cjloogy

[cjloogy]

I had much the same experience with this film growing up, only catching a few minutes of it while it was airing on TV at one point, which was unfortunately the sequence where the parents turn into pigs, and that left me wondering were the hell they ended up for awhile. Thankfully I caught the movie in full only a couple of months later, so I didn't have that hanging over my head for too long.

I think your interpretations here are aptly put, Chihiro's parents are definitely blunt representations of greed and consumerism, right before they pig out the father mouths off about his credit cards and the cash they have, so he feels that he can take as much as he likes with no repercussions. He also drives a European car, and wears a western polo shirt, so I think it's pretty clear that this is all a commentary on Japanese consumerism that stems from the west in particular. Chihiro is a bit more neutral with her fashion in comparison, and adopts a more traditional Japanese aesthetic for a time with the hakama. A lot of things are a bit on the nose like this, but the film retains a lot of style and grace so it doesn't feel as blunt as it actually is in execution. Great stuff!

Spirited Away

I love this movie so much. It’s the first Studio Ghibli film I’ve ever watched, and it had haunted me until I rewatched it in high school (Yubaba is a scary lady for a three-year-old, don’t judge me).

I think it wasn’t until rewatching it a few more times and hearing snippets of Miyazaki talking about this film that I truly understood the importance of this story. Now, as an adult, I think I understand why it resonates with so many people and has such a strong nostalgia for many. It really is a coming-of-age story, focusing on a girl who—at the beginning—is shy and nervous and not very sure of herself. She is somewhat forcefully pushed to face demanding tasks head on, which in itself is tough for a young kid to do all on their own. But on top of that, she has to hold onto her name (Chihiro) and her yet-to-be-established identity in order to return to her real life. Her character development into a strong individual who still remains her childish self is awesome and I think very effectively pulls you into the story.

An interesting thing about this movie is how the characters (mainly Chihiro and her family) are motivated. In the “real world,” the character’s motivation stems from very mundane reasons, and those reasons are easily identifiable. The family moves to a new place and the parents are eager to explore and learn about the surrounding area, as many parents tend to do. Chihiro herself is apprehensive of new things and unfamiliar places in a way that is very common for children.

But once they enter the train station/clock tower and exit through the other side (a very obvious liminal space) the parents are motivated by some obsessive or unhealthy desire to explore. Their dismissal of social etiquette when they arrive at the only open restaurant is greedy and obnoxious. Meanwhile Chihiro feels uncomfortable by her parents’ behavior and has a strong urge to leave.

I think there are many ways to interpret this situation, but one I like is that children are still transitioning from relying mainly on instinct or vague ideas to making decisions based on what is considered appropriate or logical, a skill often learned from one’s parents. Therefore, in this situation where her parents are acting our of pure gluttony and greed, she feels this strong cognitive dissonance and confusion. I mean in the beginning, we see her mom scolding her for small things constantly, so she knows her mom to be a strict person with clear ideas of appropriateness. She clearly did not think eating food that they hadn’t had permission to eat was a smart decision, so it must have been shocking to see her mom abandon those ideas and pig out.

Yubaba also provides Chihiro with a plethora of arbitrary rules for right and wrong behavior, and seeing Chihiro be self-motivated and—politely—break those rules to help those she loves is very heartwarming and admirable. Navigating growing up can be very difficult for children, and I think this film does an effective job representing that difficulty.

[cjloogy]

Spirited Away – 千と千尋の神隠し

I think it’s easy to consider this thing a work of art. The animation is beautiful, the art direction is stunning, all of the character designs are incredibly inspired and imaginative, the music is wonderful, and the voice acting sells everything that’s happening on screen. When it comes to productions that work well to introduce people to the medium of anime, I think this is a solid option despite its extremely fantastical setting and premise. Everything here just works, and there’s really not much to criticize for what it sets out to achieve in my eyes. I think just about anyone could enjoy this film if they’re a bit more open minded to exploring different mediums and stories.

As for what’s going on in this film, there’s a lot. But I can still boil it down to a few sets of themes that stand out to me at least. An obvious one is supernaturalism, this tale is inspired by Japanese Shinto-Buddhist folklore, as showcased by the wide variety of spirits that Chihiro encounters, plenty of which I can pick out individually. The setting of the bathhouse is a pretty literal interpretation of solstice rituals, in which villagers would call forth various spirits and kami and invite them to their baths. Chihiro’s place in all of it is that of a child going through their rite of passage into adulthood. She’s somewhere between child and adult in this rather upsetting point in her life, and in this world of spirits she also stands outside of societal boundaries. The literal translation of the title reinforces this idea further, 千と千尋の神隠し (Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi) or “Sen and Chihiro’s Spiriting Away” where 神隠し (kamikakushi) can also be read as hidden (kakushi) by gods (kami). In this way, I can see Chihiro passing through this world of spirits while moving on from her status as a child in her old home, to a more grown individual who’s embraced her past and accepted moving to a new home.

Other themes I can notice more now are ones that seem to be more critical of modern aspects of society, such as consumerism and environmentalism. Greed is a major motivation and pitfall for many characters in this movie, with varying obsessions over gold and food. I feel like this greed is mostly rooted in westernism, with Yubaba having a distinctly western-inspired dress and having much of her furnishings in her room look very European compared to the much more traditional Japanese styled architecture and furnishings of her workers. I think this ties into the influence the west had over Japan during the Meiji restoration, where in the process of modernization and “catching up” with the rest of the world, much of the traditional Japanese culture at the time may have been overwritten. Yubaba’s act of literally taking Chihiro’s name from her and turning it into Sen (which is the Japanese character for one thousand) can also be looked at as a commentary on employers’ fixation on sheer value even when it comes to living beings. Chihiro’s parents also turn into literal consumerist pigs, which is incredibly subtle and took me many viewings to understand this incredibly nuanced metaphor. Haku himself also gets his name stolen from him, albeit in a somewhat different manner from Chihiro. He exists as a manifestation of what was once a river in the human world, but the river was destroyed and had apartments built over its place, causing him to lose his home and his sense of self and identity. A pretty blunt commentary on both consumerism and the destruction of nature through urban expansion, which continues to be a concern for many in Japan to this day.

