It is currently 12:03 AM, EST, on September 11th, 2010. Assuming the TIFF folks are as punctual as the Japanese, which they likely aren’t, 12:00 saw the onset of the screening of the official premier of the long-hungered-for film that has been hinted at hither and thither, along with horrible teases such as “2011” and “pushed back”.
That’s right, yo. 10 minutes ago (as I am writing this) at the Toronto International Film Festival, they began screening BUNRAKU.
I’m not sure what it is. But I feel somehow uncomfortable knowing GACKT is on the same continent. We haven’t quite reached that point of same country or same city or, ideally, same building, but I figure same continent is progress. Still not sure why I feel like I’m being watched, though. I guess it’s ‘his’ overwhelming aura stretching itself across the Canadian border. Well, that’s more or less how I articulate “I wish I was there”.
I still haven’t figured out yet whether it’s going to get rough around here when YOSHIKI realizes the American continent isn’t this trembling, vulnerable, innocent creature waiting to be violated by (1980’s) Jrock. There is already a “One” that we have been waiting for, a “One” that will mobilize fans across nations. A “One” that set out to conquer Asia, and having done that, is making his way steadily West.
Sorry to interrupt the mood, but, is it just me or does that sword look *very* long?
This summer, GACKT left Asia to hit up Europe with a limited international debut tour. And now he is encroaching on the Americas with a (rather brilliant) new step into internationalization. Premiering as I type, before a sold-out audience in Toronto consisting of at least a few Canadian and devoted Various Other GACKT fans, TIFF’s Midnight Madness likely has no idea what it is unleashing on the West. And no, I do not mean Josh Hartnett with his banker’s ‘stache.
Hartnett is standing on a (thick) phonebook for the photo
Films, particularly should they be really excellent ones are a superior form of forcing people to expand their horizons. Unlike music, which, even if you can handcuff someone to a post, stick headphones on them, crank it and hit play, often will go in one ear and out the other, especially if it’s in Japanese (a “foreign language”, god forbid). However, many more people are likely to see a film, especially if it gets decent hype, and awareness of certain persons in the film is much more likely to spread than if we attempted to hijack a shopping center’s sound-system and jack our iPods through it (not that I’m discouraging any attempts).
So the question I think we’re all wanting answered is, is his appearance in BUNRAKU, an American film starring big-name American actors, presumably primarily without subtitles for the benefit of our extremely cultured populace, a bold step toward the globalization and mobilizing of the GACKT fandom? As far as GACKT’s interview with “Darryl” of TIFF is concerned, the answer is yes.
Did I just read the words “US, South America, Canada” and “next year” used in the same sentence by GACKT?
The answer is yes.
secret garden 