Madcap Action Adventure - High Risk

Sometimes you can stumble across a good film in the cheap pile at the store or online. For a dollar I picked up High Risk, not just because of the price, and the stars (James Coburn, James Brolin, Clevon Little, Ernest Borgnine, Anthony Quinn, Lindsay Wagner!), but the high recommendations that I got from friends who share my eccentric tastes in films. The opening credits immediately establishes the plot -- four guys get together for a seemingly innocent weekend of fishing and hunting, when in fact they are heading down to Columbia for an improbable heist of five million dollars from a local drug lord. James Brolin is the leader of the bunch, tired of the years of hard work for little pay, and dreams of a big pay off. His partners in crime - Clevon Little (yes, from Blazing Saddles), Bruce Davison and Chick Venerra. Ernest Borgnine is the arms dealer who provides them with a small arsenel to defend themselves, and they hook up with a charter plane run by two ex hippy vets who fly them down to Columbia. They parachute down, and gathering their things, they proceed to the drug lord's headquarters. They break in, steal the money right from drug lord James Coburn, and take off. The resulting gunfight and chase splits the group into two - Little and Venerra are captured by the local police, and tossed in a filthy local town jail, where they make friends with another American, Lindsay Wagner. Little and Venerra convince a couple of locals to bust them out of jail, and they take off in their underwear - their clothes were used as the rope to pull off the bars. Wagner follows. They escape on a bus, and head off towards their arranged meeting place, with their share of the money. Brolin and Davison have a harder time. They run into local bandits, headed by Anthony Quinn, who take their money, beat them up and threaten to kill them. They escape, taking some weapons, and Brolin convinces his partner to go after them to get the money. In the middle of the night they attack, killing a couple of the bandits and making off with the money. They all reunite at a waterfall, near the place where the airplane will come to pick them up. Quinn and the bandits are not to be deterred, for they are in hot pursuit, and wound two of the Americans, but Brolin fends them off long enough for them to get a head start. They reach the plane, but it is an old rusty hulk. The bandits seemingly have them cornered, but Coburn and his cartel manage to disrupt things when they show up, and the resulting shootout thins both enemy parties. During this time, the cavalry finally shows up, in the form of the American plane and the two ex vets launching into Vietnam mode, as they lay waste to the cartel and the bandits with bombs and heavy machine gun fire. The Americans jump on board, injured, scared, with one extra passenger (Wagner), and five million richer. The end.

The plot ain't Shakespeare, nor is it Alister MacLean. It's a no nonsense, non stop action film that doesn't pause for believable story, it just runs with what it has and asks the viewer to enjoy the ride. I found it to be a fun, ninety minute diversion that satisfied my need for a little humor, a lot of action, and nothing to try my grey matter. There should be more films made like this today, but everybody is too busy attempting to make masterpieces or epic films. This was an independently made film made around 1980, with name actors and a decent budget. Recommended!

More Kurosawa!

An early Christmas special from Criterion, through their Eclipse line. A collection of five films by Akira Kurosawa from 1946 to 56, appearing briefly on video in the 90's, but making their first US dvd appearances here. They are: I Live in Fear, The Idiot, No Regrets for Our Youth, One Wonderful Sunday, and Scandal. I have seen all of these films, and all are highly recommended, especially I Live in Fear and The Idiot, one of my favorite Kurosawa films (also his most atypical film, a bit swarmy for some but it pushed all the right buttons for me). No word on a release date, but with the Saura box set already released this week, I bet they will try to get this out before Christmas. Regardless, a mandatory purchase.

Korean Period Horror - The Evil Twin

A young woman awakes from a ten year long coma. Her last memory was of drowning with her sister in the nearby river. Her reawakening provokes rumor and fear among her friends and the villagers, as strange things begin to occur. Finally, one by one, people once close to her start to die.....

