Categories
comedy gendai-geki

Kamikaze Girls: The Tale of Two Unique Friends

Nakashima Tetsuya’s Kamikaze Girls or Shimotsuma monogatari is based on a popular novel and the movie was released in 2004.  Kamikaze Girls is a light-hearted gendai-geki about life in rural town Shimotsuma.  The film features actresses Fukada Kyoko as Ryugasaki Momoko and Tsuchiya Anna as Shirayuri Ichigo “Ichiko”.

Kamikaze Girls centers around the lives of two girls who have completely different backgrounds and personalities.  Momoko is a Lolita girl who loves to wear frilly dresses and bonnets, and wishes she was born during the Rococo period.   Ichiko is a tough Yanki, a female gangster, who only cares about rebeling against society and making a statement with her biker gang.  The movie starts with a flashforward of Momoko being thrown into the air after getting hit by a car on her scooter.  The plot then shifts to the past where Momoko narrates and explains her childhood and present life.  Momoko is always in need of money since she buys her Lolita clothes in Tokyo.  So in order to make money, she sells her father’s fake brand-name clothing which Ichiko is very interested in.  Ichiko comes around Momoko’s house everyday and the two start an unlikely friendship.  Together they go to Tokyo in search of a mysterious embroiderer and when they do not find the embroiderer, Momoko offers to do the embroidery on Ichiko’s coat.  The movie comes to a climax when Ichiko faces a challenge from her motocycle gang and Momoko rushes to her defense.

Nakashima contrasts the two main characters as each represents an entirely different world.  Momoko is a gentle, sweet girl who daydreams in her own Rococo world.  She does not care about the fact that she does not have any friends because she believes that her clothes are all she needs to be happy.  She places her identity in her girly appearance and her fragile manners.  Ichiko is the opposite in her mannerisms and appearance.  She is loud and spits as she talks, and is easily offended by others so much so that she even hits Momoko with her head.  Her identity is with her rough biker gang as expressed in her long and elaborate coat and her flashy motocycle.  At first the two characters are somewhat disgusted, but fascinated with each other.  They slowly value each other’s friendship and come to accept their differences.  At the end of the movie, Momoko, seeing Ichiko being threatened, transforms from a quiet girl into a strong heroine.  The two characters realize they are more similar to each other than judging from their appearances.

Kamikaze Girls is a colourful and detailed film as shown in the costumes and set designs.  Momoko’s costumes are always very extravagant and she never wears the same thing twice.  Her room is brightly coloured and full of material objects to reflect her personal style.  The restaurant has ornate chairs and fancy figurines.  Whenever there are shots of an outdoor scene, the colours are very crisp and the surroundings are shown in great detail.  For example, there are many shots of the sky with white clouds against a bright blue sky.

I really enjoyed watching Kamikaze Girls.  It was a very refreshing film with a unique sense of humour and the settings and costumes are beautiful.  The characters are likeable and the story has a great message of how two different teenagers can have a friendship.  Momoko and Ichiko seem to represent the new generation of Japanese teenagers who have extra money to spend on their personal desires.  They choose to set themselves apart from society through their personal style and manners.



Categories
comedy

“Swing Girls”

Swing Girls (2004) is a feel-good comedy co-written and directed by Yaguchi Shinobu.  Yaguchi is well known for his feel-good types of comedy (such as his famous Water Boys (2001)) which generally involves a group of people overcoming different obstacles as they try to complete unlikely tasks and challenges, but eventually succeed.  Swing Girls was first released in Japan on September 11, 2004 and has won numerous awards including Best Screenplay at the 2005 Yokohama Film Festival as well as winning the Most Popular Film in the 2005 Japanese Academy Awards.

The film is set in modern Japan at a Japanese high school located in the rural Yamagata prefecture. The characters in the film often use the local Yamagata dialect for comedic purposes.  The story revolves around a group of high school girls that have to take summer school due to their poor academic grades. The class consists of 13 girls from different social groups which include Suzuki Tomoko, who never finishes anything she starts; Saito Yoshie, who has a crush on one of the school’s baseball player; Sekiguchi Kaori, who is timid and anti-social; Tanaka Naomi, who loves to eat and is socialy awkward; and Ozawa, their nervous and anti-social summer school teacher.

One day in class as Suzuki looks out the window in her classroom, she sees the brass band leaving the school to perform at the school’s baseball game. Seconds after the brass band departs, a catering truck pulls up at the school with food for the brass band. Tomoko immediately comes up with an idea and volunteers her class to deliver the food to the brass band as a way to get out of class. The teacher agrees and the girls make their way by train to the game. The girls fall asleep and miss their station and end up at the terminal station. The girls set out on foot on a hot summer day determined to deliver the food to the brass band. Meanwhile at the baseball game, Nakamura Takuo (a passive, music loving student from the girls’ school) is determined to quit the brass band because he is stuck playing the cymbals, which he is awful at and dislikes very much. When the girls arrive at the game, Nakamura makes them hand the food out to the brass band. However, because the weather is too hot and the food is not well-preserved, the brass band suffers food poisoning and are all sent to be hospitalized. Knowing who caused the food poisoning, Nakamura blackmails the girls (who are all musically challenged) into joining the band to replace the original band members until they are fully recovered. At first the girls rebel in frustration but eventually grow to like the music they were playing. Just as everyone was getting along and having a good time, the original brass band returns in good health and eventually takes over again.

