Lost In Translation

440 Broadway

There's another great Mexican food alternative in Ebisu a stone's throw from my old apartment at 440 Broadway Taco Shop. Pictured is the small sized chicken burrito, which was totally filling and warmed up handmade tortillas with guacamole.

Weekend

Late 60s Jean-Luc Godard films are seemingly hit or miss for me and that is largely true of Weekend (1967). The film is basically about a married couple, Mirelli Darc and Jean Yanne, going on a road trip to visit the wife's parents with the idea of killing them for an inheritance. One of the thins I did appreciate in the film was the 10-minute dolly shot of a horrendous countryside traffic jam that the couple encountered on their way to Oinville. There are other scenes that could have been scrapped as the film feels bloated at one hour 45 minutes. There's some typical didactic Goddard speak throughout especially when they are kidnapped by the communist guerillas. I suppose these films were seen as daring and better received when they first came out.

Tora-san Loves an Artist (12)

Tora-san Loves an Artist  (1973) open again with a dream sequence set in the 19th century with Tora-san (Kiyomi Atsumi)portraying a revolutionary who frees the village of Shibamata from the forces of an evil capitalist. Then the story begins when Tora returns home just before a planned family trip by Sakura (Chieko baisho) for their aunt and uncle to Kyushu by plane. None of them have every traveled by plane and have never been farther west than Hakone. SO the usual pattern of Tora leaving is broken and the family leaves Tora behind-he immediately drinks all the uncle's Johnny Walker and sulks. They ask Tora to watch over the shop while they're gone he continues to sulk and browbeats them by long distance telephone nightly until they return. We get to see some glimpses of Oita and Mount Aso as well as a monkey park in Beppu in which they juxtapose an angry male monkey with Tora. When they return, Tora fall s in love with th latest artist sisiter of an old elementary school friend-played by another 60s film star Keiko Kishi known for Ozu's Late Spring and for working with Kon Ichikawa and Hideo Gosha. At the end of the film Tora is back on the road selling paintings outside of Mount Aso and the ashes rise up in to the sky.

End Zone

I enjoyed Don DeLillo's philosophic football novel, End Zone (1972). It basically follows running back Gary Harkness at his last resort football school in Logos West Texas. On one level it is a novel about football at a small West Texas college, DeLillo knows football and his descriptions of players and the game ring true-he's a fan-he's not faking it.  On another level is a metaphorical book about exile, warriors, silence, violence, war, technology and language, among other things. In addition, the writing style is highly aphoristic:

"Simplicity, repetition, solitude, starkness, discipline upon discipline."

"Much of the appeal of the sport derives from its dependence on elegant gibberish."

"The exemplary spectator is the person who understands that sport is a benign illusion, the illusion that order is possible."

"A nation is never more ridiculous than in its patriotic manifestations."

The dialogue in particular is unrealistic in the sense that many of the football players speak philosophically. Bloomberg the "Jewish Giant" case in point asking "Who was the greater man-Edward Gibbon or Archimedes?" and later "Sir Francis Drake or the prophet Isiah?" Then again this was very likely DeLillo's intention. It was an entertaining and thought provoking.

The Devils

Ken Russell's The Devils (1971) was based on the true story of the trial of Urbain Grandier, a Catholic priest who was executed in 1634 on charges of witchcraft. Russell adapted the film from John Whiting’s 1960 play and Aldous Huxley’s 1952 novel, The Devils of Loudun. Russell deviates from the source material, by taking a contemporary approach to the by filling it with markers of the sexual liberation in 1970. The film mixes religious iconography with sexual imagery in outrageous ways, as a result the film drew ire from religious groups at the time, causing Warner Bros. to release it with little fanfare. Roger Ebert wrote a sarcastic review and awarded it 0 stars. Over Reed plays Grandier and Vanessa Redgrave plays the pivotal role of the sexually repressed nun with a humpback who accuses Grandier of possession by the devil. he film opens with an audacious, camp drag performance by King Louis XIII (Graham Armitage), who enters dressed like the Venus de Milo. The set direction was impressively designed by the then unknown Derek Jarman and was aided by an atonal score. It is a challenging film that cannot help but leave an impression on the viewer good or bad.

