Lost In Translation

Before The Storm

A few years ago I read and thoroughly enjoyed Rick Perlstein's impressive Nixonland: America's Second Civil War and the Divisive Legacy of Richard Nixon 1965-1972 (2008). And am looking forward to reading the last book in the trilogy of the rise of the conservatism in America, The Invisible Bridge: The Fall of Nixon and the Rise of Regan (2014). But before undertaking the last volume in the series, I thought that I should go back and read the first volume in the series, Before the Storm: Barry Goldwater and the Unmaking of the American Consensus  (2002), for a better overall understanding of how America has arrived at this point in time in which politics have shifted significantly to he right. One of the things I liked best about Nixonland, was that Perlstein brought in historical and cultural examples of the changing of society and culture over time. He does this in Before The Storm as well, but he doesn't really get to this aspect until about 200 pages in the book after he has established how the conservative movement became organized nationally with a base in Orange County in California. He also shows how the John Birch Society was formed as well as Buckely's conservative National Review. The story of politics cannot be told without broaching the civil rights movement that was dividing the nation at the time. It is somewhat difficult to get my head around the fact that in the past the Republican party (the party of Lincoln) used to be the proponents of the civil rights movement and that most southerns were staunch Democrats. The is book chronicles how this reversal started to take place with a conservative Republican like Goldwater. I think the book really starts getting interesting during the lead up to the Republican primaries when Perlstein starts reporting about domestic and world events that had an effect public perception of politics and candidates. Obviously Kennedy's assassination and the escalating war in Vietnam. It is at this time that Republican front runner for the 1964 Presidential election, Nelson Rockefeller, becomes a liability after divorcing his long-time wife and marrying a formerly married woman 20 years younger. As usual Nixon is there even though he was decimated in the previous election by Kennedy, but Henry Cabot Lodge emerges as a dark horse despite the fact he is serving as an adviser in Vietnam. Some of Goldwater's gaffes talking to the media are reminiscent of Donald Trump's in the present run up to the Republican nomination for President. Essentially he scared off most people with his extremist views and the seeds of the modern Tea Party were sown so long ago with the fringe right and the rise of Nixon and Regan after him. There were fears that Medicare would take over medicine industry and that many of these people thought that 50 percent of welfare recipients were frauds among many other long standing myths from the extreme right. It was also during this election that Bill Moyers, LBJ's campaign manger and trusted aide, was key in innovating "the full-time espionage, sabotage, and mudslinging unit" that is so prevalent today. It is another impressively researched book like the one I read previously, Nixonland, however, as I mentioned earlier it took me a while to get into this narrative since painstaking details leading up to Goldwater's nomination dominated the book and was not so compelling in some aspects of corralling Republican delegates. That being said it was very enlightening overall.

Irezumi

Yasuzo Masumura may the most under rated director of the New Wave era. Irezumi (1966) is just the third film that I have seen by Masumura, but all three have been impressive (Giants and Toys and Manji). Furthermore, this screen play was penned by fellwo New Wave director/screenwriter, Kaneto Shindo (Oninbaba). This is the second adaptation of a Junichiro Tanizaki novel for Masumura in 1966 (Manji was an adaptation of what was translated into English as Quicksand). This film also stars Ayako Wakao (who also played a similar role in Manji and seems well-suited for it) as the femme fatale Otsuya who runs off with an apprentice, Shinisuke (Akio Hasegawa), from her father's shop to hide at the house of her father's friend. He betrays them all when sends a minion to kill Shinisuke and sells Otsuya to a brothel owner while taking money from her father saying that he is searching for her. While Otsuya is in captivity the brothel owner has a tattoo artist give her a spider tattoo which transforms her into a man eater who is adept at getting men to part with their money. Her appetite for money and vengeance eventually consumes her as the stake keep escalating. This type of female is identifiable from Tanizaki's novels like Naomi and Quicksand (unfortunate this novel, "The Tattooer," has not been translated into to English as far as I know). She includes Shinisuke in her plans and corrupts hims o that he does her bidding as he is a weak and sensitive lover. However, he has his limits and when she takes up with a wealthy samurai (Kei Sato) a swift resolution comes to the proceedings. It is  a pulpy, but entertaining historical story based on a novel form one of the masters of Japanese literature. In addiiton, Masumara, does an excellent job of composing shots and using is en scene to his artistic advantage. I'm looking forward to seeing more of his films which are somewhat more edgy than some of his predecessors and contemporaries.