The regular school year begins and the girls go back to the social crowds that they originally hung out with. However, Suzuki decides that she wants to start her own jazz band and recruits her summer school classmates along with Nakamura. Along the way, they find out that their summer school teacher Ozawa is a jazz-loving maniac and persuade him into becoming their mentor. Ozawa reluctantly agrees but what the girls’ and boy does not know is that aside from loving jazz music, Ozawa has a very embarrassing secret. Throughout the movie, the girls and boy encounter many obstacles including money for their instruments, a place for them to perform and the lack of dedication from some of the girls in the jazz band. The finale will leave one feeling truly inspired by this group of students.

The movie has a lot of cause-and-effect events where throughout the movie the audience is engaged in various little events with a beginning and an end. For example,  the brass band getting food poisoning causing the girls joining the brass band which ends up with the brass band returning in full health. This leads to another event where the girls decided to start their own band which causes them to raise money for their instruments which eventually resulted (after numerous obstacles) in the girls successfully raising enough money to buy their own instruments.

Another thing I really liked is the director’s attention on the relationship and bonds formed between the main characters. He paints a very clear picture of each character’s personality and traits. Yaguchi does this in a brilliant way in which he does not have to incorporate side stories for the audience to have an idea of what the characters’ personalities are like. This is why the audience gets almost no background information on the main characters’ life except Suzuki’s, which is the only character in the film where the audience can see what her home life is like.

Yaguchi’s sense of comedy is very distinct as well. I find the movie’s comedic timing to be very appropriate. This film has several comedic moments, some being predictable (but not corny!) and some that are unpredictable such as when Suzuki runs through the snow and out of the blue falls face flat into the snow. One specific scene I remember in particular is when the main characters go into the woods to collect mushroom in the forest to raise money for their instruments. As they are collecting the mushrooms, they run into an angry wild boar.  Rather than having the characters run away in slow motion as one may predict, Yaguchi depicts the next few frames motionless. One will see a frame shot of the characters’ frozen in their running position as a wild boar is frozen in the back in a charging position towards the characters. The next frame everything is still motionless but you see the boar catching up to them as some of the characters run away and one climbs up a tree. While all of this is happening, the background music is playing“What a Wonderful World” by Stevie Wonders. I found this scene very entertaining.

I strongly recommend this film for people who just want to relax and have a good laugh. This movie is also very inspirational as you watch these high school students overcome various obstacles. The characters in the movie are also very loveable and the movie does not get boring. It is entertaining from start to finish. The movie is an hour and forty minutes long but it feels even shorter when one watches it. Fans of his film Water Boys will definitely enjoy this movie as well.

Categories
action chambara/chanbara jidai-geki

The Sight and Sound of the End of an Era

The sheer mastery of Yamada Yôji’s The Twilight Samurai (Tasogare Seibei) is made clear even from the first frame in this “meditative character-driven elegy” (Chi). Based upon the three short novels by Shuhei Fujisawa, the film is a gentle jidai-geki in the chambara/chanbara genre set in the final hours of Japan’s Edo period. Upon the loss of his wife to consumption, Iguchi Seibei (Sanaa Hiroyuki ) is left to care for his two young daughters Kayano (Itô Miki) and Ito (Hashiguchi Erina), and senescent mother (Tamba Tetsuro). Iguchi is caught between the value of giri or duty as a samurai, and ninjô to support his family. Tasogare Seibei, as he becomes known due to decision not to join his peers for sake at dusk, is soon overwhelmed by the responsibilities of providing for his family. As fortune would have it, Tomoe (Miyazawa Rie) his childhood love and a recent divorcee, enters the narrative to acting as a both a beautiful foil to the character of Iguchi, and a vehicle for Yamada to begin a discussion of class expectations, duty, hope and love in a time of great change for the samurai.

A major element throughout the film is Yamada’s deft use of light and shadow, in an ironic homage to the title, Twilight. Yamada uses these ‘two siblings’ not only to light a scene and the mise-en-scene, but to also to convey the subtext and emotion of each character. Each character ‘wears’ their light, as if it were an additional costume to add to their characterization. Yamada integrates warm, top lighting and natural sunshine to convey the peace Iguchi and Michinojo (Fukikoshi Mitsuro) feel as they fish by the riverside. He uses the natural light to emphasize the joy of Kayano and Ito as they play in the fields. This technique is again used as we see Iguchi open the sliding door of the bedroom, casting golden rays from the fire over the faces of the girls, displaying the pride and love their father holds for them. Tomoe too is characterized through light in the form of the ‘lantern in the night’ that Iguchi uses to walk her home, symbolic of her presence in his life.

In the final act Iguchi is forced to duel Zenemon Yogo (Tanaka Min), a local retainer who has disobeyed the clan’s order for him to commit seppuku. Again Yamada uses a skillful synthesis of shot, composition, and light to convey the deep subtext and visceral emotion between the two men. As Iguchi enters the hut in which Yogo is hiding, the viewer is made immediately aware of the silhouette of the trees outside the window that start to shake in the wind, aptly setting the tone for the scene. Iguchi cannot originally see Yogo who sits in the shadows. As the two men begin to talk, whispers of light start to stream across Yogo’s profile. They are at odds with one another, both aware of the mission endowed upon Iguchi. The two men sit back to back, a distance apart but are drawn toward one another in the deft use of the rack focus of the camera. They begin to establish commonalities, and Iguchi can for the first time begin to see his opponent’s eyes as light washes across his forehead. The two drink tea, and share suffering over the loss of loved ones to consumption. A strange familiarity is breed between the two men, cleverly articulated by Yamada’s technique of slowly lighting Yogo’s face, which is only fully seen for the first time in the climactic duel – a moment of ultimate bonding and understanding. Other notable techniques include Yamada’s use of diagetic and non-diagetic sound and silence, especially during the duels and domestic scenes. He not only plays between using sounds of chickens to symbolize and represent the household and sounds of field birds to represent nature, but also employs silence as a means to build tension.

