日本 Double Feature
Watched two movies tonight about Japan - one a Japanese movie covering home territory, the other a foreign documentary I have watched a bazillion times and STILL ADORE. It makes my flesh crawl, but magnificently so.
菊次郎の夏 Kikujirō no Natsu [Kikujiro], 1999. Dir. 北野 武 KITANO Takeshi, starring "ビートたけし" Bīto Takeshi [that would be 北野 武], KISHIMOTO Kayoko, SEKIGUCHI Yasuke.
Sad, disturbing at times, wonderfully sweet overall - but not so much your teeth hurt. I felt very warm and fuzzy after watching this occasionally psychedelic tale of a morose child (Sekiguchi) - unknown father, mother off to parts unknown while the boy was still an infant, living with his clearly affectionate but busy-working-to-support-the-grandchild grandmother - off on an unexpected summer vacation with a small-time ex-con (Takeshi).
Not exactly the most creative premise ever, but I thought it was done very well. The soundtrack was good, if a bit repetitive, and the setting wonderful.
The fact that the audience grasps both the jaded adult perspective and the more naïve child POV saves the film from turning into some treacly search for the magic of life. It's certainly a very sad film in a lot of ways, but also very, very funny in parts & wonderfully creative.
I also re-watched The Great Happiness Space: Tales of an Osaka Love Thief, which I have watched a number of times (written about here at least twice!) and still ranks as one of my favorite documentaries - both for its utterly fascinating subject matter & interviewees and the way the narrative is threaded together. In fact, it is what finally spurred me to join NetFlix, since they not only had it, but had the streaming version available - instant gratification! Its subject is the world of host clubs in Japan & is a 75 minute train wreck you can't turn away from. Unlike Kukijiro, it's just sad and disturbing (if totally fascinating). No crazy dream sequences here, though it's foreign enough to verge on the fantastical. Modern day chuanqi.
I think it probably has more to say about alienation in modern society than a whole passel of mod theory tomes on Meiji history.
菊次郎の夏 Kikujirō no Natsu [Kikujiro], 1999. Dir. 北野 武 KITANO Takeshi, starring "ビートたけし" Bīto Takeshi [that would be 北野 武], KISHIMOTO Kayoko, SEKIGUCHI Yasuke.
Sad, disturbing at times, wonderfully sweet overall - but not so much your teeth hurt. I felt very warm and fuzzy after watching this occasionally psychedelic tale of a morose child (Sekiguchi) - unknown father, mother off to parts unknown while the boy was still an infant, living with his clearly affectionate but busy-working-to-support-the-grandchild grandmother - off on an unexpected summer vacation with a small-time ex-con (Takeshi).
Not exactly the most creative premise ever, but I thought it was done very well. The soundtrack was good, if a bit repetitive, and the setting wonderful.
The fact that the audience grasps both the jaded adult perspective and the more naïve child POV saves the film from turning into some treacly search for the magic of life. It's certainly a very sad film in a lot of ways, but also very, very funny in parts & wonderfully creative.
I also re-watched The Great Happiness Space: Tales of an Osaka Love Thief, which I have watched a number of times (written about here at least twice!) and still ranks as one of my favorite documentaries - both for its utterly fascinating subject matter & interviewees and the way the narrative is threaded together. In fact, it is what finally spurred me to join NetFlix, since they not only had it, but had the streaming version available - instant gratification! Its subject is the world of host clubs in Japan & is a 75 minute train wreck you can't turn away from. Unlike Kukijiro, it's just sad and disturbing (if totally fascinating). No crazy dream sequences here, though it's foreign enough to verge on the fantastical. Modern day chuanqi.
I think it probably has more to say about alienation in modern society than a whole passel of mod theory tomes on Meiji history.