Author Topic: 1990s Far East Bracket: Verdicts  (Read 561522 times)

DarkeningHumour

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Re: 1990s Far East Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #2100 on: May 30, 2016, 08:47:17 PM »
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Jared

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Re: 1990s Far East Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #2101 on: May 31, 2016, 11:17:49 AM »
Eager to see where Raise the Red Lantern falls in these resurrection standings. It's easily my favorite eliminated movie in the whole bracket.

smirnoff

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Re: 1990s Far East Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #2102 on: June 01, 2016, 11:33:54 PM »
*cringes*

I think that was me that booted out Raise the Red Lantern.

*checks*



Damn... I really liked it too. I hope it claws its way back in!



These resurrection reviews make me all weepy and nostalgic.
« Last Edit: June 01, 2016, 11:38:04 PM by smirnoff »

smirnoff

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Re: 1990s Far East Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #2103 on: June 04, 2016, 12:17:51 AM »

Shanghai Triad
(Zhang Yimou, 1995)
Round 1 review by Colleen
Round 2 review by Beavermooose

                    VS                   

Sleeping Man
(Kôhei Oguri, 1996)
Round 1 review by Edgar
Round 2 review by Bondo




Shanghai Triad

Oh god, it's another child protagonist! I should steer clear of these movies next round. They're either awkward perverts or witless knobs. This time it's a witless knob.

I was disengaging from this one pretty quickly. Unlike all of Zhang Yimou's dramas I've seen up till now, this one was absent a character I felt compelled to root for. And it's an ugly looking film too, by this director's standards. I didn't dig into it very deeply... I didn't see much I wanted to explore. A shrill cabaret singer who's on the arm of an aging gangster. Some lady and her daughter on a podunk island. And an annoying kid who's caught in the middle of it all, wide-eyed, and seemingly without a will of his own. I think they just mounted him on a tripod and pointed him at the other actors.



Sleeping Man

Do you recall the scene in Amadeus when the Emperor makes a surprise appearance at the rehearsal for Mozarts upcoming opera? A hush falls over the entire theater. It's a completely unprecedented occurrence! As chance would have it, his arrival just happens to coincide with a part of the opera which contains ballet. Except there is no music accompanying the dancers on stage. What he witnesses is a bunch of performers leaping up and down and spinning all around... in silence.



Of course what he comes to understand is that it's his own regulations which forbid ballet being performed in operas. Thus the ochestra sits idle, while the dancers dance.

Now I think you have to give the emperor credit in this scene... he doesn't camouflage his confusion, which is so often the way with supreme rulers. He is quite humble. Willing to accept what he sees as a potentially new form of something old. It isn't, of course, it's just the consequence of censorship, but he didn't know that. Eventually, after he comes to understand the reason for this strange performance, and finding it not at all to his liking (in it's current form), he requests to see the scene with the music back in.

"But sire!", protests the perpetually perturbed prude over his left shoulder.
"Oblige me", demands the emperor.

And all is set right.

What I think is interesting to consider is how history might have changed had the emperor happened to enjoy what he had seen. A new trend may have been sparked! Mozart and Sallieri may both have found themselves suddenly out of favour, as everyone, looking to show off their emperor-like taste in art, flocked to the silent ballet! Don Giovanni? More like Gone Giovanni.

So it is with a touch of empathy that I admit, when I first sat down with Sleeping Man it had me looking around a bit. I turned to Bondo and Edgar's reviews hoping they could answer my question.



No... it's not modern you silly man. It's 90's Japanese drama!

I'm being a bit hyperbolic when I say that of course, but it does seem that the tendency of Japanese filmmakers of that era (and perhaps other eras I don't know about) was to favour static cameras and little to no scoring. If there's a one word to describe the effect this creates, for me it would be bleak. What a cold and lonely place Japan so often looks in these films.



And it's not just in the way the camera stays put that creates this feeling, it's how far away they put it. It is quite typical for an entire scene of dialogue (like the one above) to occur while the camera is far, far away, and the characters are specs in the frame. I cannot see their eyes, or the expressions on their faces. What's happening over there?

This style of filmmaking, and how often it comes up in such a small sample of movies, makes me wonder if it was appealing, in a larger way, to the Japanese experience during that decade. Or was is just another trend sweeping through an art form which has seen many such trends come and go. Where did it originate I wonder.

