Lost In Translation

Film and Burger Icratt

This was the unusual cheese burger at Film and Burger Icratt in Ebisu. The bun was a freshly baked cheese bread. The lunch set also had a freshly made and fairly large cesar salad-the cheese burger was the only burger option. The restaurant had LCD screens scattered throughout showing short films when I was there.

 

Shadow Of A Doubt

Shadow Of A Doubt is one of Alfred Hitchcock’s early Hollywood thriller’s written by Thornton Wilder. It has been known to be Hitchcok's personal favorite and it has a film noir quality to it. Joseph Cotton gives a good performance as the suspected murder that returns to his hometown and his sister’s home to start over. There is a lot of psychological tension between Cotton and his niece played by Teresa Wright that gets played out over the duration of the film. It is one of his lesser-known and celebrated works, but reflects his mastery of the thriller.

Japanese Film Directors

Audi Bock’s out of print book, Japanese Film Directors, still has a lot of relevance even though it isn’t up to date anymore-it was originally published in 1978. It is a useful reference and introduction to the films of Japan's master film directors. Bock is also known as the translator of Akira Kurosawa’s biography Something Like A Biography. There are three sections in which Bock discussed the careers and influence of several directors in each section from the prewar 30s, postwar mid-50s and late 60s. The first section is “Early Masters” and Bock gives an in-depth look at the films of Kenji Mizoguchi, Yasujiro Ozu, and Mikio Naruse.  I haven’t explored the films of Mizoguchi or Naruse yet, and feel compelled to do so after reading the chapters on the directors-Mizoguchi in particular comes across as an interesting character. The next section looks at “The Postwar Humanists”: Akira Kurosawa, Kesuke Kinoshita, Kon Ichikawa, and Masaki Kobayashi. Again I am compelled to search out films by the directors I am largely unfamiliar with: Kinoshita, Ichikawa, and Kobayayshi. The final section is “The New Wave And After” focuses on the films of Shohei Imamaura, Nagisa Oshima, and Masahiro Shinoda. Shinoda is the only director of the three that I haven’t seen a film by, but again feel compelled to search out some films by him. It is a good introduction to the films of the Japan’s 20^th century masters of film. 

What Are "Japanese" Values?

There was a seemingly interesting opinion piece by a New York psychologist Eric Hoffman in The Japan Times, which started out like this:

As time passed, I saw more clearly than ever how Japanese social etiquette and values differ from those of Westerners. I also found time to conduct a research study with over 150 Tokyo college students planning teaching or child psychology careers.

My goal? To determine the social skills they valued most in training schoolchildren: a growing international field that educators today often call "character education." As incidents of student bullying, violence and classroom disruption have reached unprecedented levels in contemporary Japan, politicians and professionals alike are trying to reverse this alarming trend.

He never really addresses what it is about the Japanese that results in "incidents of student bullying, violence and classroom disruption." Instead he come sup with these findings:

In essence, here are my findings, which definitely have international relevance beyond the fields of teacher-training and character education:

(1) In Japan, the value of politeness and social manners is paramount. This is no cliche, for the trait was rated among the top seven by 82 percent of participants — surpassing even that of honesty- trustworthiness. Americans would be wise to hone their etiquette skills if planning business or other relations with Japanese. "Please," "may I," "excuse me," "sorry to bother you" and "thank you" go a long way.

(2) Gratitude is another highly prized Japanese trait. Over 80 percent of my participants rated it among the top seven — and almost amazingly for Westerners — just behind politeness and trustworthiness in importance.

Among Americans generally, expressing or even feeling thankfulness is inconsequential. But not so in Japan, where its absence is a serious marker of rudeness. You'll win few friends or business clients by failing to verbalize gratitude freely and often.

(3) The ability to apologize is a cherished Japanese social trait, rated among the top seven by 58 percent of participants, slightly behind kindness. The extent to which apologies are central to Japanese society — even embedded in its judicial system — is almost incomprehensible to most Americans.

In our culture, to apologize is typically regarded as a sign of personal weakness, whether in business or family matters. So even when we Americans know we're in the wrong, we rarely make either public or private apologies. Carry this attitude into relations with the Japanese, and you're doomed to failure.

(4) Friendliness was a social trait rated relatively high, among the top seven by 51 percent of participants — and ranked far above patience, fairness and empathy.

Certainly, this finding contradicts the popular Western stereotype of Japanese people as being aloof and disengaged. From my psychological perch, their reluctance to engage in quick soul-baring or intense emotionality is often misinterpreted by Americans as unfriendliness or coldness. The result? Resentment and then withdrawal.

