Art, Hiking and Travel in Japan - Alternate View - Art House Cinema in Tokyo

Original articles on art, artists, architecture, exhibitions, galleries, museums and cultural institutions around Tokyo, Japan.

Alternate View: Art House Cinema in Tokyo

Small is big in Tokyo, at least when it comes to the movie business. In one of the latest examples of the city's shift from Hollywood's heavy meat-and-potato diet to leaner, tastier, ever-changing tidbits from around the globe, the final curtain was drawn on the Minami-Shinjuku IMAX theater in February. Tooled down and converted, the space recently reopened as an art house cinema.

Mathew Barney's Cremaster cycle exemplifies some of the best in current art film

Mathew Barney's Cremaster cycle
exemplifies some of the best in
contemporary art film (Cremaster 3,
2002. Photos by Chris Winget.
©Matthew Barney. Courtesy Barbara
Gladstone)

Theatre Times Square Shibuya joined more than a dozen screens that have sprung up in Shibuya alone over the last several years, thanks to the growing ranks of the city's mini-shiata. These tiny, usually well-appointed one- or two-screen theaters—which rarely seat more than 200 and sometimes fewer than 50—have drawn wider and wider audiences for their independent and other beyond-the-
mainstream movies. Whether this trend reflects an increasingly international mindset, fondness for travel, democratization of technology (like mini-DV cameras and computer-based editing), or simply changing tastes, local filmgoers can now access an incredible range of titles.

There are low-budget independent domestic films and medium-sized, international indies (including films by directors like Tim Roth, but not blockbusters like the Korean film Shuri). There are black-and-white classics and retrospectives, experimental classics by Len Lye, and cutting-edge art films by Matthew Barney. There's digital art animation and claymation from Russia, the Czech Republic, America and Japan. And there are documentaries from all over.

The variety of mini-theaters screening such films is nearly as vast and in many ways just as confusing. "To coexist in such profusion and in such close proximity (especially in Shibuya), mini-theaters have learned to work together and to develop their own niches," notes Kumi Kobata at indie film distributor Media Suits. While some theaters are known for showing mature, sophisticated, edgy or other types of films, the distinctions are often unclear and may not be obvious to the average or occasional filmgoer. But if the most successful independent movie of all time, The Blair Witch Project, is any indication, getting lost is half the appeal.

First reel

Born in the early 1960s, Tokyo's modern mini-theater scene got its first break inside the twin theaters of the Art Theater Guild (ATG), says Jeanette Amano, a long-time Tokyo-based film critic and subtitler. Though ATG eventually shifted from screenings to underwriting Japanese indies, their theaters in Hibiya and Shinjuku scripted a future for indies by introducing alternatives to the existing mainstream and helping to create a market for European films by Truffaut, Antonioni and others.

Iwanami Hall in Jimbocho, opened in 1968 and regarded as the longest-running art house in Tokyo, was one theater to take advantage of the new market. But, as Amano notes, "Perhaps worried that others might follow, Hollywood distributors tried to crush Tokyo's nascent independent scene in the late '70s by launching the kakudai road show hoshiki, or expanded road show system."

Spanish romantic comedy Km.0
(Kilometro Cero) kicked off the Gay
and Lesbian Film Festival

For the first time, major films could be shown on multiple screens in the same market. While this temporarily shut out indies and helped submerge the mega-za (classic film theaters), audiences began to crave variety. Many resorted to jishyujoei (private screenings) in rented halls, art galleries and embassies. But by the early '80s, a variety of dedicated mini-theaters began to open, taking hold in Tokyo's major entertainment districts: Eurospace in Shibuya, Cine Vivant in Roppongi (now closed), Cinema Square Tokyu in Shinjuku, and a number of spaces in Ginza.

