ugetsuwasmid

[ugetsuwasmid]

As a fellow enjoyer of Japanese animation, I too appreciated the animation of this film and that the artists and animators did not fall into the pitfalls that many of todays seasonal anime fall into with taking shortcuts and cutting corners. I was also able to identify the same themes in the film as you did, namely greed, environmentalism, and identity, and your insight into these themes helped me better contextualize my own. I do have to disagree with you on the film being overhyped however.

Spirited Away - Miyazaki

For this blog post I will be discussing Spirited Away by Miyazaki. I, unlike most people, had not seen a Miyazaki film until I watched Spirited Away in this class. I always thought “I’ll get around to it eventually”, and it would always be on the end of an infinite anime backlog.

It was about what I expected in terms of story and animation. The story was simple, but was engaging enough for the purposes of the movie. Considering that this movie was made for children I guess you probably should not expect anything too complex in terms of story or themes. I feel like the highlight of the movie was by far the animation. Everything seemed to be just teeming with life and it really captured your attention. I, being an enjoyer of anime myself, like Tarantino in Sukiyaki Western Django, am familiar with the animation shortcuts and tropes. It never felt like they were skimping out on animation or using a still frame while just moving a mouth for a frame or two. The animation also never felt choppy, so there were not any moments I noticed where it felt like a slide show (like when you are playing an online game with a poor connection and the frames drop). Everything very fluid and you could really feel movement in the world of Spirited Away. The character that best exemplifies this would be Haku when he is in his dragon form and is flying through the sky.

In terms of the movies themes, the first one I thought of was identity. Chihiro’s name was stolen by Yubaba when she signs the contract for the job. While it prevents her from turning into an animal, it makes her lose her name (which is what traps people in this spirit world). Haku the river spirit remembers Chihiro’s name which is what allows her to be able to try and escape the spirit world. Similarly Chihiro is able to remember Haku’s name, in turn freeing him. Essentially the movie tries to show why it’s important to remember who you are.

The movie also briefly commentate on pollution and the environment with the stink spirit. The stink spirit wasn’t actually a stink spirit at all, but was a great river spirit. Chihiro cleans it in the bath and pulls out a bunch of trash out of it, which revealed its true nature. It wasn’t a small amount of trash; it was an entire mountain of trash. This may be a criticism of the pollution of water by things such as chemicals and plastics, which is a persistent problem throughout the world.

The movie also teaches a lesson about greed, since the parents are turned into pigs for eating the spirit’s food. I don’t know why they ate the food in a place that was obviously creepy. I would not eat some random unattended food in a place without any people, the food would obviously seem suspicious.

The music in the movie was really good, especially the orchestrated themes. It really helped me to get invested in the world and the action of the movie. It honestly reminded me a bit of The Great Ace Attorney soundtrack (大逆転裁判).

Overall I enjoyed the movie a lot. I did feel that it was a bit overhyped; I thought it was good, but not one of the best movies I’ve ever seen. Perhaps its because I don’t have the nostalgia for it since I never watched it when I was younger. Regardless it is a very solid movie.

[ugetsuwasmid]

Miyazaki - Spirited Away

There are few films that exist that can be described as truly magical, yet magic is the legacy of Miyazaki’s work. Miyazaki’s works with studio Ghibli include such standouts in the film industry as Castle in the Sky, My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki’s Delivery Service, Princess Mononoke, Howl’s Moving Castle, Ponyo, and, of course, the ever ubiquitous Spirited Away. At it’s core, Spirited Away is a love story. The choices that Chihiro/Sen made throughout her journey in the spirit world were informed solely by her love for Haku and for her parents. Although at the outset of the film, Chihiro is a nervous and timid child, in pursuing her goal of saving Haku and her parents from the control of the witch Yubaba, Chihiro draws upon her inner strength and develops the confidence to fulfill her quest in restoring Haku and her parents. All the while, the film is colored with themes of environmentalism and the harm of greed. Chihiro’s parents are turned into pigs for greedily and mindlessly stealing huge amounts of the spirit’s food. The stink spirit the Chihiro cleans is actually an ancient river spirit that has been poisoned by human pollution while Haku is a river spirit who can never return to his river as it has been completely destroyed through human intervention. Even the spirits are not free of greed, and it is the greed and gluttony of the bath house staff that corrupts No Face. A large part of Chihiro’s journey is spent making amends for and cleaning up the harm caused by greed.

While the film features thematic depth in its story as well as a rich cast of complex and unique characters, Spirited Away and the works of Studio Ghibli can best be described as sensory experiences. The food is so richly colored and textured that the audience can almost taste it while the while the physical scenery is so well textured and defined that the audience can almost feel what it is like to be within the realm of the spirits. The score is absolutely timeless and captivates the audience’s spirits and emotions. Above all else, Spirited Away is a visual masterpiece. The animation is smooth yet highly stylized in such a way to give the characters and scenery a unique level of emotiveness and expressiveness. The world is vibrantly colored while the scenery is diverse and expansive. Despite the massive scale of the set-pieces, careful attention has been paid to the most minute detail down to the individual drop of water or insignificant background character. So many times during my viewing of this film I found myself ignoring the focus of the scenes and just admiring the small details from Chihiro’s reflection in the glass window of the train to the way the shadows and lighting seamlessly combined to give physical depth to what should’ve been a two dimensional world. The film comes to life in front of the audience’s very eyes and brings the magic to life too. It really is no wonder why Studio Ghibli has an exclusive dubbing and distribution deal with the magic mongers themselves over at the house of mouse.