Yamada’s film brims with life and colour in a gentle discourse of dealing with love, family and duty in a time when the world of the samurai seemed fleeting.

Categories
drama, melodrama gendai-geki shomin-geki

“Tokyo Sonata”: A Simmering Family Drama in Four Movements

Kurosawa Kiyoshi, director of 2008’s Tokyo Sonata, is unfortunately — or fortunately, perhaps — a man with a lot to live up to, and a lot to gain. With a name like Kurosawa preceding you, the expectations among those not in the know are always going to be high. This particular Kurosawa does, in fact, hold no relation to the acclaimed director Kurosawa Akira, but that doesn’t mean his skill in filmmaking is any less worthy of critical praise. What’s more, he does not allow the aegis of the Kurosawa name to give him room to rest on his laurels, and his most recent offering, Tokyo Sonata, is an undoubtable achievement in visual style and narrative.

As a kind of shomin-geki for the modern age, Tokyo Sonata is a sober, yet beautifully contemplative look at the vagaries of family life, and one family in particular. It tells the very topical and very familiar story of the Sasaki family’s response to crisis as it enters their lives one hit at a time, in several different forms. The first to be hit is Ryûhei, father and businessman, who is abruptly laid off from his job due to downsizing. This incident becomes the catalyst for several pre-existing tensions within the rest of the family to come to a head, starting with the eldest son Takashi; the stereotypical absent, rebellious young adult, who after several failed attempts at finding a meaningful job decides to volunteer in the U.S. Army. Simultaneously, the younger son Kenji is in the midst of his own adolescent rebellion — of a rather different kind, however –, and rounding out the quartet is the mother Megumi who tries furiously to keep everyone together but ultimately reaches her boiling point in a violent, dramatic display of catharsis. As the film progresses, the family members attempt to negotiate around each other’s sore spots, with varying success, and seek to find a way to mend their delicate, fractured unit.

The visuals in Tokyo Sonata are one of the things that allow the film to tell its story with all the due weight and penetrating consideration it both deserves and requires. The most persistent visual theme is that of claustrophobia, achieved through shadows, tight sets, and an anemic, leeched colour palate. The family’s house is ground zero for the tensions experienced by all four family members, and this is reflected through the lighting and architecture of the set piece, not to mention its location. Characterized by cramped dining areas, rooms that encroach on each other, staircases and latticework that obscure and demarcate the visual space, it creates a setting for some of the most explosive dramatic moments within the film. Similarly, the neighborhood around the house is shot in such a way as to emphasize the uncomfortably crowded nature of their urban lives, showing narrow streets flooded by be-suited crowds of men and women as they depart en-masse to work each morning. Just to add to this already-stifling environment, the Sasaki’s house is bordered by train tracks, meaning that more often than not the rattle and whistle of trains going by intrudes on several scenes within the home, turning the private family space into a quasi-public one from which they can never truly isolate themselves.

Due to the effectiveness of these deftly crafted sets and locations, the film’s central themes are given the perfect conditions in which to flourish. The crises which emerge among the characters, while seemingly different, all ultimately circle around the same issues — those of personal roles, authority within the family and professional spaces, and how overturning previously accepted relationship structures affects the people within those structures, for good and bad. Ryûhei getting laid off from his job throws him into a tailspin, struggling to reconcile his place as patriarch, provider, and highest familial authority when he has been forcibly removed from the position which has allowed him to occupy that role unquestionably. Kenji’s rebellion stems directly from Ryûhei’s response to his own situation — having lost his power elsewhere, he overcompensates among his family and unjustly denies Kenji’s desire to learn to play the piano, a request which is about as far away from dangerous adolescent rebellion as could be possible. Caught between the opposing forces of son and father, and having seen how easily they can either remove themselves, or be removed, from their previously occupied roles, Megumi is forced to question her own role as mother — whether or not she gains satisfaction and fulfillment from it, or is merely slotting herself into the role expected of her. Forced into such simultaneous moments of change and rebirth, the end result is nothing any of them could expect.

Because of all these factors, Tokyo Sonata is a simmering, thought provoking, and unexpectedly explosive powder keg of a film. The situations experienced by the Sasaki family are ones that resonate across cultures, and reflect concerns that many of us can easily identify with. Although it is a long film, I feel its length is absolutely necessary for the proper building of tension, and does not in any way detract from the effect that Kurosawa wishes to create. As in real life, events can often compound on each other over a great length of time before exploding in any sort of meaningful, cathartic fashion, and this is exactly what happens in Tokyo Sonata. For this reason, I would heartily recommend this film to anyone. It’s a rare opportunity to see an honest, emotionally true depiction of the universal human condition on film, and not one to be missed.

Categories
anime

“Ponyo”

The movie that I had the opportunity to view for the second film review is called Ponyo, Gake no Ue no Ponyo, which was written and directed by Miyazaki Hayao in 2008.  Prominent English voice actors in the dubbed version feature Cate Blanchett, Matt Damon, Frankie Jonas, Noah Cyrus, Tina Fey, and Liam Neeson.  This film is a Japanese animation produced by Disney and Studio Ghibli and thus falls into the anime genre.