It is not a style that resonates much with me. It could be said it does everything in the opposite way to what I enjoy. It keeps you at a distance... I like to be engaged and involved. It keeps music out of most scenes... I like the atmosphere a score can create. It is content to be still, I find stillness to that extent distracting.

That said, it is, as far as I can recall, one of the more enjoyable experiences with Japanese bleakism I've had in this bracket. Enjoyable in this context means I finished it in one sitting. It means I didn't become so bored by the end I hated the film for wasting my time. It means I was genuinely impressed with a small handful of shots. That's what I mean when I say enjoyable here, just to be clear.

But at the end of the day I wish I could have been like the Emperor and simply said, "oblige me".



Sleeping Man wins! Boo.
« Last Edit: June 04, 2016, 02:01:10 AM by smirnoff »

BlueVoid

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Re: 1990s Far East Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #2104 on: June 04, 2016, 12:58:02 AM »
Great writeup smirnoff! Too bad you didn't enjoy them more. Funny you should mention the far off static shot. It features prominently in one of my pairings as well.
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smirnoff

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Re: 1990s Far East Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #2105 on: June 04, 2016, 10:05:17 PM »
Thanks BV. Does the far off static shot work for you in your film? As a technique, used here and there, I can get behind it. Sometimes for the context of the scene it makes perfect sense. R2D2 & C3P0 marooned in the desert and bickering, for instance... it communicates their situation very efficiently. But even then it's what, a 5 or 10 second shot? It doesn't need to be any longer to get the point across. To try and sustain a scene of dialogue with the same unmoving frame for 2 minutes, maybe more... you're asking a lot of your audience.

BlueVoid

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Re: 1990s Far East Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #2106 on: June 04, 2016, 10:42:48 PM »
It does work in this case. In the Cherry Orchard it is shot very much for realism. You get a sense that you are peeking into a moment in these people's lives. Instead of the usual two-shot back and forth you get a static shot pulled back, as if you are an observer eavesdropping on their conversation. I found it effective.

Also, if you haven't seen it yet, I'd recommend watching this Every Frame a Painting on ensemble framing. I'm not sure it goes into this kind of shot specifically, but I think it generally relates: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4seDVfgwOg
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BlueVoid

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Re: 1990s Far East Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #2107 on: June 05, 2016, 01:38:12 AM »
VS.


The Cherry Orchard (Sakura no sono)
Shun Nakahara
1990
Japan
Melvil's round 1 write up
Pixote's resurrection write up
Bondo's round 2 write up




A movie, based on a manga, whose plot revolves around a Russian play. 'The Cherry Orchard' is a coming of age tale that takes place hours before the start of a high school production of the Anton Chekhov play 'The Cherry Orchard'. The school administration is contemplating canceling the play after one of the students was caught smoking and caused a bit of a scandal.

The play takes place entirely at the school, and mostly in one room, and plays out in near real time until the opening curtain. We follow several girls, each with their own stories. It is a bit overwhelming at first, as we are introduced to everyone at once. Fortunately director Shun Nakahara splits the group into smaller segments and we spend time observing their interactions separately.

This is very much a coming of age story. The girls are on the cusp of leaving school and facing a lot changes in their life. their tight knit community will be torn apart, and they wrestle with coming to terms with this and are finding their own identity. There are some complex and sensitive issues that are explored dealing sexual abuse and sexual identity. I was impressed how this subject matter is handled matter-of-factly and frankly. It isn't meant to shock, it highlights the issues in a much more nuanced way.

One of the primary strengths of the movie is its realism. The pacing, which approximates real time, the long static shots, and casual dialog create a feeling that you are peering into a moment in these girl's lives. Because there are a lot of people involved and because of the sensitive nature of their issues, it important to feel connected to these characters. This was done beautifully with the way in which the film was constructed. You get a feel for each characters personality, and their struggles are more important because you feel as though you know a bit about who they are.

I'm not familiar with Chekhov's play. While the primary purpose of the play is a catalyst to the drama, I think it would be foolish not to try and link the play's motifs to that of the films. I can only go by Wikipedia's summary, but the play deals with themes of change and identity. Both of these are reflected in the character's struggles. As the student's are on the brink of change between their structured school world and that unknown world post school they are faced with reflecting on how they will fit in to their new roles. There is also an overriding sense of a cultural shift. From an old generation of authoritative men to a new generation where woman have more freedoms.

