Lost In Translation

Jauja

Argentine director Lisandro Alanso's Jauja (2014) was one of the more highly praised films of last year.  There is much to admire here, especially the stunning location scenery captured in the Argentine pampas of Patagonia. It was shot in 35mm film and framed in 1.33 screen, with rounded corners-an unusual choice and I cannot remember seeing another film in this format, but it seemed to work, because the most compelling aspect of the film for me was the exquisite cinematography. It is not for everyone, it contains many of the hallmarks of an art film: long shot cinematography, long takes, a two hour running time, limited dialogue and action, a simple plot, an inexplicable shift in time near the end, and little action. It is a Argentine revisionist western about a Danish Captain Dinesen (Viggo Mortenson) assigned to the Patagonia region. Even though never it is never expressly stated in the film — it is set in 1882, near the end of the "Conquest of the Desert," a violent campaign designed to rid the jungle region of the indigenous people  (referred to as “coconut heads” by the army) and make it hospitable to the European settlers. He has brought his teenage daughter, who is on the verge of a sexual awakening and tries to elope with a young soldier. Thus begins the journey and battle of man against the rugged nature of the region as Dinesen follows in pursuit. There is a sudden shift near the end down a rabbit hole that felt as though it ruptured the film’s hypnotizing atmosphere.

The Boss's Son At College

I was inspired to see Hiroshi Shimizu's 1933 silent film, The Boss's Son at College when a student inquired whether it was OK to watch for a Japanese Cinema class assignment. I enjoyed the films I saw by Shimizu in the Eclipse Series 15: Travels with Hiroshi Shimizu. Incidentally this film is available with English subtitles on YouTube. This film is said to be Shimizu's most biographical film about a wealthy soy sauce manufacturer's son, Fuji (Mitsugu Fuji),  who doesn't want to settle down, but enjoys drinking and womanizing and eventually gets kicked off the rugby team for his unruly ways. It is essentially a light hearted comedy, however it are some serious themes broached in the film such as adherence to traditional cultural values as being a member of a family (marrying to perpetuate the family's name and wealth)  and group (rugby team and school). There are some great location shots at a harbor (Yokohoma?), on a bridge in Fukugawa (?), and other parts of Tokyo. The interior shots are equally framed in the tradition of other greats like Ozu and Mizoguchi. Like Ozu he uses Hollywood posters of films he likes in the background of one of his indoor locations (the house of a classmate being supported by a showgirl sister). Speaking of Ozu, I am pretty sure that the child actor with a small part in this film is also the one who stared in Ozu's film, I Was Born, But.... While researching this film I came across a great article about Shimizu on the MIdnighteye website that should be of interest to anyone interested in the films of Shimizu..

While on the surface lighter in tone than Shimizu's other silents of the period - there are no deaths or other tragic incidents in the story - The Boss's Son Goes to College is, nevertheless, a work with serious thematic implications. - See more at: http://www.midnighteye.com/features/hiroshi-shimizu-silent-master-of-the-japanese-ethos/#sthash.L0yIvry7.dpuf

While on the surface lighter in tone than Shimizu's other silents of the period - there are no deaths or other tragic incidents in the story - The Boss's Son Goes to College is, nevertheless, a work with serious thematic implications. - See more at: http://www.midnighteye.com/features/hiroshi-shimizu-silent-master-of-the-japanese-ethos/#sthash.L0yIvry7.dpuf

While on the surface lighter in tone than Shimizu's other silents of the period - there are no deaths or other tragic incidents in the story - The Boss's Son Goes to College is, nevertheless, a work with serious thematic implications. - See more at: http://www.midnighteye.com/features/hiroshi-shimizu-silent-master-of-the-japanese-ethos/#sthash.L0yIvry7.dpuf

While on the surface lighter in tone than Shimizu's other silents of the period - there are no deaths or other tragic incidents in the story - The Boss's Son Goes to College is, nevertheless, a work with serious thematic implications. - See more at: http://www.midnighteye.com/features/hiroshi-shimizu-silent-master-of-the-japanese-ethos/#sthash.L0yIvry7.dpuf

Shake Tree

I was introduced to Shake Tree, a gourmet hamburger restaurant in Sumida in between Kinshicho and Ryogoku stations, at Taste of Tokyo. I thought I'd try it out since it was on my way home from my Monday job. I got the bacon cheeseburger (¥1250) and it was excellent-complete with handmade buns and squeeze bottles of ketchup and mustard.

