‘Shoplifters’ director Koreeda finally joins Japan establishment
TOKYO: Once considered as a Japanese industry outsider, Hirokazu Koreeda has thoroughly conquered that insider bastion, the Japan Academy Prizes, scooping eight trophies for his dark family drama Shoplifters at the 42nd annual award ceremony on Mar 1. Among them were best picture and best director honours – with the latter Koreeda’s second in a row.
Administered by the Japan Academy Film Prize Association, the Japan Academy Prizes have been called the equivalent of Japan’s Oscars, but they have struggled to attain a similar clout and prestige. One reason is the perception that they are mostly parcelled out by the local majors for the local majors. Celebrated auteur Takeshi Kitano told an audience at the 2014 Tokyo International Film Festival that “Toho, Toei, Shochiku and sometimes Nikkatsu…pass (the awards) around.”
Shoplifters was released in Japan by Gaga, not considered a major distributor of Japanese films but still a potent industry force with a long list of mainly foreign hits and award winners, including Whiplash, Twelve Years a Slave, The Artist and The King’s Speech.
Since their start in 1978, the Japan Academy prizes have tended to favour commercial winners over critical favourites.
At the awards ceremony, Koreeda said: ”I have been asked to make some tough proposals for the Japan Academy Prizes.”
But when host Toshiyuki Nishida urged him to “state your opinions without reserve,“Koreeda said he had only “one positive proposal”: Create a Japan Academy Prize for costume design. When Nishida responded “There’s no prize for hair and makeup either,” Koreeda concurred: “That’s another category to add.”
The largely industry audience applauded warmly.
Praise in Japan for Shoplifters has hardly been universal. Koreeda was also criticised for not accepting an invite from Japan’s culture minister to celebrate the film’s Cannes win, especially after Koreeda commented that he did not want to be perceived as cooperating with the government.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe retaliated by not publicly congratulating Koreeda for his Palme d’Or.