movie talk
Published 11:45 am Thursday, July 17, 2008
Movie talk
Japanese action films
Northwest Film Forum presents “No Borders, No Limits,” a four-film series from Japan’s Nikkatsu studio from the late 1950s and early 1960s. Although these films remain unavailable with English subtitles on film and video, Northwest Film Forum is bringing tour organizer Marc Walkow to project soft titles, or digital subtitles, and provide historical context in all screenings of the Nikkatsu Action Cinema series.
Presented for the first time in the United States, the series of superstylized action films celebrates the golden age of Japan’s oldest and boldest film studio, Nikkatsu. Influenced by Hollywood and the French New Wave, these films reflect the Westernization that swept away old values, while teaching an entire generation a new Japanese meaning of “cool.”
The films are “The Warped Ones,” “Glass Johnny,” “Velvet Hustler” and “A Colt Is My Passport.”
During their peak, from the late 1950s to the early 1960s, Nikkatsu films evoked a cinematic world neither foreign nor Japanese. It was a mix of the two, where Japanese tough guys had the swagger, moves and even the long legs of Hollywood movie heroes. It was a place where the Tokyo streets, Yokohama docks and Hokkaido hills took on an exciting, exotic aura, as though they were stand-ins for Manhattan, Marseilles or the American West. To audiences reaching adulthood in postwar Japan, that mix was not just fantasy. It reflected the Western influences that were already all around them.
Passes for the series are $15 for Northwest Film Forum members and $20 for general audiences. Individual films range from $5 for NWFF members to $8.50 general. Advance passes and tickets are available at www.nwfilmforum.org.
“The Warped Ones” and “Glass Johnny,” screen July 25 and 26; “Velvet Hustler” and “A Colt Is My Passport” screen July 27 and 28. Northwest Film Forum is at 1515 12th Ave., Seattle.