The success of these venues was furthered by the now-widespread film festival circuit. "Festivals, especially the Pia Film Festival (started in 1977) and the Tokyo International Film Festival (1985), fueled the demand for non-mainstream fare," Amano says. In fact, the desire for a proper venue for the TIFF helped lead major sponsor Tokyu Agency to build Shibuya's Bunkamura complex, including the two-screen Le Cinema. (Tokyo's myriad festivals continue to expand the field with new media, e.g. Resfest; specialized markets, e.g. the Gay and Lesbian Film Festival and NextFrame; and international films, e.g. the Chinese Film Festival.) "The success of these first festivals also helped change a widespread perception among Tokyo's mainstream theater management: that the city's only film-viewing audience was teenagers," she says.

Mature audiences, therefore, were—and still are—courted by mini-theaters such as Le Cinema and others in Ginza, Ebisu and elsewhere. But the mainstream theaters weren't necessarily wrong about the under-20 market, they just underestimated the range of their taste. "The opening of Eurospace in 1982 and Cinema Rise in 1986, both in Shibuya, helped tap a burgeoning market of edgy, young filmgoers and turn Shibuya into the center for mini-theaters," explains Kobata.

Survival of the fittest

In the years since, many theaters that first started with a particular theme have since "expanded" their offerings as economics dictate (e.g., a popular film funds a risky film) or as the tastes of the programmer change. Baus in Kichijoji, for example, now shows both indie and Hollywood films. This is in part a reflection of the increasingly muddied concept of indies. Like alternative music in the '90s, indies have started to gain broader popularity, leading films like Amelie to graduate from first runs in mini-theaters to major releases at mainstream theaters—not to mention its own Amelie-themed café in Shibuya.

Image Forum, one of Shibuya's most progressive movie theaters, shows independent and art films

Image Forum, one of Shibuya's most
progressive movie theaters, shows
independent films, art films,
experimental films and documentaries
(Photo courtesy of Image Forum)

Nevertheless, some mini-theaters stand out by maintaining their strong identities in different ways. Exclusive, long sold-out engagements of quirky but accessible films like Buffalo 66 and Memento at Parco's Cine Quinto, for example, helped bolster the theater's designer-brand image: if a film is shown there, it must be good.

Two other theaters in Shibuya, Uplink Factory and Image Forum, offer progressive programming underscored by video distribution and other film-related activities. Uplink made its name helping produce and distribute films by Derek Jarman. Since 1995, its multi-purpose event and movie space, Uplink Factory, has held an eclectic mix of musical events, new art films, lectures, and discussions. Many of the more obscure titles at any large Tsutaya, including the sci-fi erotic fantasy I.K.U. they helped produce in 2000, bear the Uplink stamp.

Since they opened their new three-screen building in 2000, Image Forum (IF) has challenged other theaters with the depth and coherence of their eclectic programming. They show new indies, art films and documentaries like other mini-theaters. But what sets IF apart is a dedication to new and classic experimental film, e.g., a recent retrospective of '60s works by Japanese film authority Donald Ritchie, and the latest movie by Japanese photographer Daido Moriyama. IF also runs a film school, sponsors an annual experimental film and video festival, and distributes videos and books.

Other theaters stake their ground by specializing in little-known niches. Tollywood (a contraction of Tokyo and Hollywood) in Shimokitazawa, for example, started in 1999 as the only theater dedicated to dramatic short films less than 60 minutes in length.

Big brothers

While variety is good for filmgoers, the current saturation of mini-theaters seems financially precarious. Yuko Iwasaki from the Japan Association for Cultural Exchange (ACE Japan)—a government agency that archives and distributes non-commercial foreign films in Japan—recently visited New York to research independent and experimental cinemas there. She found that despite similarities with Tokyo's scene, one major difference remained. "Many of New York's institutions are non-profit organizations (NPOs). Tokyo's are almost exclusively commercial and therefore more susceptible to the whims of customers," she says. "Japanese theaters have been reluctant to follow the NPO model due to the difficult restrictions placed on applicants, the fewer benefits of the Japanese zaidan hochin (NPO) system, as well as the stigma of possible government oversight."

