TheAuteurs has a nice post talking about some films that changed films in Japan in some way or the other…

Two major consequences of this have been: the diminishing status of the director in the creative process, who comes in as a hired gun, and: the banality and triteness of encountering performers on a daily basis, from movie to TV drama to variety show to advertising. The last decade launched the careers of countless “talentos”, young and cute boy-girl products, yet revealed but a handful of actors & actresses one might be eager to follow over the next ten years.

Wow, that statement sounds pretty negative xD almost making “auteur” films non-existent in Japan, and focusing on idol-pushing films that are more commercial than anything.

Like Acerk pointed out, a shout out to Shunji Iwai’s Lily Chou Chou film;

The film featured two outstanding young actresses, Ayumi Ito, discovered by Iwai for his 1996 Swallowtail Butterfly, and another Iwai revelation, Yu Aoi, who has since become one of Japan’s more original and refreshing performers. It should be noted that Iwai was among the first directors to hire TV drama stars as main actors in his films, to secure additional financing; he proved that when a director worked hard enough, he could get inspired work from talentos. This method has since been used by virtually every auteur in Japan.

Hello, and thank-you.

And more shout outs to Memories of Matsuko, and Tekkonkinkreet.