The Evil Twin is an anomaly in the contemporary horror scene -- a historical period piece that relies on suspense and the terror that is imagined, not necessarily seen. Thanks to a stronger than average storyline, which falls under a classic film noir suspense tale of lost identity, Evil Twin fuses that with the doppleganger twin that is so common in asian horror, to create something different. Park Shin-Hye plays So-Yeon, the heroine who reawakens to a world much older and different than she last remembered. Her displacement becomes an effective way to show the unfolding of events that follow, as layers for truth are revealed, about her friends, her family, and finally, herself. Hyo-Jin is her twin sister in the tale, and while at first she seems like another long haired demon girl a la the Ring, she is mostly in the background until the end, and when she does appear, she is genuinely creepy. No shock music or backward motion special effects, just atmosphere and silence, which deliver a real onimous feel to her presence. Yang Geum-Seok plays So-Yeon's mother, a woman with a guilt in her heart about a choice she had to make in the past. So-Yeon and Hyo-Jin were the classic good girl/bad girl, not necessarily good/evil, but one gaining more favor than the other - So-Yeon is promised to be married, a favor not gained by Hyo-Jin (this being at a very young age, as was the custom). That conflict affects how her friends treat her, because, and this is a key point, everyone thinks So-Yeon is her sister, because of the bracelet belonging to her sister was found on her wrist when she was rescued. The visuals are excellent, although the dvd transfer I saw the blacks came out as deep blues in certain key moments, and I don't know if that was when they added some special effects or if it was just a bad transfer. The entire film has an old-school feel, and reading other reviews of this film, I see that it is indeed a throwback to the ghost story films of the 60's in South Korea. It also reminds be of the Val Lewton films of the 40's, though there are a couple of brief grisly moments. The ending too reminds me of another film, the Japanese version of Dark Water, with the mother having to make the decision that she thought she should have made years ago, a choice as to which daughter she should save from drowning. The moment is touching and powerful, as is this above average horror film, which once again proves that a good story is more effective than cheap shocks to thrill the viewer. Recommended.

Shim's Family or Skeletons in the Closet

Skeletons in the Closet is a surprisingly good comedy about a middle class South Korean family who are all in a rut in their lives. Chun Ho-Jin is the father, an english teacher at a local high school who no longer makes love to his wife (Moon He-Kyung), and takes her for granted. He also has an unemployed sister in law (Kim Hye-Soo) comic book author who leeches off of them, and a son (Yu A-In) and daughter who both are just getting by in the same school that he teaches. The son is madly in love with another student (Jeung Yo-Mi), a girl who practices ballet and is a prostitute. One evening Mr. Shim sees a prostate body of a young woman in the subway. It is Jeung Yo-Mi, and there is a lot of blood between her legs. He picks her up and is going to take her to the hospital, but she begs him to take her to a motel and get some hygenic stuff so treat her wound, and he does. Together they stay overnight, Mr. Shim feeling uneasy as he knows the implications of an older man with a young girl in a motel. But nothing happens between the two of them -- until the cell phone, which Mr. Shim has confiscated from a student who was text messaging in class, is returned, and a video is discovered on the phone, of him and the student in bed. It is placed on the internet, on a Youtube like site, and a scandal erupts. The Shim family falls prey to the social pressures of the scandal. Mrs. Shim, in the meantime, is looking for some value after being treated as a slave by her family. She develops a crush on a young man who runs a karaoke bar, and is a promoter for a local coffee firm. He talks her into going to a retreat at a coffee company, which is essentially a recruiting camp. At first she is crushed that she wasn't going on a date with the young man; however, she finds some value in the process and impresses her family with her new coffeemaker (which works during a power outage and plays music), and a revived spiritual confidence in herself -- through coffee. The daughter lives in a dream world where she hates her family, is not particularly good looking, and writes a journal of her fantasies on her computer. The sister in law does nothing of importance except maintain a large comic book collection, writing stories and doing nothing for herself. She was coming out of a lousy relationship with a man who just plays around. All of them are shocked out of their hum drum existence with Mr. Shim's scandal. During a hot evening there is a blackout, and the family goes to the riverside, where the community has rigged a camp where they will watch a soccer game on power generators. People eat and generally have a good time, until the Shims are confronted by a neighboring family, who are outraged that their poodle was violated by the Shim's family dog. A fight breaks out, and the Shims unite to fight the neighbors and all the scandal and bad vibes that have been hanging over them. They run back home in separate paths, the daughter commenting through a voice over that this was the first time ever that she had so wanted to be back home. The scandal blows over, and Mr. Shim continues to be a teacher. The sister in law resumes a career as a writer, Mrs Shim is given more respect and the two children clean up their act.

There has been a run of really bland or awful Korean comedies lately. This is an exception. Director Chung Yoon-chul (Marathon) has put together a tight and atypical comedy of a South Korean family with problems. There are no heart tugging moments or overwrought sappy drama. It is filmed in a style similar to a film like the Royal Tennabaums, a no nonsense approach to the subject matter that places emphasis on the characters and not style. The outdoor fight scene is the funniest and best part of the film, as it is where the Shims' finally deal with all their problems by asserting themselves for the first time. Shim's Family is a clever look at one modern family, warts and all, and finds the heart and pulse that keeps them united. Recommended.

Life

Y'know, things just get in the way. Important things, like family, work, and health, all of which were in flux these past few months. So, after a long delay, let's resume with the reviews, shall we?

