#MeToo Shakes JP Film Industry: Sion Sono, Tak Sakaguchi and others accused

China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Thailand, etc
Post Reply
User avatar
HungFist
Bruce Lee's Fist
Posts: 11704
Joined: 14 Dec 2005, 15:50
Location: Japan
Contact:

#MeToo Shakes JP Film Industry: Sion Sono, Tak Sakaguchi and others accused

Post by HungFist »

Cult Japanese filmmaker Sion Sono accused of sexual misconduct by multiple women

"A report in Japan’s Shukan Josei magazine features accounts from multiple female actors, who allege that the director offered them film roles in exchange for sex."

https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-ente ... 51008.html


Let's hope this doesn't get the upcoming Suicide Club BD releases cancelled.
User avatar
HungFist
Bruce Lee's Fist
Posts: 11704
Joined: 14 Dec 2005, 15:50
Location: Japan
Contact:

#MeToo Shakes JP Film Industry: Sion Sono, Tak Sakaguchi and others accused

Post by HungFist »

I was not aware of this news from 1 month ago

"Japan release of ‘Confession’ pulled after director Hideo Sakaki accused of sexual abuse"

https://www.screendaily.com/news/japan- ... 31.article

Most people here probably know Sakaki as the main villain in Versus. He also directs movies (I quite liked the neo-noir Alleycat he made a few years ago).
User avatar
HungFist
Bruce Lee's Fist
Posts: 11704
Joined: 14 Dec 2005, 15:50
Location: Japan
Contact:

#MeToo Shakes JP Film Industry: Sion Sono, Tak Sakaguchi and others accused

Post by HungFist »

Pretty heavy stuff from Adam Torel (owner of Third Window Films and producer of Tezuka's Barbara, Land of Hope etc.):
The Japanese film industry and especially the majority of people connected to Sion Sono and Sushi Typhoon are pretty bad. All are 100x worse than Sion Sono himself, but Sono is a part of a group of very bad people in a very toxic environment in a country which is very very behind the times in regards to gender equality and sexual harassment in the workplace is still pretty rife especially in regards to people who are from a certain generation (i.e. Sono's generation).

When we made LOWLIFE LOVE, it was a very black comedy but sort of a documentary about the Japanese independent film scene (ironically the film starred Kinoshita Houka who I didn't know was like that), but actually many parts of the Japanese independent scene are much worse than Lowlife Love. People like Tak Sakaguchi and Hideo Sakaki have been known for years as sexual predators and the only thing that surprised me is how few people stepped up to accuse them.

In Sono's case, while I personally don't at all think that he's anywhere near the levels of Tak, Hideo Sakaki and especially people around him like Haruo Umekawa (he's the real Weinstein of this situation) for sure there has been sexual impropriety in the fact that he has slept with many of the actresses he's worked with (which is a fact considering he ended up marrying one and was dating Hikari Mitsushima too) and he's from a generation and country where sexual advances to women in working situations was not seen as bad as it is today. Though there's no way you could say he hasn't, in all his career, done things wrong looking at them from the eyes of a Western and younger generation, but at the same time (while not excusing his actions) I don't believe he's nearly as bad as what he's being talked about now. I also think that many of the things that he's being accused of also came from his past and in a even more different time and an even more twisted setup within the film industry. I do believe though that the others accused are for sure bad and worse than the news is being written about, but Sono is a bit more complicated I believe.

Not excusing it at all, but it's all very complicated when trying to compare to the West, and if Sono did things wrong then that's on him and while Japan was never like the West, it needs to modernize and if this helps it then that's a good thing. Ironically, this whole things came up because an American/Japanese actor came to Japan to take part in Sono's workshop and was so surprised by the culture shock that he made all the accusations which led to the MeToo movement now. If this American had not done it then nothing would have changed, so good on him for bringing this old country to light.

And while not defending him at all, I do personally believe he's getting attacked more than many others because he's the biggest name out there.
Knowing the Japanese indie film world and Japan as a culture, if this is happening to Sono, then a MASSIVE amount of filmmakers should be 'canceled' as well.
https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php? ... count=4144
User avatar
HungFist
Bruce Lee's Fist
Posts: 11704
Joined: 14 Dec 2005, 15:50
Location: Japan
Contact:

Re: #MeToo Shakes JP Film Industry: Sion Sono, Tak Sakaguchi and others accused

Post by HungFist »

Umekawa Haruo, Japanese Film Producer, Accused of Sexual Harassment as Country’s #MeToo Allegations Grow

https://variety.com/2022/film/news/umek ... 235226288/
Post Reply