divemaster13
Member: Rank 4
LOL
I'm going to present my case on why you should give some old Japanese movies a chance. Yes, I know they are (mostly) black and white and have no graphic violence or swearing or "extreme" content. I know when you start watching one, you think "grandpa" and other similar and negative thoughts.
But there are some real gems. Basically, because the good ones tap so perfectly into the human condition. I teach Old Testament Bible classes from time to time. People come to my class and figure, gee, how can a bunch of historical stories be interesting? They are interesting because human nature does not change. Murder, rape, revenge, lust for your sister, war, back-stabbing treachery, come-uppance and just desserts--it's all in there. Stories that can just as easily come from the front page of today's newspaper. Only the technology is different.
The great movie directors know that the nature of human shortcomings is timeless--and the best ones know how to deliver that in spades. For some reason, the old-school Japanese directors "got it" better than most. I'll present a few examples below.
Ikiru (1952) -- This very well could be the perfect film. Sure, it's not the most entertaining film, like a Raiders of the Lost Ark or something. But no movie I've ever seen captures the human condition more perfectly than Ikiru. The story on the face of it is rather simple. A government worker finds out he has terminal cancer and realizes he has made nothing out of his life--either in his job or in his family relationships. He goes about trying to correct this in the time he has left. This film has pathos and humor and frustration and, importantly, insights, that most other directors can only dream of. As a government worker myself, I can totally relate to the "you can't fight City Hall" theme that has sucked our protagonist into 30 years of a sleep-walking life, and the efforts he has to make to break free of that in the short time he has left. This is Kurosawa's masterpiece.
Hara-Kiri (1962) -- If you would have told me that a movie that plays out as a guy sitting on a mat telling a story for 2 hours would be captivating cinema, I might not of believed you. But Hara-kiri is captivating cinema. Of course the story he tells plays out on the screen in flashbacks, but the "storytelling" scenes on the mat are no less captivating and interesting than the story being told. Another film that totally "gets it" with regard to human nature. And there is one scene--THAT scene--that once you realize what is about to happen, just horrifies you. There's nothing overtly graphic about the scene, but it's one of the most squeamish things I've ever seen. I'm thinking "oh, no; he's not...oh my god; oh my god" as the scene progresses. Masterful storytelling and direction from Kobayashi. "After all, this thing we call samurai honor is ultimately nothing but a facade."
Floating Weeds (1959) -- Ozu made more than 50 films. Many of them silent. In fact, Floating Weeds is Ozu's own color remake of his earlier black-and-white silent film A Story of Floating Weeds (which is also a very good movie). Ozu is perhaps best known for Good Morning (which I thought was a bit too saccharine for my tastes) and the excellent drama Tokyo Story (which deals with adult children who see their elderly parents as obligations to be endured rather than real people). Floating Weeds explores many aspects of human nature. Infidelity (leading to a kid out of wedlock who doesn't know the truth about his father); jealousy, manipulation, revenge...and true love. Sounds like a soap opera, but there's a reason it's on more than a few "top 10 of all time" critics' lists.
Onibaba (1964) -- Is it a horror movie? Yes and no. What happens has elements of horror, but if you are looking for a "horror" movie, look elsewhere. But if you are looking for a fantastic film that (again) taps into human nature and totally nails it--Onibaba delivers. It has murder, theft, sex (and a lot more nudity than you would think for a 1960's film), jealousy, and revenge. Oh, and a demon-possessed mask. While the above are 5-star movies, this one comes in a little lower. I include it here because I found the depiction of the young lady's sex drive so compelling in the way it is filmed. Certainly, there are other fascinating aspects of the film as well, but the depiction of the girl sneaking out every night, naked, to meet her lover, is done very well. She has to slowly sneak out of the hut, basically on tiptoe, slowly into the surrounding marsh--and then her primal running pell-mell at top speed. I liken it to a roller coaster slowly getting cranked up the incline, slowly, slowly; reaching the top and that moment of weightlessness as you realize you are free from the constraints of gravity, and then that headlong rush into exhilaration. Sexual desire? Shindo gets it.
I could go on. There are so many great (not just "good"; but GREAT) Japanese films of this era. A note on my viewing: I watched all of these on the Criterion DVDs which come with all sorts of background materials and insights and interviews and commentaries and such. In fact, the commentaries are in many ways as interesting as the films themselves and present insights that help the casual viewer (I include myself in this category) gain a deeper appreciation of the film. Criterion has film critics and historians and cinematic experts provide the commentaries (for example, Roger Ebert did the one for Floating Weeds). In fact, I learned something about Japanese culture and society in the first 10 minutes of the commentary to Ikiru that really helped me to appreciate why the visit to the doctor's office played out the way it did. If anyone does decide to watch any of these movies, and you find them even as half as enjoyable as I did, I strongly recommend the Criterion releases for the commentaries and features.
