Lost In Translation

Army Of Shadows

in 2006 Jean-Pierre Melville's film, Army Of Shadows, which was previously unreleased in America, saw its first American release and it was named one of the best foreign films of the year despite the fact that it was originally filmed in 1969. Melville, himself, seems like such a character that I am now interested in seeing some of his other films. It seems he was a favorite of the French New Wave directors. Wong Kar-wai cites Le Samourai as  an influence on his film Fallen Angels, and I hope to see it soon. Army of Shadows is the story of the French Resistance based on a novel by Joseph Kessel. It is a very personal film for Melville who fought in the war and lived through the occupation. There are some great performances by the ensemble cast and some inspired cinematography. The film opens with the shocking image of a Nazi band marching on the Champs Ellysees in front of the Arc de Triomphe and there are several equally dramtic scenes. Two very different scenes where Nazi collaborators must be killed. The Criterion edition has a host of extras: audio commentary from film historian Ginette Vincendeau, interivews with cinematographer Pierre Lhomme and editor Françoise Bonnot, On-set footage and excerpts from archival interviews with director Jean-Pierre Melville, cast members, writer Joseph Kessel, and real-life Resistance fighters, Jean-Pierre Melville et “L’armée des ombres” (2002), a short program on the director and his film, Le journal de la Résistance (1944), a rare short documentary shot on the front lines during the final days of German-occupied France, and A booklet featuring essays by critic Amy Taubin and historian Robert O. Paxton, as well as excerpts from Rui Nogueira’s Melville on Melville. It is a film well worth seeing.

Wong Kar-wai

Peter Burnette's book on Wong Kar-wai is a good general study of the career of Wong up to his film 2046 (the book was published in 2005). However, it doesn't feel as comprehensive as Stepehen Teo's study and could be seen a s a companion to that book. However, the most enlightening part of Burnette's study for me was the two long interviews (one from the 1995 Toronto Film Festival and the other from 2001 Cannes Film Festival). Actually, this might be a better book for the nonspecialist interested in the films of Wong Kar-wai since it comes as as less academic and more for the "general" reader.

Yakeato Juniors

Sawa Kurotani looks at the phenomena known as the "Yakeato Junior" generation in her latest Behind The Screen colum:

The Yakeato generation was, in retrospect, a privileged group. If their childhood was made difficult by loss, poverty, hunger and related mental trauma, their adulthood was characterized by ever-improving standards of living and boundless optimism for the future. They worked hard, but there was clarity of purpose in their labor. Already in the advanced stages of their lives and careers by the time of the Heisei recession, they amassed the world's highest rate of personal savings for a secure retirement.

I'm thinking about the Yakeato generation because of my evolving research interests in the changing meaning of work among contemporary Japanese. Through their everyday choices and actions, Yakeato-generation parents firmly instilled the notion of work as an obligation in the minds of their children, whom I call Yakeato Juniors. Yet, as I develop my thoughts on the radical social and economic change in Japan during and after the economic bubble of the late 1980s, I have come to recognize that the life experiences of Yakeato Juniors differed significantly from those of their parents.

Who, then, are the Yakeato Juniors? They were born in the late 1950s, throughout the '60s and into the early '70s. They grew up in an increasingly affluent society where more than 90 percent of the population came to consider themselves middle-class. They came of age and entered the workforce in the late 1970s and throughout the '80s. Unlike their frugal and conservative Yakeato parents, or politically oriented older siblings of the Dankai no Sedai, or Japanese baby boomer generation born shortly after World War II, Yakeato Juniors learned to enjoy material comfort at an early age and, as young adults, drove the surge of conspicuous consumption during the bubble economy of the late 1980s. If the Dankai was the first generation of modern Japanese who "knew no war," Yakeato Juniors are the true heirs of Japan's postwar economic miracle, the first generation who knew no poverty.

Yakeato Juniors adopted a worldview much more individualistic than that of previous generations, and came to be dubbed shinjinrui, or "a new breed of human," by their elders.

But their good fortune did not last forever, and Yakeato Juniors' experience in the last two decades shook their worldview to its foundation. As Japan entered a 20-year period of economic stagnation following the collapse of the bloated economy, Yakeato Juniors faced radical changes in corporate structure and workplace culture. The corporate largesse of the bubble era disappeared and the promise of lifetime employment--a staple of postwar Japanese human resources management--quickly became a tale of the past. Too young to give up and too old to change course, failing to adapt was not an option, or so it seemed. Yakeato Juniors pushed themselves hard, so hard that many ended up with nervous breakdowns, karoshi (death by overwork) or karo-jisatsu (suicide as a result of stress from overwork).

The predicament of Yakeato Juniors now in their 40s and 50s reveals that their "individualism" was, in fact, underwritten by the very economic forces that they grew up taking for granted.