Normally at this point in my reviews I give my final opinion on how a film made me feel and whether or not I would recommend the film to anyone or watch it again. This time and this time alone I truly feel that I should not need to recommend Spirited Away, or any Ghibli film for that matter, to anyone. Miyazaki is timeless. Ghibli is timeless. Spirited Away is timeless, and I can give it no other final review than this: Japanese film, as we have discussed for this course, tends to be defined by films directed in Japan that are informed by Japanese culture, history, society, and social trends. Japanese film, then, is infused with and captures the spirit of Japan. The films of Hayao Miyazaki, the films of Studio Ghibli, and the film Spirited Away perfectly capture, in its purest form, the spirit of humanity.

[ugetsuwasmid]

I disagree with your viewpoint on the use of English in the film. I did not think that it acted as a barrier of entry for my enjoyment of the film, and considering that we have already seen an English-language film for this class and that English language films are not entirely rare for Japanese cinema, I do not believe that English with subtitles would act as too much of a barrier for native Japanese audiences either. That said, I do agree with your opinions on Quentin Toronto and that terrible accent he did at the beginning of the film, and the final duel certainly was a highlight of the film

Sukiyaki Western Django

This was certainly a film! Truthfully, I’m not really sure what to think of this film, it’s an over the top and violent take on the spaghetti western that feels unique despite doing nothing significantly new or innovative. It is exactly the sort of film I would like yet I wasn’t completely won over by. I think my biggest issue with the film is the fact that it’s in english. This was a very odd decision in my opinion, as the dialogue was often hard to understand (the subtitles did not help lol) and often came across as clunky. I would guess that they made the film in english to make it resemble a western more but I feel that this decision alienates viewers from it, as japanese audiences can’t relate to the language and western audiences can’t relate to the culture present within the traditional western setting. I feel like this decision was also made so that Quinjet Tarantula could be in but then he is also one of the only characters who speaks japanese in the film. It would have been much better (cooler?) if everyone had spoken japanese and he had been the only one to speak english.  Also Quizlet Tornado did NOT need to do that accent fr, what did the film gain from that??? literally nothing.

(he’s so ugly lmaoo)

Honestly, my favourite part of the whole movie was the final duel. The whole room went silent during that scene makes me think that most people feel the same way. 

For me this was the one scene in which the western and Japanese themes blended together best. The duel is something seen in both westerns and samurai movies and using a gun against a sword is pretty badass (although a bit one sided as we saw).

Conceptually, I think this film is really cool, I just don’t think it was executed to its full potential. 

[ugetsuwasmid]

Miike - Sukiyaki Western Django

Sukiyaki Western Django is a modern masterpiece. This triumph of the Western genre acts as a love letter to the tropes and legacy of the films that preceded it. Loosely remaking Sergio Corbucci’s 1966 spaghetti western “Django”, Sukiyaki Western Django follows a man with no name who enters into a town caught in the middle of two rival gangs. After finding out about the origin of the gangs arriving in town and hearing about a young boy who is the offspring of members of both gangs, the nameless man decides to fight both gangs. Aided by a retired gunslinger named Bloody Benten, the nameless man sets the gangs against eachother then confronts their remnants in town by luring them out with gold. Although Bloody Benten dies while killing one of the leaders, the nameless man is able to successfully liberate the town before passing control of the gold and the town to the young boy who eventually grows up and moves to Italy where he is known as “Django”.

Sukiyaki Western Django adapts many of the tropes of the Western genre, from a nameless stranger to the shootouts to the raid on the wagon train to the final duel in the middle of town, it is clear that this film is very well informed about the genre that it draws from. The film features a number of call-backs to the original 1966 “Django”, notably the inclusion of a gatling gun hidden in a coffin as well as a Japanese language rendition of the original “Django” theme. The film also noticeably has American director Quentin Tarantino play a role; Tarantino would later go on to produce his own adaptation of “Django” titled “Django Unchained”. 

The inclusion of Tarantino also highlights the similarity between Tarantino and Miike with their hyper-violent film style. Sukiyaki Western Django features a number of action set-pieces and the violence is never censored. If anything the excessive bloodshed as well as the injuries specific characters suffer give the film a campy, comedic feel despite the serious tone of the story and the main character. Thematically, the film seems to mimic the themes of the western genre by focusing on freedom, “justice”, and self-determination. The main-character stays to fight in order to “settle the score” and to protect the young boy. On the subject of the young boy, his connection to both gangs being symbolized by the roses had thematic potential, but ended up falling flat. The young boy is set free from the pain of the past by the nameless stranger, and as the young boy realizes that he is free to choose his own future, the third rose finally blooms: riveting. All jokes aside, the themes of this film are present but not prevalent, however that does not detract from the quality or enjoyment factor of the film.

At the end of the day, Sukiyaki Western Django is truly a love-letter to the western genre. It is campy, serious, reverential, irreverent, western, Japanese. It is so many things rolled into one, a true melting-pot of cultural and artistic influence, and the film succeeds in so many ways. I personally will be watching this film again, and I highly recommend it to anyone who wants a fun watch, or to anyone who wants to watch a good western.

