Lost In Translation

Ozu vs. Kurosawa

Interesting, this issue of Ozu vs. Kurosawa came up earlier this year when I stated that last year I discovered Ozu in my round up of films watched in 2009. I finally saw Tokyo Story and got Criterion’s Eclipse Late Ozu Box Set (Early Spring / Tokyo Twilight / Equinox Flower / Late Autumn / The End of Summer). A friend of mine who has moved from Japan said that living outside of Japan he appreciated the subtleties of Ozu and his representation of Japanese society and culture. And I can understand that and I do appreciate his films, but I have a couple of issues with his films:

1) Reliance on “kata” (specific forms). In Japanese culture it seems that many arts are based on variations of a single form: temples that vary in slight details, the endless variations of ramen, traditional dances that are essentially the same in form, etc. Ozu’s films are all variations on the same theme of the family. So if we were to apply Isaiah Berlin’s concept of the hedgehog and the fox. Ozu is the hedgehog that knows one great things and Kurosawa is the fox who knows many. I appreciate that Kurosawa has made film noir, period dramas, contemporary films, as well as adaptations of western and Japanese classics. I will concede to your point of his sometimes being overly dramatic and perhaps overly simplistic in his humanism. After watching all those Ozu films is was sometimes difficult to differentiate between them and I noticed in some films that the used the same sets-which comes across as bit lazy to me since they are supposed to be connected plot wise in any fashion. This is not to say that his analysis of the breakdown of traditional family values isn’t important or worthwhile is beside the point. I just prefer the dynamism of Kurosawa. 

2) In some ways I resent his “official” view of Japan, because I don’t think it gives a true picture of Japanese society His milieu is extremely limited to middle class households with long suffering wives and dutiful daughters. This doesn’t ring true to me, nor did it ring true to Shohei Imamura who worked for Ozu (most notably on his classic Tokyo Story) and his career is a case study in the “unofficial” version of Japanese history since postwar Japan. Not all of Kurosawa’s characters are virtuous doctors or crusading cops or selfless samurai. Kurosawa features gangsters, pimps, whores, and drug dealers in some of his films not to mention attacks on the media, yakuza, the government, the military, and other negative institutions that exist in Japanese society. I am drawn to moral vision. 

I think both directors have a distinct place in the pantheon of great Japanese directors. But it may say more about the viewer’s sensibilities than anything. I have some viewing projects that I haven’t gotten around to and one of them is Ozu’s Late Spring, which might create a different effects since I will be watching it almost a year removed from when I saw many Ozu films within a fairly short period of time. I might appreciate it more or find more to latch on this time around.

Head-On

Fatih Akin’s Head-On (2004) is an extraordinary film. There are two astonishing scenes that I don’t want to give away, but show the hopelessness the two main characters Cahit and Sibel (impressive performances from both Birol Unel and Sibel Kekilli). Cahit is a Turk living in Germany headed in a downward spiral due to some past misfortune that is never fully explained when he meets Sibel, who is withering under the strictness of her traditional family which punishes her for acting out on her sexuality. Her plan is to marry Cahit, because he is a Turk, and live as roommates so that she can indulge in forbidden pleasures-sex, drugs, rock-n-roll-freely. It all goes wrong when they start to fall in love with one another. Then it becomes almost another film as the action moves to Istanbul several years after a fateful night that lands Cahit in prison and sends Sibel back to Istanbul. In Istanbul she falls to her lowest point before embracing life and rebounding from the depths of her despair, self-hatred, and self-destructive behavior. Cahit comes after her because she has given him reasons for living as well, but too much time has passed and even though there is still a spark between them-too much has changed. It is a powerful and compelling story expertly told by a real talent in regards to exposition of the films themes with a great soundtrack and impressive cinematography.

20 Under 40

The New Yorker has chosen it's best 20 writers under the age of 40 via the NY Times:

They are Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, 32; Chris Adrian, 39; Daniel Alarcón, 33; David Bezmozgis, 37; Sarah Shun-lien Bynum, 38; Joshua Ferris, 35; Jonathan Safran Foer, 33; Nell Freudenberger, 35; Rivka Galchen, 34; Nicole Krauss, 35; Yiyun Li, 37; Dinaw Mengestu, 31; Philipp Meyer, 36; C. E. Morgan, 33; Téa Obreht, 24; Z Z Packer, 37; Karen Russell, 28; Salvatore Scibona, 35; Gary Shteyngart, 37; and Wells Tower, 37.

I am a fan of David Bezmozgis (Natasha and Other Stories), Joshua Ferris (Then We Came To An End), Jonathan Safran Foer (Everything Is Illuminated), Gary Shteyngart (The Russian Debutante's Ball), and Wells Tower ("Leopard" and I have his book of short stories which I haven't read yet Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned). I saw the film adaptation of Yiyun Lin's shot story "A Thousand Years of Good Prayer" and want to read her collection of the same title. I read Nell Freudenberger's Lucky Girls-which I found uneven, but I want to read her novel The Dissident.

I've read some short stories by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Daniel Alacron, Rivka Galchen, and ZZ Packer, but haven't read enough to have a definitive opinion about their writing. However, I must say that by being on this list makes me want to read more by them.

I am not familiar with Chris Adrian, Sarah Shun-lien Bynum, Niclole Krauss, Dinaw Mengestu, Philipp Meyer, C.E. Morgan, Tea Obreht, Karen Russell, and Salvatore Scibona. So there are some new discoveries to be made here. 

