"Bagdad Cafe" A story of the "heart" shown by a "coffee machine that needs repair"

The factors that made it a hit as seen by an advertising man

This work is now familiar to many people through TV broadcasts, distribution, DVDs, etc., but those who saw it in theaters when it was first released will remember that its long run at Shibuya's Cinema Rise left an unforgettable impact. I wonder if there isn't.

Therefore, I asked Hisao Endo, who was in charge of distribution and promotion at Kuzui Enterprises, which distributed the film, to look back on what happened at the time.

When I start talking about this movie, a voice filled with emotion comes back to me, saying, ``It's been 30 years since then.'' "It was released in March 1989, and at that time, the song was nominated for an Academy Award, so I remember advertising it in the newspaper. In fact, even before the movie was released, the song was already a hot topic in some quarters. It was often played, especially at fashion shows.I remember being asked several times when this movie would be released.''

"Bagdad Cafe" (C) 1987 / Pelemele Film GmbH - Pro-ject Filmproduktion im Filmverlag der Autoren GmbH & Co. Produktions-Kommanditgesellschaft München - Bayrischer Rundfunk/BR - hr Hessischer Rundfunk.

When asked about the process behind distributing this film, he answered, ``I don't remember the details of why my company bought it, but my boss, Kuzui, and his partner, Fran Kuzui, felt something intuitively. It was a very stylish video, so perhaps that aspect of it suited our company culture."

Kuzui Enterprises was founded in the mid-1980s, and its first production was the Talking Heads live film masterpiece ` `Stop Making Sense' ' (1984, directed by Jonathan Demme). After that, he continued to focus on music films, including the documentary ``Sting's Blue Turtle Dream'' (1985) starring Sting. In that sense, ``Bagdad Cafe,'' which had a powerful theme song, may have certainly suited the company's colors.

By the way, Cinemarise opened in the summer of 1986. ``I think that Rise, which opened three years ago, was trying to find a direction for the theater. ` `Blue Velvet '' (1986), directed by David Lynch, was also a hot topic. There was something new about this theater where they play pieces with a spiky feel.”

"Bagdad Cafe" (C) 1987 / Pelemele Film GmbH - Pro-ject Filmproduktion im Filmverlag der Autoren GmbH & Co. Produktions-Kommanditgesellschaft München - Bayrischer Rundfunk/BR - hr Hessischer Rundfunk.

At that time, the independent company was aiming for a long run in one theater. ``Instead of showing the movie in large theaters for a short period of time, we decided to release it in a single theater for a long time.For example, there were movies that were shown only on Saturdays every week in theaters in New York. I was thinking that I wanted to run the show all the time, even if it was a late show like this.At that time, there were no cinema complexes in Japan.''

At that time, there was no internet like there is now, so advertising was mainly done in major newspapers and English-language newspapers. "Also, the articles in magazines and newspapers were well-received. When we released it, the numbers didn't drop not only on Saturdays and Sundays, but also on weekdays like Mondays and Tuesdays, so I knew intuitively that this would work."

In the end, Rise was the only film that was shown for 17 weeks (about 4 months), and this long-running style was probably possible only in this era.

(Like Rise, it no longer exists) Kuzui Enterprises also seized the Being There to make a big leap forward with the success of this work, and later went on to Wild at Heart (1990, directed by David Lynch) and Barton Fink (1991, directed by Cohen). The Palme d'Or films at the Cannes Film Festival, directed by brothers (directed by the brothers), were included in Toho's expanded chain, creating a new buzz.

The reason why you continue to be loved