Lost In Translation

Pale Flower

Pale Flower (1964) is Masahiro Shinoda's Japanese new wave yakuza film, which has recently gotten the Criterion treatment. It is a very entertaining film with a progressive avant-garde soundtrack by Toru Takemitsu that adds to the frenzy. It is the story of two outsiders, a yakuza hit man recently sprung from jail, Muraki (Ryo Ikebe), and a mysterious society girl, Saeko (Mariko Kaga also starred Oshima's Pleasures Of The Flesh), who meet in a gambling den. They are bound by their outsider status as nihilists who need the excitement of gambling and push limits in order to feel alive. The prologue of the film is an alluring and hypnotic sequence ten minutes long with hundreds of shots where the two characters first meet. This followed by several other detailed gambling sequences throughout the film as they move to high stakes gambling and beyond.The film is a noir picture and had lots of location shots in Tokyo and Yokohoma in the rain at night that add to the setting and style of the film. There are some great other sequences including a rapturous car race on the deserted streets and a psychedelic dream sequence. The film was made in during the cold war and Shimoda suggests that the film reflects the helplessness that Japan felt in the face of a power struggle between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. The menacing Yoh represents the dark horse China that remains a mystery. I was surprised how accessible and entertaining the film by one of the great Japanese new wave masters is-recommended.

Freedom

Freedom is the latest acclaimed novel from the author of The Corrections, which was one of my favorite novels of the 2000s. This novel also focuses on family dysfunction, but it seems more contrived than The Corrections. There are several aspects of the characters and plot that don't ring true to me. I am thinking mostly in terms of characters that come off as "types" that parrot certain modes of thought, rather than fully fleshed out humans. There are several less than plausible plot turns that seem much too unlikely to pass for realism. I don't want to dwell on them too much for fear of giving away too much of the story. In addition, there seems to be an overabundance of reliance on contemporary cultural references that will be lost to young readers in a decade. I am curious as to why he felt the need to anchor so much to contemporary pop culture and current politics in the story. The whole bird sanctuary thing that is part of one of the stories also seems a bit contrived-I read an article where Franzen revealed himself to a be a bird watcher-an arcane and non-populist hobby if I ever hear of one. I do like how he incorporated the motif of freedom in its very different modes throughout. I guess I can see how many readers and critics were drawn to the epic contemporary scope of his vision. Because he takes on many contemporary issues, but I feel in a very heavy handed way. my initial thought at completing the novel was that it was overrated. I have always enjoyed his essays (in Harper's magazine and collected in How To Be Alone), but I don't see any artistic progress on his fiction writing from The Corrections, this is a misstep in my opinion.

Hakata Station

Hakata Station is the busiest in Kyushu and has recently got a huge make over making it one the biggest station buildings in Japan.

There's a shrine area on the roof with lots of little shops.

I particularly liked this sculpture.

The view from above.

Praying at the shrine.

Fukuoka During The Day

A canal shot with Canal City Shopping Mall in the background.

An old styled restaurant in the trendy Daimyo area of Tenjin.

A jewerly shop in Daimyo with an "alien" outside.

The ancient and modern coexist here as well.

There's some intriguing modern architecture here according to this article from the NY Times. I liek this example of "green" incorporated into a building.

I liked all the green and water throughout the city.

A couple of stylish private residences.

The impressively designed Canal City Shopping Mall.

Suzhou River

Suzhou River is a film from 2000 directed by Chinese director Lou Ye. It has an original story and style to it, but owes a heavy debt to the films of Wong Kar-wai and Alfred Hitchcock. The influences of Wong can be seen in the voice over narration, the themes of lost love, blended genres: romance and film noir, as well as quirky repeating images and motifs (blonde mermaids, buffalo grass vodka). The Suzhou River flows through Shanghai and it the area where most of the action takes place. The central love story resembles Hitchcock's Vertigo,. I have to say that I was very entertained and drawn into this film-which might be considered "Wong Kar-wai light" by some viewers. However, I think there was enough that was distinctive and innovative that the director brought to the film to make it truly his own personal vision despite the homage. I realize that I have seen one of his more recent films Purple Butterfly (2003) about Japanese occupied Shanghai starring Ziyi Zhang. There's a couple of other interesting films by Ye that look intriguing as well-Summer Palace and Spring Fever.

Fukuoka At Night

This was my first visit to Fukuoka in particular, and Kyushu island in general, for the 2011 JALT CALL Conference at Kurume University which is basically south of Fukuoka. It is a city full of canal and bustling with around 2.5 millions inhabitants. I stayed in the Tenjin neighborhood, which has lots of upscale shops, bars, and restaurants. I really like the city and would like to come back to Kyushu to explore more sometime in the future.

Here's one of the many canals and bridges in the city near Nakasu island.

Fukuoka is famous for its food stalls-these were near Nakasu Island and Canal City Shopping Mall.

I was told by a couple of custoemrs at thsi stand that oden (at the bottom of the picture), tonkotsu ramen, chicken, and motsu nabe (hot pot mad with beef and pork offal) were the msot famous foods for the city and region.

I went with the tonkotsu ramen, but am disappointed that I didn't eat any yakitori (chicken bits on skewers).

City light reflected in the river.

Selecting tonight's dinner of fresh eel.

There were tonkotsu ramen shops were all over the city.

This says it all.