Voices From The Japanese Cinema

I really enjoyed reading Joan Mellen’s seminal Voices From The Japanese Cinema, out-of-print published in 1975 and based on interviews from 1974. Audie Bock used several quotations from this book in her fascinating study, Japanese Film Directors. The big difference between the books lies in the fact that Mellen wrote an introduction about each figure and then provided the interview that she had with each subject. Mellen has definite opinions each subject’s body of work and makes a point of singling out which works are most worthwhile, which I found very useful. In addition, the subjects weren’t just directors, although most of them were film directors-she also included some like Kashio Kawakita-a foreign film promoter, set designer Setsu Asakura, and the actress Sachiko Hidari. I think that these conversations were shaped by Mellen’s insight and knowledge of Japanese cinema and her political consciousness. She asked her subjects about serious issues like the legacy of feudalism and totalitarianism, women’s rights, and seminal westerns influences on Japanese culture from the likes of Marx and Freud, as well as the rising interest in sex in contemporary film in Japan at that time. Mellen interviews several of the most famous directors like Kurosawa, Ichikawa, Shinoda, Imamura, Oshima, etc. However, there were several directors have been introduced to me for the first time and seem intriguing by her descriptions of their works and the comments they made in their interviews. Some of these figures are Daisuke Ito (who made jidai-geki films), Kaneto Shindo (a script writer and known for typically tragic family films), Susumu Hani and Tadashi Imai (know for realistic and sentimental films). I found this book to be extremely useful and thought provoking look at Japanese cinema from the 40s to the early 70s. I found her style lively and engaging and order her short book length study on Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai. I see that she has also written several books on a variety of subjects including one on the film The Battle of Algiers.

Tell Me Do You Miss Me

I finally got around to seeing the Luna documentary about their final tour, Tell Me Do You Miss Me. I’m not sure why I waited so long being a long time huge fan, but I really enjoyed it since I never got a chance to see them live. So it was a treat to see them performing several of their best songs in the film. A couple of years ago I also read Dean Wareham’s memoir Black Postcards-which I want to re-read after seeing this film; I think they go hand-in-hand really. Actually, they toured Japan and were in Tokyo in 2005 (there is footage from that trip in the film) and played down the street from where I was living at the time at Astro Hall in Harajuku, but I only found out about the concert eh day after. D’Oh!

Anyway, there’s a scene where a writer from Rolling Stone is interviewed about why he is a fan of Luna and his response is sums sup a lot of what I appreciate about the band as well. They really represent the ultra-hip, smart, sophisticated, decadent New York band. Their sound was draw from that great 70s and 80s new wave/punk tradition that was created in NYC: the Velvet Underground, Television, Talking Heads, Blondie, etc.

Also, I could draw more conclusions about he band members from their interactions in the film as well as their performances. Sean Eden in particular emerges as a colorful character Dean Wareham is fairly circumspect and Birtta Phillips is more attractive and down to earth than I would have originally guessed.

The bonus features include: full performances of select songs, deleted scenes, and a commentary track with former members of Luna and the director Matthew Buzzell.

I am sad that Luna is gone, but Dean and Britta continue to make evocative music (L’Avventura and Back Numbers) as well as help with the soundtracks for Noah Baumbach (The Squid & The Whale and Margot At The Wedding).

Bakery Cafe Tournage

Tournage is a local bakery in Sasazuka that makes exquisite donuts, bread, sandwiches, soup, and pizza.

 

Red Riding 1974

1974 is the first installment in David Peace's “The Red Riding” teratology series about crime set in the Yorkshire area of England. Eddie Dunford is a young crime reporter fresh from his first professional success in reporting on “the Ratcatcher” murder where man had inexplicably murdered his sister. A girl goes missing and Dunford’s reporting leads him into a conspiracy of other missing children, corruption, and misuse of power among the police and powerful private individuals that control the economy. It is a dark, gritty tale with plenty of sex and violence and memorable characters throughout. It is a very cinematic and atmospheric novel with many period details. It calls to mind some of the best literary crime fiction-the violent and corrupt cities of Hammett and the atmosphere and cull de sac plots of Chandler. I’m not sure if I understood the mystery at the end but I didn’t care since the mood and atmosphere of the novel was impetus for the obsessive page turning. 

It’s not surprising that Peace’s Red Riding series has been made into a BBC series, so after finishing the novel 1974 I watched the BBC’s  In The Year of Our Lord 1974. It captures the dark, corrupt mood of the novel well. Obviously the novel has been simplified and slightly changed for the screen. But it has great production values in recreating North England in the 70s with the great location settings, cars, clothes, hairstyles, the smoking, the drinking, and music. The BBC is the British equivalent of HBO in their quality productions dating back to pioneering series like Prime Suspect and other made for TV films. The cast is top notch as well with great turns from Andrew Garfield, Eddie Marsan, Rebecca Hall, Peter Mullan, and Sean Bean among others. I’m looking forward to the other two installments-after I finish reading the other novels.

Crazy Heart

Crazy Heart is the film that won Jeff Bridges his first Oscar, and it is a great performance in a fine film. It’s the story of a washed-up alcoholic country western singer looking for redemption in life. There are some great supporting roles by the likes of Maggie Gyllenhaal, Colin Farrell, and Robert Duvall. I was also really impressed by the original songs written mostly by T-Bone Burnett, who has produced albums by several of my favorite artists (Los Lobos, Peter Case, Elvis Costello, The BoDeans, Sam Phillips). 

Tan Tan Men

Tan Tan Men is one of my favorite types of ramen, but it is extremely messy. I ended up with splashes of the fiery red broth all over my light purple shirt-but it was worth it.