Female Creators

I've mentioned a few days ago that the new Japanese film Sakuran (a movie on high-class courtesans during Edo Period based on Anno Moyoco's manga Sakuran) is going to be shown at the opening(?) of Berlin International Film Festival starting this weekend in Berlin, Germany... well... perhaps not. I can't remember. Anyway, I have another related news which is the special holding of Sakuran's director Ninagawa Mika's photo gallery at [ Arndt & Partner Berlin ] during the film festival. Oh, and a fragment of the film where the courtesans parade is said to be re-enacted on the red carpet the first day.

Since the film is going to Berlin and even if it wasn't, it's going to be released in Tokyo&periphery in just a couple of weeks, I have been seeing quite a bit of commercials and ads on TV and in mags this past week. And I tell you - the world created in this film is so dominated by vivid, brilliant and astonishingly beautiful colors and patterns, which look like a mixture of traditional Japanese beauty and modern graphic art. The colors in the world of Sakuran that director Ninagawa Mika creates are truly dazzling. In an interview for the film the actresses and actors said that the colors are so powerful that they have to fight with the colors when acting.
To their cries, Ninagawa answered that for a professional photographer who lives in the world of colors, the use of colors in this film was natural and nothing particularly special that she kept in her mind all the time.

Considering the fact that the film is about the world of women, and not just any women but the high-rank courtesans in the Yoshiwara district of Edo where the clever beautiful and the rich ruled, the use of so many vivid colors may not be that surprising. Yet, I do agree that her sense of colors and beauty is something beyond ordinary, and also think that if this film was directed by a male director - no matter how good a director he is - it could've been so much different with different sorts and combinations of colors being used.

Colors in films also remind me of the costume designer Wada Emi. I've seen several films with costumes designed by her, and I love how she uses the colors. They are simple, but very powerful, and they play significant roles in the story as well as establishing respective characters.

Going back to Sakuran, the music director is also a woman, Shiina Ringo, who is a pretty big and distinct figure in Japanese pop music industry. Her music is strong and powerful... or thick, more like, which can be described to belong to the rather odd type. Haven't seen the film, but I have a feeling that her music matches the Sakuran world.

A TV personality was commenting to this topic of female creators, that women have a special kind of artistic sense that is different from that of men's. His example was film director Sofia Coppola and her latest film released Marie-Antoinette, of how she chose pop/modern music mixing it with classic for an 18th century themed film.

I do agree with the observation that men and women have different artistic senses, and I think that that's what make art fun and inspiring, isn't it? In any case, I am pretty excited to see more of this film Sakuran a lot of it because of the color artistic quality.

Today's update on Japan Mode: webmanga CharmyNurseM chapter 10 preview
I've also got some wallpapers just for fun :-)

Sakuran Official Website: www.sakuran-themovie.com