Masahiro Shinoda, director of competition entry Moonlight Serenade, is a great survivor. Of those who created Japan's 'new wave' in the early 1960s, he is the only one still working prolifically - largely because he has won co-financing from TV for so many of his projects.
'I've analysed the income from my last three features,' he said. 'Some 30% came from theatrical release, 70% from TV screenings and video rentals. They usually reserve the primetime slot on broadcast TV (9pm) for Hollywood films; at most eight to 10 Japanese films a year play then. So the challenge is to come up with projects the TV companies find attractive. In this case, half of the budget came from Shochiku and half from TV. And my next project has already been okayed by Fuji TV and Dentsu; no film company will be involved.'
Moonlight Serenade is rooted in Shinoda's memories of the day in 1945 when Japan surrendered and the emperor renounced divine status. 'For 15 years, I'd been learning how to die, and I suddenly had to learn how to live. I used to see this period rather tragically. This film offers a more optimistic impression of the arrival of US culture and 'democracy'.' Tony Rayns
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