[ugetsuwasmid]

I personally am not a fan of horror movies, and I also did not enjoy the movie quite as much as you did. That said, I am interested in the interpretations that you managed to draw from the film. I had not considered the potential themes of the film such as a connection between the depth and mystery that the sea holds being compared to the depth and potential danger of digital media. I also had not considered that Yoichi’s viewing of the curse may have somehow been influenced by a desire to connect with his mom. Overall though, I did not get the same enjoyment or mental stimulation from this film that you did, but I respect your enjoyment and your thoughts on the film.

Ring

I am a BIG fan of horror movies. However, for some reason I’ve only watched American remakes of Japanese horror films like Ring or The Grudge, and not the original movies themselves. This made me excited to finally watch Ringu, an excitement that was not let down as this was one of the best movies we’ve watched. It was tight, it was creepy, and most of all, it was interesting.

Initial Reactions

For starters, the pacing in this movie was insanely good. With a runtime of only 90 minutes, Nakata manages to pack so much in there that there isn’t a single moment where I felt bored and was waiting for the next scene to roll around. Some of the movies we’ve had to watch have been slogs, but this one kept you on your toes at all moments.

One thing I especially liked about this movie is that we don’t really see Sadako or how she kills her victims until the end. I think the touch of mystery really elevates this, adding a heightened tension that wasn’t seen in earlier movies, especially in the typical slasher films that preceded this one. Plus, something that was lost in the American remake was that they decided to show Sadako’s (or in the film, Samara’s) face in the end, which was just a Linda Blair, The Exorcist rip-off, and I think just leaving it to just Sadako’s eye made it a bit scarier, since I don’t think I would have been frightened by a sneering fourteen-year-old.

Themes/Analysis

One of the major motifs in this movie is technology. Sadako’s curse is motivated through the viewing of a VHS tape, and the video must be spread in order to avert death. However, I don’t think this a critique on the influence of media in our lives, but instead the movie is showing the television as a gateway to something much deeper, much akin to the power of the sea also seen in this movie.

A good way of interpreting horror movies is looking at what the monsters symbolize within the movie, like how in Babadook, the titular monster is representative of the mother’s struggles in raising her son. In this vein, Sadako can also represent this: Reiko’s struggles with raising Yoichi. Yoichi is constantly forced to live independently, despite being a literal child, and is constantly disconnected from his mother. This is further added on to as Reiko becomes obsessed over the tape and the mystery, and it seems that the only way Yoichi could connect with her is by watching the tape himself, putting his life at risk (albeit unknowingly) just for his mother’s attention. Reiko never really does anything for Yoichi until the tape forces her to.

Final Thoughts

This is a great movie. I think the part that makes it stand out to me when compared to other movies is that it was incredibly engaging, as most horror movies are since they’re built to keep you on your toes. However, this one takes it up a notch by keeping the truly scary part (how they die) under wraps until the end.

[ugetsuwasmid]

Nakata - Ringu

Hideo Nakata’s Ringu is a very specific kind of horror film. Not reliant on cheap thrills, the story of Ringu instead focuses on the mystery of the monster, Sadako. As a result, the film seems to have a lot more substance than most horror films and the frightening moments of the film feel like a natural part of the story as well as being somewhat frightening. The story follows Asakawa, a journalist investigating rumors of a cursed video that kills people after 7 days. Following the death of her niece, Asakawa recruits her ex-husband who is later revealed to have psychic powers to help her investigate. The two track the source of the video to Oshima where they discover the truth about a young woman who was studied for her psychic powers only for her daughter, Sadako, to develop the power to kill people. Asakawa and her husband attempt to track down Sadako’s remains in order to break the curse, and, at first, they believe they succeeded. That is until Asakawa’s husband is killed by the curse and his ghost helps her realize the real way to break the curse is to copy the video and show it to someone else. Knowing that her son had watched the tape, Asakawa drives to pick up her son from her father’s house while calling her father to ask him for “a favor”.

In general, Ringu was a very “meh” film. It features a fairly generic horror plot, acting that is decent but not groundbreaking, cinematography that is well done but nothing extraordinary, among other elements. In short, the film is a solid 6 out of 10: perfectly acceptable for popcorn entertainment but lacking in the depth or quality needed to make a film worth discussing. I would watch it again but I would not go out of my way to watch it nor would I recommend it to a friend unless they just want a quick watch.

[ugetsuwasmid]

I totally get what you’re saying when you mention that this film feels like a dystopian, Japanese GTA, specifically it feels like GTA5 online. I thought the constant switching of languages, while indeed hard to get used to, was a really cool choice to make in a film involving characters from multiple different national backgrounds. Honestly, I wish more movies followed suit and incorporated the use of other languages in a similarly natural and logical way. Overall I also enjoyed this film, though I agree with you that it was not one of the favorites.

Swallowtail Butterfly

Thoughts/First Impressions:

Where do I start with this movie? It was so strange, but oddly still pretty good? The basic plot of Swallowtail Butterfly is that there is a group of outcasts living in a dystopian version of Japan known as “Yentowns.” This group of people is discriminated against and the group seems to be composed of people from different nationalities, with many Chinese characters present in the film as well as a couple that seem American. The film mainly follows an orphan Yentown who initially has no name, but is eventually given the name Ageha by her new “sister,” Glico. The film follows Ageha and Glico as a whole chain of events occur, including Glico becoming a music star, the group getting involved with the Chinese mafia, and Ageha finding her place among her new “family.” The plot was kind of weird and all over the place, but entertaining nonetheless. The characters were pretty cool. I liked Frank, the mechanic guy who just started shooting the squad of Chinese mafia guys and took out the squad leader. He was pretty cool. The cinematography was really good in some scenes, and the music was pretty good. I didn’t really like Glico’s singing :(. One thing that took some getting used to was the constant switching between Japanese, Chinese, and English. I don’t think I’ve ever watched a film where the language switches as often as this one. I think this is a good movie, but not one of my favorites. It sort of feels like dystopian, Japanese GTA.