Katzelmacher

The second film in the Eclipse Series 39: Early Fassbinder is Katzelmacher (1969), the title is a derogatory Bavarian word for a foreigner, especially one from a Mediterranean country. In this film Fassbinder examines the lingering resentment and exploitation of the vast number of guest workers that poured into Germany during the economic miracle of the 50s. However, it takes a while for him to get to that part of the film the beginning of the film establishes the characters—Marie (Hanna Schygulla) and her brooding criminal boyfriend, Erich (Hans Hirschmüller); Elisabeth (Irm Hermann), her deadbeat live-in lover, Peter (Peter Moland); Paul (Rudolf Waldemar Brem) and his clingy girlfriend, Helga (Lilith Ungerer); Rosy (Elga Sorbas), who turns to prostitution, ultimately charging even her boyfriend, Franz (Harry Baer), for sex—in run  down apartments, a beer hall, and on the sidewalk, often in pairs, bickering with one another, and taking advantage of each other. Then Jorgos (Fassbinder), a taciturn Greek immigrant who moves into Elisabeth’s flat, arrives. He threatens the locals simply by being different, not German. Immediately rumors fly about his sexual prowess and Communist sympathies; aggression against him builds to an inevitable attack. The film has a cold austere style with static frames and long takes. It is no surprise that I has been adapted from a play written by Fassbinder. I find the content of his films intriguing so far, but find the cinematic style a bit primitive.     

Waiting on the Weather

I was recently screening Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon for my Japanese Cinema class, so I decided to read Teruyo Nogami's memoir Waiting On The Weather: Making Movies with Akira Kurosawa (2006). I knew that Nogami had worked on many Kurosawa films from Rashomon up until his last film, Madadayo. However, I was unaware of her connection with Mansaku Itami (father of one my favorite contemporary filmmakers Juzo Itami). Itami was Kogami's first mentor and she helped raise Juzo. In fact I was interested to learn that noted chambara and jidaigeki director Daisuke Ito was his best friend and both were from Matsuyama-a formidable cultural friendship much like that of his son Juzo and his best friend the Nobel Prize winning author Kenzubaro Oe.  The first chapter focuses on this connection, "Mansaku Itami, My First Mentor." There is a lot of interesting information about how films were made in the postwar era in the second chapter, "Life in Miniature: At the Daiei Kyoto Studios." The third chapter proved to be a timely read for me since it concerns Rashomon, "Smiled on by Lady Luck: Rashomon." There's another interesting connection between Itami and Kogami that arises when Kogami tells how Itami also served as a mentor for Rashomon screenplay writer Shinobu Hashimoto, whom she would work with on that film. There are several facts that I was either unaware of or forgot: there were two fires that took place while they were editing the film, the film was entered in the Venice film festival without Kurosawa's knowledge-thus it's reception saved his reputation and revived his career since the film was so poorly received in Japan at first. "Toho Paradise" follows and Nogami tells how she moved to Toho after Rashomon and immediately worked with another great postwar director, Kon Ichikawa (probably best known for The Burmese Harp). In this chapter she discusses some of the jobs of the director's assistants and how they worked-using mostly examples from Kurosawa films. In "The Past Won't Return: remembering Dersu Uzala" she reminisces about the difficult 1972 shoot with cooperation of the Russian government that was a hardship in conditions of the location as well as working through a difficult shoot where Kurosawa was drinking heavily and border-lining on being outright abusive to his staff. In retrospect she feels that she could have been more understanding of him. Kogami discusses Kurosawa's issues with getting animals to perform for film in Chapter Six: "Kurosawa and Animals." The animals are a tiger for Dersu Uzala, horses in Kagemusha, and crows in Dreams. The next chapter, Seven: "Kurosawa and Music," examines Kurosawa's relationship with composers: Fumio Hayasaka, Masaru Sato, and Toru Takemitsu. In Chapter Eight: "Sentimental Recollections," Nogami remembers cinema's great that have passed away, for example: Takashi Shimura, Toshiro Mifune, and Juzo Itami. In an interesting side note, she reveals that Mikio Naruse's Hideko the Bus Conductress was banned during the war for fear of showing the Malays decrepit-looking bus, which would have stained Japanese honor. It is followed by Chapter Nine, "Observing the Kurosawa Group," looks at several peopel associated with Kurosawa and the two most interesting sections for me were: "What Really Happened with Shintaro Katsu on Kagemusha" and "Kurosawa and Mifune after Red Beard." The last chapter was devoted to discussions of Kurosawa's meetings, appreciations, and relationships with world directors: John Ford, Laurence Olivier, Jean Renoir, Jean-Luc Goddard and John Milius, Werner Herzog, Martin Scorcese, William Friedkin, Sidney Lumet, Francis Ford Coppola, George Lucas, John Cassavetes and Jim Jarmusch. This book is certainly of interest to Kurosawa fans, but perhaps indispensable to fans of the golden years of Japanese cinema. There is some repetition in the book since it was culled from a number of sources, but very entertaining and enlightening.

