Japanese Entertainment: From special effects actor to action superstar

Chapter 615 Tokyo International Film Festival

The Takakura Club doesn't have Ken Takakura; it only has Haruki Kadokawa.

Sometimes, Gu Ming wondered why Kadokawa Haruki named his club Takakura; perhaps it was because he couldn't get the name Takakura Ken.

"Then why not change it to the Furuya Club?"

Gu Ming shook his head slightly and reached out to help him up.

"Be careful, there are many stones in the garden, and it's a dry landscape garden, not what we imagined."

Shaqin nodded, took Gu Ming's hand, and lightly jumped over a large pit. The two of them walked into the Japanese-style room with overlapping shoji doors.

"Yo, you're here." Haruki Kadokawa raised his hand in greeting, his gaze sweeping over the two of them, a playful smile suddenly appearing on his face.

Haruki Kadokawa asked, "Have you decided?"

Gu Ming said, "It's decided."

Haruki Kadokawa pressed further: "What were you thinking?"

Gu Ming shrugged.

"I personally prefer happy endings. If there are any regrets, we can make up for them next time."

The two sat down on either side of each other, and Kadokawa Haruki served the dishes while casually talking about recent events.

"Your American movie didn't do well in Japan, it was met with a lot of criticism! Everyone thought you were the one who fought and acted as a savior, but it turns out you were just a lame old master, and in the end, it was that young American who was the protagonist."

"But there will always be people who praise you, won't there?"

Gu Ming shrugged.

It's normal that the box office wasn't good in Japan. The Japanese elements in "Dragon Boys" are novel to foreigners, but to Japanese people, it's basically the same as a Chinese person seeing "a phoenix chair, spring rolls, dumplings, and math problems!"

It would be strange to get positive reviews under these circumstances.

However, Gu Ming himself did not intend to release this film in Japan, so whether the Japanese liked it or not would not affect its huge success in North America.

"Let's not talk about me anymore, let's talk about you. What do you think of that movie, 'Why Is Hell So Terrible'?"

"That's exactly what I was going to say."

Haruki Kadokawa pushed an envelope forward with both hands.

"Don't call me stingy, you know, after all, you're not the lead actor."

The thick envelope was filled with banknotes. Gu Ming felt it briefly and knew it must be several hundred thousand yen.

It seems the box office performance was indeed quite good.

"Although the Blue Ribbon Awards and the Academy Awards have already been announced for this year, there is a high probability that this film will receive an award tomorrow."

Haruki Kadokawa said, "Many viewers thought that shot was amazing."

Gu Ming knew which shot he was referring to—the one where the perspective was disrupted, resulting in a large and small reaction.

In that shot, the person giving orders appears insignificant, while the one passively receiving them seems larger. Combined with the intention conveyed by the shot itself, it certainly deserves a nomination for this year's best photograph.

Besides "Ran".

"Ran" is a film directed and released by Akira Kurosawa in 1985. It performed poorly at the Japanese box office, but was highly praised in the UK. The reason is simple: "Ran" is adapted from the legend of King Lear, essentially telling a British story from a Japanese perspective.

The film *Ran* uses very bold colors and has particularly striking costumes. Akira Kurosawa even built a city for this film. Later, Emo directed a film called *A Simple Noodle Story*, which was based on the structure of *Blood Maze*, but used a similar color style to *Ran*, with brightly colored costumes, strong contrasting colors, and exceptionally vivid visuals.

If the color scheme of Three Guns were made darker, it wouldn't necessarily be worse than the chaotic use of color.

Emo's aesthetic sense is still on point, after all, he's a photographer.

Kadokawa Haruki suddenly raised his hand again.

"The reason I invited you here today is for this. President Okada Shigeru and I both put in a lot of effort. We all agreed that to hold such a large-scale event, we need someone who can command the scene. In this respect, Ken Takakura is not good enough, nor is Ken Ogata. It can only be you. After all, you are the first person to win an overseas award."

Gu Ming lowered his head slightly, looking at the invitation in front of him.

The invitation was made of yellow kraft paper, was rough and undecorated, and the handwriting on the cover was not very good.

However, the content is entirely conveyed through the text.

Shaqin read aloud: "Tokyo International Film Festival Organizing Committee."

She suddenly raised her head and looked at Gu Ming's profile.

"Actually, the preparations have been going on for a while now, when you were filming in Hong Kong and the United States. There are still some things left to do."

Haruki Kadokawa said, "This is not just my idea, nor is it something that Toei and Toho alone can support. It is a top-down, collective will. We must have our own international film festival. Even if we can't reach the level of the three major European film festivals, it must be a top-tier A-list international film festival. We must make films awarded at the Tokyo International Film Festival a source of honor."

Gu Ming looked at the invitation card in his hand over and over again, remained silent for a long time, and then asked the most crucial question.

"What should I do? Or rather, what can I do?"

“The signboard—foreigners recognize you but not me, your image is enough,” Haruki Kadokawa said. “Also, you can submit some films. After all, it would be ridiculous for a film festival opening in October to have no submissions at all. The festival’s goal is to become the most prestigious film festival in Asia, so you can freely choose films from the filmmakers you know! As long as it’s in Asia, whether it’s Southeast Asia or…”

Haruki Kadokawa pointed in a certain direction next door.

Gu Ming understood.

1985 years.

In fact, Zhou Guo did shoot a large number of artistic films in the mid-to-late 1980s.

Overall, it is positive and encouraging, worthy of praise, though there are some aspects that cannot be specified.

Gu Ming shook his head violently.

Don't choose anymore!

It's inconvenient to display them even if I choose them. Let's display something nice, like "Wreath on the Mountain" or "Visitors on the Iceberg"...

Forget about the movie for now. In short, it's best not to talk about topics that shouldn't be touched. Just keep it to yourself.

"So this year's task is to select films for the Tokyo International Film Festival and submit them to Cannes, and we need to meet the needs of both sides at the same time?"

Gu Ming clicked his tongue.

Both sides are very busy!

It sounds pretty complicated.

Considering that Zhou Guo could no longer be involved, Gu Ming thought it best to go to Australia to take a look. There were quite a few good films in Asia at the time, and perhaps Hong Kong and Taiwan could produce some outstanding ones.

After all, Hong Kong produces so many films every year; it can't possibly be unable to produce any at all!
(End of this chapter)