Pleasures Of The Flesh

Pleasures Of The Flesh (1965) is one of the five films featured in the Criterion Eclipse Series 21:Oshima's Outlaw Sixities and something of a surprise. I guess I was expecting some sort of didactic "issue" film, however, it was more complex than that. This was the first film from his own company Soza-sha and contains many of his hallmark themes: self-destruction, moral turpitude, class oppression. It was adapted from Futaro Yamada's novel Pleasure Inside The Coffin. It is a curious film, in which a character is blackmailed into watching over embezzled funds to avoid a jail sentence. Atsushi (Katsuo Nakamura) decides to spend it on women to erase the memory of the woman he committed the crime for Shoko (Mariko Kaga who would go onto to play another pivotal role in Pale Flower for Masahiro Shinoda). It was more artistic than I would have thought coming from a film that was supposed to be presented as a so-called "pink film"-which I guess would be translated as a soft-core porn film(?).

Exile On Main Street

I was drawn to Exile On Main Street due to the fact it was a Stones album I didn't know well. Going into the album in preparation for the book, I was only familiar with one song, "Tumbling Dice"-which I believe was on Hot Rocks. There are certain classic rock staples I can barely tolerate due to overexposure, so I was looking for something new to me to explore. Also, earlier this year there was a NPR All Songs Considered segment on the reissue of the album. The author, Bill Janovitz, was a former member of a beloved band, Buffalo Tom. It is very personal account of an album that Janovitz knows and loves well. He did extensive research, which results in a bibliography at the end of the book. He provides a lot of information about the recording and the context of the recording as well as insightful descriptions of individual songs. For example, he reports that one of my favorite artist from the era, Graham Parsons, spent a lot of time in France, where the band was in tax exile, but did not actually play on the album. He also explains how Angela Davis' arrest was in the news and on the minds of the Stones and may have been a influence for "Sweet Black Angel." Janovitz also introduced me to the Swiss photographer Robert Frank, who did the cover art for the album and was know for his book, The Americans, that featured an introduction by Jack Kerouac. I foundthat I enjoyed a lot of the songs on the album. "Rocks Off" is a memorable favorite with some impressive lyrics from Jagger (who states that he doesn't think Exile is that great of a record): "The sunlight bores the daylights out of me, chasing shadows, moonlight mystery." Some of my other favorites include: "Happy," "All Down The Line," and "Shine A Light." Some of the others are a little too boogie woogie for me like "Rip This Joint" and "Casino Boogie." It is an informativeand deeply felt personal study of a personal favorite by Janovitz.

Once Upon A Time In The West

Once Upon A Time In The West may be Sergio Leone's swan song. Here he develops all the techniques that he has mastered in the Dollars trilogy and puts them to use in this film. There opening sequence is drawn out and mood setting with little dialogue and effectively pulls the viewer into the film. Throughout there are great visual images paired with Enrico Morricone's legendary motifs. Henry Ford gets a turn as the malevolent villain for once. There's homage to John Ford with filming in Monument Valley. If there was any short coming with the film it would lie in the length-2 hours and 45 minutes-I am of the MTV generation so it's hard to sit through a film that long, no matter how good.

30 Day Film Challenge

I saw some friends doing this challenge on Facebook and I wasn't tagged, but I decided that I wanted to do it anyway. I imagine there could have been a different list given a different time period. This one took place May1-30, 2011.

#1: Best Movie From Last Year-Millennium Mambo

#2: Most Underrated Movie: Barcelona

#3: A Movie That Makes You Happy: Rushmore

#4: A Movie That Makes You Sad: Revolutionary Road

#5: Favorite Love Story: Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind

#6: Favorite Made For TV Film-Brian's Song

#7: Most Surprising Plot Twist-Audition

#8: A Movie You Seen Countless Times-Blade Runner

#9: The Movie With The Best Soundtrack-Until The End Of The World

#10: Favorite Classic Movie-Casablanca

#11: A Movie That Changed Your Opinion About Something-Unforgiven

#12: A Movie You Hate-Garden State

#13: A Movie That Is A Guilty Pleasure-Old School

#14: A Move That No One Would Expect You To Love-The Matador

#15: A Character You Can Relate To-Tom/Metropolitan

#16: A Movie With Great Scenery-The Sheltering Sky

#17: A Movie With Your Favorite Villain-No Country For Old Men

#18: A Movie You Wish More People Had Seen-Days Of Being Wild

#19: Favorite Movie Based On A Book-Fight Club

#20: Favorite Movie From Your Favorite Actor-George Clooney/Out Of Sight

#21: Favorite Horror Movie: The Exorcist

#22: Favorite Documentary: The Thin Blue Line

#23: Favorite Scene: "Entering the Copa"/Goodfellas

#24: That One Awesome Movie Idea That No One Has Done: film adaptation of A Confedracy of Dunces

#25: The Most Hilarious Movie You've Ever Seen: Waiting For Guffman (Best In Show)

#26: A Movie You Love That Everyone Else Hates-Centurion

#27: A Movie You Wish You Had Seen In The Theater-Lawrence Of Arabia

#28: Favorite Movie From Your Favorite Director(s)-Coen Brothers/Miller's Crossing

#29: A Movie From yor Childhood-Herbie Goes To Monte Carlo (Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom)

#30: Favorite Movie Of All Time-Goodfellas