Bear in mind that recent psychological studies show that calmness rather than excitement is associated with personal well-being among the Japanese. In their eyes, a smooth, orderly social interaction has the best seeds for growth, not one marked by exuberance, giddiness or glad-handing.

I don't see what these findings say about the failings of the society-it seems we have another Japan apologist that is trying to confirm his own version of Japan which is the "official" version that Japan like to promote-one that doesn't admit to child abductions, suicides, rape, domestic violence, corruption, consumer fraud, the influence of yakuza in finance, etc...

Khaosan Raod

I was at the Thai food festival at Yoyogi Park today and so I thought I'd share this review of the authentic food at Khaosan Road (recently re-named and redecorated) in Lumine's B2 The Kitchen. (For those who haven't been to Bangkok-Khaosan Road was where all the backpackers used to stay, but has gone upscale in recent years). It's inexpensive and fast-maybe not the best Thai in town, but extremely conveniently located in Shinjuku station. My old standby the C set: Gao Pao Ga (spicy basil chicken) with soup, fresh spring rolls, and a tapioca desert for around a 1000yen.

 

 

The Twilight Samurai

I really like Yoji Yamada’s revisionist samurai film, Twilight Samurai. The film reminds me of Clint Eastwood’s demystification of the gun fighter in his revisionist western, Unforgiven. Yamada realistically looks at how samurai lived-not all of them were wealthy nor completely devoted to their masters and willing to die for a petty grievance at a moment’s notice. It was nominated for Best Foreign Film at the Oscars in 2002. It is a realistic tale of a pre-Meiji restoration petty samurai struggling to survive on a meager salary while caring for a senile mother and raising two young daughters. The samurai is expertly played by Hiroyuki Sanada, who is known for his turns in The Last Samurai and the TV series Lost. He is a master swordsman who doesn’t like fighting and really yearns for a simple life as a farmer. His love interest is played by the charming Rie Miyazaki, and his rival is played by famous Butoh dancer Min Tanaka. It is several films at once: an unrequited love story, a samurai revisionist film, and a conventional samurai film with swordplay. It seems unlikely that such a film could come from the long-time director of the “Tora”-loveable tramp series-but it s a skilled departure for Yamada.

Misc. Arts Links

David Mitchell's latest novel about Japan, The Thousand Autumns of Jacob DeZoet, is out and looks intersting.

CNNGo-Bangkok lists 12 Thai films that got good reception at the Cannes Film Festival.

The NY Times' Michiko Kakutani takes down Martin Amis' latest novel The Pregnant Widow-I'll still probably read it.

The AV Club's Scenic Routes looks at Citizen Ruth, Alexadner Payne's first film.

Tracy Thorn of Everything But The Girl gets here solo album, Love And It's Opposite, reviewed in The New Yorker-I'd like to hear the earlier one as well, Out Of The Woods. 

Friday Night Lights is back on at NBC (I watched it online already-so it's a worthwhile season to watch). But I  will follow along with the commentary at Slate anyway.

Fish

This was fish cooked on an elaborately designed charcoal brazier-I've never had this before.

 

All Around Atlantis

It seems that The Collected Stories of Deborah Eisenberg have just been published, so I just read the final volume of her stories on my shelf, the out-of-print All Around Atlantis. I think it is one of her strongest collections. I usually don’t like the collected books of short stories, because they’re so big and unwieldy-I prefer these slim volumes that can be read in several sittings. It’s right up there with Under The 82^nd Airborne.  Eisenberg’s stories are usually distinguished by great dialogue and memorable characters. There are some interesting stories set in Central America, “Someone To Talk To,” “Across From A Lake,” and “Tlaloc’s Paradise” like most of those in Airborne. My favorite story was “Mermaids” about two young pre-adolescents trying to negotiate life among adults. I don’t think any of the stories were weak.

Shutter Island

Martin Scorcese’s Shutter Island was quite a visual spectacle. (Possible spoilers) But I’m still not sure how I feel about it. I’m nit a huge fan of those stories, which turn out to be dreams, alternate reality, etc. It always seems like a sort of a cop out. Also I’m not all that found of dream sequences that reveal the character’s inner thought s. That being said it is a cruel film at the same time, however, life can often be cruel. There are some great performances by a large and talented cast with the likes of mark Ruffalo, Max Von Sydow, and Ben Kingsley with Di Caprio who has become Scorcese’s new DeNiro.