‘Crosspoint' can't quite find its target
Japan isn't known for being friendly to foreign film productions: Even big-budget Hollywood projects with Japan-centric stories are often shot elsewhere due to red tape, among other reasons.
Donie Ordiales, a Filipino director and long-time resident in Japan, nonetheless found the ways and means to film his patchily plotted thriller 'Crosspoint' here and release it in the Philippines late last year. The film was a box-office hit, with the casting of local TV star Carlo Aquino drawing fans.
The story — a washed-up Filipino actor and a broke Japanese businessman team up to capture a creepy serial killer — would seem to lend itself to buddy-movie comedy, but everyone plays it totally straight to occasionally ludicrous effect.
Aquino is Manuel Hidalgo, an actor who was once big in the 1990s but is now hard up for roles and in need of money for the medical bills of his pregnant wife. (Given his boyish looks, he must have been barely out of the cradle when he first rose to stardom a quarter century ago.)
Arriving in Japan, Manuel finds employment as a singer in a Filipino club where his Japanese audience is unaware of his one-time fame. Facing deportation because he is not working with a proper visa, he journeys to a small pub in rural Nagano Prefecture but finds it locked and its Pinoy proprietor nowhere to be found. She is, we already know, dead inside the pub at the hands of a killer (Sho Ikushima), whom Manuel catches a glimpse of as he skulks away. The actor has no idea, however, that this stranger is responsible for the crime.
Later that night, without money for a hotel, he seeks shelter in an izakaya (Japanese pub), where he strikes up a conversation with a businessman, Shigeru Yamaguchi ('Shogun' star Takehiro Hira). Fluent in English, Shigeru commiserates with Manuel's problems and confesses his own: His business is bankrupt and he is deep in debt. Then, Manuel catches a glimpse of a news broadcast about a local murder and realizes he has seen the suspect. Hearing this, Shigeru has a light bulb moment and suggests he and Manuel team up to catch the killer and claim the substantial reward.
Seeing this, rightly, as a harebrained idea, Manuel suggests that they go to the cops instead. But Shigeru is both persistent and persuasive and they embark on their big adventure, the trembly Manuel armed with a baseball bat and the grimly determined Shigeru with a bow and arrows. We're told he's an expert archer, but seeing these two flailing through the woods in the dark, I couldn't help but think of Harry and Lloyd, the bumbling duo from the classic Farrelly brothers' comedy 'Dumb and Dumber.'
When the heroes encounter the killer, the ensuing action scenes generate a dark, chaotic impact, if with the obvious assistance of stunt actors and quick cuts that blur who is doing what to whom.
Action aside, the film is realistic about both the vagaries of show business in the Philippines and the hardscrabble lives many Filipino entertainers lead in Japan, where clubs run by their compatriots often close without warning, leaving their hapless employees in the lurch.
But the story drags in plot developments, such as Shigeru's opposition to the singing career of his talented daughter Mayuko (Kei Kurosawa), reminiscent of a standard-issue family melodrama.
For all its entertaining and insightful moments, 'Crosspoint' is finally at cross purposes to itself.
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Japan Times
3 hours ago
- Japan Times
What can Kenji Yanobe's cosmic cats teach us about humanity?
On a placid lake at the Nordic-themed Metsa Village park in Hanno, Saitama Prefecture, a giant inflatable feline in a neon-orange spacesuit lies curled on its own island. A peek inside reveals it's a nesting cat doll of sorts, filled with smaller cats diving, napping or painting classical art. Called 'Ship's Cat Island,' this creation of artist Kenji Yanobe can be accessed only via boat and is part of Hyper Museum Hanno's inaugural exhibition of the same name that runs through Aug. 31. Yanobe has been tackling thorny social issues with various lovable characters since the 1990s, and his spacesuited felines will be familiar to those who have visited the Nakanoshima Museum of Art in Osaka or Tokyo's Ginza Six shopping complex last year. In front of the former, a cat statue stands as if a guardian, while in the mid-air display titled 'Big Cat Bang' in Ginza Six, two space mousers ride through the lofty atrium on a spacecraft modeled after Tower of the Sun, the postwar artist Taro Okamoto's avant-garde monument for Expo '70 in Osaka. The exhibition 'Ship's Cat Island' at Hyper Museum Hanno also includes an island installation of the same name that features a giant inflatable space cat. | Hyper Museum Hanno The spacesuited cats in Yanobe's art are imagined as products of an eruptive event occurring billions of years ago that sent them hurtling through the cosmos, with some of them landing on Earth. | Hyper Museum Hanno Yanobe has long considered Okamoto an aspirational figure , saying in interviews that he considers Tower of the Sun the measure by which he gauges his own works. According to Yanobe's fantastical mythology, his cosmic cats are an update to Okamoto's 'Tree of Life' theory of evolution portrayed with a sculptural installation inside the Tower of the Sun. Yanobe also says that his felines embody Okamoto's maxim 'Art is an explosion' as