[Mini Theater Revisited] 28th Shibuya style trend, hot summer of mini theaters... Part 5 Bunkamura movie theater, Le Cinema

Problematic works by European directors

Among them, Producer Nakamura named Poland's Krzysztof Kieślowski and France's Patrice Leconte as particularly unforgettable directors.

Kieslowski's first film, A Short Film about Love (1988, distributed by Kuzui Enterprises), was released in October 1991, followed by Two Veronicas (1991, same publisher) in June 1992, and then the Three Colors Trilogy (same publisher) in July 1994, all of which gained him overwhelming popularity among women.

The title was chosen to represent the three colors of the French flag, and " Three Colors: Blue " (1993) starred Juliette Binoche, " Three Colors: White " (1994) Julie Delpy, and " Three Colors: Red " was particularly successful at the box office, with a 15-week run.

Kieslowski's talent is greatly missed, as he passed away in 1996 at the age of 54, two years after the Japanese release of the "Three Colors" series.

"The director had a chronic heart condition, and it was truly unfortunate that he passed away at a time when he was just starting out. The scripts of his films are certainly wonderful, but above all, I think he was an auteur who told a story through images. He depicted simple stories with great emotion, and when I rewatch his works after several years, I feel something different. When I saw 'The Two of Veronicas' for the first time in a long time, I was moved to tears by its freshness. When the director came to Japan with Juliette Binoche to make 'Blue Eyes,' it was clear to see that Binoche had complete trust in the director."

This trilogy also put a lot of effort into its posters, with Ishioka Eiko responsible for "Blue Love," Naito Tadayuki for "White Love," and Yokoo Tadanori for "Red Love."To coincide with the screenings, an art poster exhibition was held at Spiral Hall in the Spiral Building in Omotesando, which was well received.

Meanwhile, producer Nakamura had this to say about the appeal of Patrice Leconte, who has gained fans in Japan since " The Hairdresser's Husband " (1990):

"I think Japan is probably the country in the world that has been the biggest supporter of his films. Maybe it's the dampness of his work that has been well received. I think he has a Japanese sexiness to him, which is rare for a European director. So maybe the slightly retro, Japanese-sounding title like ' The Hairdresser's Husband' suited him."

The Hairdresser's Husband, which was released in December 1991, grossed 100 million yen in 19 weeks of screening, ranking 10th in the box office of all time. The tagline for the film at the time was "Scented Sensuality." The film depicts the love story between a hairdresser with mature sensuality, played by Anna Galiena, and her middle-aged husband, played by Jean Rochefort, but an unexpected conclusion occurs 10 years after their marriage, making us think about the mysteriousness of love between men and women. Galiena has visited Japan several times, exuding her charm as a "beautiful mature woman."

Eight of Leconte's films have been screened at Le Cinema to date, and many of them have performed well, with "Tango," released in 1993 (1992, 19 weeks in screening), ranking 9th in the all-time box office rankings, " The Girl on the Bridge ," released in 1999 and starring Vanessa Paradis (1999, 17 weeks in screening), ranking 20th, and " The Applause of Patrice Leconte ," released in 1996 (1996, 7 weeks in screening, 14 weeks in total), ranking 23rd.

◉ The Hairdresser's Husband(1990) directed by Patrice Leconte and starring Anna Galiena, and the late director Krzysztof Kieslowski's Three Colors trilogy (1993-1994). These films feature three actresses as the protagonists: Juliette Binoche, Julie Delpy, and Irène Jacob. Leconte and Kieslowski became popular directors representing Le Cinema and even visited Japan.

Another unforgettable French film from Le Cinema is Le Belle le quarrel (1991, Comstock), directed by Jacques Rivette in 1992. It is a drama based on an original story by Honoré de Balzac, depicting the conflicts over love and art between a reclusive painter (Michel Piccoli), his former model wife (Jane Birkin), and a young woman (Emmanuelle Béart) who becomes the painter's new model.