As far as Japanese cinema goes, I feel that animation should probably viewed from a separate perspective when comparing it to other films. The production is intense in its own ways, dealing with an almost entirely different set of hurdles under a pretty distinct medium, so comparing Spirited Away with other works that we’ve watched should be an interesting experience. While other Miyazaki films still win out for me, this viewing reminded me of how absolutely solid this movie is. A strong story with a lot of good commentary and a superb audiovisual experience makes it clear why this is considered by many to be the best animated film of all time.

Can’t beat Howl though, love that guy.

[cjloogy]

Given that this film came out around 2007, I think it certainly predates the more recent discussions surrounding the presence of women in media and the depictions they are usually subjected to. Benten was a breath of fresh air given that she was easily the biggest powerhouse of the film in my opinion, and it looked like she shared a pretty earnest and honest romance with Toshiro in the end, tragic as it may have been. I wish the rest of the female cast (you know like, the one other woman of relevance in the whole film) was treated with as much respect however, even if Ruriko wasn't perfect it was still a step in the right direction.

Sukiyaki Western Django

I have no idea what to even say about this film. It was definitely a wild ride. Dr. Smith, why? Why did you pick this movie? 

Having read the Tale of Heike, I see the connections back to the war tragedy. The use of red and white leading back to this tale was a successful costume design choice. While all of the color symbolism is slammed in your face to where it is impossible not to notice, it did create a cohesive effect to the film and helped viewers keep track of who is who in the mess of a film.

As someone who hasn’t watched westerns, this film was just very absurd and bizarre and from what I’ve gathered from the class - even if you have watched westerns it still doesn’t make any sense. 

I’m already running out of things to say about this film… It honestly just seems like a drunk or high idea by both Tarantino and Miike. The choice to make the film in English almost made it more absurd. It definitely fits Tarantino’s genre, though I can say I am not as fond of this film as I am other films of his such as Pulp Fiction. 

Ben Ten was a fun little twist, though I do think it odd that if she was this powerful, why didn’t she do anything to save her daughter-in-law as she was dying for 30 minutes. Overall, I felt this film handled women terribly. While Ben Ten is shown to be a “cool heroine,” it only seems to appear that way so that Tarantino can get a few more scenes and so that everyone can end up dead. I felt like all the women shown in the film came from some old man’s sexist pipedream. It was weird and honestly kind of demeaning - definitely a film that makes me hate depictions of women written by men in media even more. 

One thing that I like to use to decide whether something is putting female character’s in is the “Hawkeye Initiative,” that came to use in comics for showing when art of female characters were overly sexualized. Essentially, artists replace the female character with Hawkeye and see the pose, clothes, and connotations of the final image are being used to over sexualize women. Here’s an example with Mary Jane: 

In regards to Sukiyaki Western Django, I’d like everyone to imagine all of the character’s genders as swapped. Now reconsider all the scenes of violence and rape against the women in the film and all the ways that the portrayal of the female characters as passive beings going along with such violence ultimately hurts women. I think if all these scenes were done to men that the audience would react even more grossed out, which is a shame that these gendered differences still exist in film media portrayals. However, I was quite happy that it seemed those who watched the film in class with everyone also found these scenes terrible and audibly reacted as such, which gives me hope that these issues will be solved in the future.

But seriously Dr. Smith, why did you pick this film? I need to know

[cjloogy]

Sukiyaki Western Django – スキヤキ・ウエスタン ジャンゴ

Out of all the films this semester, I think it is safe to say that THIS was the most fun one to watch. Experiencing this in a group setting with everyone and taking in all the absurdity of this film together was something special, and it was a great way to spend our final viewing session.

As for the movie itself, I’m still not sure what to say exactly. Cowboy samurai? It’s incredibly difficult to digest, be it from the muddled plot or the weird mishmash story that just ends up feeling confusing up front, but the biggest factor was the stylistic choice of having all the actors, who are almost entirely Japanese, speak full English. It’s difficult to take seriously at almost every step, but I can’t imagine that’s truly what the director wants here. Honestly, this almost feels like this is Miike’s fanfiction given an actual production value, and I say that with nothing but affection.

The voice acting is either going to feel stupid, annoying, and unbelievably distracting, OR it is going to add to the charm and the parodic element of this whole production. I can easily say that I lean towards the latter, and that it just added to the enjoyment of this wild ride, especially with the complimentary English subtitles constantly being barely out of sync with the actual dialogue. Either way, I feel like the action and style are simply immaculate here. The color photography is stunning, if not maybe a bit distracting at times, and the airtight camera work is phenomenal. Plenty of brilliant sequences and gripping moments in all of these gun(and sword)fights. The costume designs were stellar as well, a perfect blend of samurai and cowboy aesthetics to make something unique and memorable.

Despite how muddled the plot gets, a lot of the twists and turns were great too, the film constantly kept us guessing and we never felt disappointed by any of it I feel. The film is an obvious homage to the spaghetti westerns of yore, and pays special attention to films by Quentin Tarantino, most specifically for their stylistic aspects. I’m curious how much influence Tarantino had on this film directly beyond having a role as one of the supporting characters. I personally loved his appearance, as everything he did felt incredibly in-character for the man as he is in real life. Given that he was in a Japanese production and casted by Japanese staff, I can’t say anything he did was too out of pocket for my tastes, and certainly nothing unexpected given his “unique” career. The actual cast of the film was great too, Hideaki Itō was a fantastically stoic gunman with a sick fit, Yūsuke Iseya was a charismatic Yoshitsune and a great antagonist, and Kaori Momoi easily stole the show for me as Bloody Benten, having some of the most stylish and action-packed scenes in the whole film.

This is a strange film, definitely the strangest thing we’ve seen this entire semester, and easily one of the most bizarre things I’ve seen in my entire life. Even if the genre-bending style might feel odd or difficult to appreciate at first, I think the absolutely insane action and rollercoaster story can satisfy almost anyone in the end.

[cjloogy]

I love the detail you went into concerning the real-world presence of leprosy, some of the hardest facts I've seen someone spit in a minute.

I had a decent awareness of the disease before watching, so seeing Tokue get shunned away the way she did was pretty irritating, but I'm glad Sentaro was primarily concerned with her old age and didn't care about her condition, and held out as long as he could before ultimately feeling forced to let her go from the shop. It was a tough move to see him make, but along with Wakana, they all managed to find each other one last time before she passed on. Bittersweet but shows the good that exists in people despite the resentment of others around them.

