Global America?American-Japanese Film Co-Productions from Shogun (1980) to The Grudge 2 (2006) via Lost in Translation (2003)

Abstract

This chapter examines how globalization changed filmmakers' attitudes toward cultural otherness through a comparative study of two well-known American-Japanese co-productions, Shogun (1980) and Lost in Translation (2003). International co-production in Japan is notoriously difficult to manage amid clashes of artistic and business cultures. James Clavell, the author of the novel Shogun, executive producer of the film of the same name, and a survivor of a harsh Japanese prison camp in WWII, is contrasted with Sophia Coppola, who based Lost in Translation on formative years spent in Japan after her acting career stumbled following The Godfather III. Interviews with line producers of both films highlight a radical transition in the discursive regime as Japanese filmmakers became transnational. Also discussed here is a new bio-political technology of self-discipline evidenced in the remake of The Grudge, separating “globalized” transnational filmmakers from national/local workers.