Sleepy Eyes of Death (12): Castle Menagerie

Kazuo Ikehiro, who directed two solid earlier entries in the series, ups his game in Sleepy Eyes of Death: Castle Menagerie (1969), Raizo Ichikawa's last appearance as Kyoshiro Nemuri before his early death. The simple plot involving Hidden Christians and a Kyoshiro doppelganger is easy to follow and that is a benefit. Another aspect of this production that stands out is the art production and visuals which are elevated in several scenes: the candle lit cemetery where an assassin tries to kill Kyoshiro with a bomb, the dream sequence with black and white bird clad figures and floating masks in a shrine, and the final duel in the autumnal forest. There are several exploitative elements in this episode as well-spurting blood, lesbians, near nudity, and an abortion clinic is part of the story line this time around. It makes sense these types of movies were aimed at the young male workers from the provinces who came to Tokyo to do blue collar jobs in construction and factories. These would peak in the early 70s with the Meiko Kaji "Scorpion" films and give birth to the "Pink" film industry. This film is definitely one of the best in the series and end s on a high note. Daei would continue the series with Hiro Matsykata in the lead role for two additional films, but I'm not sure I'll bother with those though.

Pierrot Le Fou

Pierrot Le Fou (1965) is considered by many to be an early career masterpiece by Jean -Luc Goddard. It's loosely based on a crime novel but essentially, Goddard and his actors mostly improvised. The actors, Jean Paul Belmondo and Anna Karina, are one of the best aspects of the film. This is quite apparent in the film, in my opinion, it is somewhat scattershot-some bits work others look amateurish or are artless and unsuccessful. The story is about an aspiring writer, Ferdinand Griffon (Belmondo) who escapes his every day life and runs off with the babysitter Marianne (Karina) to the Mediterranean Sea. He lives for the moment with Marianne, reads books and tries to work on a diary. Meanwhile, the police and Algerian killers are chasing Marianne because she has committed a murder and stolen his money. Overall, it is over long with a few successful set pieces like Karina takes scissors and holds it in front of a wide-angle-lens to creates an interesting effect of distortion. But those moments are too few, this is not among my favorite Goddard films.

Yaumay

I recently tried a new dim sum restaurant in Marunouchi, Yaumay. It has a very sophisticated atmosphere and great food. However, it is a bit pricey. It's not the kind of place I'll be eating at regularly, but definitely worth it on occasion.

Crispy bean curd and prawn cheung fun

Poached Peking dumpling

Stir-fried baby bak choi, garlic

Sichuan won ton

Seasame prawn toast

Siu mai

Lychee martini

Char siu bao

Tora-san's Forget Me Not (11)

Yoji Yamada's 11th Tora-san film, Tora-san's Forget Me Not (1973) is the second straight film with a Tora (Kiyomi Atsumi) dream cold open. In this sequence the cast is transported back to the 19th century Meiji era Japan and Tora the prodigal son returns home to conquer Gen and Hiroshi, samurai style with a topknot, as they attack him. After the obligatory family falling out, Tora finds himself in the wide open spaces of Hokkaido-Abishiri, which is known for dairy farming. And that is where Tora-san finds himself. There he strikes up a conversation with a kindred spirit, traveling jazz singer Lily (60s icon Ruriko Asaoka), whom he runs into later in Tokyo and falls for her as per usual. The comedy from this episode inspired a couple of belly laughs and the cinematography of the nature shots in Hokkaido were exceptional. This film stands out as one of the better episodes in the series.  

Kusamakura

Kusamakura (1906) is Natsume Soseki's third novel and has been recently re-translated (2008) by Meredith McKinney. the original English translation was done by Alan Turney in 1965 and he saw fit to change the title to "The  Three-Cornered-World," McKinney returned to the original title. I see this book as something as a turning point for Soseki in that he is transitioning from his comedic style (which is at it speak in the novel that precedes this one-Botchan) to a more philosophic and contemplative style that would be seen in later books such as Kokoro and The Gate. It is essentially a plot-less novel, an artist goes to an abandoned onsen town and has various conversations with people. The most spirited conversations are with the recently divorced daughter of the owner of the ryokan that the artist is staying at. She is something of a free spirit and iconoclast in her thinking. The artist writes haikus and muses on art and aesthetics. There are comedic scenes throughout-usually conversations the artist has with various people for example there's a  conversation he has with an old Tokyo-ite who now lives in the onsen town and another where he suggests that people in Tokyo are they types of people that catalogue the number of farts people have. despite the fact that there are no developments or plot, the novel is a pleasant mediation on beauty and art with some comedic asides.