Ponyo is a story about a little goldfish that lives in the ocean and becomes friends with a boy when he saves her.  She falls in love with him and wants to become human.   The little boy, Sosuke, finds Ponyo after she escapes from her father and the story follows how after she is recaptured Ponyo challenges her father about becoming a human, escapes from her ‘prison’, and imbibes a massive amount of magical elixirs.  She then sets out to find Sosuke, and by doing so upsets the balance between nature and man, as storms erupt and tsunamis wash over Japan.  After Ponyo is reunited with Sosuke, it is decided by her mother that should Sosuke pass a test to prove his love for Ponyo, Ponyo will be able to become human.

This film values respect towards the natural world and environment and criticizes the pollution, lack of care, and ignorance of man and their destruction of the natural world.  There are scenes that display the ‘disgusting’ habits of men, in addition to comments made by certain characters that support this claim.  Fujimoto, Ponyo’s father, in a scene where he is following along underwater after Ponyo is picked up by Sosuke, is continuously pelted by debris and garbage thrown into the water.  He is later deterred by sludge and slime churned up by the motor of a boat.  Fujimoto expresses his loathing of humans with a resounding “humans are disgusting!” and complains about “all this waste, filth.”  Dissatisfaction towards those who do not respect nature is revealed by another comment by Fujimoto about how humans “treat [their] home like their empty black souls.”  Criticism is directed at humans and their lack of respect, understanding of the magnitude of the power that nature possesses, and reverence of the natural world.  Man’s ignorance and careless attitude towards nature is addressed through incidents that reveal the power of natural forces and they realize how much for granted they have taken this world for.  Respect for nature in Ponyo is encouraged through thematic issues such as maintaining the balance between the natural world and the human world and placing emphasis on harmony between the two.  Respect is also cultivated through the revelation of the amount of destruction and pollution that man inflicts upon the Earth.  The beautiful animation by Miyazaki also serves to display the beauty of nature that man is surrounded by in their sea-surrounded town.

An important character that represents a lot of themes and motifs in this film is Ponyo’s mother.  Her character symbolizes Mother Nature and mother to all things.  She is the Goddess of the Sea, or as her English version titles her, Gran Mamare.  During a scene in the film she is also labeled as the Goddess of Mercy.  Gran Mamare is depicted as an awe-inspiring beautiful woman whose presence is heralded by golden light and magical creatures by her side.  Her constant association to the ocean and water represents the relationship between magic, nature, and the human world.  Water symbolizes fertility and life, and water is a recurring motif in Ponyo.  Examples include how Sosuke lives on a cliff surrounded by the ocean, the tsunami that Ponyo travels by to reach Sosuke, Fujimoto’s claim that the sea must be kept in balance to prevent Earth’s destruction, and Gran Mamare.  Another aspect of Gran Mamare that relates life to her identity is her images as the Goddess of Mercy, of compassion.  When the tsunami sweeps many boats off-course, she saves the stranded sailors at sea and helps enable them to return home.  Also, because of her love for Ponyo, Gran Mamare proposes that Ponyo have the opportunity to become human.  At the end of the film, Gran Mamare is the only one who can restore the balance of nature and proclaim that “life begins again.”  As she leaves, she grows larger and larger and encompasses everyone, while also reducing the level of the tsunami floods so that everyone can live again.  This image parallels to the message that humans are surrounded by life and the knowledge of how much impact nature has on their livelihoods.

I highly recommend everyone to watch this film.  Not only are important themes like respect for nature, love, and friendship discussed, other themes such as courage, and community are also addressed.  In addition, the work of Miyazaki Hayao’s Ponyo is visually stunning.  The animation is beautiful and the landscape shots are so detailed that one is able to actually able to see the brush strokes that contribute to texture.  And the animation for Gran Mamare was the beast.  She was drawn so magnificently and the additional glow or aura that surrounded her was beautiful, as were the colours that were used for her character.  Ponyo and Sosuke were too cute for words, and even though they are young, they show how love and friendship are not bound by age or race.  Ponyo is a must-watch that will appeal to both older and younger audiences.

