User:Morgan695/sandbox7: Difference between revisions

{{Infobox film

| name = Beijing Watermelon

| image = File:test.png

| alt =

| caption =

| director = [[Nobuhiko Obayashi]]

| producer =

| screenplay = {{ill|Yoshihiro Ishimatsu|ja|石松愛弘}}

| based_on =

| starring =

| cinematography =

| music =

| editing =

| studio =

| distributor =

| released = {{Film date|1989|11|18}}

| runtime = 135 minutes

| country = Japan

| language = Japanese, Chinese

| budget =

| gross =

}}

{{nihongo|'''''Beijing Watermelon'''''|北京的西瓜|Pekin no Suica|lead=yes}} is a 1989 Japanese film directed by [[Nobuhiko Obayashi]].

==Synopsis==

In [[Funabashi]], [[greengrocer]] Shunzo offers a discount on produce to a Chinese [[Student exchange program|exchange student]] who cannot afford to purchase vegetables. The act begins a long relationship between Shunzo and a rotating group of Chinese exchange students living in the city.

==Cast==

* {{ill|Bengal (actor){{!}}Bengal|ja|ベンガル (俳優)}} as Shunzo Horikoshi

* {{ill|Masako Motai|ja|もたいまさこ}} as Michi Horikoshi

==Production and release==

The plot is a partly based on true events, and was produced after Obayashi and his crew met the real-life grocer and students that the film is based on while shooting another film.<ref name="Metrograph"/>

''Beijing Watermelon'' was filmed from May to June 1989. The [[1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre|Tiananmen Square protests and massacre]] occurred mid-production, forcing the cancellation of plans to shoot the Beijing-set portions of the film on-location.

In 2021, a [[Film preservation|restoration]] of the film was undertaken by [[Shochiku]].<ref name="Siskel"/>

==Reception==

Upon its original release, [[Kevin Thomas (film critic)|Kevin Thomas]] of ''[[The Los Angeles Times]]'' praised ''Beijing Watermelon'' as "an eloquent commentary on the magic of the cinema itself" that "bring[s] to mind the films of [[Frank Capra]]."<ref name="LAT"/> In an essay about the restoration of the film for [[Metrograph]], Matt Turner describes ''Beijing Watermelon'' as a film "about finding connections and commonalities despite differences of nationality, culture, and class" but where the "imaginative side of Obayashi is still much on display", comparing it to the works of [[Yasujirō Ozu]] and [[Robert Altman]].<ref name="Metrograph"/> The [[Gene Siskel Film Center]] similarly described the film as "Ôbayashi at his most modern, while his experimental flourishes invite viewers to fill in the blanks of history".<ref name="Siskel"/>

==References==

{{reflist|refs=

<ref name="Metrograph">{{cite web |last1=Turner |first1=Matt |title=Beijing Watermelon |url=https://metrograph.com/beijingwatermelon/ |website=[[Metrograph]] |access-date=June 13, 2024}}</ref>

<ref name="Siskel">{{cite web |title=Beijing Watermelon (Pekin no Suika) |url=https://www.siskelfilmcenter.org/beijing-watermelon |website=[[Gene Siskel Film Center]] |access-date=June 13, 2024}}</ref>

}}

==External links==

*{{IMDb title|tt0099116}}

*''[https://archive.org/details/beijing.-watermelon.-1989.x-264 Beijing Watermelon]'' at the [[Internet Archive]]

==RESOURCES==

* https://crookedmarquee.com/beijing-watermelon-the-return-of-a-drama-caught-between-china-and-japan-reality-and-fiction/

* https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-10-05-ca-1530-story.html

* https://www.screenslate.com/articles/beijing-watermelon