Asian Extreme research

[emma pett]

Hi everyone,

I'm a PhD student researching audiences of Asian Extreme cinema and have an online questionnaire going at the moment. If anyone has the time and inclination to fill it in, it would be greatly appreciated. Or you can just check out the website to see what it's all about:

http://www.asianextremecinemaresearch.co.uk/index.html

Cheers,

Emma.

[Phil]

Interesting questionaire, although (as I said in my responses) I'm not entirely sure 'Asian Extreme' is a genre in itself. It really just boils down to horror films that come out of Asia, some with extreme themes/violence and some with just generic scares. The 'extreme' tag just feels to me more like marketing ploy than a label that would force me to watch a movie.

[Drunken Master]

Wasn't it Tartan DVD that stuck the label Extreme on their more violent or shocking releases to draw more attention to them?

It worked for me.

[Charlie Parker]

Yeah it was Tartan, helped bury the origonal company in the end. The owner of Third Window Films covered the topic well on a recent episode of vcinema and also early pofs.

[emma pett]

Thanks for the responses and for filling in the questionnaire, it's much appreciated

I think you're right that the 'extreme' tag was developed for marketing purposes, and quite a few academics have done some interesting analysis of the Tartan label and the way it drew on Orientalist discourses to market Asian cinema. All genres begin somewhere, and from an academic perspective, that's why it's interesting to study them and analyse the way they evolve. As an individual I'm interested in all forms of Asian cinema, but for the purpose of this research project, I'm looking at audiences of Asian Extreme films because the BBFC want to try and understand these audiences more clearly. And, however the genre/sub-genre started, 'Extreme' is a category that is now being used in many places - I noticed the other day that it is one of the genres listed on BT Vision, for example. So it means something to people, and that's why it's one of the key areas of investigation for the project.

The questionnaire is just one aspect of the research, I'm also doing interviews, focus groups and reception research. So if anyone lives in the UK and is interested in getting more involved, for example, being interviewed (probably over the phone) please contact me at: ejp09@aber.ac.uk

Thanks again for taking an interest in what I'm doing, I couldn't do it without your support.

[Yama]

I never really think of Battle Royale as Extreme (although it was on the Tartan extreme label). Its a bit more 'poetic than Ichi or Grotesque for my money, and after the first watch becomes a delight to sit through. Don't know if I'll ever say that about Ichi

[Phil]

Is it bad that I think Ichi is somewhat overated?

[Drunken Master]

Is it bad that I think Ichi is somewhat overated?

Yes!

Well, er........ actually....... no. Ichi has some shocking moments but it's not exactly classic of Asian cinema. I prefer Audition anyway.

[Charlie Parker]

I don't care much for Ichi or Audition, just shows how varied Miike is! Grotesque is easily one of the worst films I've ever turned off.

[Phil]

Glad I'm not alone on 'Ichi', thought maybe I was missing something. 'Grotesque' kind of struck me more as one of those movies that inserted all the violence just to get some attention and make a few easy bucks. The film itself was ultimately crap.