You would think that since Japanese people are so used to the putting up a mask in public, it being so engraved in their society, being someone that they’re not most of their lives; they’d be really really amazing at theatre and acting on TV shows or films. But for some reason, that’s not the case, every piece of Japanese acting I’ve ever seen has just been bad.
Why is that the case?
Also howcome when it comes to voice acting, it’s great, but not in live action. Kinda strange.
9 comments
They don’t know how to act natural.
I think it’s because they’re shy, in voice acting maybe the fact that they’re not exposing their faces helps
Japanese acting simply has a different sensibility attached to it. Performance is more geared around hyper-realism, than straightforward realism.
Japanese culture isn’t the same as North American culture and shouldn’t be judged by our standards, imo. Their acting may seem bad to you, but not to them.
If we compare a Hollywood movie from the 60’s to one from today, you can see they’re massively different. Acting in the 60’s is “bad” by today’s standards, but it wasn’t bad then.
In Taking to Strangers Malcom Gladwell made the interesting observation that people in movies don’t show emotions the same way as people do in reality. We are very used to the way emotions get shown in the media because we as a culture have agreed to accept certain patterns as the canonical way to show emotions in particular on TV. Japan as a different culture likely had adopted different canonical ways to represent emotions. So it’s different not necessarily worse or better.
I would posit you’re not watching the right films.
Watch Hiroyuki Sanada’s and Rie Miyazawa’s performances in Twilight Samurai (たそがれ清兵衛). Nuanced, moving, utterly mesmerising.
Even the secondary characters like the well-meaning but bumbling brother, the minor officials, the lead character’s mother suffering from dementia, and the young daughters of the family feel authentic. And not least the surprise antagonist at the end – with the tragic, disturbing exchange he has with the lead as they duel.
Describing this film reminds me how I need to rewatch it myself!
Editing to include a non-spoiler review for those interested
https://youtu.be/dkvvOIgsFng
I dunno, I’ve watched a lot of Japanese film and their acting is quite good. I might be more learned about the culture though, considering my culture is Japanese.
Reminded me of watching 椎名林檎 – 茎（STEM）～大名遊ビ編～ on YouTube…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVCCe2tuL20
I think the idea of honne tatemae meaning you are going to be a good actor is flawed. It means you hide emotions. If anything I’m surprised Japanese acting is so good considering the tradition of honne tatemae.
It’s hard to sure when you’re just saying it’s bad without going into detail.
Emotional expression? Well Japanese people express emotions very differently.
Over the top? Maybe hyperrealism rather that western realism.(there is no such thing a objective realism in drama btw)
The emotions of the characters doesn’t match the situation… you “see” the actor behind the character. That is universally just bad acting.
Nobody seems to have pointed out one of the characters in tatemae is wrong. It’s written 本音と建前 in Japanese.
A few months ago, my American granddaughter turned three and I was invited to her party. She received many gifts such as toys and clothes. Being a toddler, she was clearly very excited when she opened packages with toys in them, but seemed bored and eager to open the next gift when she saw clothes. The adults around her had to remind her that it’s not a polite and appropriate reaction.
The last birthday party she had before this was when she turned two, and she was still a baby. But this time she was three and she had to start learning her manners.
You might think the Japanese are unique in the custom of 本音と建前, but it isn’t. I’ve lived in both countries for many years and seen countless examples of American people practicing honne and tatemae-like behavior which is mostly about social etiquette.
About the acting, to be honest, I felt the same way until recently, but after watching a Japanese movie called “A Family”, I realized I had been completely wrong. If you watch movies where teenagers are the main characters, you will see cheesy acting because I guess that’s what the audience prefer. But if you select a movie which is targeted toward more mature audience, you’re much more likely to find better acting.
It seems it hasn’t received great reviews by American audience and critics, but as a Japanese native who had never watched a single Yakuza movie before, I was really moved by it and felt the acting was very good.