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Latest Reviews and Shohei Imamura
Hello again my long suffering readers, I’ve got some
quick catching up to do about the few Asian movies I
have seen since my "Howl’s Moving Castle" encounter.
After a quick run down of the films it will be Imamura
time!
The Asian movies I’ve seen have been:
(rating based on a four-star scale)
I’ll admit this list is short and a low point on the
scale of Asian films watched per week. However, my
luck picking which Asian films to see was good. "Kung
Fu Hustle" was a cartoony flick that I’m sure any
respectable popcorn-munching moviegoer would enjoy.
"Bullet in the Head" was a great big slab of Woo magic.
Although the last 40 minutes of the film does not
quite match the pace of the main bulk of the film,
it’s a great experience and one that I’ll think of
immediately when Woo’s name is dropped.
"Emperor Tomato Ketchup" marks my first step into true
Japanese experimental film. Unfortunately, underground
films from Asia are tough to come by unless they carry
with them a certain notoriety. Ketchup became known in
America after Stereolab released an album of the same
name. Being an experimental film, there is no plot to
summarize here but I will say that the experience is
gripping and often times disturbing. Unlike the
majority of today’s Asian Shock, Ketchup carries with
itself a close relevance to reality that’s concerned
in particular with dynastical power throughout Japan’s
history.
"Lower Depths" is an excellent play adaptation as well
as a cinematic masterwork by Kurosawa. This film comes
with a high recommendation especially for those
interested in Kurosawa and/or poverty plays. The last
film I watched was my third Shohei Imamura experience.
Let us begin then with Imamura..
Shohei Imamura is a semi-popular Asian director now
thanks to DVD and particularly to his film "The
Pornographers" (Out in the USA from Criterion). "The
Pornographers" was my first step into his filmmaking
universe simply out of the mass availability of the
film and its reputation. "The Pornographers" was a racy
film at the time of its release and especially since
it focused on an adult filmmaker. "The Pornographers"
and indeed Imamura’s interest in story telling results
in an exposure of true human nature and more
importantly a revealing truth about the sweet and
proper image the Japanese carried with them post-WWII.
This was similar to Fukasaku’s intent in making his
yakuza films. However, Fukasaku concerned himself with
meditating on our disposition to violence.
Imamura’s films present themselves as wake-up calls to
the audience. Fortunately he is never heavy-handed in
presenting us with the truth, Imamura may intend to
show us things realistically often spiked with dark
humor, but his intentions are never on the surface.
Imamura’s characters are always difficult and his
presentation of them complicates our appraisal
further.
For example, in "Dr. Akagi", the titular
character is a man who is fighting a hepatitis
outbreak although he is presented as slightly crazy
and is often the butt of the film’s comedy. The
lighthearted comical feeling the film creates around
Dr. Akagi makes the viewer work hard to discern what
they think about the main character. Imamura has
created difficult characters in each of the films I
have seen by him but he used different tricks in each
film to complicate his characters.
The most philosophically and cinematically complex of
his films that I’ve seen has most certainly been
"Vengeance is Mine". I saw this film probably about
6 weeks ago and I had intended to do a write up on it.
Well the whole business of actually writing about that
film was instantly difficult when I tried to plan that
week’s article. The film carried so much impact
although my attempts to rationalize its message, the
director’s technique or indeed the morality of its
characters, I failed. I’d give my highest
recommendations to any of these films but if you can
find "Vengeance is Mine" (only available on VHS) go with
that first.
Well that’s good enough for now.
Note: I watched both the 10 minute short and the 80 minute
feature. I’d recommend both since they are different
movies with the same title.
"Asian Film Update" is ©2005 by Peter Card. Webpage design and all graphics herein (except where otherwise noted) are creations of Nolan B. Canova. All contents of Nolan's Pop Culture Review are ©2005 by Nolan B. Canova.