Themes/Interpretation:

I don’t really see a message in this film. I might have to watch it again, but I get the vibe that the director just wanted to tell a cool crime story set in dystopian Japan. I could see the message of the film being one of perseverance. Ageha loses her mom at the beginning of the film and has nobody. Soon after, she finds Glico and bonds with her as well as the other characters that they encounter. Ageha goes from being an emotionless slate to actually having character and people she cares about. Ageha builds a “family” over the course of the film. Even as a disadvantaged Yentown, Ageha continues to find her way in the world, and that is pretty admirable. 

Final Thoughts:

Swallowtail Butterfly was pretty good. If I ever found it again, I’d probably give it another watch. I really liked the intro monologue, though. Something about it was hilarious to me. Maybe because they said “Yentown” like 30 times in a minute :).

[ugetsuwasmid]

Iwai - Swallowtail Butterfly

Shunji Iwai’s Swallowtail butterfly is a pseudo-dystopian drama set in future Japan. Mainly taking place in Yen Town, an area of Tokyo populated by immigrants who came to Japan to make it rich, the film follows Ageha, a young girl who gets taken in by a yen-town prostitute named Glico as Ageha, Glico, and other Yen Towns pursue their goals. One day, the group accidentally kills a mob member while defending Ageha from the members attempted assault. As the group hides the body they stumble across a tape containing Frank Sinatra’s hit “My Way” as well as the magnetic data for print currency. Using this, the group is able to produce enough counterfeit money to begin pursuing their goals. As time passes, the group begins going their separate ways as Glico becomes a pop sensation, Mei Fong opens a nightclub, and Ageha begins a gang of her own. While all of this is happening, the mod attempts to hunt down the tape so they too can begin a counterfeit operation. The group is brought back together as things go south for all of them, and ultimately they end where they started right back in yen-town. 

Swallowtail butterfly is a long, dense film with a multitude of plotlines, thematic elements, and characters. The film deals with themes of identity, trauma, class-struggle, and family to name just a few. The film emphasizes the sense of connection and unity between the yen-towns through a shared sense of struggle and a shared mistreatment by the upper-class. It is when the yen-towns strike it rich and are able to separately pursue their own goals that they begin encountering life-threatening danger and hardship. This shared danger robs them of their good fortunes but also forces them to reunite with one another and come back together to begin life again within yen-town as a unified group. The reunification brings with it a sense of solidarity and hope represented by a repetition of the films opening narration for the closing narration. While the opening narration tonally portrays Yen-Town as a derelict, depressing environment, the closing narration portrays it as beautiful, diverse, and hopeful. 

The film also incorporates elements of identity shown best through the mention of the “third culture kids”. Because Yen-Town consists of people from multiple different countries they are seen as being not-Japanese. At the same time however, many of these immigrants have been living within yen-town for multiple generations and therefore some “Yen-towns” have absolutely no connection with their families nation of origin. Iwai introduces a question of, “Are people born inside yen-town Japanese or immigrants?” and answers that question with the statement that they are neither. Their shared identity comes from and creates a “third culture” that is uniquely their own. As an aside, it is interesting that this film was included so soon after the inclusion of “Go” within the classes discography, as both deal with issues of identity, belonging, and separation from nation of origin.

Overall, there is so much that could be said about this film, so much so, that this blog post was kept intentionally short. I loved this film and have many ideas about it that I plan to write about for my essay later. As a result, for now all I have to say is that this was such a fun and interesting film to watch and I would highly recommend it to people.

[ugetsuwasmid]

Nishi really is a sympathetic character. The film does a great job portraying him as this tragic yet stoic figure who really only wants his wife to be comfortable. What makes that even sadder is that the only reason he is pulled into the violence with the yakuza is because he borrowed money to pay for his wife’s treatment. I also agree with you that Horibe’s story was very powerful. One of the things I found out after watching the movie is that the art that Horibe makes after his paralysis was actually painted by Takeshi himself while he was recovering from a motorcycle accident, which to me makes Horibe’s story feel more powerful.

HANA-BI [Takeshi Kitano]

Initial Thoughts

Immediately this movie got me excited with the starting music. I recognized Joe Hisaishi’s music instantly and it was nice to hear his music style in a film other than Ghibli ones. This movie was surprisingly solemn yet charming. All of the characters were really engaging and I enjoyed seeing their stories. The only thing I was confused about was when events were taking place. It took me a while to realize what was in the past and what was in the present. It was also a bit jarring to have the overdone violence contrasted with this peaceful slice of life, but it didn’t detract from the movie overall.

My Interpretation

This movie had a lot going on it yet with was pretty slow-paced which I enjoyed. It had a good balance of comedic, action, and somber moments. I thought that the story overall was very compelling and interesting to watch. Even though Nishi is violent and kills people, you still feel sympathetic for him as a protagonist. His story reminded me a lot of John Wick because most of this film is him just wanting to spend time with his wife peacefully and help out his friends. I drew a lot of parallels because both films have a stoic main character that just kicks butt the whole film because people keep bothering him. As the audience, we feel sympathy for Nishi because we know he doesn’t want to keep fighting people, but the yakuza keep bothering him which makes him have to act. We want to see Nishi just spend as much time with his wife before she dies, and seeing the scenes where they spend time together is really lovely. Their interactions were so sweet and genuine that when Nishi is confronted with violence you want him to succeed and leave unscathed so he can be with his wife again.

