Lost In Translation

Distance

Hirokazu Kore-eda once again asks some big philosophical questions in Distance (2001). It is the story of an Aum Shinrikyo-like cult, that has sabotaged a city's water supply, then committed mass suicide near the shores of a lake. Four family members of those affected by the incident meet at the lake to observe the anniversary of their loved ones' deaths. While they are there they see another visitor who has come on a motorcycle. Later they all have had their vehicles stolen, including the mysterious stranger (Tadanobu Asano)-a surviving cult member who fled rather than participate in the poisoning and suicide pact. So they are forced to take refuge in the cult's old cabin and their stories emerge in conversations with each other and via flash backs as they try to come to terms with the incomprehensible acts of their deceased loved ones. The pace is leisurely as Kore-eda draws out the individual stories via conversations and flashbacks while planting the seed for a twist that is revealed in the last 20 minutes of the film.

The Maids

Junichiro Tanizaki's last novel was The Maids (posthumously published in Japanese in 1974, but has just been published in English in 2017). It can be seen as a companion piece to his greatest triumph, The Makioka Sisters. It is the keenly observed lives of several maids who worked for a well-off author and his family, Raikichi Chikura (a stand in for the author) through the post war years and three house holds (Sumiyoshi in Kobe, Atami in Shizuoka, and Yuagara in Kanagawa). It also calls to mind the sexually infused novels of observation like The Key and Diary of a Mad Old Man in his obsessive observations and considerations of the young maids that have lived among the Chikuras over time. There are a number of episodic vignettes about the different maids that are essentially character portraits. Tanizaki is a displaced Tokyo-ite who moved to the Kansai area and immersed himself in Japanese culture. The fact that the majority of the maids in this tale come from Kagoshima in the southern most main island of Kyushu allows for him to list the characteristics of the women from the region as well as note the dialect much like an ethnographer. I think it belies Tanizaki's preoccupation with the fairer sex-although Raikichi is absent from sexual escapes some stories recount how certain maids were wooed for marriage and in one case he recounts how two maids who end up in a lesbian affair that scandalizes everyone. I found it entertaining and full of life. There's an informative afterword by translator Michael P. Cronin included as well.

Not As A Stranger

Not A Stranger (1955) seems to have all the proper elements for a classic film noir: director cast and story. It is director Stanley Kramer's first film, he would go to direct classics like Inherit the Wind and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner. It boasts an all-star cast: Robert Mitchum, Frank Sinatra, Lee Marvin and Olivia De Havilland. This is where the wheels start to come off, those first three actors, as the picture suggests, are medical students-they all look too old for the role and too tough to be doctors. De Havilland plays a Swedish nurse with an accent as well. The believability factor has been breached. Mitchum as a benevolent doctor is too much to swallow all in all.

Menya Shono

Menya Shono is a well-known ramen shop with several locations, I visited the Ichigaya shop where I have night classes on Tuesday at Nihon University. I suppose I should have gone with a typical style ramen for my first visit, but the shop is known for the inventive monthly specials. This month is was a sanma (saury pike-a seasonal fish associated with fall in Japan) based tsukemen (noodles with broth on the side-a Tokyo loved variety). Tsukemen is not my favorite style, the broth was fish based and the noodles were served with sudachi (a lime-like fruit), grated daikon (radish), bamboo shoots, ginger, raw pork, and deep fried sanma all for ¥990. It was an interesting mix of flavors, but a it much for me when all was said and done. I'll have to try something less adventurous next time.

Bamako

Abderrahmane Sissako's Bamako (2006) has an interesting experiment at its core-a trail is taking place in the courtyard of a house in which Africans are taking the World Bank and other such institutions to task for the current state of Africa. In this milieu several criticisms can be made by outside influence in Africa and the effects of such interventions, however, the effect is somewhat silting-it comes off as more play like-too many talking heads, while the more interesting film that is taking place recounts everyday life of the inhabitants of the house. A night club singer is becoming estranged from her unemployed husband. Inexplicably, in the middle of the film there is a western parody starring several foreign actors-most prominently Danny Glover. Sissako would go onto direct the impressive Timbuktu, so I see this as step in the director's development as an artist-an interesting failure essentially.

Throw Away Your Books, Rally In The Streets

Shuji Terayama's New Wave classic Throw Away Your Books, Rally In The Streets (1971) is a product of the times. It is a revolutionary and  experimental film that is disjointed and fragmented. Essentially it is about an angry young man dealing with his dysfunctional family. The story is inter-cut with various psychedelic and energetic vignettes throughout. Music is also a major part of the film. There are some meta fictional elements as the fourth wall is broken at the beginning and end of the film when the viewer is addressed-in addition there are some exceptionally cinematic and visually impressive aspects to the film as well. It is challenging and inventive-not your typical mass produced entertainment.

Flood Of Fire

I'm a little sad that I've finished Amitav Ghosh's last volume of the Ibis trilogy, Flood Of Fire (2015). It is an amazing accomplishment, a compelling, page-turning epic historical story that culminates with the outbreak of the First Opium War and China's devastating defeat, to Britain's seizure of Hong Kong. The epic tale is narrated by a varied cast of characters such as Kesri Singh, a sepoy in the East India Company, Zachary Reid, an impoverished young sailor searching for his lost love, and Shireen Modi, a determined widow en route to China to reclaim her opium-trader husband's wealth and reputation among others. The characters give a variety of perspectives on historical based events. Ghosh continues to be inventive in his language and is particularly good with the dialogue. The action unfolds effortlessly. it is another triumph from a master storyteller, I am happy to say that there are several other novels by Ghosh left for me to read, but they will face scrutiny to judged in relation to his great achievement of the Ibis trilogy.

Le Boucher

Claude Chabrol's Le Boucher (1970) is an unusual kind of thriller-a slow burning one at that. Popular school teacher Helen (Stephane Audran) meets a returning army vet and the towns butcher Popaul (Jeanne Yanne) and an unlikely friendship is formed. A series of young women are murdered and left in the woods. A suspect isn't presented until well into the film and all of the murders take place off camera, however, Chabrol manages to create feelings of unease and tension throughout the film with his cinematography and the eerie soundtrack.

Craftbeer Gau's

I read about Craftbeer Gau's recently and decided to check it out. It a bit of a trek from Shibuya station and they have six beers on tap-I'm having a Rogue Hazelnut Brow Nectar and their specialty "Ethnic" poutine-cheese and sweet and sour sauce and cilantro-should have tried the pulled pork instead. I might be back to try the pulled pork poutine sometime.

Jackie

I'm a fan of Pablo Larrain and Natalie Portman does an excellent job in bringing Jackie Onassis to life in Jackie (2016). However, the film seems unnecessary somehow. I'm not sure what it adds to cinematic depictions of the Camelot era. I thought Larrain's Neruda, also made in 2016, had much more to say about that character's depiction in his other less well-known biopic.