As Tsuguhiko Kodakawa, the festival's head, was formally declaring the festival open, the earth beneath the Hyatt Tokyo quaked, and the nervous Southeast Asian delegation of film critics, scholars and artists started to nervously look around for a quick dash out. But the Japanese looked quite calm and composed-or were they trying to show a brave front, since it was their festival after all, and they didn't want something as trivial as a quake registering 6.8 on the Richter scale ruining their parade?...[I]t was really frightening. I counted four aftershocks, including one as Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi was delivering his speech. Koizumi also ignored the earthquake; it was again time to put on the Oriental mask.
...And as the festival drew to a close...the newest Godzilla movie, "Godzilla: Final Wars" was shown. The screening was a hit, packed by a mostly Caucasian audience.
...The Japanese film industry feels on a roll these days...Even the late Akira Kurosawa's humanist drama, "Ikiru," a depressing film about a man trying to make a difference before death comes knocking for him, will be remade by Hollywood.
This "Ikiru" remake has been mooted since Dreamworks first spoke about it two years ago but it seems the project has legs again: Killermovies.com:
Director Jim Sheridan ("In America") has signed on to direct DreamWorks remake of the 1952 Akira Kurosawa film, Ikiru, says Variety. Tom Hanks is expected to take the lead role as his next project.