And thanks for pointing out that shop at the end! I'm headed to Japan for work soon so I'll definitely have it on my travel list.

Naomi Kawase: Sweet Bean

Initial Reaction

I have got to say that watching a relatively slow-paced film that’s both heart-warming and heart-wrenching was a good change of pace from the horror and avant-garde films we’ve been watching recently. Prior to watching this film, Sweet Bean (あん), I was completely unaware of how those with leprosy were and still are facing discrimination in Japan and in the rest of the world. While this social issue is the focus of the film, I think Kawase did a spectacular job of incorporating different generations and bringing them (young, middle-aged, and elderly) all together with one commonality they shared: dorayaki.  

*Going off on a tangent: This film reminded me of the YouTube channel “Grandma’s Recipes” that features Japanese grandmas’ recipes and their life stories. If you haven’t watched it before, here’s a link to the most popular video (ENG SUB) on their channel with 8.5 million views: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGqFFcAaTn8.

Social Commentary

Leprosy and How It’s Misunderstood

Before I delve into my analysis of leprosy and this film, I will briefly talk about the misconceptions that people hold around those with leprosy. To begin with, leprosy is a chronic but curable, infectious disease that is caused by a slow-growing bacteria which can affect the nerve, skin, eyes, and lining of the nose (CDC, 2017).

To bust some myths surrounding leprosy:

You cannot get leprosy from a casual contact like:

- Shaking hands or hugging

- Sitting next to each other on the bus

- Sitting together at a meal

Also, leprosy is NOT passed on from a mother to her unborn baby during pregnancy and is also not spread through sexual contact.

In most cases, prolonged contact with someone with untreated leprosy over many months is needed to contract the disease. Doctors think that contraction occurs through airborne droplets (coughing, sneezing) in which someone with active leprosy passes it on to a healthy person who breathes it in, but the cause is not clear yet. Even then, contracting leprosy is HIGHLY UNLIKELY, because MORE THAN 95% OF ALL PEOPLE HAVE A NATURAL IMMUNITY.

Now, taking all this into consideration and assuming that the film is set in 2015, we can better understand Tokue’s pain of being labeled an “untouchable” by Japanese society in which an overwhelming majority have an unwarranted fear of those with leprosy.  

From the start of the film, it is obvious that Tokue desires to be part of larger society – not an outsider. Such can be seen from her not caring about Doraharu, the dorayaki shop’s, low wage. Rather than being hung up on the salary which matters most to many when taking a job, she cares more about being able to interact with people and being viewed as “normal” for once. The difference in what she places importance on and what people that are part of larger society place importance on show how many of us take what we view as “normal” for granted.

It’s interesting to see that the other main characters, Sentaro and Wakana, are also social misfits. Though, they are to a lesser degree than Tokue. We learn that Sentaro started working at Doraharu (dorayaki + haru), because he was indebted to the shop’s owner after having gone to prison for trying to stop a brawl in a pub and having disabled the person fighting. Similarly, Wakana comes to Doraharu out of necessity to escape her family situation in which her single mother is never there for her. The interweaving of these three stories – Tokue, Sentaro, Wakana – is captivating, because it shows how three different generations overcome their given circumstance through interacting with each other. Specifically, Tokue represents the wisdom that comes with old age as she believes that everything in life has meaning; Sentaro represents how those in their middle-age have had to come to terms with reality and lost their naiveness and optimism of when they were young; Wakana represents the youthfulness of not yet being able to see the dark aspects of society and being able to try anything head-on. Their generational gap along with their different stories makes this film relatable to anyone watching, regardless of their nationality and ethnicity.    

That being said, this film also shows how the collectivist mindset, most often associated with Eastern cultures, can be damaging. This can be observed in a number of scenes when we see how Japanese society fears people with leprosy, even though there is little reason to do so. Such scenes that immediately come to mind are: 1.) Sentaro’s manager sanitizing her hands after coming to talk to him about removing Tokue due to her history of leprosy, 2.) No one coming to buy dorayaki from the shop when rumors go around that Tokue has leprosy, and 3.) People with leprosy having to live in a secluded area on the outskirts of society. Another scene that was shown a lot throughout the course of the film was Tokue listening to the voices of the inanimate (azuki beans, trees, etc.) and animals. All of these scenes show the danger in taking things at face-value and not questioning society’s (unspoken) rules for the “greater good.” Tokue is the antagonist to such customs since she tunes in to those that do not have voices. The final scene also reinforces this value of withholding judgement and listening to all perspectives with Sentaro and Wakana being able to forge a happier life, after finding what makes them happy - not what society deems necessary to be happy. Fortunately, in doing so, their “spring” (haru) finally comes.

Bonus:

If you want to see real dorayaki craftsmanship, watch the linked YouTube video from timestamp 6:25-8:00: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wljx_KuN8u0.

If anyone is planning to go to Japan in the near future and is curious, the shop’s name is “Kawachiya” and is managed by a cute, elderly couple in Shizuoka. They were featured on a Japanese TV Program called 「世界に日本行きたい人応援団」that invites people who are interested in Japan to fly out and experience a side of Japan (i.e., traditional food, martial arts, games, etc.) they’re interested in. It’s most definitely on my bucket list of places to go!

[cjloogy]

あん – Sweet Bean

Yeah, this one broke me.

Absolutely beautiful film, truly bittersweet through and through. Really glad I stuck around to watch this on a bigger screen in an environment free from distractions, as it really allowed me to take everything in. A quaint story showcased through some really fine cinematography, the story hits all the right spots while not being too romanticized or pretentious about its contents. Tokue, played by the late Kirin Kiki, is the obvious star of the show, her character being wonderfully quirky and charming, and showing a group of people I rarely think about in general, let alone in Japan in particular.

