Zeze Takahisa's 'Sukiyaki' opens the 39th Tokyo International Film Festival, telling the story of the 1963 hit and the three men behind it, while the festival's director sets out ambitions for its 40th edition.
The 39th Tokyo International Film Festival is opening with Zeze Takahisa's "Sukiyaki", a drama about how the 1963 song of the same name became a worldwide hit and later a standard recorded in foreign-language versions, some of which also topped charts. Variety reports that the film follows lyricist Ei Rokusuke, composer Nakamura Hachidai and singer Sakamoto Kyu, known in Japan as the "689 trio" because of the number characters in their names. Rather than a simple success story, the film dwells on their strained professional and personal relationships, including Nakamura's struggle with alcoholism after the hit, because, as Zeze told Variety, a film with only ups would not be interesting.
Zeze said the song, known in Japan as "Ue o Muite Aruko" ("I'll Walk with My Head Up"), carries more depth than its cheerful sound suggests. According to the director, Ei wrote the lyrics with the 1960 demonstrations against the Japan-US Security Treaty in mind, urging protesters to keep their heads up despite failing to stop its ratification. Foreign listeners could not understand the words, Zeze noted, but the song's energy still reached them. He also linked the film to what he called a Showa boom, a renewed interest, among younger viewers and nostalgic older ones, in the pop culture of the Showa Era (1926-1989); he pointed to the audience for 'Godzilla Minus One' and said the follow-up, 'Godzilla Minus Zero', is also screening at the festival as its Centerpiece.
The opening comes as the festival's returning director, Takeo Hisamatsu, tells The Hollywood Reporter that he sees strong momentum behind Japanese cinema and wants Tokyo to be a stronger launchpad for domestic filmmakers. He said this year's edition introduced competitive prizes for its Nippon Cinema Now showcase and a new Work-in-Progress initiative, while arguing that the event needs more funding, sponsors and industry parties as it heads toward its 40th anniversary next year. Both accounts come from interviews with the people involved, and the festival's ambitions and Zeze's reading of the song's origins remain their own characterisations rather than independently established facts.
