Dr. Akagi
I wasn't able to make heads nor tails of this film at first. I stopped about 45 minutes in to do a little internet research. I was hoping to figure out what, if anything, I was missing. This isn't something I'd usually do, but I suspected that if I just continued on for the last 90 minutes I would only become more frustrated and bitter.
From what I gather this movie is typical of director Shohei Imamura. A director who has said himself that he likes to make messy films. One critic describes this characteristic as
useful, in that it mimics the disorderly nature of life. I didn't find that the fractured style did much more than distract me. But mostly it was the stories told within these fragments that I had a problem with. They just weren't very interesting. We follow a handful of misfits around through a variety of escapades that are just as odd as they are. There's a lot of dark humour in these tales, but it was so goofy it made me roll my eyes. Actually, a lot of the movie made me roll my eyes. My research didn't end up helping me enjoy the movie. It probably made me even more frustrated. I discovered it wasn't so much that I was missing anything, it was just that I didn't feel the same way about it as most.
Too quixotic and silly for my tastes I think. Except the ending, which was excellent. Why couldn't the rest of the movie be that great? Also, I felt it was much too long.
Samurai Fiction
This movie was all kinds of cool. I don't think I've ever seen anything quite like it. The black & white cinematography has a wonderful comic-book feel that lends itself perfectly to the action. On top of that most of the swordplay is backed by electric guitar. It sounds weird I know, but it works!
It's just too bad the rest of the movie isn't as good as it looks and sounds. The acting is so crumby that it wasn't long before I was asking myself whether I was watching a real samurai flick or just a parody. Actually I think it is suppose to be a comedy of sorts, but it's more goofy than it is funny. The plot isn't much to behold either. Something about a lost sword, and a foolhardy official's son on a quest to recover it. It's got all of the usual characters. An old wise master, his beautiful daughter, and a brooding villain. It's a very uneven movie. At times it takes itself waaaay to seriously, and wastes a lot of time trying to add depth to the story with heavy dialogue. At other times it's a farce. I was more or less nodding off during any scene that wasn't accompanied by electric guitar.
I was certain that I was going to push this film on to round 2 after the first couple minutes, and by the end I wanted nothing to do with it.
Dr. Liver moves on! (that's what they call him)