Lost In Translation

Cat People (1982)

I’ve been re-watching some of Paul Schrader’s older films since I watched his Criterion Collection version of Mishma: A Life in Four Chapters. The most recent was Cat People, which I knew I saw, but couldn’t remember well. And sure enough, once I started watching I remembered most of it, but what is most striking to me is that even if Schrader’s making an erotic thriller remake he still approaches it as if it were an art film. I think he does an exceptional job using the locations in New Orleans to give it a European feel to the film as well as casting Malcolm McDowell and Natasha Kinski in the lead roles. I forgot that it also had a great supporting cast: John Heard, Annette O’Toole, Ed Begley Jr., and John Larroquette. I also forgot that David Bowie sang the theme song, “Cat People (Putting Out  Fire)” from the Let’s Dance album in 1981.

Straightjacket Society

Masao Miyamoto’s fascinating expose, Straightjacket Society, was listed as a source in Michael Zielenziger’s equally fascinating analysis of contemporary Japanese society, Shutting Out The Sun. Unfortunately this book, published in English by Kodansha, in 1994, is out of print. However, I think a lot of what he describes about Japanese bureaucracy is still true today. Miyamoto was a very atypical bureaucrat-he is an American trained psychoanalyst who lived and worked in America for 10 years. He returned to Japan as Deputy Director of the Mental Health Division of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. It is no surprise given his background that he had a hard time fitting in the government bureaucracy and decides that he will try to set precedents and makes a crusade for more progressive ways of serving the public. He eventually begins to write a series of exposes on the problems of the bureaucracy and is demoted and eventually fired for his outspokenness. I respect him for taking on a thankless and, in my opinion, impossible task.

One of the more interesting aspects of this book is about how Japanese government and laws are made. There is no true separation of powers like in the US and despite the fact that it is written into their constitution. His description of the process, the inefficiency, deal making, and waste of budgets is disquieting. I think there are traces of this kind of inefficiency and being in bed with producers everywhere in the world but the Japanese system is wholly geared for the producers rather than the consumers and has no sign of changing at any time in the near future. In fact, earlier this year there was another expose of government follies by Aki Wakaybashi called The Bizarre World of the Public Servant, which describes many similar wastes, abuses, and inefficiencies. I think many of these inefficiencies can be seen in the educational institutions and city government that I experienced on my two years on the JET Program and that are mirrored in the private universities I have mainly worked in since

Miyamoto may come across as a jaded foreigner, but he really does understand his culture and find aspects of it lacking in contrast of other societies. But his understanding and analysis of Japanese culture and society is spot on. I like how he becomes the devil’s advocate when recounts a conversation he has with an American working for a Japanese company. In this section he defends and explains the complaints and criticisms of the American. However, he does agree with the American about some of his conclusions. It seems that Miyamoto’s biggest criticism is that Japan is a collectivist society and as a very individualistic person this bother him greatly since he doesn’t buy into the collectivist mentality.

Miyamoto describes a company trip to a hot spring and it struck me how uniform those trips are. It was almost the exact same experience I had going on a teacher’s trip when I was working at a junior high school in Koshigaya circa 1998. Everything from the passing out beers at 9 a.m. on the train –to the planned night activities (different groups singing karaoke, mahjong, etc…) resembled the trip Miyamoto regarded as work. In fact, after that trip he started demanding compensation time off if was expected to take part on these company trips. 

Yuppie Chronicles

Slate has a review of Whit Stillman's third installment of his "yuppie" chronicles, The Last Days of Disco:

Despite his reputation as a chronicler of WASP decline, and regardless of his engagement with issues of class and capital and labor, Stillman's real subject is society—small s and small scale: the dynamics of partygoing groups, the obligations of friendship, the "ferocious pairing off" (to use Charlotte's expression) that is the aim of courtship. These are universal. It's the style and tone that are eccentrically and unrepentantly uhb. It's one of the highest compliments you can pay a filmmaker to say that the characters he laughs with and at would be among the keenest admirers of his sensibility.

