British director Danny Boyle, left, and TV personality Mino Monta eat a piece of pork cutlet at a press conference for "Slumdog Millionaire" at Tokyo Midtown in Tokyo on Wednesday. The Japanese word for cutlet "katsu" also sounds like the word "to win" and Monta said the cutlets were a sign of good luck for Sunday's Academy Awards. "Slumdog Millionaire," a British picture about a young man from the slums of Mumbai who seeks to rise from rags to riches by winning a Hindi TV game show, has been nominated for nine Academy Awards. It opens in Japan in mid-April.
© Japan TodayDanny Boyle in Tokyo
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25 Comments
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northlondon
So a nice plate of pork would be the perfect companion to a film about Mumbai.
So the connection between Hindus in Mumbai and Hindus in Bali is obvious then. It's tonkatsu.
If you really believe Mino Monta when he say's that a plate of tonkatsu will give good luck to a film in the Oscars then I think you have lost the plot mate.
shouganaika
the only meat strictly forbidden by Hindu religion is beef. pork is ok. most hindus are vegetarian but it is not a 100% rule. the 'westerners' beach resort of Bali too, where not only the 'westerners' eat pork. as for why they chose katsu, read the caption again
meanmutha
I must admit. Monta wears his suits really good.
northlondon
smartacus, Danny Boyle is just the Director of the film. Mino Monta just got paid as the day's 'talento' by the film promotion office. There is no issue with them. However, the promotion was supposed to be for a film with a story about a boy's meteoric rise from the slums in Mumbai. For some reason only understood on Mars, the Japanese film promoters produced a tonkatsu event.
herefornow
I can only imagine that Mr. Boyle was aghast at having to eat a pork cutlet to promote his film here. He must realize that even if his movie: is superb (which it is), has won countless awards (which it has), and will likely win several more at the Oscars (which it should), it must be promoted in the most dumbed-down way possible here in Japan. At least he was not forced to deal with the Kano sisters.
scudracer
Just watched Slumdog Millionaire last night. Having been to Mumbai once in 2006 and seeing it with my own eyes, this movie was quite meaningful to me. Almost moved me to tears. Don't read the reviews just go watch it with an open mind.
soldave
plasticmonkey - I wonder then how any western movies are shown at all here in Japan. I go to the cinema regularly and even on opening night for a Hollywood blockbuster it's a good turnout if there's more than about 20 people.
smartacus
northlondon
Since neither Danny Boyle nor Mino Monta are Hindu, what difference does it make if they are eating pork?
williamsmith
NO! NO! I Don't like Mino Monta!
northlondon
But this film is based in Mumbai amongst Indian Hindus, not the westerners beach resort of Bali. Meat is considered a no-go amongst all Hindus maybe with the exception of chicken, fish or mutton. Japanese film promoters bringing out a plate of pork to promote tonkatsu is ridiculous.
meanmutha
how large is Monta's entourage?
narala
I have seen "Slumdog Millionaire". It is a new, exciting story, heartbreaking and exhilarating at the same time. Hope it bags few Oscars this weekend. All the best to Dany Bole.
shouganaika
Hindu religion has no restriction on pork. Bali is mostly hindu and they love pork.
northlondon
So the idiot Japanese film promoters in Midtown promote a film based in Mumbai and with mainly Hindu actors with a plate of pork ?
Sarge
"cheap nasty meat"
I just had a nice bowl of katsudon the other day. Yum! "why do movies take so long to be released here?"
Not always - Spiderman 3 was released in Japan before it was released in the U.S.
timtak
I thought it was rather corny but the "City of God" like concentration on children on the edge of poverty and violence made it well worth watching.
imacat
Presumably it was katsu curry they were eating.
tokyochris
oh, and slumdog is a great movie... the child actors are all superb!
tokyochris
plasticmonkey is spot on - the distributors end up with a backlog of films and so only the major blockbusters (harry potter etc) which are guaranteed to do well here get an early release.
Also, it's definately not true about translation time - one of my friends out here works on translating scripts and she has them anywhere upto 6-8weeks before it's released in any country
plasticmonkey
bamboohat--it mostly has to do with the distributors. Two studios, Toho and Shochiku, own most of the theaters in Japan and thus control when and in how many places foreign films get shown. They are very conservative and want to know how the films do elsewhere before committing theater space. They also want to build the anticipation as a part of promotion. Those are not the only factors, but certainly the biggest ones.
soldave
It's only out in April? What a complete joke. Will probably be just in time for people to import it from other countries on DVD by then.
bamboohat
Seriously, why do movies take so long to be released here? I've heard two arguments, which are both bogus (translation time, and some obscure argument about Japanese people going to the movies only certain times of the year.)
Other asian countries don't have this situation. What gives?
smartacus
This must be Mino Monta week. Yesterday, he was helping with Tokyo's Olympic bid. Now he is with Danny Boyle. I guess they trotted him out at the press conference because he was host of Japan's version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?"
Ah_so
I have seen it, and if it does not win it will be a travesty. It is an amazing picture and well deserves all the acclaim it has received.
See it. In April.
flammenwerfer
Katsu - what is this countries is obession with this cheap nasty meat? ..guess I just answered my question - cheap. I really feel sorry for school kids who get katsu served up on a near daily basis. Fitting that a cheap overused meat is being paraded by another overused piece of TV meat: Monta, that man will die in the studio.