(aka Yatterman Take 2)

After months of waiting I finally had the chance to see this movie! I was pleasantly surprised that it exceeded my expectations. I thought I would be a little bias since Sho-kun is in it, but the movie itself was an explosion of colour and action that was very much representative of Miike.

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Backtrack to a month prior to the festival. I was a little annoyed by the lack of updates on the Fantasia site in regards to the film lineup and schedule. Since Yatterman was confirmed as the opening night film, I figured it would be safe to book a few days off starting from the 9th.

It wasn’t until two days before the start of the festival that we could actually order tickets. The time frame was a bit narrow and I was extremely nervous at the prospect of traveling all the way there without tickets again. So Tuesday afternoon I rush home on my lunch break and bought tickets right when the online ticketing opened. Now with the tickets in hand, we were somewhat ready to go.

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Thursday morning we set off for Montréal. The drive was pleasant and we both took turns at the wheel. We made good time even though we practically stopped at all the service stations. As we neared Montréal, we caught a bit of the rush hour traffic. The highways in Montréal are also a little scary because they weave in and out in loops. We needed to stop at the Tourist Information Centre first, which meant taking a little detour from the hotel. It wouldn’t have been so bad if there weren’t that many one way streets!

After picking up a few maps and our tourist pass, we set off in search for our hotel. We found it quite easily, but it was confusing figuring out where to park. The hotel parking lot was undergoing renovations, so there were no spots on the first floor. We ended up going to the second floor, but there was only one ramp for both up/down traffic, so it was a little hazardous driving up. Luckily we made it up without crashing head-on to another car, but the upstairs parking only had one spot left, which was next to this 20ft concrete wall and right in front of the ramp. It took me 5-6 tries to get the car in the spot!! All in all, it took us about half an hour to get parked. ARGH!

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We got up to the hotel room to freshen up, then made our way out to grab our tickets at the box office. The lineup wasn’t very long and we got out shortly pass 5:00pm. We didn’t know where the theatre was, but it’s actually located in the same building as the box office (it was just labelled ‘Hall’, which wasn’t very intuitive). There was a lineup outside already, so we quickly made it across the street to meet up with the rest of the girls at Java U. Everyone was really nice and we got introductions going around. We weren’t sure how many people we were waiting for, so we decided to split into two groups so one would wait at Java U and the other would get in line first.

I walked with another fan towards the lineup. The line already wrapped around the other side, but luckily it meant we were in the shade. The next hour passed by really quickly. We chatted about Arashi and got to know each other better. Later we were joined by another fan sporting an AAA t-shirt. Apparently she was told to look for a girl holding a Sho uchiwa (me!). Finally when the line started moving, we had a group of 6 fangirls and made our way into the auditorium together.

We all spotted the Yatterman poster outside the auditorium, but we could only give it a quick glance before filing inside the theatre. Luckily we got seats together on the second floor with a perfect view of the screen. There were so many people moving in the theatre that it seemed like the movie would never start. Nearing 7:00pm, the organizers finally made their way on stage to announce the opening of the festival. Everyone was speaking in French at this point so I kind of tuned most of it out. Later the president came up to talk and introduced Yoshinori Chiba, the producer of Yatterman.

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Yoshinori Chiba came on stage dressed in Sho’s Yatterman costume!!

(Photo from the official Fantasia Website)

I was so surprised and ecstatic at the same time! The audience was also impressed by his enthusiasm, which really built up the tension for the movie. He didn’t say a lot at the opening, except for mentioning that Miike couldn’t be there, but he had made a short clip for his fans. All I really caught him say was ‘start the film!’ He was so funny!

Miike was probably working on his new movie somewhere in a remote village location, as it showed a bunch of huts in the countryside. However, he explained that he actually lived in the village and that all filmmakers (the people he pointed to walking in the background) lived in villages too. He thanked the audience saying that only Canadians appreciate his humour and that he made the movie specifically for the Fantasia Festival. Later on he ends the clip with him going inside the hut saying ‘tadaima’.

The audience loved it! Such a great way to open a film. I’m so happy that Miike was thoughtful enough to take time out of his schedule to film that clip for us. Finally, the theatre lights dimmed and the movie began. When Sho first appeared on screen, all six of us were squeeling in our seats!

Movie summary posted in the previous entry. =P

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Hearing the theme song in theaters was just AMAZING. Too bad there was only the six of us, because our voices were barely heard overtop Arashi’s singing. At least we tried to represent. Hehehe.

After the credits ended, we piled out of the theatre. I was originally hoping for a Q&A with the producer, but I guess they were running behind schedule, so everyone exited quickly. Once we got out the auditorium doors, we all paused to take photos beside the official Yatterman poster. Hehehe, we are such nerds.

Later on that night, we walked down rue Sainte-Catherine and grabbed a bit to eat at Nickel’s. It was so much fun hanging out with the girls! We finally had real people to speak Arashi to! Everyone was super nice and we had an awesome time firing questions off to each other. After finishing dinner, we headed our separate ways, but it was so nice meeting everyone!

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The rest of our time in Montréal was equally fun and we had great weather for the remainder of our trip. Friday we hit four museums (Biodome, Insectarium, Biosphere and the Pointe-à-Callière museum). We toured Chinatown for dinner and made a stop at the casino at night.

I won $18 playing the slots! I think I seriously annoyed the lady sitting beside me who totally saw me for the amateur that I am. I accidentally thought I won a game when I got a row of 7s, but she quickly pointed out that I didn’t bet enough credits to win. (Duh, because I’m cheap and I was trying to prolong the game!) However, I smartened up later and bet an astounding TWO credits and got a row of 7s AGAIN. Hehehe. Who did I see scooting over to my seat when I left?

The subway ride back to the hotel was equally thrilling. These two old men sitting across from me kept smiling and pointing to my newly-purchased hat. Oh, did I mention they were creepy old men? I had my headphones on, but all I could catch from watching their mouths move were ‘bonne chapeau!’. Needless to say I made a quick dash out the doors once we reached the station.

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Saturday we went to the Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal in the morning. We stopped by Concordia again to see if we could find the Yatterman poster. Unfortunately it wasn”t up, but it was still nice standing in the building reminiscing the good times.

We grabbed lunch at Sushi Man before making our way back home. The drive this time felt long. Well, short because we didn’t stop that much, but long because we drover longer stretches. There was also construction on the highway, so we had to detour to get out of Montréal. It also didn”t help that it was raining, but luckily I wasn’t behind the wheel that time. Heehee.

I’m so happy that my Yatterman experienced turned out so much better this time. I really wish NYC was like that, but I guess I need to accept that things don’t always work out like you hope. However I’m glad I had the second chance to see the movie and that I met some really nice people this time as well. And as Sho would say:

Yat-ta!~