This weeks also saw the release of thirtysomething created by Edward Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz (who go on to make the equally exquisite teen drama My So-Called Life) and I agree with the author's conclusion, also over at Slate, since I wasn't even twentysomehting when it aired:

You know who loves to wallow in endless introspection and dwell on the teensy stumbling blocks of life? Adolescents. Which is, I now realize, why I adored the show when I watched it as a teenager. In retrospect, it makes perfect sense that Zwick and Herskovitz followed upthirtysomething with My So-Called Life. Here was another TV show about self-indulgent whiners, this time set in their natural habitat: high school.

 

On Chesil Beach

I think Ian McEwan is a major talent and have enjoyed many of his books, but sometimes they don’t quite work for me. He’s a great stylist and does extensive research for all of his novels. Some of my favorites are Atonement, Black Dogs, and Amsterdam. Sometimes they don’t hit the mark for me, Saturday felt very contrived, as did Enduring Love. On Chesil Beach falls in between the successes and failures for me. I had trouble getting into the story at first and wasn’t invested in the main characters and had no special affection for Victorian England. It picked up near the end for me as the male and female psyche were evaluated and discussed. But I didn’t like the condensed fast-forward of the character’s lives at the end so much either. It was a worthwhile read, but not one of my favorites. 

Kind of Blue

Slate has an interesting feature where they show clips from TV shows and movies that use the music from Miles Davis'  classic jazz album, Kind of Blue.

Highway 61 Revisited

I just finished up another 33 1/3 book on Bob Dylan’s seminal Highway 61 Revisited by Mark Polizzotti. It is another exhaustively research look at how this great record came together. I think it has three of his greatest songs: “ Like A Rolling Stone” (recently voted as the greatest rock song of all time), the underrated “Tom Thumb Blues,” and dark “Desolation Row.”  I need to go back and watch the film Don’t Look Back since it was made during this period and has many of the players mentioned in this book. I saw it at the urging of a roommate back in college but I wasn’t as invest in Dylan or this record as I am now so it should be a revelation this time around. Another observation I have made is that I am drawn to the surly nature of Dylan’s song writing where it seems as though he is trying to get back at al those hypocrites, back stabbers, and people who have tried to drag him down, from “Like A Rolling Stone”: Once upon a time you dressed so fine
 /You threw the bums a dime in your prime, didn't you?
 / People'd call, say, "Beware doll, you're bound to fall" / 
You thought they were all kiddin' you
 / You used to laugh about / 
Everybody that was hangin' out
 / Now you don't talk so loud / 
Now you don't seem so proud / 
About having to be scrounging for your next meal. Another stray observation, Dylan like Patti Smith was heavily influenced by Arthur Rimbaud-“the rock poet.”

Zest Premium Burger

I tried Zest Premium Burger at LaQua yesterday since I was in the area to take care of some business. I think the Garlic and Peppercorn Burger is better than your average fast food burger, but it still doesn't compare to gourmet burgers at places like Village Vangard Cafe, Air Burger, Great Burger and the like. However, they are generous with the drinks but stingy with the fries with the lunch set which was only ¥760. 

 

iPhone Love & Hate

I recently got an iPhone when Apple released the 3GS version-the 3G version was almost being given away in Japan and I needed to upgrade my phone which was about 4 years old and missing the back cover to the battery. I was immediately won over. I teach at university, so I am often away from my office for 3 1/2 hours at a time,not to mention the fact that I work at 5 different places, go to the gym 3-5 times a week-so basically I am often on the run and having access to mail and the internet through the phone at a low cost makes life much easier. Add the GPS application, which is extremely useful in Tokyo where most streets have no names. The Facebook application allows me to keep up with family and friends obsessively. I find that with The New York Times and AP News (which also allows me to access The Seattle Times news articles) applications I read more news than before. I've uploaded about a 1000 songs so that I can leave my iPod at home on short excursions. The iPhone has made my life better.

