Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Naruse


Many a great Japanese director was a miserable bastard. One long-neglected master is Mikio Naruse, whose films are finally starting to get released outside Japan (Repast, Flowing, and Sound of the Mountain from UK distributor Eureka and a recent Criterion release, When a Woman Ascends the Stairs, in the US). Great films, very low-key, somewhere between Ozu and Mizoguchi; you've got the home drama aspects of the former and the long-suffering female protagonists of the latter. But while Ozu offered resignation and Mizoguchi transcendence at the end of their respective films, Naruse offers neither, leaving his female protagonists to twist in the wind. It is only their Japanese fighting spirit that keeps them going, facing out the long days of desolation dangling over the abyss of depression and meaningless existence. Unwatchable? No fear, the films have a subtlety and realism that diffuses any direct slit-your-wrists vibe, but there's no doubt the director was channeling a lot of his own downheartedness into his films. By all accounts, Naruse was the most miserable and depressed director in Japanese film history. Nicknamed "Yaruse Nakio" (which I'm told translates as "Mr. Disconsolate"), at Toho, his one hobby was drinking alone. His only social interaction was with the women who served him his drinks at cheap eateries, one of whom fell in love with him and subsequently committed suicide when he failed to respond to her letters (an event that further clouded his personal reputation). But his films are superb in their way, stark and moving. When you watch them, you realize that here is an auteur with an ouvre who's been standing alongside the greats all this time, his work shamefully overlooked. I urge everyone to see at least one film by this fine filmmaker.

Monday, April 23, 2007

Bambi vs. Godzilla

BTW, I'm heartily enjoying David Mamet's latest book, Bambi vs. Godzilla: On the Nature, Purpose, and Practice of the Movie Business. Packed with anecdotes and obscure classical/religious/historical references, the book is, at turns (sometimes sentence by sentence) pithy, withering, heartfelt, political, castigating, wise and arrogant (in a good way).

Cry of the Lame

I'm such a lame blogger. I should be here every minute, pouring out my impressions and insights, but what do I do instead? Read books, watch films, drink sake, write books ...

But I am a web veteran -- I was a webmaster back in '97 and landed my first dot-com job in '98. Worked 'til the crash. So I'm no technophobe. Maybe it's just a personal backlash. I'm also not a terribly consistent poster on the two message boards I frequent, Ninja Dojo and Samurai Archives Citadel. Oh well.

I'm heading down to San Francisco this week for the San Francsico International Film Festival. I'll be posting stuff about that, as well as writing a piece on it for the Asian Reporter. Watch this space.

In the meantime, here are some interesting things that have drifted through my transom of late:

Cherry Blossom Eiga - Very cool Japanese cult film site.
Nikko Edo Mura - The samurai theme park I must visit next time I'm in Japan.
Hiroyuki Sanada Enthusiast - All things Hiroyuki Sanada including clips from Danny Boyle's Sunshine, which features this coolest of cool Japanese actors.
Voice of Gojira: Remembering Akira Ifukube - Good piece on one of the most prolific film composers of all time.
Asia Shock review - Gratifying piece courtesy of the good people at The Thunder Child.