Recent studies by Atsushi Miura, author of the best-selling Karyu Shakai (Low society), suggest that younger generations who came of age after the collapse of the bubble economy already knew that an "all middle-class" society was a dream of the past, that hard work is not always rewarded and that there is little more for them to protect than their own creature comfort. As to their personal fortunes, they are more sharply polarized than any other generation since the end of World War II: The shrinking middle class is caught between a small but stable core of the superrich and an increasing number of economically marginalized. They figure out early in their lives that there are "winners" and "losers" in the brave new world of the neoliberal global economy, and they are better off finding proportionate success in their own station.

Yakeato Juniors are the generation betwixt and between, caught between the quasi-utopian postwar ideology of hard work and reward creating an "all middle-class" society and the harsh, ever-changing reality they face daily at home and at work. They are caught between the collective goals inherited from their parents and the individual achievement and satisfaction that they learned to pursue as young adults.

The life course of this generation is uniquely marked by ambivalence and dissent, in a way that stands out in Japan's postwar social history.

Somewhere

Somewhere is the latest film by Sofia Coppola and has gotten mixed reviews since it's release. I'm a regular Slate Cultural Gabfestlistener and the hosts really had a lot of hate for the film. It controversially won the the Golden Lion award in 2010 at the Venice Film Festival with a jury headed by former boyfriend Quentin Tarantino. I think I fall somewhere between the extremes. I think it aptly displays many of the themes she frist explored in Lost In Translation about how wealth and fame disfigures people and leads them to alienation. The big difference is that with the Bill Murray character and Scarlett Johansson we have two people that the audience can relate to and care about-I can't say the same about Brad Dourif's character, Johnny Marco. The pacing of the film is more akin to that of an art film and somewhere I read that she was making homage to Wong Kar-wai. There are several shots that are 45 seconds or longer that feel unusual , like the scenes where the blond twins are pole dancing and they move beyond erotica and humor to uncomfortableness. I wasn't bored, but I wasn't necessarily entertained either. In my estimation, the music and locale were more stimulating in Lost In Translation as well. I'm not an L.A. person and don't have much appreciation for most mainstream American culture-so that was another factor that detracted from the submersion into style of a place that can't hold my imagination. That being said the rock-star lifestyle and luxury life that Johnny lives is appealing and was one of the aspects that captured my attention, but seems to have little bearing on my experience of life. Only if... It's hard to feel empathy for someone who seemingly has it all but still can't find happiness in that milieu. It's pathetic, rather than cathartic.

Pictures At A Revolution

I really enjoyed Mark Harris' extensive look at a watershed moment in American film in his exhaustively researched book, Pictures At A Revolution: Five Movies And The Birth Of The New Hollywood. He basically takes the reader from the genesis of five films released in 1967 that would go onto be nominated for Best Film at the 1968 Academy Awards show. This is a significant year since it represents a break from the old Hollywood traditions that were beginning to die as new talent and ideas were infused into the old Hollywood system that had become staid and predictable. Leading the revolution were Bonnie and Clyde and The Graduate. These films tapped into the cultural zeitgeist that was occurring at the time and struck a nerve with the emerging baby boomer generation with their depictions of violence and disillusionment. I find it interesting that Rick Perlstein also realized that Bonnie and Clyde had a significant insight to the the culture of the 60s as he continually referred to it in his excellent Nixonland. Even In The Heat of the Night had elements of of the new zeitgeist by coming head on with the race question. Another Sidney Poitier vehicle, Guess Who's Coming Together, seemed to represent the end of the new Hollywood by providing the last film featuring Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn-stalwarts of the old Hollywood system-since this is the last film Tracy would ever appear in. Furthermore, the race issue was largely skirted in an effort to avoid any uncomfortable reactions to it. The last film nominated, Doctor Doolittle, heralded the death of the family musical which had become something of a cash cow after the success of The Sound of Music and My Fair Lady. It was a studio hack job that didn't deserve to be considered among the best films of 1967 and failed to recoup its costly production costs. Harris has consulted an exhaustive set of sources to provide the story of the emergence of the this new zeitgeist and has a myriad of enjoyable anecdotes related to a galaxy of stars and important cultural figures. It is a great cultural history and an entertaining book for film buffs. It comes highly recommended.

Hara Kiri

Hara Kiri (1962) is a fascinating critique of feudalism directed by Masaki Kobayashi. He has brought together a talented group of collaborators to make a powerful film that exposes the hypocrisy of codes and bureaucracies that dehumanize and take away individuality in rigid societies like the early Tokugawa period Japan of which this film is set. The screen writer Shinobu Hashimoto also wrote the screenplay for Akira Kurosawa's classic Seven Samurai, which also featured the star of Hara Kiri, Tatsuya Nakadai-who puts in a stunning performance of the angry avenging samurai bent on teaching the Iyi clan a lesson about human respect. The score is by the brilliant and consistent Toru Takemitsu (Pale Flower). The film also features inspired cinematography by Yoshio Miyajima. The Criterion treatment includes an introduction by Donald Richie, and interviews with director Kobayashi, star Nakadai, and screenwriter Hashimoto. The booklet has a new essay by Joan Mellen and a reprint of her 1972 interview with Kobayashi. The story is told in revealing flash backs that give the story an emotional resonance and drives the story forward resulting in an unexpected twist. I think this is one of the best Japanese films I've ever seen and is on par the best of Kurosawa and Ozu-it is a must see film.