The story-line about Horibe was one that was very powerful to me. Showing his feelings and how he copes with them through his art was really strong to me as an artist. The scene where he stares at the flowers and it switches to show his art made me tear up. It’s hard to explain why it made me feel such strong emotions, but I think art just has that kind of power. Seeing his artistic abilities improve and seeing him experiment with new styles was also nice to see in the film. I learned that the paintings were actually done by Takeshi while he was recovering from an incident that left half of his face paralyzed. Knowing that, it gives even more meaning to that aspect of the film.

Overall, this film was really well done and I enjoyed it greatly. It had a lot of aspects that kept me interested, but overall the characters were the main reasons I kept watching.

[ugetsuwasmid]

Kitano - Hana-bi

The 1997 film Hana-bi, released in the west as “Fireworks”, by Takeshi Kitano is a subtly beautiful film. The story primarily focuses on Nishi, an ex-detective who retired from police-work after an incident that caused his partner to be paralyzed from the waist down as well as two other cops to be injured or killed. With Nishi out of work and his wife receiving treatment for leukemia, Nishi takes out a loan from the yakuza in order to make ends meet. When the mob begins pressuring Nishi to pay back his debts, he buys a used taxi, paints it like a police cruiser, and proceeds to pull a heist. After successfully making off with the money, Nishi sends some of it to the wife of the cop that died during the earlier incident and then takes his wife on a vacation to the beach. The yakuza and cops, both having realized that Nishi pulled the heist, follow him. As the police confront their former colleague on the beach, he asks for a moment alone with his wife before they arrest him, during which time the film closes with Nishi and his wife standing on the beach before the sound of two gunshots are heard.

The core theme of Hana-bi is that of mortality. Early in the film it is established that Nishi is no stranger to mortality. His wife has been battling terminal Leukemia, and their family had only recently gone through the loss of a daughter. Later, Nishi is the only one to walk away unscathed from an incident involving an armed suspect that paralyzes his partner, Horibe, injures one officer, and kills another. The resulting guilt weighs heavily on Nishi throughout the film. Nowhere is the theme of mortality more present than in the journey of Horibe, whose family abandons him after his paralysis despite him having previously been a loving husband and doting father. This abandonment leaves Horibe deeply depressed, and he attempts suicide. For both Nishi and Horibe, mortality looms over them like a spectre, yet they each respond their mortality and the mortality of others in their own ways. Nishi is often shown in quiet contemplation, and he shows his wife much devotion, tenderness, and care. Nishi also takes personal responsibility to take care of the widow of the officer that died, meeting with her at times and sending her money after the robbery is successful. Despite his generally sympathetic and calm disposition, Nishi’s actions and life are punctuated by outbursts of extreme violence and bloodshed. Nishi’s violence, however, is always focused and has a specific goal in mind. As for Horibe, his injuries and resulting paralysis set him on the path of depression and an eventual suicide attempt. After this, Horibe picks up the hobby of painting and creates surrealist works of animals with their heads and eyes replaced by flowers. These paintings are themselves symbolic of mortality, as the flower is, like a firework, only a brief but beautiful existence. In the end, the film does not have a conclusive message on how one should face mortality, but it instead shows that the beauty of life can be appreciated despite how brief it is.

[ugetsuwasmid]

Yukisada - Go

Isao Yukisada’s 2001 film Go tells the coming of age story of Sugihara, a young korean-japanese delinquent born and raised in Japan. The film follows Sugihara as he transitions through life from a junior-high student in a Korean school to a high-school student in a Japanese school and eventually into college all the while trying to come to terms with what he wants out of life. Sugihara fights, brawls, and sprints his way through life until he meets Sakurai, a young Japanese girl whom he starts dating. Through a series of events in his life including the death of his friend Jong Il, separating with Sakurai due to him being Korean, speaking with a Japanese police officer and having a brawl with his drunken father, Sugihara makes up his mind to go to college and study hard, giving up his delinquent ways and reuniting with Sakurai.

Go as a film is primarily concerned with labels, distinctions, and definitions. This is made evident from the very first scene where Sugihara’s basketball team gives him trouble for being Korean so he starts a fight. Later, his father tells Sugihara that he will be changing nationality from North Korean to South Korean in order to travel to Hawai’i. At the Korean school, students are prohibited from speaking Japanese and are punished with physical abuse, and Sugihara is labeled a “race traitor” when it is revealed that Sugihara will be moving to a Japanese school. Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet plays a minor role in the film through the line “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell just as sweet”, which, in the context of the play, disparages the use of labels as a means of dividing people. Later in the film, while eating dinner with Sakurai’s family, Sugihara points out that no one really knows what “Japan” means or really where the name comes from, and, even later when speaking to Jong Il, Sugihara mentions that, even for the people of Japan, if they traced their heritage far enough back they would find common ancestors, not a clear division. The dialogue about labels and definitions comes to a head when Jong Il is murdered by a Japanese student and Sugihara is once again called a “race traitor” by his old classmate and warned not to go to school the next day. Later, after confessing to Sakurai that he is half Korean, Sugihara is compelled to leave Sakurai after her strong negative reaction. It is on the way home from Sakurai’s that Sugihara meets a Japanese Police officer and knocks him out in fear that he will be arrested. Regretting his actions, Sugihara waits for the officer to regain consciousness and has a drink and a smoke with him. It is during this conversation that Sugihara is reminded that labels and definitions are pointless if they only exist to divide people, as he realizes he and the police officer are quite similar and even share similar misgivings about the labels that they have been assigned. Later, Sugihara has a fight with his dad that results in him getting beaten badly, but his father shares a final piece of wisdom with him, saying something along the lines of “it’s time for your generation to take the lead” Ultimately, the film concludes on the theme that the younger generation does not need to be constrained by the same distinctions and labels as previous generations, and instead should strive to live in a world beyond labels or as Sugihara puts it “a world without borders.”