An elderly woman who had been suffering from leprosy her entire life, it becomes obvious that the main source of grief was not from any of the physical effects, but rather the isolation and ostracization from society at large. It's clear that she's someone who cherishes every moment of life, and seeks to make the most of the time she has on Earth, bringing as much joy as she can to the people around her. Her meticulous process for making the sweet bean paste (あん) tells the audience everything they need to know about what kind of person she is. She talks to the beans and lets them sit for hours on end. “It would be rude to mix them straight away” she says, and settles in to wait a good few hours for them to cool. As skeptical as the shop owner Sentaro might be at first, he’s quickly accepting of her help and skills when the bean paste begins to bring in massive queues on the daily. The film just has a lot of heart and genuinely sweet moments. Seeing Tokue become filled with joy throughout her time working in the shop was really heartwarming, brief moments of her whispering lines to Sentaro like "This is fun" as she put stickers on the doriyaki bags as he flipped the pancakes really felt like a gutpunch of pure sweetness. I swear this movie could turn someone diabetic with how saccharine it can be, and I say that as a really good thing here. Not only did I think she was having fun, I felt like she was having the most fun she’d ever had in her life.

A young girl by the name of Wakana who frequents the Dorayaki shop befriends both Sentaro and Tokue, facing her own kind of outcasting, as does Sentaro, we found out more and more about each of their pasts, delivering many messages while never saying more than it needs to, it has just the right amount of dialogue while maintaining really transcendent moments of silence as well. The film explores some important issues with a lot of compassion, such as respect for one's elders knowledge and experience, prejudice and fear around disease and disability, ageism, the importance of patience, and joy in the little things in life. I found it refreshing to see a film that explored all of these things so gently and with a lot of humor along the way. The obvious heartbreaker at the end feels truly somber, but ultimately leaves us with hope for what's to come. Tokue found joy in her final days, and gave meaning to those around her to keep pressing on in life and sharing that same joy with those around them. Honestly getting a little teary eyed again writing all this. I think I could go for some Dorayaki now.

[cjloogy]

The manipulation of color and lighting in this film was honestly impressive. Everything is always being filmed in color obviously, but the way some scenes are shot almost makes them end up looking monochromatic which really enhances some of the moments.

Your point at the end is kinda funny actually, this film did see a resurgence in attention at the onset of the pandemic when people were staying locked down, and everyone was sharing the exact same sentiments of fear over loss of those personal connections due to the lockdowns. The messages here are interesting, especially for its time, but I still have to wonder exactly what the takeaway is, given that people who attempted to use the internet would end up finding themselves overtaken by the dead, so in a way they were punished for using the internet. In any case, I hope that I can clear up some of these thoughts when we discuss it more in depth.

Pulse

Colors & The Garden

The movie relied heavily on it’s selective use of colors to allow the audience to learn more details about what was occurring with each individual in the film, which later becomes apparent as an even larger symbol having to deal with plant life. 

First the movie starts off in a garden, as the protagonists are surrounded by green. In this color they are healthy and undisturbed. However, when the first victim disappears we see a shift in all of the character’s clothing to yellow. Each person has at least some form of a yellow garment or accent that they wear showing that something isn’t quite right - no one is as healthy as they were before and they are showing warning signs of distress much like plants do. After the second victims death, the character’s accent colors shift to orange showing that they are moving forward on the process of becoming dead (much like fall leaves). Anytime a character is on the last scene or day before they go to the forbidden room or they have an experience with the ghosts, they will have red accents. When the lead female protagonist discovers the red taped room but does not enter, she is seen as having red shoes. Meanwhile, her friend who busts in there sports an entire red dress. 

Once a character has gotten to this point, there are a few possible ways they could go, depending on how they handle their interaction with the supernatural. In the case of the male botanist, he becomes instantly possessed and only wears dark grey and black until he eventually fades out of existence. Whenever a character is possessed by a spirit in this film they wear dark colors or all black. Yet in the case of the female friend, she goes through a state of panicked behavior which has her dressed in white as if she were an empty shell of herself - the transition from the empty white to the possessed black shows that the spirit has filled her empty shell. 

Kawashima is an interesting character for these color analysis points since he at one point wears green on yellow on red to show that he is rapidly changing between phases. Likewise, the computer research lady also shows early hints at being connected to the supernatural through her black and white dotted dress - a direct reference to the dot screensaver shown in the film that also ties to her feelings of emptiness that she believes can only be filled by the supernatural.

Metaphors

Overall, I think that this film is very clear about the message it is trying to convey. Essentially the movie is about how people use the internet as a medium for connection, but this does not actually connect them and instead makes them more lonely. The movies end seems strange, but is it simply trying to show what would occur in this theoretical world where everyone only connects through the medium of technology, leaving behind those who do not join the global rise of the internet. I think this message definitely dates the film, but I can see how at the advent of the internet such messages and ideas most have been very prevalent (and still are to some degree today). While I think the movie paints quite the extreme, it is best to use the internet in moderation and to not miss out on in-person personal relations as I’m sure we all learned during the pandemic. 

[cjloogy]

Pulse - 回路

As far as Japanese horror goes, this is not near the top of my list sadly. While I did appreciate some of the on-screen visuals and the atmosphere on display, the constant bouncing between two distinct plotlines and a rather muddled message that ended with a pretty jarring shift to an apocalyptic setting really bogged down any positive elements I saw here.

It seems like this movie came in around the height of the J-horror boom after Ring really caught the international attention, and this film set out to deliver further on ghost stories that avoided gore and violence over tension and atmosphere. Plenty of points were definitely unsettling, but overall, I feel like the plot fell victim to “this is only happening because every character has a lower IQ than average.” It’s an interesting enough premise, once I pieced together what it actually is, which is that the world of the dead is becoming overrun, and spirits are invading the world of the living, or so one of the characters claims. The devices that are used to help keep us connected are vulnerable to these invaders, and so the living become subject to their intense apathy and give up on life the same as these ghosts did. Rather than inflicting pain, they simply invite the living into their own isolation. “Death is unending loneliness, why should I be the only one to suffer it?” is a possible motivation here, although it is never explicitly stated beyond a confrontation with a spirit towards the films end.

My issue with all this is I’m still not sure what message this is sending out exactly, I don’t think it’s meant to be pure entertainment or just shlocky, I’m sure there’s some kind of commentary on human isolation, connections, budding technology and how this affects people socially. My best guess is that this is trying to confront the issues of “hikikomori” culture, especially as it was developing at the turn of the millennia, in that many people in Japan were beginning to live in total isolation, almost withdrawing entirely from society. "People don't really connect, you know. We're all totally separate." Many of the deaths in the movie are suicide victims who were living alone, forced into isolation by their work routines or other life circumstances. It’s a real and prevalent issue in Japan to this day, with many people passing away alone and going unnoticed for extended periods of time. Maybe this film is an attempt at painting an image of what can happen to the world should too many people give up on staying connected while living their lives in a more fulfilling manner, and instead resign themselves to being isolated and passing on alone. I still think that the ending sequences feel too obtuse compared to the way the film was set up, and that a less dramatic and more somber ending would have been more appropriate.

