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Author Topic: 1990s Far East Bracket: Verdicts  (Read 561664 times)

duder

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Re: 1990s Far East Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #1290 on: July 18, 2010, 08:21:02 AM »

It's so funny.

And I so wanted to post pictures of Chow and the naked boy...  :(

Bound to offend someone in the third round.
...

roujin

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Re: 1990s Far East Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #1291 on: July 18, 2010, 08:22:14 AM »
The right film won.

FLYmeatwad

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Re: 1990s Far East Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #1292 on: July 18, 2010, 09:28:04 AM »
I'll have to see the second film at some point, but I do really love KoC and it is on the Top 97. Great write ups, flieger, and I'm glad we can all agree on the hilarity that is found in the flicking scene.

smirnoff

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Re: 1990s Far East Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #1293 on: July 18, 2010, 01:03:39 PM »
Good writeups flieger & tinyH.

BlueVoid

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Re: 1990s Far East Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #1294 on: July 18, 2010, 01:13:29 PM »
Good writeups flieger & tinyH.

Agreed.  I love this bracket.
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Thor

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Re: 1990s Far East Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #1295 on: July 18, 2010, 02:30:03 PM »
So glad to see Picnic go out!

Bummed to see 2 WKW films go out!

Such is life.
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duder

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Re: 1990s Far East Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #1296 on: July 18, 2010, 03:00:11 PM »
So glad to see Picnic go out!

 >:(
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BlueVoid

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Re: 1990s Far East Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #1297 on: July 20, 2010, 10:44:16 PM »
Blues Harp

VS.

Fallen Angel



Blues Harp
Takashi Miike
1998
Japan




A harmonica and the Yakuza, who knew Blues music and the Japanese mafia would work so well together.  We begin with Chuji(Hiroyuki Ikeuchi), a half Japanese, half black, bartender and part time drug dealer who is a gifted harmonica player.  He happens upon Kenji(Seiichi Tanabe), a badly wounded ambitious low ranking member of the yakuza, who he helps out. The two become friends, despite their loyalties to opposite gangs.  While Kenji takes aim for the top of the Yakuza family Chuji starts to pull his life together, but the two's friendship keep them tied to one another.
  
Director Takashi Miike has a wonderful sensibility which grounds his film.  He is able to infuse style without losing focus.  The rhythmic blues performance blend seamlessly into the violent mafia underworld.  The mood of the film is pitch perfect.  As much as Miike is a fantastic visual director, he never compromises the story.  He really mixes two  great narratives together.  At it's core it's a personal story about a young man trying to buck his troubled youth and move on into maturity, expressed beautifully through the use of music.  It's an odd medium since you normally don't associate blues with Japanese culture, but this only adds to the uniqueness of the story.  At the same time there is also the Yakuza arch which is fascinating in of itself. Rather than stock characters, Kenji isn't your prototypical mafia henchman, there is a humanity to him that lifts the story out of the ordinary mafia fodder.  

The acting is great.  Ikeuchi commands the screen, bursting with charisma.  He manages to seamlessly jump from harmonica wielding blues player to a drug dealer running from the Yakuza all within the span of a scene.  Playing a perfect foil to his cool nature is Tokiko, played by Saori Sekino.  She is the overly bubbly girlfriend, who after their first date brings over a suitcase full of stuffed animals to decorate Chuji's apartment.  They are completely opposite, and yet have a great connection.  The film is full of these seemingly contrasting elements that none the less flow together.  

From beginning to end the film is a well paced, perfectly executed drama. There is the excitement of the Yakuza plot, and heart in the personal story of Chuji. The film is full of great little moments that cumulatively add up to something that's very solid. Two seemingly independent plot lines link together and combine perfectly to make this a great film.




Fallen Angel
Wong Kar-wai
1995
Hong Kong




This was originally conceived to be the third story to 'Chungking Express', but was broken off into it's own film.  Wong Kar-wai doesn't so much tell a story as he does impress a feeling into you.  The plot doesn't matter much, but its roughly about a hitman who wants to end his semi-romantic, semi-professional, relationship with his female agent who he has never met.  In a parallel story line a mute man makes a living by taking over shops after hours and man-handles people into being his customers.  To say that this is what the movie is about, however, is completely missing the point.

The film is all about mood.  About feeling.  Wong Kar-wai douses his film in style, with every frame being packed with some kind of visual skew.  The narrative, if you can even call it that, is more a string of loosely connected vignettes with an overarching connecting theme.  Bathed in a gritty surrealist tone, Wong expresses insights into love, happiness and purpose in life.  The dialog is sparse in the film, but there are many insightful inner monolouges.  One such monologues explains that personality dictates what a person does for a living.  The hitman loves his job because he doesn't have to think, his decisions are made for him.  The mute is lonely, and works in other peoples stores illegally since he can't make friends or earn capitol with his condition.  Both seemingly happy with their lot in life don't initially see much reason to change.  Over the course of the film, more depth is revealed in their character, and they attempt to break free into a new life.  The struggle to obtain happiness and find ones way in life comes through strong and was the lasting impression on me.

The beauty of the film was power of individual scenes.  Countless scenes stick out and resonate through you, even if they don't quite seem to fit in at the time.  The blond running out into the rain, the force fed ice cream, the emotionally jarring home video, or countless other scenes.  They each have their own message, and leave their own mark.  That's how I enjoyed this film.  It's more of an overall experience than anything.  A flow of beautifully shot, often poignant scenes which somehow leave you reflecting back on it having gained a lot of insight into the lives of these characters and wanting to revisit them.


Verdict: It was unintentional when I picked them, but these two films complimented each very well.  Both had two parallel story lines, one violent and one more personal.  Each focused heavily on mood.  This is an incredibly hard verdict, since I liked both of these films a lot and respect both of the directors.  Fallen Angel wins the mood showdown, but Blues Harp has a better story.  It's unlucky for Wong Kar-wai fans, but I'm a sucker for a good story.  Blues Harp moves on.  I'm sorry to all who love Fallen Angel.  It definitely deserves resurrection consideration.
« Last Edit: July 20, 2010, 10:45:58 PM by BlueVoid »
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Melvil

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Re: 1990s Far East Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #1298 on: July 20, 2010, 10:49:47 PM »
Resurrection!!!

I'm glad you liked Blues Harp so much. It sounds interesting. But since I haven't seen it I find it necessary to lambaste you for kicking out something as awesome as Fallen Angels. For shame, sir! ;)

roujin

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Re: 1990s Far East Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #1299 on: July 20, 2010, 10:50:20 PM »
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