Can art ever be appreciated out of context? That's a question the lead character grapples with in Taiwanese film "The Painting of Evil," director Chen Yung-chi's entry in this year's Tokyo International Film Festival. Attacked by grieving families when he decides to exhibit paintings by a prisoner on death row, he cries "art for art's sake!"
Impossible to ignore that the 33rd Tokyo International Film Festival was being held in the middle of a pandemic that has shuttered cinemas worldwide, all in all the festival screened 138 films with over 40,500 moviegoers attending, a 37% decrease from last year. Movie theaters in Japan, where universal mask-wearing may have helped prevent a public health crisis, have been operating at full capacity since September after the government relaxed a 50% cap on occupancy.
Major sponsor Toho Cinemas was riding high even before the festival opened on October 31 after a film based on the manga "Kimetsu no Yaiba" broke Japan's opening weekend domestic box office record, previously held by Disney's "Frozen 2."
Kimetsu's success followed that of two other Japanese animated films this year: "Kyo Kara Ore Wa," which grossed over $50 million in July despite halved theater occupancy, and a new "Doraemon" film in August that brought in more than $30 million in domestic ticket sales.
That success gave Toho hope that Hollywood would release upcoming titles in Asia earlier than in the U.S. market. But one by one, major studios delayed blockbuster releases such as "No Time To Die," the latest James Bond installment, and Marvel's "Black Widow."
Given the 54-46 ratio of domestic and international film revenue for Toho over the past three years, Matsuoka told Nikkei Asia that COVID-19 "is really hurting us, but it isn't killing us." —Nikkei Asia