I really can’t say this movie was really outstanding for me beyond a few cool visual sequences and some interesting attempts at commentary on human isolations and connections, but these ultimately fell flat in the end given the rather jarring transition into the unveiling of an apocalypse. This one really fizzled out for me.

[cjloogy]

Even after watching this film a couple of times in the past, I'm still learning new things here! Japanese media is filled to the brim with wordplay, so it is no surprise that this would extend into numerology as well. I think the presence of 4 is the most plausible here, with death and misfortune being such a consistent element. Even if these other numerology symbols and word plays you pointed out aren't intended by the filmmakers, I still think they are just as valuable as said filmmakers likely left many elements up to interpretation.

It's a shame you felt too overwhelmed by the tension on screen to look up at the scarier moments, since I think there's a lot of interesting artistic elements utilized around Sadako and her effects on the world. Maybe somewhere down the line you can find the courage to rewatch it and dig into it yourself, but at least the rest of the films we have are much easier to sit through!

Ring....

Well… that was scary. I thought it would be worse but it was still quite scary…

I don’t really want to look up photos of this movie and accidentally run into frightening screencaps, so no pictures in this blog post. However, because I wasn’t looking at the scary things, I was instead focusing on the use of numbers in the film which ended up being quite interesting. 

Numbers:

B4

Let’s start off with the first number in the film: B4. Honestly, this number has two interpretations - one in English and one in Japanese. In English, the hidden meaning is quite clear: B4 = Before. Yet, it isn’t until the end of the movie that the viewer realizes that this is a hint into where the body is since it is found under the building labeled B4. The Japanese meaning takes a bit of thought but, I believe it could be a play on the number “24″. In Japan 24, is considered an unlucky number because it sounds like “two deaths” (ni-shi). 4 will come up a lot in this film since it is the most unlucky number since it sounds like “death.”

54-4226

Breaking the numbers into parts, 54 is the first combo in this sequence. While this is technically a stretch, this could be a multilingual joke on “go die” with 5 = go and 4 = shi. 

42 is actually a restricted number in japan since it sounds like “to die” and is never used as the last numbers on a license plate (note that these numbers appear in the middle to make it plausible)

26 is an interesting last number combo to appear since 26 in numerology is typically associated with doomsday. This is because 2+6=8 and 8 is thought to be the number of disaster. 

7:01 (some time after seven)

The main protagonist’s time of watching the film and predicted time of death is tied to the number 7 for the number days of the week, which are also the days she has left.

77-3265

At the end of the film, the license plate on the car changes to show this one which is absent of the number 4 - predicting no death is on the horizon. Other than the absence of the number 4, I think the 77 is supposed to bring comfort and good fortune at this point in the film. 

[cjloogy]

Ring – リング

Here we are, the certified hood classic that brought about the obsession with eastern horror for a good decade or so. Even after seeing it a couple of times in the past, I still find this film to be pretty gripping, and genuinely creepy and unsettling. There’s a real legacy here, considering it became the highest-grossing horror film in Japanese history when it was released in 1998. It would find many other films attempting to emulate it, just the same as other classics like Halloween or Friday the 13th. I think even people who aren’t big on horror can find some artistic value here and see the cultural impact that it had.

Ring is great as it avoids falling into the usual pitfalls of psychological horrors, and instead succeeds well as a cosmic horror. Here it is made clear that the effects of the tape, Sadako’s presence, and even the ESP abilities of the lead characters are all real within the context of the film’s world. While some of the characters might be reluctant to admit it, almost everyone believes in the curse, no one is ever accused of hysteria, and psychosis is not the source of the horror, it’s a mechanism that characters develop to cope with the horror, and inevitably are killed by in the end.

I think the progression of the horror goes something like this: Japan has always held an awareness for the presence of vengeful spirits, and as the ages go on and these spirits become forgotten as specters of the past, they reassert themselves in modern mechanisms to express the generalized anxieties of modern society, despite this society no longer believing in magic or hexes and instead replacing these beliefs with a wide variety of new sensations and drives. This is what the tape is, a modern manifestation of a curse. Not a talisman or a tombstone, but something that works terrifyingly efficiently in the modern era. Teenagers are usually the quickest to embrace new tech, urban legends, drugs, and plenty of things that can kill you. Teenagers are our first on-screen victims of this film, followed by Reiko and her family as she dives into the legend herself almost helplessly, as if she had been entranced by the legend, being supernaturally beckoned by Sadako. Perhaps the scariest thing about the whole story here is how the curse is “dispelled.” Reiko and her estranged ex-husband attempted to solve the mystery by finding the well where Sadako died and revealing the truth of her death, but saving Reiko's life was something they achieved by accident, by Reiko’s own son watching a copy of the tape himself and reliving his mother of the curse by taking it unto himself. Reiko realizes that the only way to save her son is by repeating this process on someone else, such as her own father, thus it is revealed that Sadako’s curse can never truly be dispelled, but only passed off, and with this the curse will stay ever present through memetic reproduction.

Of course, the final TV scene was still mesmerizing for me. I can’t say it packs the same punch on repeat viewings as the surprise is no longer there, but the shot composition and special effects still look great, especially considering it’s from 1998. You’re given the impression that the characters overcame the curse and we’re looking an epilogue, but just as the characters were misled, so was the audience, and the sheer confusion and terror is all utilized very well with the final death of the film. Sadako’s costume design is something I’ve grown to really appreciate, the bits of grotesque body horror sprinkled in really enhance the unsettling vibe her presence has, along with her posture, body movements, and sheer silence. Just chilling, honestly.

Years down the line, the classic still holds up, always nice to see horror that doesn’t rely on jump scares while also not becoming overly pretentious with its allegories and messages.

[cjloogy]

The language was really crazy in this movie, especially when I realized they're working with two varieties of Chinese in both Mandarin and Cantonese. The knowledge of the script writers, director, and cast needed to make the dialogue work with all of them in play is really impressive when you think about it.

