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Author Topic: 1990s Far East Bracket: Verdicts  (Read 561608 times)

smirnoff

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Re: 1990s Far East Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #2440 on: October 24, 2017, 04:28:54 PM »
Thanks guys. Yes it's nice to have the next round underway. :)

Teproc

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Re: 1990s Far East Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #2441 on: October 27, 2017, 04:37:46 AM »


Pāfekuto burū / Perfect Blue
(Satoshi Kon, 1997)
Round 1 review by smirnoff
Round 2 review by Bill Thompson
Round 3 review by Sam the Cinema Snob
Round 4 review by BlueVoid

               VS               


Cure
(Kiyoshi Kurosawa, 1997)
Round 1 review by Melvil
Round 2 review by BlueVoid
Round 3 review by smirnoff
Round 4 review by ProperCharlie




Perfect Blue


I was familiar with Perfect Blue as "that animated film that inspired/was ripped off by Black Swan", which certainly made it enticing to me but is really not a fair or accurate assesment of either film, which certainly hold major similarities but have very distinct and different thematic focuses. They're both about identity crises but Perfect Blues takes that to a degree of existential doubt that isn't really present in Black Swan (that zeroes in on artistic obsession and perfectionism instead), as well as a critique of (Japanese) celebrity culture.

I was initially mixed on the latter, at times finding it somewhat dated (the assumption that pop idols were soon to be a thing of the past for instance) and somewhat obvious, but as Kon really goes all-in on the deeply troubling sexual politics of what Mima is going through (without anyone necessarily verbalizing it), it gets more and more scathing and effective. Mima seems to have no choice between playing the "good girl" as a pop singer or the harlot posing nude and filming titillating rapes scenes as an actress. While there are elements here that are very specific to Japan, that duality is certainly something that applies everywhere (see also: Britney Spears, Miley Cyrus).

The interesting thing here is that it's all internalized: well the whole film is, it being about a woman losing her sense of identity but the rares scenes we get that are not from Mima's perspective are that of fans who do mock/resent her but don't really express it in a sexual way, and all her interviews are sympathetic and upbeat. It's all... well not self-inflicted, it's more that her mind, confronted with the hypocrisy around her, and the impossibility for her to do things "right"... Kon seems to be arguing (rather successfully) that it would be impossible not to go insane in such an environment, that celebrity in and of itself requires a functional personality disorder.

But enough about what the film is saying, more about how it's saying it, right ? Animation is a great medium for depicting a character whose reality is unraveling, and the film succeeds entirely in its ambiguity and its escalation of that process: it's hard to pinpoint exactly where things start to get weird, when she starts losing time, because the editing gradually gets more abrupt, and Kon very cleverly plays with our own doubts as to what is real and what isn't. Writing this, I have a relatively straightforward interpretation of what happens in the film, but there are hints (well, more than that really) of something much twistier going on which would also work just fine... perhaps less satisfyingly as far as I'm concerned, but it nonetheless offers a multiplicity of interpretations that makes the film much more than an easy indictment of celebrity culture.

An impressive achievment, that deserves its deep run and status as one of the favorites in this bracket.



Cure


Cure is my third Kurosawa of the Kiyoshi variety, and so far it seems his speciality is a certain sense of dread, in this case a very quiet, disquieting and troubling one... not to mention scary. I was never a big horror fan, and being scared is never something I've sought out in movies, though I do appreciate it now. As such, I doesn't carry that much water if I say this is one of the scariest films I've ever seen (and I suspect that would not necessarily be a universally shared sentiment), but there you go.

It starts off as a particularly creepy take on the serial killer cat-and-mouse genre (Se7en came to mind, with Kurosawa's Japan only slightly less hell-ish than Fincher's L.A.), one that cleverly builds up the tension by gradually revealing more of the killer's M.O. There's a tinge of the supernatural, because all he does is convince people to murder others, by innocuously asking them questions and using hypnosis. Wht makes this all work so well is that, well, we are (or at least I was) just as mesmerized (Mesmer himself is discussed a bit here, which is always fun) as the victims. The use of a flame in this world of Kurosawa's perpetually drab frames is particularly effective here, and that is where the film's success lies: because this guy is fascinating (good performance too, as is the lead's, though the same can't be said of some of the supporting cast), the danger feels very real and affecting, which makes the film genuinely scary quite often.

It also serves the film thematically. The whole point is that the killer only reveals people's deep-set desires to kill, revealing their "truths" as he would put it. Now... this is not a particularly novel or even clever idea, and most serial killer stories attempting this don't work, but here... Kurosawa has a mastery of tone that makes it all work, especially once the protagonist and the killer actually meet. From then on, Kurosawa toys with us as we wonder about how compromised our protagonist here: has he himself been ypnotized, and what will he do next ? The editing helps ramp up the ambiguity, and... well let's not get spoiler-y, but I think where it goes is - while expected - pretty damn effective and in keeping with the film's central idea.