Force Majeure

I had read good things about Ruben Ostlund's Cannes "A Certain Regard Jury Prize" winning film Force Majeure (2014). It certainly lived up to the hype and had I seen it last year, it surely would have been in my top five best films of the year. Ostlund has claimed that his goal in making the film was to increase the divorce rate. It questions what exactly is manhood in today's postmodern society. The story emanates from the reaction of Thomas (Johannes Kuhke) at a moment of jeopardy. The handsome father and husband of equally attractive Ebba (Lisa Lovin Kongsli) is with his family at ski resort in France eating lunch outdoors while controlled avalanches are being conducted by the resort with the aid of explosives. Seemingly one such avalanche has gone wrong and threatens to cover the hotel, so Thomas bolts for the inside not without grabbing his iPhone first, leaving his wife and children behind. The CGI filmed scene and use of explosions throughout highlight the impressive visual style that captures the majesty of the mountains and nature. It is a perfect example of how and when CGI should be used to enhance a film.  From this incident the relations between man and wife festers and breaks Thomas down who at first denies the incident then embraces and has a melt down complete with the worst man cry ever-said to have been inspired by a YouTube video of the same name. Before this climatic event takes place the incident causes friction between another couple, the divorced Mats (it is astonishing to see Game of Thrones Kristofer Hivjuv in a contemporary role) and his young girlfriend Fanni (Fanni Metelius), whom they have befriended on their stay. Mats questions how he would have reacted and Fanni, unfairly in my opinion suggests that he would have reacted the same as Thomas-causing an all-night argument. In the end Thomas and Ebba create an incident to restore equilibrium in the family and with the kids. The film ends with a somewhat odd coda that keeps the viewer questioning how it will affect the characters. It is a powerful and thought provoking film.

Okina

I read a couple of online reviews about the Michelin one star soba restaurant Okina and wanted to visit since it is my neighborhood, Ebisu. Above is the entrance to the basement located shop.

The starter was eggplant with chives and dried jako (tiny young sardines or anchovies that have been boiled then salted and dried, thus naturally preserved and are used in many Japanese dishes).

This was followed by a sashimi course with hotate (scallops), shako (mantis shrimp), and karasumi (dried salted mullet roe) from left to right.

Baby corn form Nagano with nikumiso (miso paste with ground meat).

More sashimi, tai (sea bream) and hamo (daggertooth river conger) from left to right.