Zatoichi In Desperation

Zatoichi In Desperation (1972) is directed by the star of the series, Shintaro Katsu himself, and it seems to reflect the times. It has a funky 70s score and Katsu is indulgent in using a psychedelic medley of images when he flashes back to the death of an old woman on a bridge that Zatoichi feels guilty about since it is partly due to his actions. He promises to bring her shamisen to her daughter, Nishikigi (Kiwako Taichi) working at a brothel in a town nearby. Katsu does an admirable job aside from a few showy camera angle throughout. The story stands out in cruelty: a young boy is beaten to death for throwing stones at yakuza who have burned fisherman's boats in an action that is the equivalent of barn burning in the late 1800s American west. In earlier episodes Zaotichi has suggested that he has slept with women of the night, but in this film he has his first erotic encounter with Nishikigi that leads to his capture. Zaotichi is forced to give up his sword and his hands are impaled so that he is forced incredulously to used his arms with a sword tied to them to cut down his opponents. The villainous yakuza boos is played by Katsuo Nakamura known for his role in Shinoda's tales of the supernatural Kwaidan.

Elite Squad: The Enemy Within

I was inspired to to watch Elite Squad: The Enemy Within (2010), after watching the excellent Netflix series Narcos. The series had two episodes directed by the film's director, Jose Padilha, and both star Wlater Moura. I have also previous seen the previous film, Elite Squad, before I visited Brazil in 2012. There's not much new ground in the action packed, fast paced film that pits goods guys versus drug trafficking criminals and the straight members of society who are corrupt and help them while reaping the rewards of such a system. It easy to see why the producers of Narcos wanted Padilha and Moura on their project-both are at the top of their games.

Narcos

I really enjoyed the first season of Netflix's drama Narcos, which chronicles the rise and fall of Colombian drug kingpin Pablo Escobar (as played by Brazilian Walter Moura). Moura has done an excellent job of making Pablo the myth into a human being despite his monstrous image. Then again I am a sucker for the historically-based dramas. Obviously much is dramatized from the true story, but it is based on actual events and archival documentary footage and photos are often used to set the stage and give background. There has been some criticism that the voice over narration (ala Goodfellas style) and overall story framing device is an American DEA agent who doesn't speak Spanish in the character Steve Murphy (Boyd Holbrook). He has been joined in Colombia with his wife, Connie (Joanna Christie). His morally dubious DEA partner is the Spanish speaking Javier Pena (Pedro Pascal). They often get assistance from the US government in the guise of the Ambassador, CIA, and the military for tracking drug traffickers and pin pointing their locations and movements. The truth of the matter was that the US had a great presence and the extradition was a great threat to the drug traffickers at that time-so the US involvement was quite significant and important to the war against Escobar.That being said 70-80% of the story is acted in Spanish with subtitles as the narrative follows Escobar's actions and the reactions from the Colombian government and others who are caught up in the tragic events of the drug terrorism of the 80s and 90s in Colombia. Furthermore, all of the episodes are directed by Latino directors: Brazilians Jose Padihla (know for Elite Squad and Elite Squad: The Enemy Within) and Fernando Coimbra (Wolf at the Door), Mexican Guillermo Navarro (best known as cinematographer for Guillermo del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth) and Robert Rodriquez (Dusk Till Dawn), and Colombian Andi Baiz (Satan). I have enjoyed the this series and the Colombia-like location shooting of the series immensely. It has been green lighted for a second season in which the hunt for Escobar will heat up, and I'm looking forward to seeing how it is depicted for the series-in fact I am inspired to read Mark Bowden's account in his book Killing Pablo.

Season Of Migration To The North

At some point in the recent past I read an interesting review about Tayeb Salih's Season Of Migration To The North (1966), so I finally got a copy and read it. And it true to form, it was an interesting read about identity and "the other," colonialism, Islam, Africa, and the collision with the west. After years of study in the west the narrator, a Sudanese, returns to his small village on the Nile. When he returns he finds that a mysterious stranger has moved into his village. This man, Mustafa turns out to have had a fascinating past seducing English women some of whom died or took their own lives a direct result of their relationship with him. It turns out that he had a brilliant career as an economist, but has retired to the remote village and settled into a typical Muslin life with a local women who has given him two sons. After this chance meeting with the narrator, he names him custodian of his family and estate when he dies swimming a flood. The west has changed both men and that is the bond that ties them together. The novel calls to mind other works such as Othello, which is directly referenced in the book, as well as Camus's The Stranger. The Arabic oral storytelling tradition is evident in the narrative as well, and this reminds me of the Paul Bowles translation of of a man's oral story called A Life Full of Holes. A fascinating look at Islamic Africa and clash between civilizations