I saw this article in Salon about a writer's iPhone hate:

Not long ago, I would have confessed, with the shame that some people feel over having had multiple spouses, that I have been the owner of multiple iPhones. As with any bad union, there is a story behind each one's demise. My starter phone lasted for a little more than a year, until the battery got old and the phone, which had never behaved well, really began to act up. The next one wasn't around long: I dropped it; it shattered. My third, a fussbudget sort, got a little bit damp and refused to work. Now, I am on my fourth iPhone, whose screen cracked weeks ago, and which plagues me daily with its many bugs and quirks and connectivity issues. But the thought of yet another trip to the Apple Store Genius Bar ("the Smartass Bar," as one friend calls it) fills me with the sort of deep, skeletal exhaustion and existential dread I might feel were I told I had to attend couples counseling for a fourth go-round. I'd rather not deal with it.

Nixonland

I found Rick Perlstein’s meticulously researched, exhaustive biography of Richard Nixon, Nixonland: The Rise Of A President And The Fracturing Of America, absolutely fascinating. It basically spans from his first campaign in 1966 and ends after his last campaign in 1972. The book is about how the politics of the 60s created the culture wars between left and right that still thrive in today’s politics. Perlstein is amazing in how he weaves in the stories of political players who later come into prominence-people like Al Gore, Jesse Jackson, john Kerry, etc. it is fascinating how Nixon cultivates the silent majority and feeds on their fears promising law and order. The fear stemming from the inner city riots that began with Watts in 1964, the Vietnam war and the fight against it at home, school busing and sexual education, civil rights, radicals bombing buildings, vigilante shooting and beating radicals, assignations, and the drugs are just some of the issues frightening Americans in those times. Nixon capitalized on these fears and was elected twice. I also like how Perlstein commented on how certain films had a cultural effect on society; movies like Bonnie and Clyde and its display of violence as well as Nixon’s favorite the jingoistic Patton. Perlstein also comes up with an effect metaphor of the social divide from Nixon’s college days that helps explain Nixon’s behavior and motivations: the battle between “The Orthogonians” and “The Franklins.” In Nixon’s college days there was a club of the well bred wealthy, good looking types for whom everything came easy called “The Franklins.” Nixon resented them and formed his own club of the strivers who had to double their effort to succeed: “The Orthogonians.” Kennedy-a textbook Franklin. This massive text (a hefty 748 pages not including the end notes and bibliography) was a page turner nonetheless. I was slowed down by its weight and left it at home on many occasions to lighten my load. I think it is essential reading for anyone interested in the 60s or American politics.

Tokyo Story

Somehow I haven’t gotten around to seeing any of the universally acclaimed film director Yasujiro Ozu’s films. I finally saw what is regarded as his masterpiece, Tokyo Story (1953). I think it might be useful to contrast his film with those of Akira Kurosawa, the Japanese film director whom I am most familiar with. First of all Ozu’s film (and from what I understand of his other films) is largely concerned with family dynamics. Tokyo Story is about the generation divide between parents and children-how time and other concerns drive them apart. An elderly couple arrives from the countryside to visit their children in Tokyo and are largely ignored by their children and they seem to be disconnected with their grandchildren as well. The selfish children are upset by the inconvenience of having their parents visit. The parents are disappointed by their children’s lack of success. I guess these themes are universal. I find Ozu’s style different from Kurosawa, Ozu uses a lot of low camera angles and doesn’t use wipes for his scene changes. But I think they share a sense of framing people appealingly in their scene compositions. All in all, I can see why it is often considered to be one of the top 10 films of all time. I watched the Criterion Collection two disc edition and it has lots of impressive extras like the informative commentary by film scholar David Desser. There are also two interesting documentaries and the second disc: I Lived, But…(1983) with interviews with several actors, actresses and staff. The second documentary, Talking With Ozu (1993), is a tribute from international directors like Paul Schrader, Claire Denis, and Hou Hsiao-Hsien. And there’s also an interesting essay by David Bordwell.