And you pointed out some aspects that flew over my head in the end, the druggie lady being an example of a small but influential force in the film (yeah, I'd call it a butterfly effect too) was something I didn't focus on too much, as was the presence of a corpse and the inverted reactions to it between the beginning and end. And as for the color composition here, I feel like that over saturated look really contributed to the surreal atmosphere they had going on, it takes place in an alternate future where Japan has the most powerful currency, so I would wager that it was by design, on top of just looking very striking. Good eye!

Swallowtail Butterfly

This film was certainly a 2 and a half hour rollercoaster ride. I was very impressed by the usage of 3 languages within the same film, I felt that this element added a lot to the discussion of nationality and origin within Japan, as well as addressing groups of chosen belonging. All in all, I rather liked this chaotic film. I doubt it will be one of my favorites but it was certainly entertaining. 

I liked the use of color in this film. Though it did not seem as orchestrated as some of the previous films we watched, it was still used for some of the more major characters and scenes throughout the film. One example is Glico’s red dress. While in theater, primary colors are often used to denote main characters - in this film they are used to show ties to either prostitution or gangs. 

I loved seeing the one druggie prostitute lady who would randomly appear and change the entire course of the film through her tiny actions. *cough* *cough* could it be the BUTTERFLY EFFECT?! Yes, more than likely, I think this woman’s whole purpose in the plot. 

I enjoyed the use of color correction on this film. The over-correction, leading to over saturation in many instances gave the film a vibrant touch that added to the aesthetics of the culture the people of Yentown had created for themselves. 

While it was sad to see Hoi beaten to death (I actually felt very distraught during this scene - the image of police officers willingly and purposefully beating someone to death was horrifying) I did like the symmetry and cyclical nature of starting and ending the film with a corpse. The first corpse is accompanied by an onslaught of emotional mourners surrounding the body, but who only tell lies about the corpse. This is distinctly reversed in the final body scene where everyone remains stoic, but tells the truth about the body.

[cjloogy]

Swallowtail Butterfly – スワロウテイル

A wonderful mess, that’s how I could describe this film. A world that is dirty, cruel, unforgiving, and beautiful all the same.

The movie went on for quite a bit, but it used all of that time pretty wisely to really flesh out the world they were trying to depict, a world showcasing a wide breadth of humanity, extending past nationality, race, class, gender, and language. Really, characters were speaking Japanese, English, Mandarin, or Cantonese, so I’m very impressed with the dialogue and how it was handled here. Language is played around with quite a bit as well, in particular with the name of the city and the immigrants, the city has the nickname of Yen Town (円都, en to), and the immigrants are referred to with a loose homophone Yen Thieves (円盗, en tou) which is anglicized as “Yentown” in dialogue and subtitles. Many different characters clung and clashed with each other in this bizarre but inspiring plot, and if this film did anything well, I think it allowed every character to have their chance to shine.

It's like multiple genres are belnding together to tell this tale. Characters start off mostly supporting one another until they all gain a path to fortune that allows them to realize their various dreams, but this comes at the cost of their solidarity with one another. With Glico we have a distinct musical element, with Ryo Ranki and Fei Hong we have a crime drama, and with Ageha we have something of a social realist journey. While Ryo certainly has some antagonistic qualities, I couldn’t really pin him as the villain, just another character in the film, and in a way the protagonist of his own story, just as any of the central characters were. Everyone is finding their own way, living the lives they want to live the way they want to live them.

One thing that was always shrouded in ambiguity was Ageha and her actual heritage, we never find out if she was Japanese or an Asian immigrant, and this was certainly by design. Her actual bloodline is not important here, she is from Yentown, that is her home and something she learns to hold onto with pride. It’s a bold statement that stands against the stubborn ideology of Japan surrounding racial purity and only valuing a specific birthplace. She manages to find a path forward in life that is fulfilling for herself and allows her to hold those she cares for close to her, and it has nothing to do with her race or nationality, but the resolve she gains from her experiences. She was forced to confront her own set of issues on her own and managed to help the people close to her along the way. Despite how wild the events got, I think her growth and resolve was great to witness, and she ended up being a wonderful protagonist.

In the end the animosity anyone held has vanished, and we were left to wonder how this world might progress in the future, as they left some plotlines up in the air. I don’t think it was necessary to know Ryo Ranki’s fate, or the fate of the other Yentowns. We already saw the most important parts of these characters and what the film really had to say about them, that is their journey, not their destination.

[cjloogy]

Once again you have some wonderful takes and great insight. I LOVED a lot of the elements on display here too, Horibe's artwork in particular was meant to mirror more than just his own story I think, but also tie in with Nishi's. The 自決 painting doubled as both him abandoning his desire to commit suicide by tarnishing it with the splash of crimson paint, while also showing what Nishi and his wife's plans were for their end. It certainly felt a little "in your face" but not obnoxious in the slightest, since it used established visual mediums to convey the information and ideas to us. I'd like to think that thanks to Nishi, Horibe is able to spend his retirement pursuing his desire to paint, and thanks to his paintings, the audience can get a glimpse at Nishi's final desires for him and his life. I really enjoyed digging into character portrayals so far, and I'm excited to see what other people have to say as well.

Hana-bi

That was amazing. Like I have no words to fully describe how awesome that movie was.

Just kidding, I have some words (… that was cringey, I’m aware). But in all seriousness this movie is so well done. I really love Nishi as a character and I love Beat Takeshi’s acting and direction. He regularly employs silence but not as a means to create mystery or suspense. I felt that regardless of whether Nishi was speaking or just sitting in silence with a colleague or his wife, I knew exactly what he was thinking or what he would be saying due to his actions or the way in which other characters would respond or react. He was not a mystery the audience had to figure out but instead a person with motivations that are tragically relatable. For me, the selectiveness of his speech also did not give importance to the words he did speak. If he said something out loud, it was often a simple “Who (are you getting married) to?” or maybe reading out which card his wife was holding up. He was simply a quiet man whose greatest loyalty was to his wife.

I also think the way in which information was revealed was a little confusing but overall had a very powerful effect. At first, I could not tell who was killed after the stakeout, or even if anyone had died. Soon after he was shot, we see Horibe in a wheelchair talking with Nishi. It’s likely that some time has passed, but there is still a lot of missing information about what the entirety of the outcome was. Little by little—either through Nishi visiting people with some relation to the stakeout or his flashbacks—more information is revealed to the audience. I feel that this is done in this way to emphasize the traumatic nature of the event and how it’s not something these men can just talk about or remember. Horibe and Nishi no longer work as investigators either, so they are not just dealing with the event itself, but also are grappling with their new lives and situations.