Categories
anime experimental literary adaptations

“Akira”: A Visual Feast of Decay, Destruction and Rebirth

Akira, released in 1988, is a science-fiction anime movie directed by Otomo Katsuhiro and based on his 6-volume manga series of the same name. Set in 2019 in post-war Neo-Tokyo, the movie follows the leader of a youth bike gang, Kaneda, as he attempts to rescue his gang friend, Tetsuo, who has been kidnapped and is being subjected to scientific experimentation.
The movie begins with a shot of what appears to be an atomic explosion that annihilates Tokyo in 1988, signaling the start of World War III. Viewers are then fast-forwarded to the post-war city of Neo-Tokyo in 2019, a monstrous neon metropolis built on an artificial island in the middle of Tokyo Bay. Here, viewers are presented with scenes of chaos: bike gang battles, anti-government rioting, and terrorism. The storyline begins by following a bike gang, led by Kaneda, as they fight another gang, the Clowns. During a chase scene with the Clowns, Kaneda’s friend, Tetsuo, crashes his bike into #26, a child-mutant produced by scientific experiments, and is seriously injured. Army personnel arrive at the scene and take #26 and Tetsuo back to their laboratories. Kaneda comes into contact with the resistance group that had tried to kidnap #26, and joins them in an attempt to rescue Tetsuo from further scientific experimentation. However, they are too late, and discover that Tetsuo has already been turned into a mutant being with supernatural powers. After laying waste to security forces that try to contain him, Tetsuo goes in search of Akira, a legendary entity that supposedly sparked the 1988 explosion. Kaneda continues his mission, but must now save Tetsuo from himself. The two meet near, and eventually inside, the Olympic Stadium where they fight in an epic showdown before Tetsuo begins to completely lose control of himself and his powers.
The funding, resources, and manpower needed to create Akira were made possible by a consortium of Japanese entertainment companies called the Akira Committee, an entity that became the movie’s producer. Such strong financial backing allowed Otomo to devote a large amount of resources and time to the animation process. As a result, viewers will notice the detail put into the animation technique used in Akira, cel-shading, is extremely precise. The intricacy and density of the cels gives Akira an unprecedented feeing of fluidity and realism. The colors used in Akira’s cels are also bright and highly varied. The intricate cels and vibrant colors make Akira’s numerous battle and protest scenes, as well as Tetsuo’s mutations, even more frantic, violent, and realistic. High-speed chase scenes that follow the gang’s motorcycles feel incredibly fluid. Overhead shots and fly-bys of Neo-Tokyo also benefit from the high-end animation: viewers get a real sense of the city’s expansiveness (both vertical and horizontal) and complexity. Also noteworthy in Akira is the detail put into the facial speech animations, making it seem as though the animated characters are truly pronouncing and meaning the words they speak. Even by today’s standards, Akira is still visually impressive.
Looking past all of the visually pleasing action and destruction, viewers may find that Akira’s subtext addresses numerous issues facing late twentieth-century Japanese society. Indeed, themes of decay such as consumerism, social unrest, corruption, and juvenile delinquency, as well as themes of destruction such as memories of the World War II nuclear bombings are present throughout the movie. Perhaps most noteworthy is the theme of nuclear destruction and re-growth as it relates to Japan’s post-World-War-II experience. In the wake of the conventional and nuclear Allied bombings during World War II, Tokyo and much of the rest of Japan lay in ruins. From the ashes, Japan was able to rebuild itself once more into a thriving economy and society. In a similar fashion, Akira’s Neo-Tokyo had been built from the ashes of the nuclear explosion experienced during a fictional World War III. From the outset of the movie, it is apparent that Neo-Tokyo is again approaching the end of another destruction/reconstruction cycle: it is unstable, corrupt, filthy, and decaying from within. Viewers are presented with numerous scenes that signal the impending collapse: rioters take to the streets and are confronted by armed and brutal police, explosions are set off by terrorist groups, and corruption and ineptitude are evident in meetings held by the city’s government. The city’s young, too, have become delinquent, as exemplified by Kaneda’s bike gang and their revelry in violence and vandalism. To make clear the severity of the decay, one of the child-mutants in the laboratory, #25, Kiyoko, delivers an ominous prophecy in the first third of the movie: “The city will crumble”. Conveyed by Akira’s theme of destruction and reconstruction is a fear, and possibly a warning, that Japan will never escape this cyclic process of death/birth/re-growth that started in World War II; Japan will eternally fall prey to excess, greed, corruption, only to annihilate itself, reconstruct, and start the process anew.
Akira is not only a spectacular piece of animation, but also a much deeper look into concerns facing Japanese society. The storyline weaves the viewer through the decay occurring within the city of Neo-Tokyo – rampant consumerism, juvenile delinquency, civil unrest, and corruption – while also bringing attention to post-war fears of further nuclear destruction and rebirth. Akira’s influence outside of Japan has been far-reaching, and has been included in Michael Jackson’s music video, Scream, as well as Kanye West’s music video, Stronger. The movie has numerous scenes of violence that involve animations of blood and gore, and profanities are used often. Akira is truly a must see for fans of animation, anime or for those interested in Japanese culture.

Categories
action drama, melodrama gendai-geki yakuza

“Crows Zero”

Crows Zero also known as Kurozu Zero was an original manga series created by Takahashi Hiroshi, and its popularity was credited to the story of a group of students in high school known for violence and mimicking aspects of the Yakuza. The manga was brought to film by Miike Takashi in 2007, which cleverly transferred the hit manga to motion film. The main theme of the story is violence, and it is appraised by many as a clever adaption of social hierarchy and popular gang cultures. As Japan is infamous for their yakuza syndicates, this story entails the contrast between high school gangs and the real time Japanese mafia. Our main character in this story is Genji, played by Oguri Shun. Genji is the son of a powerful yakuza boss who sets out a near impossible goal to become the “ ruler” of an all boys school Suzuran. Serizawa, Tokio and many other unique characters composed the main portion of the two gangs featured in the movie.

Crows Zero has achieved a large fan base purely by creating a fantasy-like world for teenagers and young adults. The main focus of the film was an in depth view of an ambitious high school student with the dream to live up to his father’s success. The story focuses on internal political relations amongst rival gangs which parallels that of actual government. During Genji’s rise to success, he forms alliances as well as creating enemies which created multiple sub stories that went parallel to the main plot. Genji explores the complicated role of being the next ruler of Suzuran as his rival Serizawa defends his title.