The best thrillers, to me, are the ones in which you can feel the director playing with you (the audience) and still keep you enthralled despite that: I realize now that this is less Se7en than Zodiac in that sense, with a more horrific bent to it.



Verdict: So, it's almost been a week since I've seen those, and it usually doesn't take me so much time to write these up. It's not that I didn't know what I was going to chose: I had some uncertainty right after watching them, but I made my decision the day after... my problem is justifying it. Part of it is that a lot of what I can come up with as being a deciding factor applies to both films: they're both appealingly open-ended but nonetheless coherent and focused, they both play with their own reality through masterful editing, they're both fascinating and intriguing in ways that I think would reward rewatches. I've got to got with Cure though, it just stayed with me more... though again, it's not like Perfect Blue is in any way forgettable. I still expect it to win the matchup, too (and I'd be entirely fine with that), and I'd say it's the more accomplished work of the two overall, but something about Cure just puts it a tiny notch above it for me.
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Sam the Cinema Snob

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Re: 1990s Far East Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #2442 on: October 27, 2017, 08:52:51 AM »
Interesting choice. I'll have to check out Cure.

roujin

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Re: 1990s Far East Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #2443 on: October 27, 2017, 11:15:24 AM »
Cure is indeed great. I would've made the same choice.

smirnoff

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Re: 1990s Far East Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #2444 on: October 29, 2017, 12:54:56 PM »
I wouldn't mind revisiting The Cure if it makes it out of the round. I don't remember it much now. Good write ups.

Jared

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Re: 1990s Far East Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #2445 on: October 29, 2017, 04:06:58 PM »
I'm at the point in this bracket where there isn't too many movies still alive that I haven't seen. Literally just picked two that fit the blue/black criteria and were in the same category. A nice little coincidence...both movies run at a pretty relaxing pace to say the least. I have to say, I'm glad that I watched both of these films, and am relieved to be first in the matchup...not the fellow that needs to send one packing from this bracket.


The Scent of Green Papaya (1993, Tran Anh Hung)


This film follows the story of Mui. Starting out in the 1950s, Mui is sent to work as a servant for a family in Saigon. The last third of the movie picks up with her 10 years later, as a young woman serving a musician who is recently engaged to be married.

There is a little bit going on here and there with all of the various people Mui works for, but really this is a movie that hooks you in with amazing visuals and a calm rhythm. There are some harsh conflicts and interesting developments throughout the story between the characters, but the film just mutes it back with all of the nice things to look at.

After the Rain (1999, Takashi Koizumi)


While stranded at an inn due to an storm induced overflowing river, a ronin attracts the attention of the lord of the region.

The samurai, Ihei, seems as talented as Yojimbo or Zatoichi or Lone Wolf or any of these characters that are mythically good in their films, but that is only minimally what this movie is interested. He is a pretty happy go lucky kind of guy. It is a fun little thing, watching a samurai who seems to like taking nature walks and throwing little parties for the other guests at the inn. It's basically a trope in the martial arts genre that any protagonist who says they "don't want trouble" is going to be violently hacking everyone's f'ing guts out in the last half hour of the movie...here you actually get the feeling that might not happen, and better yet, you are ok with that.

The movie is from an Akira Kurosawa script, but it has more of an Ozu feel to it. There are some action scenes and goings on, but the movie moves forward in a nice and pleasant manner.

Verdict
After the Rain by a whisker.

oldkid

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Re: 1990s Far East Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #2446 on: October 29, 2017, 06:32:24 PM »
I haven't seen Cure.  Perhaps I'll share in this pair to see if I would make the same choice.

I really enjoyed After the Rain, but I couldn't chose it over Papaya, which struck me in the heart.
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Teproc

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Re: 1990s Far East Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #2447 on: October 29, 2017, 06:36:43 PM »
Every review of After the Rain makes it sound amazing. Samurai film, written by Kurosawa, rain is involved ? Sign me up (and indeed I have) ! Papaya does look like a worthy opponent though, we'll see.
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smirnoff

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Re: 1990s Far East Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #2448 on: October 30, 2017, 07:49:18 PM »
Glad to see another positive reaction to After the Rain. Papaya is one I still haven't seen.

Jared

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Re: 1990s Far East Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #2449 on: October 30, 2017, 07:55:14 PM »
Every review of After the Rain makes it sound amazing. Samurai film, written by Kurosawa, rain is involved ? Sign me up (and indeed I have) ! Papaya does look like a worthy opponent though, we'll see.

Kind of hope you choose Papaya myself. This one deserves a rubber match