Lost In Translation

Naked City

I first became aware of Jules Dassin's Naked City (1948) when I was doing research on Akira Kurosawa's film Stray Dog (1949) for an academic paper I was writing on the film. Kurosawa cited the film as inspiration for his film. This can be seen in the documentary style footage he uses, as well as the police procedural aspect of the film, and lastly in the mentor-protege relationship mirrored by Toshiro Mifune and Takashi Shimura of Howard Duff and Barry Fitzgerald. Naked City was itself inspired by the true crime photos of Weegee (a tabloid photographer named Arthur Felling who served as an adviser tot he film). It eventually became a long running TV series as well. There's no doubt that there is some spectacular on location shooting all over New York and especially at the end of the film, where they shoot on the Williamsburg Bridge. This film gets the Criterion treatment with audio commentary by Naked City screenwriter Malvin Wald, a video interview with NYU film professor Dana Polan, an analysis of the film's locations by Celluoid Skyline author James Sandes, footage of Jules Dassin from his 2004 appearance at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the theatrical trailer, and a new essay by Luc Sante and production notes from producer Mark Hellinger to Dassin.

Men At Arms

I am very found of Evelyn Waugh's writing and this year I have decided to tackle the Sword of Honor trilogy, and I have just finished the first volume, Men At Arms (1952). It is the story of 35 year old Guy Crouchback's enlistment into the military at the start of World War II. It is said to have been based on Waugh's own experiences as an older man enlisting. It is something of a British "Catch-22" in the satire and absurdities of the military. That being said it is almost more the story of Coruchback's fellow officer Apthorpe, an eccentric fellow. His main story is an episode of high farce, the two have a battle of wits and military discipline over an Edwardian thunder-box (portable toilet) from which Crouchback observes, amused and detached. I'm very much looking forward to the next installment.

Early Summer

I recently realized that I had not seen one of Yasujiro Ozu's most celebrated films, Early Summer (1951). Thus, I felt the need to correct this omission right away. I mistakenly thought I had seen it. First of all the title is similar to that of Early Spring and End of Summer, both of which are included in this box set of late Ozu films that I have. It is also one episode of the Noriko Trilogy (three films with Setsuko Hara playing a character named Noriko-the other two being Tokyo Story and Late Spring). It was one of Ozu's own favorites and  another look at the dissolution of a family: one that had three generations under one roof-a rarity for Ozu. I have to admit I think I like this film as much as Tokyo Story and Late Spring, if not more. here are some interesting digressions from his usual visual style as well. The cast is filled with Ozu regulars besides Hara like Chishu Ryu, Kuniko Miyake, and Shujiu Sano among others. As usual there are some great extras, especially the late Donald Riche's commentary where he suggests that Ozu derived his visual style from watching the films of Ernst Lubitch among others. Apparently Ozu kept a diary and he often went to the theater. The other extras include Ozu Films from Behind the Scene a conversation about Ozu and his working methods between child-actor and sound technician Kojiro Suematsu, assistant cameraman Takashi Kawamata, and producer Shizuo Yamanouchi, the original theatrical trailer, an essay by scholar David Bordwell, and an article about Ozu by filmmaker Jim Jarmusch. This is essential film viewing for anyone serious about film.

Brozers'

While I was on the east side of town I decided to check out a burger shop I'd been meaning to visit for some time, Brozers', in Ningycho. It is certainly one of the top 10 burgers in town. See the neatly folded lettuce, toasted buns, crisp onions and fresh tomatoes. I also like the fact that they serve french fries and onion rings with a pickle as a garnish: bonus points for squeeze bottles.

Sin Nombre

I was inspired to search out Cary Joji Fukunaga's debut directorial feature, Sin Nombre (2009) after seeing his impressive Jane Eyre. It is a project that took him four years to realize as he did the research for the film by traveling the trains in Mexico. It is a very assured debut with excellent cinematography. The film is all in Spanish and is filmed in Mexico with an all-Latino cast. It is the story of a Honduran girl trying to make her way to America who crosses paths with a gang banger on the run. Fukunaga won a directing award at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. I curious to see what else Fukunaga will do in his career.

Kiyosumi Teien

I've been reading Stephen Mansfieled's book, Tokyo A Cultural History, and it was discussing some of the city parks and I had realized that I hadn't been to Kiyosumi Teien. I corrected this on Saturday.

Police Tactics

I'm making my way through Kinji Fukasaku's The Yakuza Papers: Battles Without Honor & Humanity and the latest installment is the fourth in the series of five, Police Tactics (1974). In this series while the yakuza skirmishes get out of hand the authorities start to crack down on organized crime in preparation of the 1964 Olympics, which will put Japan on the world stage. Takeda (Akira Kobayashi) is unable to keep his underlings in order as the take matters into their own hands killing a boss in neutral territory. The slimy Uchimoto informs on his own men when they try for retribution by killing a rival. The end result finds the protagonist, Hirono (Bunta Sugawara), in jail. Boss Yamamori avoids assassination but is also roused by the police.

Junren

I recently learned that a branch of the well-established Sapporo ramen shop, Junren, is in Ebisu, so I checked it out earlier this week. I tried the spicy miso ramen which has chunky bits of pork along with garlic, ginger with aged puri puri (softer than al dente) noodles. I'll be back for sure.

The Thick-Walled Room

The Thick-Walled Room (1956) is the first film I watched in the Eclipse Series 38: Masaki Kobayashi Against the System (The Thick-Walled Room, I Will Buy You, Black River, The Inheritance). It is a brave film in that it takes on some controversial material by confronting the idea that Japanese soldiers that were following orders of their superiors were being punished as scapegoats for the war crimes perpetrated by others. Apparently the screenplay is based on the prison diaries of B and C class war criminals. Even though the American occupation had ended in 1952, the Japanese government feared that The Thick-Walled Room’s controversial message would offend the U.S. and demanded that Shochiku either cut or withhold it. Kobayashi was  not willing to alter the film, so it was held until 1956. This is considered Kobayashi's first serious film and the first in which he had control over the production after making a couple of light comedies. This early film shows that Kobayashi is hell bent on critiquing society, but he does it in a manner that is not preachy or in your face. This is true of his critique of war in The Human Condition and his critique of feudal society in Harikiri.

We Live In Water

Jess Walter continues to show his versatility and growth as a writer with his first absorbing collection of short stories, We Live In Water (2013). There are some common threads (absent fathers, crumbling poverty stricken families, petty criminals, redemption, are some of the themes among others) in several of the stories which all take place in the Great pacific Northwest (Spokane, Seattle, and Portland). One big exception is the entertaining zombie fiction of "Don't Eat Cat." Several of the stories are short vignettes: "Can a Corn" and "The Brakes." There were a couple of very funny stories as well: "Virgo"(about a psychopathic journalist), "Don't Eat Cat" (futuristic zombie fiction), and "Wheelbarrow Kings" (a day in the life of tweekers). I had previously read the first story, "Anything Helps" in McSweeney's and thematically it fits right in. In a strange way "Statistical Abstract for My Hometown of Spokane, Washington" (incidentally also my hometown), explains where a lot of the ideas and themes for these short stories came from.