Lastly, it’s seems important to talk about Horibe and his artwork. I love that he was actually creating these works, and I think the “amateur” nature of them makes them feel more expressive. Almost like his desperation to find a purpose now that he is disabled and out of work is more aptly shown through child-like paintings. The substitution of faces, heads, and fur with flowers maybe represents his isolation from others (they are beautiful flowers often found in groups, whereas his wife and child have left him and he must continue on alone). His later artworks where he draws his family more plainly show his desire to have his family back, maybe representing his acceptance of his circumstances. The snowy scene where he writes 自決 (which not only means suicide, but self-determination) could be him accepting his isolation more and getting out his frustration or sadness with having to suffer in a way that does not bring physical harm to himself. I do not know if this progression is good or bad for his mental health, but I like to hope that he is benefitting from expressing himself without restriction through art...

There are so many other things to talk about, but those are what I pondered the most while watching lol. Can’t wait to hear what people have to say about Nishi’s morality.

[cjloogy]

HANA-BI – はなび

Those damn shades, pretty cool.

I really enjoyed viewing this one, and I think it’s the actual viewing experience that’s key here, rather than the narrative itself which felt mostly peripheral. What was really keeping my attention throughout the film was the atmosphere that was being established, very melancholic and almost surreal at times, certainly in its depiction of violence with the amount of blood getting thrown around. Some of the violence does feel a little absurd, like the amount of blood a guy spits up after a single kick to the face with no other visible bruising or scarring from it, or the jarring cuts from a lunge with chopsticks to the guy being stabbed with them in his eye. While I think it was a bit heavy handed, I’m thinking now that it may have been an intentional effect meant to really draw attention to the moments of violence and death, and these moments felt like they were mirrored by the splash of red paint on Horibe’s suicide painting, showing what all these moments of violence were building up towards. The violence stands in stark contrast to the moments of care and tenderness. Nishi is a main who is haunted by his past, but still feels no greater desire than to see his sick wife happy in her final days. The ways scenes are depicted show his mentality and resolve perfectly, minimal dialogue and obscurity, and all of the motivations are shown through actions rather than words.

As for the ending, I think this was the least ambiguous part of the film, and it’s obvious what actually happened here: Nishi and his wife end their own lives on their own terms. It’s heavily symbolized by Horibe’s last painting at the end of the film, which on one hand shows his abandonment of the desire to kill himself with the splashing of the red paint, while also showing what Nishi and Miyuki are about to do. There’s no point in Nishi continuing his struggles since his wife is already on death’s door, and the Yakuza are set on tracking him down while the police have him pinned for the robbery he committed. He was able to enjoy one last trip with the woman he loves, and the last thing he’s going to do is kill 2 people that still clearly care for his well being and have done nothing to wrong him or the people he cares for. It’s a somber ending, but ultimately one that left me at peace knowing that him and his wife could both see the end together in mutual happiness. I have to admit, the 2 lines from Miyuki really hit me like a truck, and my eyes got a bit misty in it all. I also want to mention that I think it’s pretty clever that a man who was painting surrealist art has his final painting of the film directly foreshadow the reality of the ending.

The film itself had a distinct rhythm that helped everything flow together, and this was all punctuated with a fantastic score, making what could have been otherwise dull scenes really mesmerizing for myself. A couple of things I read up on that I thought made this film much more personal for the director was that the pointillist paintings that Horibe made were made by Kitano himself in reality, in particular while he was recovering from a motorcycle accident that left his face partially paralyzed, and that Kitano’s own daughter shows up in the film as the girl flying the kite at the end.

All in all, this film was really solid, not quite at the top of my list compared to some of the others I’ve seen up until now, but there are aspects here that certainly make me want to dive into the rest of Kitano’s filmography.

[cjloogy]

Some fantastic insight here! The lighting in a lot of the scenes stood out to me as well, and your descriptions of the scene between Sugihara and Tsubaki helped to shine more light on the nuances there. I'm realizing that's a terrible pun now but I'm too lazy to avoid it. I think that sort of technique was used again in the fight scene between father and son as well, they struggle against one another while obscured by the shadows, but when the truth of the reason for becoming South Korean nationals comes out, they're brought back into the light of their shared household. And again when Sugihara and Tsubaki are reunited at the very end in the snowfall, as they both turned and faced the light in unison.

It's ripe with symbolism looking back on it now. There's so many cool elements like that with this film, and I think it really excels as both commentary on discrimination and as sheer entertainment. We've watched a lot of good movies so far, but this might be my favorite too.

Go

This was definitely the most enjoyable movie we have watched thus far in class. I loved the film. I felt very invested in Sugihara’s development throughout the film and was genuinely excited to see what would happen next. 10/10 going to be one of my favorite films from this course. 

The Cult of Catcher in the Rye

The novel, Catcher in the Rye was not only a huge success in America but became hugely popular in Japan as well as a classic novel for high school education. While Sugihara isn’t actually reading the novel during the film, the mention of it does hint towards the final resolution of the plot. In the novel, the general arc of the plot revolves around the protagonist realizing that he has to let go of his childhood and move on into adulthood. Just like in the novel, Sugihara comes to the realization that he has to make a decision about his future and chooses to study and go to college.

Lighting in Confrontations

During the scene where Sugihara tells Tsubaki his real nationality and name, Sugihara is seen casting a dark shadow over most of Tsubaki’s face as he becomes a dark silhouette against the light from the window. Once he tells Tsubaki this, Sugihara faces the light since he no longer has anything to hide. The dramatic lighting in this scene not only heightens the emotion of the climax, but also lets the viewer see visually the feeling of coming into the light after hiding.

Crossing Boarders

My favorite detail with the set of this film is the gate to the playground that Sugihara and Tsubaki jump over on their date. The first time the boarder of the gate is present, both kids jump over it without thinking since at this point boarders and nationalities hold no importance to them. They are just kids being kids. Yet, in the final scene once both characters have “grown up into adults”, Tsubaki has already crossed the gate and makes no move to come back over the gate upon Sugihara’s arrival. Sugihara, on the other hand, doesn’t cross the boarder of the gate. Instead, he yells across until he confirms what Tsubaki thinks his nationality is. With this confirmed, he makes a show of crossing the boarder - this show of being able to exist in both worlds displays what Sugihara thinks of himself in regards to his nationality.

