The immense popularity of the Japan Foundation, Manila's Eiga Sai, Japanese Film Festival that has been running annually for over two decades now means that Filipinos just can't get enough of films from Japan.
This is probably what gave birth to the Japan Film Week, an mini-film festival that is co-presented by the Film Development Council of the Philippines. The film selection for this sort of offshoot of the Eiga Sai featured a selection of films that is curated mostly for the younger set aka the millennials. For the reception night recently held at the Cinematheque Centre Manila, the film screened was the 2017 flick Mumon: The Land of Stealth/忍びの国.
Mumon: The Land of Stealth/忍びの国 (2017)
This is probably what gave birth to the Japan Film Week, an mini-film festival that is co-presented by the Film Development Council of the Philippines. The film selection for this sort of offshoot of the Eiga Sai featured a selection of films that is curated mostly for the younger set aka the millennials. For the reception night recently held at the Cinematheque Centre Manila, the film screened was the 2017 flick Mumon: The Land of Stealth/忍びの国.
Mumon: The Land of Stealth/忍びの国 (2017)
Based on the novel by Ryō Wada, Mumon: The Land of Stealth, directed by Yoshihiro Nakamura, tells the tale of a ragtag band of ninjas from the Iga province pinning their hopes to the greatest in their ranks, Mumon (Satoshi Ohno), to stave off invasion by the forces of Nobukatsu Oda (Yuri Chinen), son of the powerful feudal lord Nobunaga Oda.
But in this movie, homeland means nothing to ninjas as only money speaks to them. It is only through a manipulative scheming by the head of the ninja families, a betrayal in their ranks, and Mumon succumbing to the orders of his not so easily pleased wife that could possibly save Iga. Or is it?
My expectation of an epic tale of ninjas fighting samurais were quickly shattered with Mumon's fighting style that was comic and almost dance like, so untypical of how I perceived ninjas. It was later that I learned that Satoshi Ohno is a member of top Japanese idol group Arashi and that the actress who played his wife Okuni in the film, Satomi Ishihara is also a popular actress with a body of work that catered to the younger demographic. This solidified my guess that the film was geared towards the fan base of these two lead actors. I was very intrigued to see if the actual novel depicted the same comedic tone in regards to Mumon and the rest of the ninjas.
The rest of the films scheduled at the Japan Film Week indicate that the selection is heavily skewed for the younger demographic. There's nothing wrong with catering to the youth and entertaining them. But having seen films that offer more than entertainment throughout the years in Eiga Sai and other foreign film language in various festivals, I've come to expect more. But I'd still give these films a chance, especially Your Name and Your Lie in April, to gain a foothold to see what makes the young viewers tick.
The Japan Film Week makes its final stop at the Cinematheque Centre Davao on February 27-March 2, 2019.
My expectation of an epic tale of ninjas fighting samurais were quickly shattered with Mumon's fighting style that was comic and almost dance like, so untypical of how I perceived ninjas. It was later that I learned that Satoshi Ohno is a member of top Japanese idol group Arashi and that the actress who played his wife Okuni in the film, Satomi Ishihara is also a popular actress with a body of work that catered to the younger demographic. This solidified my guess that the film was geared towards the fan base of these two lead actors. I was very intrigued to see if the actual novel depicted the same comedic tone in regards to Mumon and the rest of the ninjas.
The rest of the films scheduled at the Japan Film Week indicate that the selection is heavily skewed for the younger demographic. There's nothing wrong with catering to the youth and entertaining them. But having seen films that offer more than entertainment throughout the years in Eiga Sai and other foreign film language in various festivals, I've come to expect more. But I'd still give these films a chance, especially Your Name and Your Lie in April, to gain a foothold to see what makes the young viewers tick.
The Japan Film Week makes its final stop at the Cinematheque Centre Davao on February 27-March 2, 2019.
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