they are imagined as products of an eruptive event occurring billions of years ago that sent them hurtling through the cosmos. Some of the alien kitties landed on our planet, specifically Hanno's Lake Miyazawa, as explained in the newly detailed fable presented at the exhibition. From there, they preserved life on Earth through five extinction phases until humans emerged, when they began teaching us cave painting and other art fundamentals. That's the story, anyway. As outlandish as it may seem, like all of Yanobe's wild tales, it serves a purpose: to cultivate what he calls the 'grand fantasies' needed to create a future even while humanity threatens its own existence. Ruins of the future Future fantasies are Yanobe's original source of creativity. The Osaka native grew up in the shadow of Expo '70, predecessor of the world fair that is currently being held in the city 55 years later. Having visited the site after its closure, Yanobe describes seeing its deconstructed pavilions as limitless potential for creation and re-creation. 'It was like a time trip to the ruins of the future,' the artist says. 'I realized there that I could create anything.' Yanobe repeatedly returns to the Tower of the Sun in his work, both physically and metaphorically. In 2003, he reenacted a Vietnam War protester's infiltration of the tower during the 1970 expo. Yanobe, wearing an atomic radiation protection suit, scaled the structure in what he called 'a search for another exit to the future,' a daring feat described in the film "Tower of the Sun Hijacking Project: Special Edition" (2007) and also discussed in a documentary screened at the current exhibition. The artist seems to still be looking for this portal — the theme of living in an untenable world riddled with conflict and environmental destruction is deeply rooted in his art. After 2011, Yanobe, whose art warns of disasters, pivoted to more whimsical expression but with the same message. | Hyper Museum Hanno Early in his career, an accident at the Mihama nuclear power plant in Fukui Prefecture in 1991 started Yanobe down the path of building mecha-like sculptures meant to withstand apocalyptic disaster. 'Yellow Suit' (1991) is a set of lead and steel armor for protection against radiation. Fitted with a Geiger counter, it comes with a matching outfit for a pet dog. 'Survival System Train' (1992-97) is a locomotive unit that can lay its own tracks. Equipped with food, water and oxygen, it is designed as a self-propelling escape device. The culmination of Yanobe's preoccupation with catastrophe was his visit to Chernobyl in Pripyat, Ukraine, in 1997. There he staged a photoshoot documenting himself wandering through the nuclear evacuation zone in an Astro Boy-inspired antiradiation suit — this time created as much for function as symbolism. After returning to Japan, those experiences were embedded in his future artworks. In 1998, he posed for a photo with the Tower of the Sun (still standing in Expo '70 Commemorative Park) in his helmeted Chernobyl costume; he faces the camera with his back to the back of the tower, where a black face representing the past is painted. The image is open to multiple interpretations: perhaps Yanobe is saying with his physical stance that he's looking in the opposite direction, to the future; maybe he's suggesting through the juxtaposition that Okamoto's generation has sent his into exile, toward some brave new world. From survival to revival The Great East Japan Earthquake of March 2011, which saw a triple disaster of earthquakes, tsunami and nuclear plant meltdowns in the Tohoku region, marked an inflection point in Yanobe's career. Disheartened that the warnings of his art had failed to prevent calamity, he decided a new approach was required and shifted his focus 'from survival to revival.' The tone of his works changed as well, from irony-laden grimness to pop-driven cheerfulness. Still, Yanobe insists his message is as serious as ever, it's just the delivery that is different. He says he does not believe that art with a weighty subject necessarily needs to feel heavy. 'If anything, I think that can backfire,' he told The Japan Times at Hyper Museum Hanno last month. 'I want to create accessible works inviting further thought.' Having spent time as a child near the site of the Osaka Expo '70 and playing under Taro Okamoto's Tower of the Sun monument, Kenji Yanobe's work often references Okamoto's work. | Hyper Museum Hanno Collaborations with Japanese lacquer artisans and animators are also on show, and a Roomba-mounted kitty moseys around the room. | Hyper Museum Hanno This stance also seems to be the modus operandi for his current exhibition. Displays include large and small sculptures of the white cat, illustrations (some hand-drawn and others AI-generated), and even an NFT project in which backers can 'return' a Ship's Cat figurine to 'space.' A balloon launch from Oarai Sun Beach in Ibaraki Prefecture is planned for later this summer. Collaborations with Japanese lacquer artisans and animators are also on show, and a roomba-mounted kitty moseys around the room. Outside, a 3-meter-tall Ship's Cat with wings looms sphinxlike in front of the building. 'Ship's Cat Island' also exhibits other characters and their recent iterations. 