5 Canada

www.cineasiecreatives.com
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Become a Fan of Cine-Asie on Facebook (+1,500 members)

SKYPE: cineasie

FACEBOOK US

We hope the Retrospective will continue to have success in the other cities on the tour.

The North American tour continues at the following locations:

Toronto, Jan. 2-5 (The Royal Theatre & Cinema Studies Student Union)
Vancouver, Jan. 7-11 (Pacific Cinematheque)
Los Angeles, Jan. 15-24 (UCLA Film Archive)
Ottawa, Jan. 23 & 30 (Canadian Film Institute)
Washington D.C., April 11-18 (Smithsonian Institution)
New York, April 22-25 (New York University)

For detailed screening schedules, please see: http://cineasiecreatives.com/category/retrospective/schedules/

Topics should be geared towards current and up-and-coming professional filmmakers and should give insight on the challenges, practical details, and rewards of Canadian-Asian film co-production projects. For example, how to manage negotiations with local and national governments in Asia, the particular challenges of independent filmmakers, relations with local actors and workers, or how to obtain funding could be potential themes — but individual filmmakers’ actual experiences should shape their discussion topics.

The conference will take place in Montreal at the Cinematheque Quebecoise.  Tentatively, it will consist of three 90-minute workshops per day, and one or two film screenings to be used as case studies, followed by Q&A discussions.  We would like to make this event particularly relevant to Quebec’s film industry; therefore we invite Quebecois film professionals to share their experiences.

Cine-Asie expects to collaborate on this conference with several Canadian film festivals and film organizations, including the Toronto Reel Asian Film Festival and Telefilm Canada, and Asian cultural organizations such as KOFIC (Korean Film Council).

Both Asian and Canadian filmmakers are strongly encouraged to participate. More details are available upon request. Any filmmakers or professionals with experience relevant to this conference are invited to contact us at info@cineasiecreatives.com or cineasie@gmail.com.

• Starting in November: Presented the North American Retrospective Tour of Jeon Soo-il (until April 2010)
• October: Released Korean blockbuster “Haeundae” in Canadian Theatres (Cine-Asie Creatives)
• June/ July: Acquired the Canadian distribution rights for “My Dear Enemy” and “Breathless” (Cine-Asie Creatives)
• May: Organized Ciné-Asie’s second National Portrait Contest at the Cinémathèque Québécoise

2008

• May: Organized Ciné-Asie’s first National Portrait Contest, an annual contest for short films, at the Cinémathèque Québécoise
• Feburary: Launched a film production company in association with Ciné-Asie, Ciné-Asie Creatives, which is focused on Co-Production and Distribution
• January: Ciné-Asie returns to relish the vitality of Monthly Asian Canadian and Asian Film Screenings presented at the Cinémathèque Québécoise

09/2007

• Organized the Retrospective of director Hong Sang-Soo in collaboration with the Cinémathèque Québécoise

03/2006

• Organized the Retrospective of Current Korean Films in collaboration with the Cinémathèque Québécoise

03/2004 & 2006

• Programmed and coordinated an Asian-Canadian film screening at Asian Heritage Festival for Acces-Asie, a non-profit in Montreal

1999-2000

• Founded and organized monthly social events for Asian Film & Video Art Society, a support group of Asian-Canadian artists

1999

• Incorporated
• Co-organized “Chinese Cinema, 1933-49″ with Concordia University as a part of the Film Society of Lincoln
• Center Touring Program, at Cinema de Séve, Montreal
  1999 Organized “Amérasia International Film and Video Festival” in Montreal
• Awarded funding from Canada Councils for Arts

1998 – 1999

• Published bilingual monthly local film newsletter (QuiFaitQuoi) on Asian film and filmmakers from Canada and abroad

1998 – 2000

• Monthly Asian and Asian-American film screenings and seminars in collaboration with the Cinémathèque Québécoise, Montreal
• Organized Asian film event at Asia Pacific Foundation

1997

• Organized “Three Korean Master Filmmakers” in Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver in collaboration with Cinematheques in Canada and New York Cultural Center
• Awarded funding from “Team Canada” by former PM Jean Chrétien

Spring 1996

• Founded as a registered company