Comments on: The Golden Rock Podcast - 7/8/2007

By: Etchy

Etchy — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 08:35:00 +0000

i’d say HK audiences are definitely the least well behaved of the three you’ve mentioned (I’ve never seen a movie in the mainland, but thats probably even worse).

They don’t smoke in theaters anymore, but accepting calls (sometimes multiple calls) during a movie is not uncommon.

but just like in the US, it depends on what kind of theater and what kind of movie you’re watching.

in japan and HK I had experiences like yours w/ being the only one laughing out loud in a crowded theater, but I attributed it more to the fact that some of the cultural humor of American movies can’t fit into japanese subtitles…

By: Don

Don — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 08:30:00 +0000

I think the reasoning for the strategy is that not everyone watches TV dramas and films and theatrical productions and reads books etc., so by adapting it for each platform you make sure the widest possible audience has access to the product. Properties of that nature should be regarded less as “stories” or “works of art” than as familiar “brands” with an assurance of what you’re going to get. Considering the recent success of Tokyo Tower that you mentioned in your podcast, I don’t see the trend dying out in a hurry (more’s the pity).

I think I know what you’re getting at when you say audiences here are too well-behaved; I might be generalising too much but audiences here don’t often respond audibly to the actual film, and that goes for multiplexes and indie/art cinemas. That might mean it’s more difficult to savour the excited atmosphere of a packed theatre here, but on the other hand you don’t have to put up with attention whores who think they’re enhancing everybody’s viewing experience.

By: GoldenRockProductions

GoldenRockProductions — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 07:43:00 +0000

Hi, Don,

I’m wondering just how long are audiences going to keep eating up the same versions of one story over and over again. I suppose the popularity of these things have been somewhat dying down (if a minor film like Bizan can indicate anything). If not, I think we’ll be seeing a Hana Yori Dango movie announced pretty soon. Yikes.

Actually, what I got from your comments IS that Japanese audiences can be just as bad as those in other countries. Maybe it’s my penchant for glorifying the past, but I remember the Japanese audience (at least at commercial cinemas - I didn’t get to frequent the art theaters) being actually somewhat too behaved. Well, except at the Roppongi Hills cinema, but that’s because a fair portion of the audience happen to be non-Japanese.

By: Don

Don — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 02:38:00 +0000

Interesting stuff. Book adaptations aren’t anything new in Japanese movies, but the sequential exploitation of properties across numerous mediums (e.g. Train Man, Be With You etc.) is a relatively new phenomena, as is the TV/film companies nurturing of these properties for future adaptation purposes, often before they’re actually written.

By the way, I hope my comments at Jason Gray’s place didn’t make it sound like I think Japanese audiences are any worse than those in other countries; what I wanted to get across is that they can be just as bad as anywhere else (like the chattering, seat-kicking, B.O.-expelling knuckle-draggers at the screening of “Borat” I went to last week).