Lost In Translation

Calexico "Algiers" / Band Of Horses "Mirage Rock"

Calexico is one of my favorite bands, so every release is a big event and therefore Algiers is something to rejoice about. It is their first album since 2008. And as usual there is a mix of instrumentals and songs with vocals. There is a variety of different arrangements with multiple instruments and music styles from typical American folk to Mexican folk and spaghetti western and beyond. My favorite tracks so far are the following: "Splitter," "Fortune Teller," Maybe On Monday," and "No Te Vayas."

Another of my favorite bands, band Of Horses, also has a new release, Mirage Rock, which is another strong collection of songs. This time around they are produced by veteran producer Glyn Johns (Eagles 1972-73). So this album has more of a conventional pop feel to it than their previous effort Infinite Arms. There are several stand out track especially the first three: "Knock Knock," then my favorite track--"How To Love," and "Slow Cruel Hands Of Time." All in all, it is another strong effort from the band.

Good Honest Grub

Good Honest Grub has been an Ebisu institution with a brief tenure in Harajuku I believe. The other day I really wanted brunch and saw that the most recent location isn't that far from me. This is the first time I've been to this location that is just off of Meiji dori between Ebisu and Shibuya. It was a very filling omelet.

The Fatal Shore

The Fatal Shore by the famous Australian critic and writer Robert Hughes has long known to be a landmark in nonfiction writing. A friend gave me a copy and this combined with a trip to Australia and the death of the author spurred me to pick up this magnificent book. It is certainly one of the strongest historical narratives I have ever read and I suspect much of this has to do with Hughes’ way with words and narrative style. But the story of the convict colony is also populated with numerous colorful characters and an interesting setting at the end of the world. It is also the horrific the violence and misery that is depicted in the book that creates a sensation not unlike being unable to turn your eyes away from a car crash. I was hooked by the opening chapters, the first “The Harbor and the Exiles,” in particular sets the stage for the story by discussing the peculiarities of the land and the people who were already there.  The aborigines had some striking customs: first of all they practiced communal sex, also they would send their women to another tribe when they came in contact with a wandering tribe and if they came back without having had sex--it meant that war was inevitable, any children that would not be able to be cared for were killed after birth. Hughes also did an admirable job of describing how different Australia and its landscape and animals were form the rest of the world in this chapter. The next chapter, “ A Horse Folded by an Acorn,” was equally captivating in the discussion of the conditions of Georgian England that led to the rise in crime that spurred interest in a convict colony outside of England. After these two chapters I was hooked. Hughes has a great narrative style in which he is able to sum up the past in colorful and succinct terms. Here’s a brief example: “John Price has remained one of the durable ogres of the Australian imagination for more than a century now.” He is also extremely adept at using his primary and secondary historical sources in a way that adds to the ebb and flow of his overall narrative. He is thorough about so many aspects of the history of the antipodes. He outlines the history of the settlements, the life of aborigines, the convicts their overseers, societal changes in England that affected the colony, and much more. There are sections throughout the book that are detailed forays into such subjects as class, religion, women convicts, minorities, free settlers, bushrangers, governmental plans, the horrific punishments, the misery--the harbingers of that misery, sexual practices/homosexuality/sodomy—hardly any aspect of life is not examined closely.  

Persona

Persona (1966) is one of Ingmar Bergman's master works and a perennial in all-time top 10 lists. It is an extraordinary picture that is alternatively deconstructive and traditional by degrees. Bibi Andersson is completing almost a soliloquy and Liv Ullmann in her first Bergman film gives an amazing performance without words. The cinematography is beautiful as the main subject is the human face. Bergman flaunts film conventions in the beginning when the film seemingly melts and an assortment of images are played across the screen drawing attnetion to th efact that this is a film not reality. Later there is a 10 minute section in which Bergman chooses to keep the camera on Andersson as she delivers a long monologue, and then shows the same scene with Ullmann's reactions to the monologue. Challenging, yet accessiable a masterpiece.

Sun 2 Diner

Sun 2 Diner in Nakameguro has a great atmosphere and a large menu with several varieties of hamburgers, sandwiches, other main dishes, and desserts. They also have a number of Anchor Steam and Hawaiian beers in bottles available.

I sampled the cheeseburger. It was served on a handmade bun which almost disintegrated from the grease and had too much lettuce. It was made from good quality beef, but there are closer places for a gourmet burger. The main selling point here is the atmosphere.

The Burmese Harp

The Burmese Harp (1956) was Kon Ichikawa's first international hit and one of the films that brought attention to Japanese film makers throughout the world. It is an adaptation of a children's book by Michio Takeyama adapted by Ichikawa's wife Natto Wada. It won the San Giorgio Prize at the Venice Film Festival and later an Academy Award as Best Foreign Language Film. It is the story of a Japanese soldier, Mizushima, who learns to play the Burmese harp and uses it as a signal with his unit that is led by a former music professor, thus the unit is taken to singing songs throughout the film. Mizushima later dresses as a monk and finally decides ot become one and pledges to alleviate suffering and vows to bury the many war dead that are left out to rot in the countryside. The major flaw in the film is that the ferocious fighting spirit and their brutality against the natives is glossed over in the film. The Japanese are portrayed as over grown boy scouts singing songs. The Burmese woman who trades with them sees them as kindly and wishes them well, which I would expect is far from the truth.  The closest it comes to depicting the maniacal attitude of the army is when Mizushima is sent to persuade a battalion to surrender, and they refuse wishing to die rather than be captured. There is not doubt that there is much artistry in the lighting and framing of shots throughout the film. However, I prefer Ichikawa's later war film Fires On The Plain

Taihouki

It seems that Taihouki is famous for gyouza, but I knew I'd only have room for ramen, so I went for one of my staples, Tan Tan men, spicy Szechuan style noodles. It was good, but very heavy. Next time I will stop in for a beer and gyoza.