The National Museum of Modern Art,
Film Center in Kyobashi screens classic
films, Japanese films and films difficult
to find elsewhere (Photo courtesy
National Museum of Modern Art, Film
Center

NPO theaters that do exist tend to be government-sponsored cultural institutions. The National Museum of Modern Art, Film Center in Kyobashi collects, preserves, and restores Japanese and foreign films. Regular screenings of their more than 19,000 films are thematic, such as "Remembering Screen Actresses." They also have a library and gallery for exhibiting film posters and photography, often related to the current program. Kawasaki City Museum of Art in Musashi-Kosugi has a lively screening schedule that includes indie, experimental, and classic films. The Institut Franco-Japonais in Iidabashi is supported by the French government and specializes in classic and modern French films and festivals, like "Music and Cinema."

Pioneer mini-theater Athenee Francais Cultural Center (AF) in Suidobashi is a rare NPO without government sponsorship. Opened in 1970 as a forum for introducing foreign culture through lectures and films, AF continues to screen classic world cinema (like those by Indian filmmaker Guru Dutt), documentaries (e.g., Frederick Wiseman), and modern art films (e.g., Straub-Huillet) in their homey, college lecture hall-type theater on the top floor of a language school. AF also collaborates with Eurospace for the film school Eiga Bigakko in Kyobashi, and the two veterans also occasionally share programs, like R.W. Fassbinder's epic TV drama "Berlin Alexanderplatz."

Art attack

Movies may need a beginning, middle and end, but as French New Wave filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard said, "not necessarily in that order." Enter experimental film, video art—films made by artists, not filmmakers—and art film. These genres usually use the media from a more conceptual angle and often have little aspiration (or hope) for commercial success.

Since 1970, Athenee Francais has
been bringing classics and art films
to Suidobashi (Courtesy Athenee
Francais Cultural Center)

Spaces dedicated to video art are few, operate on budgets even slimmer than NPOs, and don't usually enjoy the response that even indie cinema gets. Many spaces don't qualify as theaters at all, being flexible-use halls with folding chairs.

Video Art Collective (VAC) was founded in 2001 to popularize video art in Japan. Promoting young artists and introducing international artists through monthly screenings and their Intercultural Video Art Exhibition, VAC also maintains a video library (open to the public) of classic and members' video art at art lab golden shit, a multipurpose space run by artists for artists in Nakano.

VAC's political bent sets them apart from Akihabara-based command N. Established in 1998 and run by artists (including Venice Biennale alumnus Masato Nakamura) and art-affiliated people, command N is not exclusively video-oriented. But their best-known event, Akihabara TV, is a curated show of video art that's screened on televisions and monitors in electronics shops around Akihabara.

Along the same lines, Young Video Artists Initiative was a short-lived video art exhibition sponsored by the Mori Art Museum proto-space Think Zone in Roppongi. The result of an open competition, the event featured the work of 22 different artists and art groups. Other places to look for periodic screenings of video art are Phaidros Art Cafe in Shibuya and the regular group exhibitions of art collective Eyesaw.

Joining the pack

When you've run through every mini-theater and video art installation in town, you still have a wealth of options. Several second-run, discount, or alternative theaters offer last chance, double features, or other film bargains. Ebisu Starlight Cinema offers a rare chance to enjoy free films in the open air of Ebisu Garden Place. Most films are Hollywood blockbusters, but there are often a few unusual titles each season, which generally runs until the beginning of September. Meguro Cinema and Sangenjaya Cinema are both small, old second-run theaters. Sangenjaya is recommended for their double features if you can manage their hard seats. When you eat or drink at Harajuku bar/restaurant Oh God!, the big screen and big movies come free. Even Shibuya's TEPCO Electricity Museum screens Hollywood films on Mondays for just ¥100.

This continuing proliferation of even the smallest and most obscure films—and the places to show them—signals a healthy mix of producers and consumers in Tokyo's independent scene. Tokyo's mini-theaters flout the bigger-is-better trend, espousing variety and quality as an antidote to, or at least a break from, Hollywood. Though there's no guarantee the current mini-theater diversity can last, the final credits on this boom are nowhere in sight.