'Lucky Dragon Concept Maquettes' (2009/24) is a large metal ark alluding to a 1954 incident in which a U.S. hydrogen bomb test near Bikini Atoll hit a Japanese fishing boat with radioactive fallout. Yanobe's ship is filled with several of his self-made icons addressing issues of atomic weaponry and power. Another noteworthy piece is 'Blue Cinema in the Woods' (2006), a set of sculptures featuring Torayan, the character based on a ventriloquist dummy invented and publicly performed by Yanobe's father. Footage of Torayan's adventures plays on a mini theater perched on the back of an aluminum-plated elephant. Anyone curious about the evolution of Yanobian lore and the relationships among his characters should watch the four films about the artist at the exhibition, shown with English subtitles on loop for a total of 120 minutes. Outside Hyper Museum Hanno a 3-meter-tall Ship's Cat with wings looms sphinxlike. | Hyper Museum Hanno There is, however, a nagging contradiction between the message of Yanobe's works –– a stark warning about human-led environmental destruction –– and the questionable sustainability of producing them, many of which are massive metal and plastic objects. NFTs and AI have also generally been criticized for their sizable carbon footprints. 'I think it's about balance,' Yanobe said, explaining that he feels artists with a social conscience do have an obligation to be consistent in how they make their works, but that to truly leave no trace, he would need to abandon his art entirely. 'I want to make work with a broad vision that speaks to but looks beyond its time,' he said. 'I hope its impact will override its imperfections.' 'Ship's Cat Island' runs through Aug. 31 at Hyper Museum Hanno in Hanno, Saitama Prefecture. For more information, visit
Japan Times
15 hours ago
- Japan Times
Studio Ghibli marks 40 years, but future looks uncertain
Japan's Studio Ghibli turns 40 this month with two Oscars and legions of fans young and old won over by its complex plots and fantastical hand-drawn animation. But the future is uncertain, with latest hit "The Boy and the Heron" likely — but not certainly — the final feature from celebrated co-founder Hayao Miyazaki, now 84. In March, the internet was flooded with pictures in Studio Ghibli's distinctively nostalgic style after the release of OpenAI's newest image generator — raising questions over copyright. The studio behind the Oscar-winning "Spirited Away" has become a cultural phenomenon since Miyazaki and the late Isao Takahata — he passed away in 2018 — established it in 1985. Its popularity has been fueled of late by a second Academy Award in 2024 for "The Boy and the Heron," starring Robert Pattinson, and by Netflix streaming Ghibli movies around the world. The newly opened Ghibli Park has also become a major tourist draw for central Japan's Aichi region. In addition to its museum in Mitaka, Tokyo, Studio Ghibli opened a theme park in Aichi Prefecture, in November 2022. | Lillian SUWANRUMPHA / AFP-JIJI Julia Santilli, a 26-year-old from Britain living in northern Japan, "fell in love with Ghibli" after watching the 2001 classic "Spirited Away" as a child. "I started collecting all the DVDs," she says. Ghibli stories are "very engaging and the artwork is stunning," says another fan, Margot Divall, 26. "I probably watch 'Spirited Away' about 10 times a year, still." Before Ghibli, most cartoons in Japan — known as anime — were made for children. But Miyazaki and Takahata, both from "the generation that knew war," included darker elements that appeal to adults, Miyazaki's son Goro says. "It's not all sweet — there's also a bitterness and things like that which are beautifully intertwined in the work," he adds, describing a "whiff of death" in the films. For younger people who grew up in time of peace, "it is impossible to create something with the same sense, approach and attitude," Goro says. Even "My Neighbor Totoro," with its cuddly forest creatures, is in some ways a "scary" movie that explores the fear of losing a sick mother, he explains. Susan Napier, a professor at Tufts University in the United States and author of "Miyazakiworld: A Life in Art," agrees. "In Ghibli, you have ambiguity, complexity and also a willingness to see that the darkness and light often go together" unlike good-versus-evil U.S. cartoons, she says. Ghibli co-founder Hayao Miyazaki, now 84, has stepped back a few times before returning with "The Boy and the Heron" which is likely to be his final feature. | AFP-JIJI The post-apocalyptic "Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind" — considered the first Ghibli film despite its release in 1984 — has no obvious villain, for example. Featuring an independent princess curious about giant insects and a poisonous forest, the film felt "so fresh" and a change from "a passive woman... having to be rescued," Napier says. Studio Ghibli films also depict a universe where humans connect deeply with nature and the spirit world. A case in point was 1997's "Princess Mononoke," distributed internationally by Disney. The tale of a girl raised by a wolf goddess in a forest threatened by humans is "a masterpiece — but a hard movie," Napier says. It's a "serious, dark and violent" film appreciated more by adults, which "was not what U.S. audiences had anticipated with a movie about a princess. "Ghibli films "have an environmentalist and animistic side, which I think is very appropriate for the contemporary world with climate change," Napier adds. Miyuki Yonemura, a professor at Japan's Senshu University who studies cultural theories on