Higher budgets in the Japanese film industry?

[Roy42]

The Japanese film industry has always been lightyears behind Hollywood in terms of budgets, however, that seems to be changing. Thanks to movies like Kill Bill, there is a growing interest in Japanese cinema and anime, and I predict that it will only attract more and more interest as time goes on. Naturally, more and more money has been finding its way into Japanese productions, because of the increasing possibility of releases outside Japan.

Take a look at this preview for an upcoming sci-fi movie called Casshern:

http://www.apple.co.jp/quicktime/trailers/casshern_large.html

Yes, I know, it's in Japanese, but just look at the visuals. With relatively higher budgets, Matrix-style special effects are no longer Hollywood-exclusive. Productions in Japan that were once thought of as capable only in anime form are now getting live-action incarnations.

Personally, I've always been a big fan of Japanese anime and cinema because of the "epic" storytelling qualities and unique styles that just don't appear as often in the U.S. My question is, do you think that these kinds of storylines will survive Hollywood budgets? Were consistently low budgets partly responsible for the focus on the styles and stories? I don't think so, but then again, it certainly is a possibility.

What do you guys think?

[David Jimerson]

I guess we wait and see. I think huge budgets negatively impact creativity in many respects. Witness the Decline and Fall of the Star Wars Franchise.

[J.R. Hudson]

I have never been a big fan of Anime myself nor the kung fu films but have noticed over the last few years a nice trend. Whether it be Jackie Chan, Chow Yun Fat or Jet LI invading the West or the 'anime' style of Hollywood action films, I welcome it. I find the culture and history of Japan to be fascinating.

This trailer looks crazy insane. I also checked out some other films on the Japan QT site and was very impressed.

[Barry_Green]

*I think huge budgets negatively impact creativity in many respects. *

Absolutely they do. Creativity springs from our limitations, not from our freedoms. It is when you are limited that your situation demands creativity to overcome it.

[J.R. Hudson]

I completely agree Barry. Look at music, art, film...

Perfect examples of this.

Can we think of any anomoly's? Films that were given massive budgets that just blew us away?

[Roy42]

Can we think of any anomoly's? *Films that were given massive budgets that just blew us away?

I think James Cameron has always been pretty good at working with large budgets. Terminator 2, Aliens, The Abyss..... All of those were visually impressive because of the SFX budgets and yet they also had solid and intriguing storylines.

.... Then again... James Cameron directed Titanic, too..... And while that wasn't really a bad movie, I think it relied on its budget way too much to impress people.

[Jive]

I have never been a big fan of Anime myself nor the kung fu films but have noticed over the last few years a nice trend. *Whether it be Jackie Chan, Chow Yun Fat or Jet LI invading the West or the 'anime' style of Hollywood action films, I welcome it. *I find the culture and history of Japan to be fascinating.

Hehe, John, not to be nitpicky or anything, but all the actors you mentioned are Chinese. :)

I definitely agree about negative effect of big budgets tho. *One of the main reasons I enjoy Japanese cinema is that they have what many american movies lack-- a story. *Many of my favorite Japanese films tend to be very thoughtful and well-paced in the telling of the story-- not so preoccupied finding the most elaborate way to spend the budget.

On the flipside, the Chinese movie industry is well known to provide incredibly small budgets for their films. *However, the vast majority of movies made in China are superficial action movies (how redundant is that?:)). *They have no story, just crazy action (but as a result they have mastered all aspects of action movies).

However, budget is not the only determinant as to the type of movie made. *Many Chinese directors/producers say that it would be a waste of money to do a comedy or romance flick because no one would see it as the Chinese audience is by and large only interested in action movies. *That is what their movie industry is built upon.

I would posit that the same reasoning holds true in any country. *Decisions to make certain movies are often made based on whether it is believed that the movie-going public will pay to see it. *Perhaps films with deep stories are not made in america because the audiences have spoken, they don't want to think when they go to a movie. *Sure every so often, a movie does come along that does contain a great story, awsome cinematography, and the like; but that's simply "every so often". *It's not the norm, regardless of budget.