Two Films By Chris Marker: La Jetee / Sans Soleil

Criterion has put together a special two film package, of La Jetee (1962) and Sans Soleil (1983), from French filmmaker, poet, novelist, photographer, editor, videographer and multimedia artist Chris Marker. The Criterion edition includes: new video interviews with filmmaker Jean-Pierre Gorin, Chris on Chris, a video piece on Marker by filmmaker and critic Chris Drake, two excerpts from the French TV series Court-circuit (le magazine), directed by Luc Lagier: the first, a look at David Bowie's music video for "Jump They Say," inspired by LaJetee; the second, analysis of Hitchcock's Vertigo and its influence on Marker, and a booklet featuring a new essay by Marker scholar Catherine Lupton, an interview with Marker, and notes on the films and film making by Marker.

I first became aware of La Jetee when Terry Gilliam based his film, 12 Monkeys, on it. It is quite an achievement what Marker has managed to convey with still photographs and cinematic techniques utilizing music, voice overs, lighting, and editing. However, I was truly mesmerized by Sans Soleil, which is notable for its length of 103 minutes versus the sparse 27 minutes of La Jetee. But more than that there are some very arresting visual images and sequences throughout the film. Most notably for me were those that were filmed in Tokyo in the early 80s. Since I have been living in/near Tokyo for the last 15 years, these sequences of what passed before are of great interest to me. But there were several other sequences that captured my interest as well, for example, the dreadful and utterly compelling "death of a giraffe" was  fascinating. I was also drawn into the images from the former colony of Portugal, which waged a successful guerrilla war against the colonizers. The footage of the Icelandic village before and after the volcano were also astounding. I feel this film will reward repeated viewings, in spite of the fact that La Jetee was named by Sight & Sound magazine as one of the top 50 films of all-time.

Vulture Peak

Vulture Peak (2012) is the fifth installment of the Thai Police Detective Sonchai Jitpleecheep mystery series by John Burdett. I have been reading Robert Huges' brilliant, dense and long history of Australia, The Fatal Shore, and felt the need for something lighter for a break--so I chose to read this after 400 pages of the former. I mostly enjoy Burdett's books for the exotic locales and here there's lots of that since there are forays from Bangkok to Phuket, Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Monte Carlo. However, I have to say that the dialogue was really bothering me this time around. The characters started to blend together as their styles of speaking were rendered too similar and intelligent sounding as well as using some of the same verbal ticks, like using "HiSo" for "high society." I also feel that most of the dialogue is used as exposition to give information about characters or plot or to expound the author's facile opinions on western society, capitalism, and other topics. Burdett stoops to giving wikipedia definitions twice in the novel--laziness? Is there no way to explain it in conversation? His American stereotypes continue to irritate me as well, all of the political advisers in the novel are amoral American opportunists. There are science fiction/fantastical elements to the novel, not unlike Bangkok Tattoo, that are not my cup of tea. I think I might skip the next installment of the series and focus on more accomplished mystery writers like Charles Willeford, James Ellroy, Elmore Leonard, and Patricia Highsmith.

8 1/2

Federico Fellini is generally known as one of the greatest filmmakers of all-time. However, at this point I have only seen one of his films, La Dolce Vita, thus I felt the need to see his other famous film, 8 1/2 (1963). The Criterion edition has lots of extras: screen-specific audio essay featuring commentary by film critic and Fellini friend Gideon Bachmann and NYU Professor of Film Antonio Monda, introduction from director Terry Gilliam, a 22 page booklet featuring essays by Fellini, Fellini collaborator and critic Tullio Kezich, and film professor and author Alexander Sensonske. And on Disk Two: Fellini A Director’s Notebook, a 52 minute film by Fellini, Nino Rota: Between Cinema and Concert, a 48 minute documentary about the maestro behind the music of Fellini’s films, interviews with actress Sandra Milo, director Lina Wertmuller, cinematographer Vittrio Storano who discussed the art of Gianni di Venanzo, rare photographs and gallery of behind-the-scenes and production. As to be expected, the are some amazing cinematic images in the film like the opening where Marcello Mastroianni escapes from his smoking car trapped in traffic and rises above the city only to be pulled down by his obligations to completing a film. All of the flash back scenes of the director’s childhood are entertaining, as was the city of women dream sequence. It is interesting how Fellini incorporates things about his life and counteracts perceived criticism in a clever meta-narrative way with a writer criticizing the director’s script in the film. The last hour in particular was enchanting and entertaining. It is easy to see why this is considered one of the greatest films of all time due to its thematic ideas and inventive visual images. It is an important and entertaining film, so I expect to track down more of the director’s major films in the future.