[cjloogy]

Go

Hot damn this movie oozes that 2000s edge that I cherish so much.

Zainichi culture and history is something that interests me, as does the history of biracial citizens and foreign nationals in general, so watching this story that centers around a young half Korean dude was interesting on its own, but his own story beyond his racial and ethnic identity is what kept me hooked. Great characters all around, gritty and real, but never so much so that it pulled me out of the moment. I got invested in them all pretty quickly, the moment Jeong-il left the picture I felt heartbroken! That was my boy, and there he went, only seeing the visions of his close friend running off towards that freedom and liberation they both shared a dream of one day attaining. I had some genuinely visceral reactions towards the latter half of the film, things here were absolutely hitting me like a truck.

Honestly, I feel like there aren’t too many movies out there that center around the zainichi, especially those from Japanese filmmakers. This one really did well to explore the discrimination that happens between Asian countries, it did well not to showcase only Japanese-Korean relations, but also the conflict of ideologies between North Koreans and South Koreans, given that in order to have more relative freedom even as a foreigner, Koreans need to claim that they are South Korean nationals, and not North, regardless of their heritage. This is where part of the conflict for the zainichi Sugihara really comes from, in that he can never really abandon where he came from, even pursuing life in Japan and claiming to be a national of South Korea, it won’t stop the discrimination he’ll face for pretty much the rest of his life. Life will never stop being an uphill battle. I thought the movie delivered this story well, functioning great as both commentary and entertainment, avoiding anything too tropey or melodramatic I usually expect from stories like these, characters usually get straight to the point and the acting really drives each scene home. Shot compositions and score are pretty good as well. The score isn’t mesmerizing, but it hits all the notes it needs to at the right moments to boot. And a lot of the more action-oriented scenes are shot really well and were easy to keep up with, especially that introduction, really nice sequencing and editing there.

From the outset to the ending, I think this film is special, not many stories kick off with the main character drop kicking his own basketball team. You start to wonder why the hell he’s going off the rails like this, and the film jumps back a bit to show the setup which quickly establishes what’s going to happen that leads to it. He’s a Korean guy trying to attend a Japanese school, he’s going to face discrimination and he’s not going to take it sitting down. At all. Escaping his bubble of indoctrination is important to him, he’s not letting anyone get in the way of that. Identity crisis and struggles with your heritage are what seems to run deep here, but in the end, we get what the intro promised: a love story. And a pretty well maintained one I would say. Watching Sakurai’s and Sugihara’s relationship develop was really engrossing and complimented just about every thematic and story beat really well, especially considering it brought his ethnicity and the discrimination surrounding it into the spotlight. All of the relationships resolve well in the end, and ultimately fells more optimistic for the future of these kinds of relations, which is always refreshing to see.

[cjloogy]

I have to disagree on the film lacking any sort of core themes or messages, maybe it's because it's more focused on its humor than stating this message too bluntly or clearly? The humor is all funny sure, I certainly think humor can stand on its own just fine and justify itself with being funny alone, but in this film it all served to deliver a message concerning this sort of culinary egalitarianism, in that good food can be and should be appreciated by everyone regardless of class or creed without any reservations, and this extends to how life in general should be enjoyed without reservations. I think all of the little side stories did well to convey that, one that comes to mind right now is the one lady teaching her class of young women how to eat spaghetti "properly" as a foreigner would, only for an actual foreigner in the restaurant they're in to eat the same spaghetti dish very loudly, showing the young women that it simply doesn't matter. "He's enjoying his meal the way he wants, so why shouldn't we?" Being clearly a western in its nature, I think it centers around various "outlaws" when it comes to food and culinary culture. They don't abide by the rules and preconceptions that surround them, and seek their own personal liberties to enjoy life the way they want, which I find surprisingly profound for a comedy about a ramen shop.

Tampopo

Tampopo was a fun watch for me, but I’m glad we did not have to watch it with the rest of the class because there were some saucy bits in there I would not feel comfortable watching with a group of 20+ people. Tampopo is a comedy movie about a struggling widow trying to perfect the perfect ramen recipe in order to build a successful shop, and with how boring that plot sounds, it was crazy to see what Itami Juzo did to keep us on our seats.

Initial Reactions

For starters, it was interesting to see a young Ken Watanabe playing the role of Gun in the movie. It seems that in American cinema, there isn’t a large number of Japanese/Japanese-American superstars in the acting field, and so seeing Ken Watanabe made me feel glad that someone was able to break through that mold.

I also liked the irony in the beginning of the movie, where the “Man in the Suit” (for lack of a better term) chastises others for eating loud foods during a movie, despite the fact that the movie we’re about to watch is about ramen, a notoriously slurpy food. This character also has some of the best and strangest scenes, although I do hold some reservations about his morality, as the weird oyster scene with the young girl seems like he’s grooming her, which was kind of disgusting.

An interesting part of the movie that hopefully we might see in subsequent films is the inspiration it took from other films we have already seen. This is most notable in the formation of a ragtag ensemble of ramen experts being Seven Samurai-esque, and the whole film having a Western feel to it, with Goro’s cowboy outfit being the focal point of this. This really reinforces the impact of the old films we watched, and I much enjoyed it.

Themes/Analysis

To be completely honest, I couldn’t really pinpoint any themes that I felt were worth writing about. The determination of Tampopo to be the very best ramen cook (that no one ever was) might be the clearest theme to look at, but I feel as if analysis about that has been written into the ground already, as that’s a central plotline in so many movies. However, I feel something that might be worth writing about for this movie might be the that we don’t need themes to enjoy films, especially comedies. I didn’t go watch Ghostbustersto learn a deep lesson, and I don’t think Tampopo needs this level of analysis either; it’s just a fun movie with unique shots and stories that make it enjoyable to watch.

Final Thoughts

Tampopo is definitely up there in my rankings of movies for this class, despite the fact that it didn’t drive home a central message or have an overarching theme. It was a fun watch with wacky characters, even wackier hijinks, and beautiful food that made me hungry for some ramen.