I found this film to be very enjoyable. It’s high-energy, fast-paced start instantly sucked me in and then its compelling dialogue on labels and definitions kept me engaged. Although I found some things to gripe about during my watch, for the most part I just sat back and enjoyed the show. While other films had much more technical prowess, more acclaimed stories, grander scale, or whatever other metrics are used to measure film quality, Go still leaves an impression on me. I could see myself recommending this film to others, and I could very much see myself watching it again.

[ugetsuwasmid]

I personally thought this film was very chaotic and hard to get into, so its very interesting to read the reaction of someone who enjoyed it. I had never considered that the film could be interpreted as a documentary on trans culture in 1960s Japan, but now that you have mentioned it I can look back in retrospect and say I understand where you are coming from. Overall, I still do not quite understand this film and as a result it was hard for me to find it enjoyable, but your perspective on the film certainly has made me think about the film more.

Funeral Parade of Roses

Being a big fan of surreal, experimental new wave films, going into this film I had high expectations as to the level of “weird” I would experience, but this movie blew it out of the water. Funeral Parade of Roses is an exercise in storytelling, full of 4th wall breaks, wild shots, and a level of weirdness only outdone by a John Waters film (which is a very high bar!!!)

Initial Reaction

This film was a watch and a half. Everything from the experimental shot halfway through the film that is an upside down, distorted shot of Eddie interwoven with Guevara, to the rodeo style catfight between Eddie and Leda, there is so much audio-visual stimulation that there wasn’t a moment you were allowed to be bored. I think my favorite part of the movie was the fight between the “regular” women and Eddie’s crew, the weird dance crew poses the girls were flexing as well as the clown music in the background made it a pretty enjoyable scene. Also, I don’t know what the symbol on the girls’ arms were supposed to be, I honestly think it was just a face made out of hiragana?

Analysis/Some “Deeper Thoughts”

Toshio Matsumoto is an incredibly experimental artist. Since I have the pleasure of presenting about him tomorrow, I took a look at his other works and wow, if you thought this movie was weird, you should have seen the one where he films a toilet in neon colors for eight minutes.

Matsumoto uses an analysis of meaning that isn’t just objective or isn’t purely emotional, but instead blends these two in order to produce a higher level that tries to capture the true reality of a subject matter. With that being said, Funeral Parade of Roses can be interpreted as a documentary on the reality of transgenderism in late 60s Japan. The objectivity of this experience can be found in the story: the environment of gay-bars, being harassed, and the struggle of being recognized as women by CIS-women, while the inner-meaning and subjectivity can be found in the abstract shots that Matsumoto used and the emotion derived from them.

The plotline adaptation of Oedipus Rex is also much to think about. The inversion of gender when compared to the original story is an interesting switch that I think might be used to reinforce the flexibility of gender itself. Also, I would argue that the true mother figure that parallels Oedipus’s “father” was actually Leda. Within the story of Oedipus Rex, Oedipus kills his father in response to being blocked by him, which can be paralleled within the movie as Leda being in the path of Eddie becoming the new Madame. Oedipus directly killing his father can also be related to Eddie being directly responsible for Leda’s obsolescence, a contributing factor to her suicide.

Final Thoughts

This is up there in my tier-list of JPT3391 movies. I understand there is an inherent strangeness and chaos that’s off-putting to the average viewer, but the blending of surreal elements into a classic tragedy makes this a definite rewatch.

Also can we take an appreciation for drip-god Eddie?

[ugetsuwasmid]

Matsumoto - Funeral Parade of Roses

Funeral Parade of Roses is weird. There is no other way to say it. The story is very loosely based off of Sophocles Oedipus Rex with the roles slightly reversed: the main character Eddie, a woman assigned male at birth who works in a gay bar, murders her mother at a young age and sleeps with her father, the proprietor of the gay bar and part-time narcotic dealer. There was also the Madame of the club who had been living with the owner and engaging in a sexual relationship with him, yet she grew jealous of the owner’s relationship with Eddie and ended up committing suicide in a very dramatic fashion. There was also a independent film director named Guevara who looked kind of similar to Che Guevara. If it seems as if I don’t know what to say about this film that’s because I really don’t. The story is told out of order with a number of tangential story threads and scenes that are simply there in the film. There also are scenes that are similar to documentary film which make the whole film even more confusing.

The film had some interesting themes or focusing points. There was a huge presence of eroticism in the film, though whether it was a thematic choice or an aesthetic choice I could not say. There was also the presence of psychedelic an narcotic drugs which seems to have had meaning. There was also a huge focus on trans women and homosexual men whom the film called “gay boys”, which attached to the focus on trans women were themes of gender dysphoria. In fact, the theme of gender dysphoria was beautifully displayed in the scene when Eddie first tried on lipstick and broke down in raw emotion.

