One weekend in October, a friend and I went to the Tokyo International Film Festival. It is one of the biggest film festivals in the world, where plenty of films are shown from all over. The film festival itself lasted more than a week, with films premiering everyday. Of course, it had to take place the same week as Midterms, so I was only able to go on the last day with my friend.
The movie was I able to see was Up, which was in English and in 3D. I am a sucker for good films, especially Pixar. My friend had not seen Up yet and I insisted that we see it together. I went to the festival by myself on Saturday, to pick tickets up in advance for the showing on Sunday. I arrived to a big complex in Roppangi, one of the more glamor filled districts of Tokyo. The complex itself was huge, stretching up into the sky and deep beneath the surface.
As I explored the area, I found a place that said tickets, so I thought, "This must be right." I was handed a ticket and told to go inside. I was led into a black box, with four other people, and a High Definition Screen about as big as one of the walls. What I had actually found was a live demonstration of HDTV 3D technology and I was allowed to watch some really cool footage. The footage contained scenes from the ocean, off-road action, airplanes taking off, and a trailer for James Cameron's Avatar. It was all pretty cool as there were times in which I could not tell the difference between the screen and real-life. 3D is basically here and an interesting sight.
I found the ticket counter afterwards, but when I arrived, the hostesses told me I had to come back early tomorrow and pick up tickets instead. While it was a interesting day, it annoyed me I had to come back in the early morning and pick up tickets. So I went home, got in bed, fell asleep, woke up at the crack of dawn, and proceeded back to the movie theatre for tickets. It was pretty cold out, as at times it was raining and I had to wait outside. I honestly thought, "What am I doing? Is this really all necessary." Luckily, I got tickets, traveled back home, and picked up my friend. The rest of the day was a lot of fun.
We arrived back at the movie theatre about an hour early, in order to get good seats. We escorted up a long escalator to the top of the movie complex, where we were greeted by men in suits and hostesses. They were all very polite, bowed, and were appreciative that we could have come. I should them the tickets, but they told me we were in the wrong area, and had to go back down. We sat in the theatre and slowly realized that the people upstairs thought we were directors! The directors and producers at the event did not really dress up, were foreigners, and were quite young. I think we could have pulled it off and sat with them for the after-party, but my friend talked me out of it. Rats.
Instead of Up starting, we sat through an hour and a half long live recording of the awards ceremony. The theme of the year was going green and the winners all received trophies. The winner of the festival was a film called Eastern Plays, which I need to see now that I know about it. It was interesting how it all played out, like when a person in English spoke, their voice was downplayed by a Japanese translator so that we could barely hear what they were originally saying! We watched that, had to sit through an hour intermission, and then watched Up in 3D. I've already seen Up before, but never in 3D. It actually added more depth to the experience and I recommend that people give 3D at least a try.
That is my day at the movies. Sorry this entry is so short, but I couldn't take any pictures and there was not much to take honestly. There was a jazz band at the end, but I couldn't get a good view of them, sadly. As of writing this, I finished my samurai workshop last night and today I am heading to Nikko to experience Japanese hot springs and monkeys. I promise to update my blog as soon as possible. Until then, True Believers, here is a taste of what is to come.
"Whoever condemns the theatre is the enemy of his country" - Voltaire
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