JAPANESE MOVIES - ANY OTHER FANS ?

[Mr. Arkadin]

There are tons of books out there. Two good starters would be:

Voices from the Japanese Cinema by Joan Mellen

Japanese Film Directors by Audie Bock

[charliechaplinfan]

Thank you, Mr Arkadin. I just knew someone would know

[Dawtrina]

I remember watching Ran for the first time and Hero, the colours used are amazing.

I haven't seen anywhere near enough Zhang Yimou, though I have seen Raise the Red Lantern and Hero, both superb films, among others. He obviously doesn't need recommendation as many have beaten me to it. I'd like to add to the mix the cinematographer for Hero, who is something of a unique character. Of the few cinematographers who offer enough reason on their own for me to watch a film, I think he's the only one still alive.

He's Christopher Doyle, a hard drinking Australian who is mostly self-taught. Hero may just be his crowning achievements, but it's only one of them. His work for Wong Kar Wai is astounding: if I didn't recommend Days of Being Wild, Chungking Express and In the Mood for Love for many other reasons, which I do, I'd still recommend them for him.

[Mr. Arkadin]

Criterion will be releasing Chungking Express very soon:

http://www.criterion.com/asp/release.asp?id=453

[charliechaplinfan]

News just gets better, I hope this is an expanding market.

I watched the last disc from my Naruse set today. A Woman Ascends the Stairs is the best disc on the whole set. It stars Hideko Takamine who a hostess/geisha who does not sleep with customers but is facing the competition of younger women and women who are prepared to sleep with their clients. She was a young widow and entered the hostess world after her husband died, her money helps support her family and sustain the lifestyle that hostesses are meant to live. She must decide whether to buy her on bar or get married.

A wonderful film.

[Mr. Arkadin]

When a Woman Ascends the Stairs is one of my favorite films. This movie is often spoken of as a "middle of the road" example Naruse's work. As I said earlier, I have not been able to see much by him, but if WAWATS is simply average--I wonder what his best stuff is like?!

Incredible film. You are the only other person I know who's seen it.

[charliechaplinfan]

It is indeed an incredible film, his other collection is really good particularly Flowing which centres around a Geisha house, it shows what goes on behind the scenes and how a Geisha house keeps going, again it's very much told from the women's point of view.

If WAWATS is a middle of the road Naruse, then wow, I want to see his masterpiece

[charliechaplinfan]

Time to resurrect this thread. I've been reading The Japanese Film by Joseph L Anderson and Donald Richie, I also have the Joan Mellon and Audie Bock books on order. It has given me more understanding of Japanese cinema and the films I want to look out for.

Recently I've watched Stray Dog and last night I watched the first half of Red Beard. I just can't wait for the kids to go to bed so I can watch the remainder. Toshiro Mifune has go to be the best known Japanese actor worldwide, his films with Kurosawa, they are just a great partnership. The book I'm reading doesn't really cover Kurosawa in much detail, it concentrates more on the interwar years and early fifties. I'd be interested what their working relationship was like. Master and novice, equals, yin and yang.

I haven't bought films for a few months so I've also ordered the Ozu silent set that's been talked about here and Mizoguchi's Fallen Women set.

I've also been looking at Yimou Zhang, Red Sorghum is been released over here. I ordered Raise the Red Lantern, The Story of Qiu Ju and To Live. Everything but Red Sorghum is coming from the States, I can't wait!!!!

I would have ordered Jou Du but someone said it hadn't had a good transfer. Here it is on Amazon, I presume it's the badly converted film.



I'm planning to be an expert soon

[Mr. Arkadin]

Sounds like you already are an expert!

So what did you think of Stray Dog? Red Beard is one of my absolute favorites. A lot of people think it's tedious, sentimental, or overlong, but I find it a perfectly balanced epic. Whereas Hollywood epics often tend to be masculine widescreen battling affairs with large casting, Red Beard is personal and the battle internalized, depicting a much more realistic (and harder road) to manhood.


I have the Ozu silent set. You should enjoy it. As for Yimou, yes that print of Ju Dou is very poor (don't ask me how I know). Do you have a link to the copy of Red Sorghum you found? If you like these Yimou's, you will also enjoy Shanghai Triad (1995). If you like Gong Li in To Live, you might enjoy her work in Farewell My Concubine (1993), a similar history of China type story (I hate to use the word epic again, but it's a huge cast and runs three hours!) also starring Leslie Cheung.

[charliechaplinfan]

Here's the link to Red Sorghum. I can't wait to see it.



I was profoundly moved by Red Beard, especially the last third. OK it may be slow moving but that's not a problem because it's so beautiful to gaze upon and so sensitive. How well crafted the lead characters are. I'd rate it as a masterpiece.

