Autumn (Tokyo Studio)

Since we have been in Tokyo, we have been watching foreign language films (non-English/ non-Cantonese) without subtitles. This is not entirely by choice since Japanese films naturally don’t have English subtitles and non-Japanese speaking films released here will only have Japanese subtitles.

After enjoying two Japanese films in this fashion, a mini Wim Wender film festival down at our local Waseda Shochiku (art cinema) caught our eye. The cinema has double-bills for 1800 yen (which is very cheap – this amount will ususally get you in the cinema for only one new release). This week Der Amerikanische Freund (1977) was on offer, so off we went. The cinema is small but very modern and well equipped – it reminded me of the Lumiere cinemas we used to have in Perth. Wim Wender has drawn a crowd in Baba. After a 2 hour neo noir existential murder thriller, some more avid viewers gathered in front of the posters and write-ups and lit up their cigarettes.