The film appeals to a younger clientele, given the fact that the story originates from manga and comic scripts. The portrayal of a cool, dominant gangster lifestyle is always entertaining to get into. Crows Zero targets a particular group of youth that enjoys fantasy-like action films with multiple things happening simultaneously. Our main character, Genji is portrayed as a fearless fighter, capable of defeating many foes at once. As demonstrated during the scene where Genji was attacked at the courtyard, he was able to stand his own against dozens of thugs, eventually winning the loyalty of a boss named Izaki through brute determination. Genji’s surreal ability to endure extensive amounts of physical abuse as well as his ability to deliver punishment made him an appealing character. As a fan of gangster movies, Crows Zero has really captivated the portrayal of bad boys in a personal point of view.

The action scenes were most enjoyable as the camera angles successfully created a dynamic feel. There are many different angles used in the filming which created an interesting combination of scenes that elevated the action. Miike was able to interpret the action scenes of the manga into real-time action scenes, often switching point of views time to time. Miike was also able to achieve the first-person point of view, which puts the viewer close and personal in the fight. There were lots of special effects which created an exaggeration in the power of the punches and the cries of war added an authentic feel of shogun-style warfare. Prior to battle in most scenes, the leaders would unleash a furious cry and then charge. The exaggerated action was definitely on spot, and gave a surreal feel, which oddly as it sounds created a comical and entertaining value, opposed to a grim and gritty feel.

Crows Zero’s success gave birth to a second installment of the series. The movie is highly recommended for viewers that enjoy the yakuza-based genre. The clever camera angles and suspenseful action sequences added to the already popular gangster style film. The movie’s intermittent comical scenes and exaggerated action sequences gave a light and refreshing feel to the film, steering away from the average gangster film. The story includes love, politics and action which gives Crows a definitive advantage in pop culture demands.

Categories
action chambara/chanbara drama, melodrama jidai-geki

“The Twilight Samurai” (Tasogare Seibei)

The Twilight Samurai (Tasogare Seibei) is a film produced in the year 2002 and was directed by Yamada Yōji. This film can be categorized under the genre of jidai-geki and was an Academy Award nominee for best foreign language film including best director, best film, best actor and best actress. The main character of the film, Tasogare Seibei, is played by Sanada Hiroyuki, his lover in the film Tomoe is played by actress Miyazawa Rie, and Seibei’s two daughters Kayano and Ito are played by actresses Ito Miki and Erina Hashiguchi. Other supporting actors include Kobayashi Nenji, Ohsugi Ren, and Fukikoshi Mitsuru.

The story is set in the late nineteenth century in Shonai province, in the northeast of the Japanese archipelago. The main character of the film Iguchi Seibei is a samurai of the Inasaka Clan and was nick-named tasogare seibei by his fellow samurai because he is always the first one to return home (during sunset hour) rejecting his colleagues’ offers to go for drinks after work. The story opens with a scene of the funeral of Seibei’s wife and in the following scenes we see his struggle in raising his two daughters Kayano and Ito all by himself while also looking after his aging mother and taking care of the housework. Seibei is reunited with his childhood friend Tomoe and they develop feelings for each as the film progresses. Seibei agrees to a sword fight with Tomoe’s abusive ex-husband Kouda and though he only uses a bamboo stick while his opponent uses an actual katana, he wins the battle and forces Kouda to stay away from Tomoe in the future. In the latter part of the film, because Seibei is a low-ranking samurai and is used by his leaders as the “errands man”, he is forced to confront a renowned warrior in an opposite clan and to kill him so he unwillingly pays the warrior a visit and par-takes in another sword battle.

One of the most significant aspects of this film that really fascinates me is the lighting technique. From the very first scene (Seibei’s wife’s funeral in his house), it is quite evident that no special lighting effects were incorporated in shooting the scenes, rather the director seems to have very skilfully used the natural sunlight and worked his camera around furniture and actors to produce the full effect of the sun rays. This is especially evident in scenes that take place indoors (Seibei’s house, the office, class room, and Zenemon Yogo’s house). The characters’ faces in indoor scenes are never fully lit, even when there is a close-up take of the actor’s face we cannot really make out their full features because most of the time, the sunlight is not sufficient to illuminate their entire face or because they happen to be sitting with their backs facing the door or sometimes because a furniture or sliding panel would cast a shadow over them.  However,  the effect of the sunlight pouring in through the shoji, or cracks in the lattice fence of the house, and through open doors create quite a beautiful lighting effect for the indoor scenes and contributes to the often solemn or serious moods of the many indoor scenes.

The second aspect of the film that I thought was really impressive and contributed greatly to this film is the sound effects. This too was very minimalistic yet powerful at the same time. For the most part, there were not very many scenes in which external sound effects were used. Scenes would usually focus on the character’s monologues and the only other sounds we are able to hear in the background are of the cries of animals or the rippling of water. In fact, a lot of the scenes were very still that the ruffling of the kimono or the footsteps of a person would seem very prominent. However, I must mention that the most dramatic and beautiful sound effect was used in the scene where Seibei is reading a letter from Tomoe. As we hear Tomoe’s voice narrating the letter, there is a beautiful piano melody playing in the background and this is especially beautiful and powerful because in this scene, the rain is pouring so the combined effects of the sound of raindrops and piano melody make the scene quite moving. Part of the reason why the piano melody was used in this scene is perhaps because Seibei is starting to realize his strong feelings towards Tomoe. In most other scenes, such as of a group of people (the samurai or Seibei and his servant) travelling from one place to another (transitional scenes), there are melodies played by the shakuhachi in the background. This too was very alluring and complimented the takes of scenery in those scenes.