Rivette had received high praise in his home country, and with this film he finally received full recognition in Japan, but the work also attracted attention in the media for raising concerns about the censorship of female nudity.

"Since the film was going to be submitted to the Tokyo International Film Festival, the distributor worked really hard on the revisions. We were probably lucky that it wasn't shown in a large theater, but in a small arthouse theater."

At the time, Comstock's publicity department went to the Eirin Film Institute to fight against the revisions. The film itself was chosen as the top foreign film of the year's Kinema Junpo Best Ten, and it also performed well at the box office.

"It was a long film and could only be screened three times a day, but it was a big hit at the time and ran for more than 10 weeks. It was a time when the cinemas were full every day and that was the norm."

Le Cinema was in high spirits in the 1990s, and the highest-grossing film of all time was produced during this period: the French film " Ponette " (1996, Ace Pictures), directed by Jacques Doillon and released in November 1997.

The film tells the story of a young girl named Ponette who is unable to come to terms with the sudden death of her mother, and it also attracted attention when Victor Thivisol, who was only four years old at the time, won the Best Actress award at the Venice Film Festival, making her the youngest actress to do so.

"That film's success was due to the 'power of children'. Doillon was a director favoured by cineastes at the time, but he didn't put his name forward and stopped selling it as art. Instead, he emphasized the earnestness of the heroine. I made a poster with a close-up of the girl's face, preserving the innocent expression on her face as she wonders how she can meet her dead mother, and I think that had the power to make you feel the story. I was amazed at how amazing the children who appear in the film were - you couldn't tell if they were real or acting."

It has long been said in the film industry that "movies about animals and children are big hits," but there aren't many independent theater productions that target children. For that reason, it may have seemed fresh to the audiences at the time (other independent theater smash hits with particularly impressive child actors include " The Bee Whisperer " (1973) and " Cinema Paradiso " (1989).

"Ponette" ran for 33 weeks, grossed over 200 million yen, and attracted an audience of 128,000.

Producer Nakamura describes this as "the work that had the widest range of audience."

"The audience was of all ages and genders, from junior high school students to the elderly. A truly diverse audience came. I think the wide range of audience members contributed to the film's best-ever box office results."

"Ponette" is not just a work that sells the cuteness of a young girl, but is also a story of a mother and daughter, and contains the French philosophical view of life and death. Its depth must have been what made it so well-received by discerning audiences.

Le Cinema has not only screened French films, but also British masterpieces. The British literary film " The Wings of the Dove " (1997, 20 weeks of screening, distributed by Ace Pictures) is currently in 12th place in the list of best-selling films. This costume drama saw popular actress Helena Bonham Carter, who is now active in Hollywood films, take on a villainous character, showing off some bold nudity, and was nominated for her first Academy Award. The elegance of the costumes designed by Sandy Powell is also eye-catching.

Based on an original novel by the great author Henry James and set in Venice, this is a beautifully rendered story of the twisted love between two women and one man, with a bittersweet ending.

"There was certainly a time when literary films were strong. There are novels that are considered masterpieces, but surprisingly not many people have read them, and 'The Wings of the Dove' may have been one of those works. So people probably came to the theater hoping to at least see the film version. Many British actors come from a stage background, so they have a somewhat noble image and a sense of trust, and I feel that they have enjoyed stable popularity throughout the ages."

British films also performed well, including "Carrington" (1995), which follows the unusual love and life of gay writer Lytton Strachey and female painter Dora Carrington, and " Never Let Me Go " (2010, Sony Pictures), a sad love drama based on a novel by Kazuo Ishiguro. The latter also received positive reviews after a special program on Kazuo Ishiguro aired on NHK at the time of its release.

"It seems that many people had already read the original novel, so ' Never Let Me Go' was shown for seven weeks after its release with Chanterelle. I think audiences are looking for intelligence and elegance in British films. In the UK, things like gardening and tea drinking are also popular, so there is an audience that seeks out that kind of culture and etiquette, and from a theatre perspective, the numbers are easy to read."

Asian movies are also big hits.