I think once the coffers are full again I might go for these films but I know little about them.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/de ... 8&v=glance

I've seen Scandal (not his best), my other experience of early Kurosawa are Stray Dog (v good) and Drunken Angel (extremely enjoyable) so I'm unsure.

Some of these films are poetry in motion but that sounds really corny.

[Mr. Arkadin]

Thanks. I found some reviews here at DVD Times:

http://www.dvd-basen.dk/redirect.php3?i ... dex=113612

They talk quite a bit about the actual prints. Seems Red Sorghum has been cropped a bit and is a little off in color, but not too bad. They feel the same way I do about Ju Dou. If you have a VHS player, get the tape. It looks great. Also, you need to make sure you are NOT getting Raise the Red Lantern from Razor. That print looks terrible (same people who released Ju Dou).

[charliechaplinfan]

Thanks Mr Arkadin, that's what I needed. I didn't order the Razorlight version of Raise the Red Lantern. I read the comments on the review for both versions of the disc, I worked out that the negative comments were about the Razorlight version. That is something that is annoying about Amazon reviews, all reviews for a film are on all issues of the DVD releases, whereas we know that there is a big difference between a good transfer and a bad one.

Found this I might just have to get it for my birthday.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASI ... ROKL5A1OLE

I never really said what I thought about Stray Dog. I wonder how much it was influenced by American film noir. It has made me appreciate how great a director Kurosawa was. I must have seen about 7 of his films now from early ones like Drunken Angel, then Throne of Blood, Seven Samurai, Rashomon, Red Beard and Ran. I also have to appreciate how great an actor Toshiro Mifune was too.

[charliechaplinfan]

I left this under the 'What Have You Watched Lately?'

Grandma and Grandad came up trumps today and took the kids and I did absolutely nothing apart from immerse myself in film (and made a carrot cake but that's for enjoyment whilst I watch)

High and Low Akira Kurosawa, a kidnapping drama, felt a little Hitchcock like to me, brilliant use of interiors, especially in the family's home. The film last well over two hours but I was completely hooked all the way through. A little disappointed at the end that the kidnapper didn't tie in with the back story, I think I've been conditioned by our own crime dramas to have everything tied up at the end.

Rashomon I wanted to revisit this as I've seen a few more Kurosawa films since I last watched this. A mesmerising film it had no less power second time around. This film brought Japanese film to the attention of the rest of the world. I like this film a lot but there are Japanese films, Kurosawa films I prefer.

Red Sorghum this is a new region 2 release. The film is gorgeous to look at and very lyrical, it terms of plot it doesn't move very fast and after the heroics of Hero and House of Flying Daggers my husband was disappointed but I liked it, I'm looking forward to seeing some more of Yimou Zhang's films.

Mr Arkadin, Red Sorghum is a gorgeous film but the colours are a little muted in comparison to Hero. I haven't seen the original so I have nothing to compare it to but I have seen far worse transfers. If you want to have a look at my copy before you decide to buy, I don't mind sending it to you.

[Mr. Arkadin]

CCF,

Red Sorghum

From what I saw of the prints on DVD Times, I think there are color tinting issues with the DVD. The original VHS is a very sharp and clear transfer. Glad to hear you liked it. RS is very unusual in the fact that in the first part of the film we are given no indication of time or placement of characters. The film is narrated by the grandson, so we know this is past, but it could be complete fairytale. When the Japanese invade, it's a slap in the face. Yimou made this film from a book by Yan Mo, who loved Yimou's treatment of his work.

I have the same transfer of Raise the Red Lantern and it looks great. It's nothing like the later commercial successes, but Gong Li's character (like in RS) is indeed heroic. It's a bit more suspenseful than RS, but if you're looking for action, that's not what this film is about. Think brooding drama instead.

High and Low

One of the greatest crime films ever made. Many people lable this (and Stray Dog) as Noir and you can definitely see the connections. The film is also a unique vison of morality (the common thread in Kurosawa's work) where a crisis creates choice and characters discover their true natures.

[charliechaplinfan]

Red Sorghum did not play out as I thought it would. The relationship between grandfather and grandmother wasn't traditional in any sense, I agree about the time scale, I was uncertain until the Japanese came on the scene. I think hubby thought it would be more like Hero, which he loves, I'm looking forward to the others, everything else is coming from the States so I'll have to wait.

High and Low, it is a brilliant crime movie. It's almost a cross between Hitchcock and film noir, it runs for longer than a film noir would and is beautifully filmed like a later Hitchcock film.

Akira Kurosawa I'd pegged at first as a 'male' director. I started with Seven Samurai but was disappointed, I think because I found it over long and not really my genre. Next I watched Rashomon and realised that he was more than a 'male' director. Now I feel I must go back to where I started and revisit Seven Samurai. Scandal was another that didn't come over as I'd hoped.

I really enjoyed High and Low and Red Beard, both long films but not a minute is wasted. I have Hidden Fortress still to watch.