The scenery of rivers, lakes, and mountains in this film is beautiful, and the sound effect, lighting, costume all contribute to depiction of the time period the film was shot in.  Watching the actors in traditional Japanese kimono and hakama worn with straw sandals and geta and seeing the rustic looking houses with chanoyu as well as listening to the old-Japanese spoken all made me feel like I travelled back in time. I would definitely recommend this film to anyone who is interested in learning a little bit about the Japanese tradition as you will be able to get a glimpse into the life-style of a low-ranking samurai, and because there are many references to Buddhism, you will also be able to get a glimpse into the faiths of people during this period. It is a very educational film but more importantly, the storyline, along with the sound and lighting effects, will move you.

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action yakuza

Severed Pinkies and Reconnected Brothers: Takeshi Kitano’s “Brother”

Following the overseas success of Sonatine (1993) and Hanabi (1997), Brother (2000) was director Kitano Takeshi’s first – and last – Hollywood collaboration. Starring himself, Omar Epps (audiences will recognize him as Dr. Foreman from the TV drama House M.D.) and Claude Maki, the film was meant to bring exposure and a wider international audience to Kitano’s films, but its reception was lukewarm at best.

Brother is a yakuza film almost to the point of parody – three pinkie fingers are lost throughout the duration of the film through the yakuza ritual of yubitsume (self-amputation of one’s little finger to atone for offense or disrespect), and there is no shortage of guns, katanas, or full-body tattoos. All the spectacle is there too – the film features a yakuza funeral (with the vigorous bowing of low-ranking members), a yakuza initiation rite, and a yakuza dinner during which one member commits seppuku (the slicing open of the abdomen), causing another to atone for the interruption by having yubitsume forced upon him.

The action scenes are equally unrestrained – lots of people are shot or otherwise murdered in the film. In fact, most of the characters do not survive until the end, and this has the effect of creating a silent intensity that is sustained throughout the film – the gunshots serve to punctuate the quiet segments of the film, but the calm moments themselves are a brooding foreshadowing of looming deaths, which is always just around the corner.

Kitano plays Yamamoto, a high ranking yakuza officer who is forced to flee Japan following the assassination of his boss and the defection of his yakuza “brother” (another equal-ranking officer). He leaves one brother behind for another, flying to Los Angeles to stay with his younger genetic brother Ken (Claude Maki), to whom he has been sending money so that Ken could study abroad. There, he finds that Ken has become a street-level drug pusher that has gotten in trouble with the drug cartel. In helping his brother the only way a Yakuza member knows how – by wiping out the entire drug cartel, Yamamoto begins to establish a criminal empire, eventually coming head-to-head with the Mafia.

Beneath the facade of graphic ultra-violence lie two themes that Kitano explores quite extensively. The first is the eponymous idea of brotherhood – both in the Yakuza and the genetic context. Yakuza is structured as a family, with the head called the oyabun (foster parent), and the members referring to each other as elder and younger brothers (kyoudai). The film draws a parallel and compares these adopted relationships with Yamamoto’s relationship with his only true genetic brother Ken. Both the gang members and Ken refer to Yamamoto with the term “Aniki” (older brother), and it is intentionally not clear what difference (if any) there is between a genetic and adopted brotherly relationship, as Ken becomes Yamamoto’s underling.

The other theme Kitano explores is that of culture and language. The very identities that unite a brotherhood also separates them as “others” – all of the organized crime groups in the film have prominently ethnic backgrounds – the drug dealers are Mexican, the Mafia is Italian, and the Little Tokyo gang are all Japanese. While Yamamoto’s own gang is not quite as ethnically homogenous, it is composed entirely of African-American, Japanese, and Latinos, highlighting an obvious absence of Caucasian members. This forms a pointed commentary on segregation and separation as a source of social conflict. The language barrier also drives the plot – many plot elements hinge on the fact that various groups cannot understand each other, best represented by the sound bite moment when Yamamoto massacres a room of Mexican drug lords then retorts coolly in Japanese, “I understand ‘f*cking Japs’, a**holes”. It was no surprise that that line appeared on the movie’s trailer.

The film does not take itself too seriously – to best enjoy it, it is best if you don’t take it too seriously either. The blood effects have either not aged well, or were a conscious choice by to distance the audience from the brutality (as in his recent film, Zatoichi). The film starts slow, but very quickly ups its tempo into an arpeggio of killing blows. Yet after a while, the deaths blur into each other, the quality lost in the quantity, the meaning lost in the chaos. The acting is also spotty at points, complete with rigid English dialogue that sounds like subtitles being read – ironic for a film in which the language barrier was meant to be a plot device – not its shortcoming.

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jidai-geki Uncategorized

“Sakuran:” A Modernized Jidai-geki

Sakuran (2006), directed by photographer Ninagawa Mika, is an adaptation of Anno Moyoko’s manga of the same name. The movie is a jidai-geki about the life of Kiyoha (Tsuchiya Anna), who grew up in Yoshiwara (a famous red-light district), before and after becoming an oiran (the highest-ranking courtesan). When Kiyoha has to choose between marrying a rich patron or continuing to work as an oiran while staying in the household with the male server that she truly loves, the movie conveys a strong dilemmatic theme of to love or to live. In the meantime, the movie also hints that similar dilemmas were often confronted not only in the old days, but also in the modern era. In applying techniques that are apparently different from the stereotypical jidai-geki, Sakuran depicts how the problems women faced in the past continue, and can be easily applied to that of  modern times.