I read that the cherry blossoms represent sadness of the passing of a time or situation. These girls seem to be at once mourning the loss their school years, but also embracing new ideas and their new lives. It pleasantly surprised me how much I got out of this movie. It's a simple coming of age tale, but it handles its characters with care.





My Sons (Musuko)
Yôji Yamada
1991
Japan
Melvil's round 1 verdict
Roujin's round 2 verdict




What will become of us once we are deemed too old to carry on by ourselves? Do we become a burden on other family members, or get stuck in a home for the elderly for the rest of the days. This is a nice family drama which covers the gamut of the familial life cycle.

The story is told in three chapters and centers around the life of a family in rural Japan. The matriarch of the family had passed away the year before. The father is now getting on in age and is struggling to maintain his farm. His adult children are in various phases of their lives. The younger son is still reckless and trying to find himself in Tokyo. The elder son is also in Tokyo, but has a good job and a family, and is feeling the pressure of baring all of the responsibility of the family. The only daughter lives near the father but is about to have a child and start her own family. The story primarily focuses around who will look after the aging father and on the youngest son's journey to establish himself in maturity.

The family dynamics at play here work well. The relationships and personalities feel genuine. They aren't perfect, and they get on each other's nerves, but there is also love and concern. There isn't a lot of heavy plot, its more about the interpersonal dynamics of the family unit and the bridging of the old generations view of the world versus the new. This type of story frequently bores me, but here it works exceptionally well and I was engaged with every character. I could have watched them go on living their lives for quite a bit longer. There is something about watching this family, even in a far different time and culture, that gets to a universal truth and is comforting.





Verdict: This one is tough. I was very lucky to get this match up as a welcome back present. Both movies are similar in some ways. They are both dealing with change, and particularly the changing of old Japan to new Japan. They are both what I would consider 'simple' dramas. They aren't trying to do too much and they aren't flashy, but the characters a fleshed out. I keep flipping back and forth on the winner, and thought I was going to go the other way until just before writing this. It's hard for me to let either get eliminated this round, but then again I also don't feel like either will be in the finals. With all that said, I will give the very slight edge to The Cherry Orchard.
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Bondo

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Re: 1990s Far East Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #2108 on: June 05, 2016, 06:54:16 AM »
The terrifying thing about the brackets is, once you've made a discovery, in the process of moving a film on to the next round, it becomes out of your hands, because one doesn't take films a second time (at least not until the very late rounds). With this (and with Shower hanging precariously in the resurrection ranking), there is a definite sense of holding my breath that my sentiment will be shared. Not having watched Musuko I cannot really say (and your write-up makes it sound thematically similar to Shower), but I'm glad to see The Cherry Orchard work well for you.

pixote

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Re: 1990s Far East Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #2109 on: June 05, 2016, 10:41:33 PM »
Round Three Resurrection Review


Charisma (Kurosawa Kiyoshi, 1992)
Won over Festival (verdict by BlueVoid)
Won over Picnic (verdict by Melvil)
Lost to Audition (verdict by Beavermoose)

In a perfect world, Kurosawa would be directing episodes of the Twin Peaks reboot. That would be such an amazingly perfect combination. This quote of mine from late 2009 remains very apt: "It's Kurosawa, so I don't even have to watch five minutes to know that it's going to make a really good first impression with its style and atmosphere, even if the story fails to meet expectations in the end." That's Charisma in a nutshell, as the verdicts above more or less agree. He's so got such a flair for atmosphere and he makes brilliant use sound design. It's a shame that his writing isn't up to par. There was a brief interview with Kurosawa on my DVD copy of Charisma that validated my suspicion that, as a screenwriter, he's very apt to go with what feels right in the moment, with surprisingly little regard for narrative logic, audience engagement, structure, etc. Charisma is a thought-provoking mess, constantly teetering on the edge of empty pretension (unless you read it as esoteric satire). It's the kind of movie that plays better in memory, as the debates it inspires about individualism and societal ethics play out further in the viewer's head, but once again the whole is less than the sum of its parts.


Resurrection Standings (the top six films may earn resurrection)

Up next: Supermarket Woman.

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