I'm going to present my case on why you should give some old Japanese movies a chance. Yes, I know they are (mostly) black and white and have no graphic violence or swearing or "extreme" content. I know when you start watching one, you think "grandpa" and other similar and negative thoughts.
But there are some real gems. Basically, because the good ones tap so perfectly into the human condition. I teach Old Testament Bible classes from time to time. People come to my class and figure, gee, how can a bunch of historical stories be interesting? They are interesting because human nature does not change. Murder, rape, revenge, lust for your sister, war, back-stabbing treachery, come-uppance and just desserts--it's all in there. Stories that can just as easily come from the front page of today's newspaper. Only the technology is different.
The great movie directors know that the nature of human shortcomings is timeless--and the best ones know how to deliver that in spades. For some reason, the old-school Japanese directors "got it" better than most. I'll present a few examples below.
Ikiru (1952) -- This very well could be the perfect film. Sure, it's not the most entertaining film, like a Raiders of the Lost Ark or something. But no movie I've ever seen captures the human condition more perfectly than Ikiru. The story on the face of it is rather simple. A government worker finds out he has terminal cancer and realizes he has made nothing out of his life--either in his job or in his family relationships. He goes about trying to correct this in the time he has left. This film has pathos and humor and frustration and, importantly, insights, that most other directors can only dream of. As a government worker myself, I can totally relate to the "you can't fight City Hall" theme that has sucked our protagonist into 30 years of a sleep-walking life, and the efforts he has to make to break free of that in the short time he has left. This is Kurosawa's masterpiece.
Hara-Kiri (1962) -- If you would have told me that a movie that plays out as a guy sitting on a mat telling a story for 2 hours would be captivating cinema, I might not of believed you. But Hara-kiri is captivating cinema. Of course the story he tells plays out on the screen in flashbacks, but the "storytelling" scenes on the mat are no less captivating and interesting than the story being told. Another film that totally "gets it" with regard to human nature. And there is one scene--THAT scene--that once you realize what is about to happen, just horrifies you. There's nothing overtly graphic about the scene, but it's one of the most squeamish things I've ever seen. I'm thinking "oh, no; he's not...oh my god; oh my god" as the scene progresses. Masterful storytelling and direction from Kobayashi. "After all, this thing we call samurai honor is ultimately nothing but a facade."
Floating Weeds (1959) -- Ozu made more than 50 films. Many of them silent. In fact, Floating Weeds is Ozu's own color remake of his earlier black-and-white silent film A Story of Floating Weeds (which is also a very good movie). Ozu is perhaps best known for Good Morning (which I thought was a bit too saccharine for my tastes) and the excellent drama Tokyo Story (which deals with adult children who see their elderly parents as obligations to be endured rather than real people). Floating Weeds explores many aspects of human nature. Infidelity (leading to a kid out of wedlock who doesn't know the truth about his father); jealousy, manipulation, revenge...and true love. Sounds like a soap opera, but there's a reason it's on more than a few "top 10 of all time" critics' lists.
Onibaba (1964) -- Is it a horror movie? Yes and no. What happens has elements of horror, but if you are looking for a "horror" movie, look elsewhere. But if you are looking for a fantastic film that (again) taps into human nature and totally nails it--Onibaba delivers. It has murder, theft, sex (and a lot more nudity than you would think for a 1960's film), jealousy, and revenge. Oh, and a demon-possessed mask. While the above are 5-star movies, this one comes in a little lower. I include it here because I found the depiction of the young lady's sex drive so compelling in the way it is filmed. Certainly, there are other fascinating aspects of the film as well, but the depiction of the girl sneaking out every night, naked, to meet her lover, is done very well. She has to slowly sneak out of the hut, basically on tiptoe, slowly into the surrounding marsh--and then her primal running pell-mell at top speed. I liken it to a roller coaster slowly getting cranked up the incline, slowly, slowly; reaching the top and that moment of weightlessness as you realize you are free from the constraints of gravity, and then that headlong rush into exhilaration. Sexual desire? Shindo gets it.
I could go on. There are so many great (not just "good"; but GREAT) Japanese films of this era. A note on my viewing: I watched all of these on the Criterion DVDs which come with all sorts of background materials and insights and interviews and commentaries and such. In fact, the commentaries are in many ways as interesting as the films themselves and present insights that help the casual viewer (I include myself in this category) gain a deeper appreciation of the film. Criterion has film critics and historians and cinematic experts provide the commentaries (for example, Roger Ebert did the one for Floating Weeds). In fact, I learned something about Japanese culture and society in the first 10 minutes of the commentary to Ikiru that really helped me to appreciate why the visit to the doctor's office played out the way it did. If anyone does decide to watch any of these movies, and you find them even as half as enjoyable as I did, I strongly recommend the Criterion releases for the commentaries and features.