Himiko

Masahiro Shinoda's 1974 film Himiko comes off like an acid-fueled fever dream. The characters are robed in striking costumes and arresting make-up both which make use of bold colors, and there are elaborately styled interior sets. As visually striking as the films is and this includes excellent use of locations as well.  It is a testament to the skill of cinematographer Tatuso Suzuki also known for his work on The Funeral Parade of Roses. The film also make use of the talents of Tatsumi Hijikata and his butoh dance group. There is yet another bold and impressive score from master composer Toru Takemitsu as well. Shinoda's wife Shima Iwashita stars as the heroine, Himiko, a third century female shaman that ruled in Japan because of her ability to communicate with the gods. The plot is convoluted and hard to follow as transgressions and betrayals abound. In this telling of legend, she is a sort of figurehead who takes no power despite being an alleged sovereign. She falls in love with her half-brother Takehiko (Masao Kusakari). But then he falls in love with Adahime (Rie Yokoyama), the priestess of the Earth Goddess, making Himoko very jealous. She is then assassinated by the clan elders since she is out of control. It is perplexing to try and guess as to what statement Shinoda, notoriously political in his films, is trying to make with this film and how it relates to the modern age and society. At the end of the film he ties it in with present by having a character wandering in the woods and a long take pull away shot from a helicopter reveals that it is taking place in a small wooded grove in the present surrounded by a modern Japanese suburb. Is the raving elder atoning for an act that has created the modern world? I cannot say, but Shinoda has clearly created a visually unforgettable world in this film. 

Zatoichi At Large

Zatoichi At Large (1972), the 23rd installment of the Zatoichi series, has a veteran director, Kazuo Mori, in charge. It calls to mind an earlier film, Fight, Zatoichi, Fight, in that we have Zatoichi (Shintaro Katsu) taking care of a baby again after helping a dying woman give birth after she was robbed on her travels. Once again we have Rentaro Mikuni playing a Yakuza boss, Testugoro, who is fixed on taking over a crime-free village. There are several cases of mistaking Zartoichi for the killer of a couple innocent victims: starting with the pregnant woman and later with the slayed village constable, Tobei (Hisaya Morishige). The son of the slayed woman follows Zatoichi pelting him with rocks whenever given the chance. The carnage comes late in the film and the final showdown with the master swordsman feels like an afterthought. But there's plenty of entertainment, for example, there's a comedy  troupe with performing monkeys and a cast of comedic performing actors. As always, Zatoichi performs skillful sword tricks and exposes cheating in gambling while raising stakes for his charitable deeds.

Mikkeller Tokyo

Mikkeller is a new craft beer bar created by a Danish brewer that has branches all over the world. There are 20 beers on tap.

Zabrinske Point

I am a huge fan of the films of Michelangelo Antonioni, but I have not gotten around to seeing Zabrinske Point (1970). There are several reason for this and no the least of them is that it is routinely dismissed as his worst film and the fact that it focuses on the fading revolutionary youth movement of the 60s, as it was petering out. However, it was referenced in a podcast I recently listened to, "You Must Remember This: Charles Manson's Hollywood," and I recently saw and enjoyed Antonioni's follow up to this film earlier this year, The Passenger, and felt that this might be the right time to see this film. I admit that I am an "auteur-ist" and I value the films of director that I admire to point where I often find their failures more interesting than most mainstream fare. I think Roger Ebert was being unfair when he said, "He has tried to make a serious movie and hasn't even achieved a beach-party level of insight." Alienation and rootlessness are major themes for Antonioni, think L'Eclipse, L'Adventura, Red Desert, etc., and these are also the themes of his follow up, The Passenger, which also takes place in the desert. True, this may not be his finest film, but that does not mean that it is not worthwhile. One of the biggest problems with the film is the casting of amateurs in the leads roles-they lack the ability to be wholly convincing in the film. Aside form the content, I must say that I can appreciate a film for its aesthetic beauty: cinematography, framing, and the blending of the visuals with the soundtrack, which was more popular than the film itself.