33 1/3: Kid A

I have been a Radiohead fan since their second album, The Bends. OK Computer solidified their reputations as torch bearers of rock. But their follow up to that, Kid A, was not so well-received. Marvin Lin's excellent analysis of Kid A for Continuum's 33 1/3 series explores the impact of this album. I think he is right in calling it a "grower." I remember that it took me several listenings to appreciate the sonic rumblings. But as lead singer Thomas Yorke points out, it may not be melodic, but it is rhythmic-so not so inaccessible. I think this is especially apparent on a song like "National Anthem"-with it's active bassline. I think all of their albums since OK Computer have been "growers" and this came up recently when talking with a friend about the latest King Of Limbs, which has grown on me with each repeated listen. Lim has divided the Book in to several section with abstract cocenptual titles to discuss different aspects of the album and band: Kid A-Aesthetics, Authenticity, Abstraction, Acclaim, Adaptation, Activism, Apocalypse, Agency, Ascension. Furthermore, I find this volume to be both a personal and generalized abstract foray into the what Kid A is since Lin talks about the personal importance of the album and the band and also draws somewhat tenuous connections between things like Dadaism and critical theory when discussing the album. But he also points out relative facts, like the fact that this album re-entered the Billboard Top 200 10 years after its release in 2010. I also like that he mentions Chuck Klosterman's claim from his book Killing Yourself To Live that Kid A is the soundtrack to September 11th, 2001 despite the fact it was released in 2000, with his track by track analysis. Overall, it was an enlightening look at an album that had fallen into obscurity on my iTunes. This book inspired me to give it several closer listens and as a result I gained a greater appreciation for the album. I think if that's the case, then the undertaking was well worth the effort.

Cultural Refusals

I always find Kate Elwood's columns for The Daily Yomiuri enlightening in how they expose cultural differences between Americans and the Japanese. Here's another:

In the case in Japan, often what is being offered is a nice present, which is perfectly enjoyable to receive. Yet in this case as well, I am too quick on the draw and may appear unbecomingly eager, as my hands of their own accord stretch out toward the gift when they ought to be rising up in a gesture of unpresumptuous preliminary negation. Sometimes my hands and mouth work simultaneously, but to opposite purposes, as I politely dilly-dally verbally even as I unequivocally seize the package.

Such behavior makes me feel uncomfortably childish but it's hard to completely break cultural patterns of response. In the case of sales pitches and other similar requests, it can be additionally problematic. It seems ill-mannered to say no after taking possession of goods that have been offered, yet even more churlish to try to give back what I have more or less willingly accepted, or at least what my hands appear to have accepted on my behalf. And, of course, my hands are at this point occupied holding on to whatever it is that I have now acquired, and are no longer free to make a hand gesture, an often essential communicative element in the act of refusal.

The hand fan corresponds to the function of a "no" head shake, and without it, or something similar, a refusal may be overlooked. Applied linguist Nicholas Jungheim made a study of refusals in the cartoon Sazae-san and role plays performed by native Japanese speakers. He found that all of the refusals of offers in his data included hand gestures. Jungheim further notes that when he refused an offer using the standard phrase for declining, kekko desu, without an accompanying gesture of refusal, the offered thing was pressed upon him nonetheless, pointing to the need for the gesture to complete the act of turning down an offer.

Taking a different tack, Jungheim showed Japanese students and non-Japanese students a variety of short video clips, with the sound removed, of human characters and characters from Sazae-san, including one clip that used a hand-fan gesture. The participants were asked what the speaker in each clip was saying. Although the non-Japanese students had lived in Japan between eight months and a year, and had studied Japanese for six months to four years before coming to the country, most failed to interpret the meaning of the refusal gesture correctly. On the other hand, the Japanese respondents were able to do so.

In fact, as with bowing, after living in Japan for 28 years I am quite used to making hand gestures of negation or refusal, and even find myself performing them sometimes when speaking in English. Nevertheless, when something is actually thrust at me, the "receive what's offered" mode overrides this subsequently learned behavior every time. In my recent case, unfortunately already cradling the probiotic drinks, I nonetheless attempted to refuse the request for the home delivery service. Theoretically, on these occasions it should help that I am in my particular area of research, which allows me access to knowledge about ways to accomplish various speech acts, and even to welcome fiddly situations as a chance to learn more about the application of communication techniques.

Applied linguists Leslie Beebe, Tomoko Takahashi and Robin Uliss-Weltz, as well as other researchers of refusals, have pointed to a variety of linguistic strategies used in turning down offers, suggestions, requests, invitations and so on, including giving a reason, proposing an alternative, promising future acceptance, making a statement of principle or philosophy, and avoidance. Research suggests that while both American and Japanese people may give reasons for refusals, American explanations tend to be more detailed while Japanese ones are vaguer. On the other hand, statements of principle or philosophy are somewhat more common in Japan.