The Bird People in China

Infobox Film
name = The Bird People in China


caption = "The Bird People in China" DVD cover
director = Takashi Miike
producer = Yasuhiko Furusato
Toshiaki Nakazawa
writer = Novel:
Makoto Shiina
Screenplay:
Masa Nakamura
starring = Masahiro Motoki
Renji Ishibashi
Mako
music = Kôji Endô
cinematography = Hideo Yamamoto
editing = Yasushi Shimamura
released = flagicon|JPN June 10, 1998
runtime = 118 min.
language = Japanese
imdb_id = 0142181

"The Bird People in China" (中国の鳥人 "Chûgoku no chôjin") is a 1998 Japanese movie directed by Takashi Miike. The film is considerably more mellow in tone than some of the director's more famous works, but is not the only such film.

Overview

The story tells of a Japanese businessman who is sent to assess some gems in a remote Chinese village and a yakuza, who is accompanying him to make sure his organization gets its proper share. The scenery of China is something not usually explored in Japanese Film and this was a massive change of pace for Miike, and a far cry from his oft-called upon violence and sexuality.

Cast

Themes

The film explores themes of Ecology and Third world vs. First world, it depicts the 'East' as a legendary place having a kind of mystical knowledge not shared by the West (including Japan), but twists its message by inserting the figure of the Grandfather who is a former British pilot. Near the end, the Yakuza soldier decides to kill all foreigners in order to keep the village away from civilisation, but is reminded that in order to get to the village he had to use trains and airplanes. All in all the movie's message is a mixed one, technology is a good thing and a bad thing, tradition is a good thing and a bad thing. Human suffering exists in both, but also human happiness. The film shares the same humanistic message and feel which can be found in most of his output.

Awards

The film was screened at a number of festivals before being released in theatrical distribution, and it won the Audience Award at the 1998 Hawaii International Film Festival.