animation, says watching Ghibli movies is like reading literature. "That's why some children watch 'My Neighbor Totoro' 40 times," she says, adding that audiences "discover something new every time." With Takahata studying French literature at university and Miyazaki also reading voraciously, there are naturally French literature influences in Ghibli's works. | Thomas SAMSON / AFP-JIJI Miyazaki and Takahata could create imaginative worlds because of their openness to other cultures, Yonemura says. Foreign influences include writer Antoine de Saint-Exupery and animator Paul Grimault, both French, and Canadian artist Frederic Back, who won an Oscar for his animation "The Man Who Planted Trees." Takahata studying French literature at university "was a big factor," Yonemura says. "Both Miyazaki and Takahata read a lot," she adds. "That's a big reason why they excel at writing scripts and creating stories." Miyazaki has said he was inspired by several books for "Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind," including the 12th-century Japanese tale "The Lady who Loved Insects," and Greek mythology. Studio Ghibli will not be the same after Miyazaki stops creating animation, "unless similar talent emerges," Yonemura says. Miyazaki is "a fantastic artist with such a visual imagination," while both he and Takahata were "politically progressive," Napier says. "The more I study, the more I realize this was a unique cultural moment," she says. "It's so widely loved that I think it will carry on," says Ghibli fan Divall. "As long as it doesn't lose its beauty, as long as it carries on the amount of effort, care and love," she adds. Studio Ghibli has offices in western Tokyo. | AFP-JIJI Studio Ghibli's heavy hitters Here are the studio's top five films that have delighted fans over the decades: "Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind" (1984) Studio Ghibli was founded in 1985, but this post-apocalyptic story featuring a young, independent princess curious about giant insects is considered its first film. It was based on a comic-strip series that Ghibli co-founder Hayao Miyazaki wrote for a magazine targeted at anime fans. Set 1,000 years after a war that destroyed human civilization, the story takes place in a valley protected from toxic air emitted from poisonous forests. Miyazaki won critical acclaim and a cult following for the film about Nausicaa, who discovers the forests' secrets after getting embroiled in conflicts between countries trying to revive a lethal "giant warrior." "My Neighbor Totoro" (1988) This beloved Ghibli classic is set in the 1950s Japanese countryside where two young sisters with a sick mother move from the city. They encounter the cuddly yet mysterious forest spirit Totoro and Catbus, a 12-legged grinning cat with a hollow body in the form of a bus — two characters who have since become worldwide-known Studio Ghibli mascots. The film was also turned into a play for the first time by Britain's Royal Shakespeare Company in 2022. "Princess Mononoke" (1997) The tale of a girl raised by a wolf goddess in a forest threatened by humans was a smash hit in Japan and raised Miyazaki's profile internationally. A young prince on a journey to find a cure for his curse meets San, also known as Princess Mononoke — meaning a spirit or monster in Japanese. The prince sets out to find ways to avoid wars between destructive humans and animal gods, centered around the ultimate god which is nature itself. "Spirited Away" (2001) Miyazaki won his first Oscar with this film about a girl who gets lost in a mystical world of gods and spirits where she tries to save her parents, who are turned into pigs. In order to survive, 10-year-old Chihiro is told by a mysterious boy to get a job at an enormous Japanese bathhouse run by a witch. In a story infused with Japanese beliefs and traditions, Chihiro gains confidence through her work and solves the boy's curse before rescuing her parents. "The Boy and the Heron" (2023) Miyazaki's second Oscar-winning film — and likely the 84-year-old's last feature — follows a boy struggling to accept his new life after his mother dies in the haunting fire-bombing of Tokyo during World War II. Everything changes when he meets a talking heron and embarks on a journey to an alternate universe, shared by the living and the dead, to find his missing stepmother. In a documentary, Miyazaki, visibly affected by the 2018 death of Ghibli co-founder Isao Takahata, said the pair had had a "love-hate relationship" and that he had based the character of the grand-uncle on him.
Japan Times
17 hours ago
- Japan Times
Trump-inspired Cantonese opera in Hong Kong aims to bring love and peace
In a Cantonese opera inspired by U.S. President Donald Trump, a Chinese actor donning a blond wig spars on a Hong Kong stage with a man playing a double of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy — ridiculing his outfit and firing a water gun at him. The sold-out show, "Trump, The Twins President," was performed in the territory's Xiqu Theatre as Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping held an hour-long call on Thursday. Written by Edward Li, a Feng Shui master-turned-Cantonese opera playwright, the comedy made its Hong Kong debut in 2019. The 3½-hour show has been through several iterations since, with the latest version featuring Trump's attempted assassination and his quarrel with Zelenskyy in the White House.