Overall this has been a very short post, but like I said I really don’t know what to say about this film, I just did not understand it at all, however I thought it was very well done and it was at least an interesting film.

[ugetsuwasmid]

Shinoda - Double Suicide

Disclaimer: Due to time constraints I watched this movie in 1.5x speed, as a result my perception of the tone and pacing of this film are likely altered.

Double Suicide was a treat to watch. Originally based off a play called “The Love Suicides at Amijima”, the conceit of this film is that it is in actuality the play being performed with live-actors instead of the traditional puppets. Throughout the film, stage-hands clothed all in black move invisibly throughout the set moving props and interacting with the “stage” as a means of heightening and highlighting the dramatic elements of the story. The sets also were very dynamic, with one scene in particular using them to great effect as Jihei smashes all the wall of his house only to emerge at the entrance to the entertainment district. The presence of these theatrical elements in a film gives Double Suicide a sense of surrealism that not many films obtain. This surrealism was aided by the performance of the main leads, the male lead playing Jihei and the female lead playing both Koharu and Osan. Their performances were reminiscent of stage-acting with their larger than life movements and verbal expressions, and, by adding even more elements that pertain to theatre but clash with the “reality” that film and television attempts to create, their performances lend to the disconnect between expectation and reality, deepening the sense of the surreal.

Aside from masterfully incorporating those elements of theatre to maintain the main conceit of the film, Double Suicide is just a wonderfully and meticulously crafted film. From the costumes, to the set design, to the props, to the shot composition this film was polished. The film was beautiful.

If I had any criticism for the film it would probably be in the confusing tone of the film. I quite frankly could not tell if this film was intending to be dramatic or comedic. The narrative of the film as well as the characters within it take the film’s subject matter very seriously. However, the surrealism created by the theatrical elements as well as the portrayal of some situations presented in the film lends a comedic effect to the film. There were more times during the film that I was compelled to laugh or smile at the film than there were moments were I was concerned with the drama of the characters.

All in all, Double Suicide was an extremely enjoyable film that I look forward to watching again and recommending to others I know.

[ugetsuwasmid]

I had a similar reaction to this movie to yours. In terms of pure aesthetics the movie looked great with clear shots and a really colorful environment, but the story and characters were very much off-putting for audiences. It was an uncomfortable film and I also found myself laughing at times when I knew I really should not have been. Overall, while you are right that this isn’t the worst film we’ve watched, Cruel Story of Youth was far from the best.

Cruel Story of Youth

Thoughts/First Impressions:

I was glad to finally see that we made it to films in color with this movie, but to be honest, the only really positive things that I have to say about the movie stop at the visuals. Before I get to the negatives, I just want to the say that the film looked like it was totally modern. When we started watching I was amazed, but how great it looked. I felt like I was watching a Quentin Tarantino film with the opening credits painted in blood. This being said, the shots were kind of weird and bad in some places. It felt like the camera was zoomed in too much and I couldn’t really see what was going on. To be honest, I don’t have much to say about the score on this one because I don’t really remember it. Moving on to the plot, I hated it. There is a teenage girl, Makoto, who gets seduced by a college student, Kyoshi, and the guy is just a total piece of shit. He convinces Makoto to take part in a scheme where she attracts older men and tries to get them to assault her so that he can swoop in and beat the men while also robbing them. The movie basically follows their relationship, but it is abusive and toxic as hell. It was kind of hard to watch. Kyoshi is always slapping and verbally abusing Makoto, and she kind of just keeps coming back for more. To be honest, there were moments in the film that I laughed at even though they weren’t meant to be funny, but because they weren’t meant to be funny, I’m not really gonna count them as a positive. One such moment was when Kyoshi just went in to an apple and just ate that for like a whole minute of screen time. It was stupid as hell, and I just kept waiting for the cut, but it never came. This movie definitely wasn’t the worst that we have watched, in my opinion, but I don’t see myself revisiting it anytime soon.

Themes/Interpretation:

I don’t really know what to make of this film. It reminds me of a western film in that the youth presented in this late 50′s/early 60′s time period are pretty rebellious. Kyoshi does not really give a damn about anything, except for Makoto sometimes. He does what he wants. He drinks, fights, and has sex. Makoto, on the other hand, disobeys her parents and kind of just throws everything away for Kyoshi. I think this film is supposed to represent the changes in youth in the postwar era. The main evidence I have for this is the fact that Makoto’s more responsible sister keeps saying that times were stricter when she was young so she could never get away with what Makoto does. This movie definitely shows the rebellious side of youth in the postwar era, but maybe just a tad bit too well.

Final Thoughts: 

I did not really like this movie, overall. It surprised me with how modern it looks, but that is about it. I don’t really like any of the characters, the plot is kind of random, and the ending was pretty stupid. Both main characters die, and it kind of just feels really random and rushed. The random cut of both of them dead did kind of make me laugh, though. The cut was just so sudden and came out of nowhere. I don’t really think that I will revisit this movie ever again. It is definitely near the bottom of the class movie list.