Next was grilled anago (salt water eel) in a sweet soy based sauce.

Sato imo (taro root).

When eating washoku (Japanese style food), I usually like to have some nihonshu (sake). I didn't keep track of the brands but this one was from Fukui-dry and light.

Fried tofu with soba seeds.

The main event was the soba (buckwheat noodles), and I believe this was sarashina soba: thin, light-colored soba, made with refined buckwheat. All of the dishes were exquisitely displayed and extremely fresh and of high quality. I enjoyed all of them and many were served cold which seemed appropriate for the high humidity day of the visit. It was ¥15,000 per person for the course. I don't eat at places this expensive often, but I felt satisfied with my meal and experince.

Zatoichi On The Road

Zatoichi On The Road (1963) is the fifth installment (and third film made in in 63!) and directed by Kimiyoshi Yasuda, who would subsequently go onto direct several more installments in the series. Patterns are starting to emerge as Zatoichi (Shintaro Katsu) gives into his altruistic nature to help a damsel in distress-the daughter of a rich Tokyo merchant Omitsu (Shiho Fujimura). I felt she was showed up by the dubious female villain-the sultry Reiko Fujiwara. As usual Zatoichi is underestimated at all turns but new ways of demonstrating his skill emerge as he tosses a boss a persimmon and draws to slice it in two before it lands in his hands. Later he catches a spear in mid flight and uses it to dispatch a minion as he dodges other spears thrown. It seems as though the body count is increasing with each installment as well. The final showdown when this takes place obviously owes something in its deserted town atmosphere to Kurosawa's Yojimbo (which itself was subsequently inspired by American westerns), which was released two years previously in 1961. They even manage to bring something new to the obligatory final showdown sequence where Zatoichi takes care of the bosses of both sides all at once.

Love Is Colder Than Death

Love Is Colder Than Death (1969) is the first film in the Eclipse Series 39: Early Fassbinder from Criterion featuring the early films of Rainier Werner Fassbinder. The film was dedicated to French New Wave directors Claude Charbol, Eric Rohmer, and Jean-Marie Straub, but the greatest influence I can see on the film was Jean Luc Goddard's Band of Outsiders. A similar story of two hoodlum friends and a girl. If possible this film feels more stylistic and cold in execution, perhaps, reflecting the cynical and cold behavior of the characters on display: the pimp roughneck Franz (Fassbinder), his girl and prostitute Joanna (Hanna Schygulla), and the petty gangster recruited by the syndicate Bruno (Ulli Lommel). The film is pretty avant-garde in that it is comprised of mostly completely static shots. The characters often just stare at the camera before action takes place. There is also homage to traditional film noir throughout, but I mostly see the homage to Jean-Paul Melville and Goddard in this film. this is my first Fassbinder film, s it will be interesting to see where he goes from here. I have often come across references to the films of Fassbinder, but I was inspired to seek out his films after reading an appreciatory essay on Fassbinder by the critic Philip Lopate.

Seventh Code

Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Seventh Code (2013) is a slight (one hour) thriller made to showcase former AKB48 singer/actress Akiko Maeda that surprisingly garnered Kurosawa a Best Director Award at the Rome Film Festival in 2013. Prior to this film I have only seen his critically acclaimed 2008 film Tokyo Sonata. However, from what I have read about Kurosawa neither of these films are representative of his usual genre which is horror. That being said, this is a very accomplished thriller. Maeda plays Akiko a seemingly naive woman who travels to Vladivostok, Russia to pursue a man, Matsunaga (Ryohei Suzuki) she supposedly met once before in Tokyo and can't get out of her mind. She is Shanghaied and is dumped in a field with out any possessions or money. After that she finds a kindly Japanese expat who runs a restaurant with his sympathetic Chinese girlfriend put her up and help her locate Matsunaga. Near the end of the film there is a twist that totally changes the tone of the film and it also has an unexpected conclusion. I thought the film was a lot of fun and I liked how Kurosawa used the locations in Vladivostok.