The story starts with the young Kiyoha being sold to Tamakikuya in Yoshiwara. She is under the care of the oiran of Tamkikuya, Shouhi (Kanno Miho), and is expected to learn the skills of being a courtesan through serving Shouhi. Refusing to become a courtesan, the rebellious Kiyoha tries to run away from the Tamikikuya numerous times, but she is caught and punished every time after escaping. Although she is disobedient, the managers of Tamakikuya believe that she will become a great oiran when she grows up. The reason for this is that she is talented and beautiful, and also has a strong, tough personality with a unique charisma. Under the guidance of Shouhi and Seiji (Andou Masanobu), the otokoshuu who grows up and serve courtesans in Tamakikuya, Kiyoha decides to become an oiran. Shouhi later leaves Yoshiwara, and Kiyoha instantly becomes one of the most popular girls right after she starts working as a courtesan. Meanwhile, her relationship with the oiran Takao (Kimura Yoshino) worsens because Takao’s lover grows interested in Kiyoha. Like Takao, Kiyoha also secretly falls in love with another man, Souichirou (Narimaya Hiroki). Later, both of them are betrayed and Takao is murdered by her lover. Heart-broken, Kiyoha devotes all her effort into becoming an oiran while refusing any intimate and emotional relationship afterwards. The movie reaches its climax when a rich samurai Kuranosuke (Shiina Kippei) visits Kiyoha hoping to marry her, but Kiyoha realizes that she is pregnant and in love with Seiji, who stays with her everyday.

Despite the historical setting of the film, the movie contains a lot of contemporary elements. These elements rarely appear in any other jidai-geki, and imply that problems Kiyoha and other females come across in the Edo period continue to exist in modern times. Some examples are the makeup and language used in the film. The prostitutes filmed in the movie do not “coat” their faces with the extra-white foundation, but instead use a more natural and modernized makeup. They also wear mascara and bright red lipstick. In regards to language use, Kiyoha and other courtesans tend not to use Kuruwa kotoba (language used by courtesans), such as ending the sentence with arinsu (～ありんす) instead of desu (～です), when they are by themselves. Yet, Shouhi and Takao often read classical poems and passages, and use Kuruwa kotoba even in private; with natural makeup and language, Kiyoha looks very natural, like a normal woman dressing in kimono nowadays regardless of the background setting of the film; when Kiyoha experiences emotional and relationship problems, the audience may easily link her to women in modern times and imagine women from both eras may also face similar dilemmas.

In addition, as the title of the movie’s sound track suggests, the film is more likely a reflection of Heisei Fuuzoku instead of an original story of Edo Mizushoubai (prostitution business). The music in the film is very modernized. For example, the music director Shiina Ringo uses electric guitar and rock elements in the music to illustrate the rebellious characteristics of Kiyoha. Shiina even composes English lyrics to give a hint of modernity. Moreover, the camerawork of the movie is totally different from that of a jidai-geki. Sakuran, as the directorial debut of Ninagawa, consists of many photo-like shots. There are no long shots or fixed camera shots that create a stage-like performance; instead, the composition of every shot is beautifully designed to be like a photo. Ninagawa also arranges a series of 1-second nudity shots, which appear like a photo slideshow, to express the shock Kiyoha experiences that leave a very strong impact on the audience. Other than these types of shots, Ninagawa also uses very bright colours in the film, which is very uncommon for jidai-geki. These contemporary forms of music and camerawork elements make Sakuran a unique jidai-geki that often reminds the audience of its connection to modern times. Some may argue that the story could be placed in a modern setting, such as somewhere in Shinjuku Kabukichou in the twentieth century, and still be totally reasonable; yet the film will have less impact as if made as a documentary film about modern prostitution.

Although Sakuran implies that women continue to face similar dilemmas between whether to love or to live, the movie also hints that women are actually becoming more independent by playing an active role in romantic relationships and in work. When Shouhi is still an oiran, she has no choice but to wait for her patronage to pay the miuke (buy her out).  Shouhi chooses to marry her patron by giving up her popularity and living as an oiran. Takao also begs for love but gets nothing from her lover; she sacrifices her work for love but is killed by her lover. Kiyoha, after being forsaken by her lover, drives herself to work. Kiyoha, as a new-generation oiran, apparently has more initiative in both her job and her love relationship. Kiyoha can choose who to serve and sleep with, and her decision is not related to money but her personal interest. Also, instead of Kuranosuke, who plants sakura (cherry blossom) trees for her and pays her miuke, she chooses to run away with Seiji on her own. While Kiyoha displays a more active and independent role than previous oiran , she also represents the similar changes of women from a more traditional and passive role to a modern and active one. In addition to the characters, the movie itself is actually a representation of women’s independence; the movie is adapted from Anno Moyoco’s manga, directed by Ninagawa Mika, written by Tanada Yuki, and the music is directed and composed by Shiina Ringo. The success of the movie depicts the success of these four women in their professions, and represents how modern women can be independent from men and be successful with their job.

Sakuran is a highly enjoyable and artistic movie, not only for its depiction of the traditional oiran, but also for the extreme beauty of its composition. Although similar themes may have been covered by many other movies and some may find combining modern elements with period drama awkward, the audience can still enjoy the breath-taking artistry. I will also recommend the soundtrack of the movie, Heisei Fuuzoku, because the songs and lyrics match perfectly with the film and are brilliantly composed. Also,the audience may need to be aware that this is a PG-12 rated movie with some nudity and one bloody scene. Yet, regardless of some weaknesses, the movie is still fascinating and worth seeing.

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