Far East Film - The Blog

The 10th Far East Film Festival welcomed back the Japanese Director Nakata Hideo with a double bill: the international premiere of L change the WorLd, a sci-fi thriller, and the ghost story Kaidan, the film that opened Horror Day on Wednesday 23rd.
The first film recalls the themes and characters of the preceding Death Note, exploring with greater detail the last twenty days of the detective L. Marking the director’s return in Japan after his Hollywood experience, Kaidan brings to light the epoch of the samurai, a period close to the director’s heart.
During a press meeting it was surprising to discover that the author of the series The Ring doesn’t particularly like the horror genre, but that he was drawn to it by chance or, using his own words, “heavenly destiny”. It was even more interesting to find out that one of the masters of J-Horror prefers to relax with melodramas…
The director also confirmed the importance of cinema as a means of communication, without barriers, providing a cultural bridge between East and West. He instead said that he wasn’t interested in political issues, preferring a cinema that provided the audience with an escape from reality, far from any pretence of social commentary.
Cinema wasn’t the only topic of conversation. The death penalty in Japan is seen as a legal way by which the families affected by a serious crime give the State the authority to carry out their personal vendetta. If it were to be abolished, according to Nakata Hideo, cases of extreme violence in which many young Japanese find themselves involved in would increase.
Of great interest was the internet rumor that Dreamworks wanted the director for a new installment of The Ring, but this was immediately denied by the director.