Sunday, October 7, 2007 9:02 am | 
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To the left, the original poster with the man hanging from the torii visible in the background. To the right, the remade poster. |
‘Sukiyaki Western: Django’ trailer, poster altered after Shinto shrine protests
Promotional trailers, posters and leaflets for the Japanese movie “Sukiyaki Western: Django” were altered after Shinto shrine keepers protested against a scene in the movie where a man is hanged from a “torii,” a gate that marks the entrance to a Shinto shrine and a traditional religious symbol, the Asahi Shimbun revealed on Saturday.
The movie’s production company first received four e-mails of complaint, sent independently by Shinto shrines protesting the imagery, saying it was an “unsuitable presentation” and “blasphemous towards the sacred torii,” after which the Shinto Shrine Association, a group that represents some 80,000 shrines throughout the nation, stepped in and asked Sony Picture Entertainment, the distributor of the movie, if it would not be better if they made a “movie which anybody can watch with a peace of mind.“
Sony apologized “for having caused discomfort” and complied with the complaints, resulting in an altered trailer and a different motive for promotional posters and leaflets, where the torii, and the man hanging from it, was no longer visible.
When confronted with this information by the Asahi Shimbun, the association commented that “the freedom of expression is important, but we think (the movie-makers) need to think about how people concerned (with Shinto shrines) will react too.“
The movie in itself was not altered because of the complaints, according to a Sony spokesman. “Unlike the promotional material, the movie will be seen by people who chose to see it. We also think that it becomes clear that the movie is not blasphemous towards Shinto shrines if you watch it in its entirety.“
“Sukiyaki Western: Django”, directed by Japanese film legend Takashi Miike, was presented in the 64th Venice International Film Festival in August and opened in Japan on Sept. 15. The movie has been noted internationally for including cameo by fellow director and Miike-fan Quentin Tarantino. Although shot in Japan with almost exclusively Japanese actors, the dialogue is entirely in English.
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While low-cost carriers have since long been successfully operating throughout the U.S., Europe, and southern Asia, Japan has seen very little of the low-price action.
shouldn’t the pictures be the other way around.
now the subtitle is wrong.
Well, someone fixed already!