[ugetsuwasmid]

Oshima - Cruel Story of Youth

In a lot of ways watching this film was like a fever dream. The story follows Mikoto and Kiyoshi’s twisted relationship as it slowly leads to both of their lives falling apart and their eventual deaths. The pair first meet when an older man attempts to assault Mikoto but is stopped by Kiyoshi, who chases the old man off after taking his money. The next day, Mikoto goes out on a date with Kiyoshi where he eventually brings her to the river and assaults her himself. Despite this, the two begin to date and in order to make money they recreate the circumstances of the night they met, allowing Mikoto to get nearly assaulted by a series of men and Kiyoshi “saving” her and then extorting the men for money. The pair eventually catch the attention of a gang that makes money by prostituting women which results in conflict with Kiyoshi. Eventually, Kiyoshi and Makoto are arrested on charges of extortion, as one of the men Kiyoshi stole money from was a politician named Horio, who Makoto had slept with before he had his money stolen by Kiyoshi. Though the are bailed out by a wealthy older woman whom Kiyoshi has an on and off affair with, the two quickly break up with each other and meet untimely deaths: Kiyoshi at the hands of the gang and Mikoto trying to escape from a car after she tried recreating the circumstances of the night they met herself.

The relationship between Makoto and Kiyoshi was nothing short of abusive. Kiyoshi assaults Makoto on day one of their relationship. He regularly threatens her with violence, commits violent acts against her, threatens her with abandonment, flaunts his previous and current other relationships to her, forces her to get an abortion, and forces her into dangerous situations for his own financial benefit. All of the abuse compounds on itself to slowly destroy Mikoto’s life. She becomes alienated from her family, she becomes callous and unfeeling, she becomes desperate for Kiyoshi’s affection and attention, all of which are trauma responses. The only time of respite Makoto gets from Kiyoshi is with Horio, who does not even treat her with genuine kindness merely a basic level of respect and dignity. What is truly tragic about Makoto’s interactions with Horio is that, because she is treated so horribly on a regular basis, simply being treated with a modicum of decency comes off as truly kind. The break from her abuse is short lived though, as almost  immediately she is drawn back into Kiyoshi’s fold. Ultimately it is even Kiyoshi that causes Makoto’s death, as it is out of an attempt to get him to come rescue her again that she gets in the car that one last time. In short, Kiyoshi and Makoto’s relationship is horribly abusive and Kiyoshi is  character without redeeming qualities.

That said, that Kiyoshi is so easy to hate speaks volumes about the impressive performance by the actor, and Makoto’s actor as well also had a stellar performance in this film. Furthermore, the film overall was well structured and well shot, so it is easy to understand why the film itself is regarded so highly even if the characters of the film are so low. In the end, I cannot say I enjoyed watching this film merely by virtue of the narrative, yet it was decently good film. And no matter what it was still a better watch than Ugetsu.

[ugetsuwasmid]

I had never considered “sacrifice” to be a theme of the film, but now that you mention it it is fairly consistent with the film. Mizushima sacrifices himself and dedicates himself to burying the dead, the Japanese platoon at Triangle Mountain would rather die than sacrifice their pride. Ultimately, Mizushima’s platoon sacrifices their wish to have him go home with them when they learn why he is staying. I also agree with you that this was a gorgeous film and that the score especially heightened the experience.

The Burmese Harp

First Thoughts/Impressions:

The Burmese Harp is the first and only movie that we will watch from Director Kon Ichikawa. I really liked the film, but I am not sure that it is my favorite. I think that I still like Ugetsu and Seven Samurai more than this one, but it was great, nonetheless. I enjoyed the performances, especially the performances from the actors who played Private Mizushima and Captain Inouye. The score was also really good. There was a part where Mizushima was at a river and saw a pile of dead bodies. At that moment I remember stopping and admiring how beautiful the music was. The music at the end of the movie also made me appreciate the stop and appreciate the score. The cinematography was also wonderful. I thought that the countryside and Buddhist architecture presented in the film was breathtaking. The shot of the river with a pile of corpses next to it was especially haunting. The plot of the film is pretty straight forward. Mizushima gets separated from his squad while on a mission after the Japanese surrender to the British. Assumed dead, he becomes a Buddhist monk with the goal of burying casualties of the war after witnessing unburied bodies strewn across Burma. Mizushima gives up on returning to his country with his comrades in order to accomplish his noble goal. I really liked the movie, but I admit that it felt like it could have been shortened.

Themes/Interpretation:

If I had to sum up the themes presented in the film with one word, the word would be “sacrifice.” Mizushima sacrifices everything he know in life and all material possessions in order to become a monk and honor those who died in the war by burying them. The inciting incident for this was most likely when he tried to save the platoon of Japanese soldiers after the Japanese surrender by telling them to surrender as their fighting and eventual deaths would be meaningless. The soldiers, of course, don’t listen to Mizushima and die needlessly. After this, Mizushima witnesses death almost everywhere he goes as he walks the wilderness of Burma. Once a soldier fighting for Japan who was proud of his national identity, Mizushima turns his back on this in order to do what he thinks is the moral course of action for the sake of his fallen compatriots as well as other casualties of the war. Mizushima’s selfless actions provide the film with beautiful message of sacrifice for the sake of compassion and respect to the fallen. 

Final Thoughts:

The Burmese Harp was a gorgeous film. I think that the score pieces in this film were the best of any of the films that we have watched thus far, and I really liked the Ugetsu score. I definitely want to return to this movie for another viewing in the future to see if my thoughts change or not. I was really tired at the viewing session, but still loved this movie because it was just that good. I want to see how I feel on a viewing where I am not so tired.