[Mini Theater Revisited] Part 8: The beginning of the “Shibuya Theater”, the blooming of the mini theater…Part 3: The music movie that changed the night in Shibuya, Part 2

Although it started as a small movie company in Shibuya in the 1980s, it was not immediately possible to find a theater to play the imported films. A story surrounding the challenges of KUZUI Enterprises.

The Talking Heads musical film " Stop Making Sense " (1984, directed by Jonathan Demme, director of "The The Silence of the Lambs "), whose release was at risk, was a success and changed the night life of Shibuya. Is it?

We would like to present the second part of the story of the company's continued growth, which later became a hit with `` Bagdad Cafe '' (1987) and films directed by David Lynch.

*The following articles were serialized on the website operated by Geijutsu Shimbun between 2013 and 2014. This time, we have received permission from Sawako Omori and Geijutsu Shinbunsha Co., Ltd. to reprint this work.

Index

• Take advantage of late shows
• Long line on Koen-dori, Shibuya
• Keith Haring creates the logo
• ``Bagdad Cafe'' and Lynch's works were also big hits.

Take advantage of late shows

``Stop Making Sense'' (1984) was released in Japan one year after its release in the United States, but the distribution by Kuzui Enterprises was also possible due to the company president Katsuke Kazui's previous New York release. It was only possible because of my connections. Hisao Endo, who was in charge of advertising, looks back.

``President Kazui at the time had become a trusted figure among the film industry in New York, so we were able to distribute the film under conditions that were unimaginable.It was a contract with little risk on the Japanese side. It was a condition that could be called special treatment.”

However, although distribution rights were obtained, it was not immediately possible to find a theater to play the film.

``Since it was a new company, no one paid attention to us at the time.It was difficult to find a theater to show not only this film, but a film with Kuzui's musical sensibilities.''

After patiently persuading theaters, Shibuya Joy Cinema, Shinjuku's Kabukicho Cinema 2, and Kichijoji's Baus Theater all agreed to release the film, and the film was shown as a late show. Joy Cinema and Kabukicho Cinema 2 are not so-called mini-theatres, and usually play extended entertainment films, but these theaters took on the challenge of screening independent films.

To quote the text that the president posted on the back of the ``Stop Making Sense'' poster...

``As the title suggests, ``Stop Making Sense,'' the film has a style that is a perfect fusion of the musical, theatrical, and cinematic worlds.''

“The advertising [in the United States] is not mass advertising, but the greatness of this film is conveyed from mouth to mouth to the people who have seen it.When people travel to Los Angeles or New York, their purpose is to see this film. It becomes one of the

“Even in Japan, young people are now beginning to awaken to individualism and are beginning to reject the propaganda given to them by the mass media.They are finding good works that only those in the know know about and passing them on from mouth to mouth. It seems that sense is becoming the trend of the times.Japanese young people's sense is also "Stop Making Sense!"

``We requested distribution from various movie companies, but it was not decided to release the movie because they did not have a Stop Making Sense system for accepting it, but the people [at the three theaters] The film's producer agreed, and we decided to distribute it ourselves based on the Stop Making Sense Stop Making Sense .''

"It will take some time, but I hope that people will spread the word and understand why we are living in an era of Stop Making Sense."

Late show releases are said to be less risky than daytime shows, which require deposits to be paid at movie theaters. ``I think it was a good thing that the show was only held once a day,'' Endo said. This is because there is less financial burden on the party making the call, and the theater can take advantage of the free time after the road show ends at 7 p.m.



◉Back and front of the Japanese version poster of "Stop Making Sense". Unified with a monochrome design.

Long line on Koen-dori, Shibuya