A Korean TV Jewel - Dae Jang Geum

I've spent the better part of the past couple of months being entranced by this wildly popular television series from South Korea, which has led to not as many reviews as I normally do. But it has been a well worthwhile diversion; one of a handful of series that I am sorry to see end. Dae Jang Geum, the title character played by Lee Yeong-ae (seen in Lady Vengeance, a much different character), who we follow from birth to her 30's. A kitchen court lady, Lady Yun, of the Chosun king was sentenced to death by her peers, a victim of court politics as she was a witness to a doctoring of food served to the Queen Mother, who fell ill. Jang Geum is her daughter, who endures and survives incredible challenges to enter the palace as a young girl, work in the court kitchen, is exiled, returns as a physician lady, and becomes the highest ranking woman in Chosun history, being the king's physician, scandalous at that time. Running at 54 episodes, I would suffer hand cramps from detailing a full synopsis, but there is a decent one on Wikipedia, which is fairly detailed. This historical drama came out in 2002-2003, and commanded one of the largest viewing audiences of all time in several countries. Apparently the sets formed the basis for a Jang Geum theme park, which I find odd, as you see a lot of the palace and not too much else. What elevates this above the standard drama or soap opera is partly the movie serial qualities -- how Jang Geum gets in and out of trouble is almost laughable, like a political Perils of Pauline -- and the heroine being an idealized person infused with both traditional and modern ideas. She is the one person in the court who is devoted to family and work without using it for personal gain or power, and it is this naivety that gets her into trouble, especially from the evil Lady Choi, once her mother's friend and now a main threat to the harmony of the palace. Towards the end of the series, Jang Geum has accomplished so much, defeating the Lady Choi and other elements in the castle, that she ends up being the physician to the king -- the motivations for which are explained by several of her friends in oddly modern talk for women's rights. She eventually leaves the castle, forced out by the court officials who saw her as an affront to tradition and authority, and marries her sweetheart. At the show's worst it can get repetitive and weepy (gallons of fake tears must have been used), but it never steeps down to the level of tawdry soap opera gunk. Courtly politics has always been a good plot device, from shows as diverse as I Claudius, Dune, Shogun, to Upstairs Downstairs. The pacing is mostly well done, with lots of cliffhangers, but also smartly the resolutions and directional changes are made in the middle of the hour long episode, so things are given a chance to unfold. There are a huge world of characters, most of whom are well developed. High points are the kitchen court lady battles for Head Lady supremacy, with its Iron Chef camera angles and savory food shots; the death of Lady Han, Jang Geum's mentor and friend, the "revenge" on Lady Choi and her family, after which everything becomes an extended epilogue, as Lady Choi was an incredible foil to her. The music got to be annoying, even though they did try to change it several times during the series, and they only served as emotional or dramatic accents. Having done a little bit of research, it is clear that 99% of this historical fiction is just that, fiction, it nevertheless is very entertaining and worth the enormous viewing time. Highest recommendation!

Corporate warfare - Black Test Car

Fantoma continues to reissue the films of Yasuzo Masumura, this time with the splendid film Black Test Car, released in 1962. Hideo Takamatsu stars as Onoda, a corporate official who works for the Tiger automobile company. He is asked to create an espionage division, to find out what car the rival company Yamato is creating, as well as protecting Tiger's assets. Both companies are competing to develop a sports car, Tiger's the Pioneer, and Yamato's Mypet. The opening scene of the movie shows a car wrapped in black fabric performing a test drive, which ends badly with a crash on the test road. It is the Pioneer, and its development has been uneven, as there has been great pressure on every department to make this car work. Yamato has sent agents to find out about the rival car, bribing engineers and threatening contractors into revealing Tiger's secret information of the car. Onoda has two of his best men, Ashahina and Hiraki, set up a task force to find out about what car Yamato is making. They employ tactics that are no better than Yamato's -- kidnapping contractors and bribing company men involved with the car's production. Even worse, Ashahina coerces his girlfriend into being a bar hostess where Yamato's executives hang out, and date the head executive. She and Ashahina are engaged, but his obsessive drive to help out his company, and his increasing immoral acts begin to drive them apart, her being his moral conscience which drives doubt into his soul. The schemes and action on both companies escalate, rivaling yakuza tactics. Yamato's new car looks exactly like the Pioneer, to the Tiger company's dismay. Ashahima learns that the corporate executives on both sides -- including Onoda -- were soldiers in Tojo's army during the war, many of them committing many war crimes, which explains their callousness. Finally, the Pioneer is put into production, trying to come out before the Mypet, and there immediately ensues a price war. Tiger makes the mistake of settling on a price, which Yamato matches, minus an x amount to be determined on the day of its release. Ashahina, in a desperate final attempt to find out the price, bullies his girlfriend into sleeping with the executive to find out what the amount is. She does, at the cost of ending their relationship. The Pioneer sells well early on, but a rigged car crash of one model owned by a corrupt official causes controversy. Yamato conducts a secret campaign against the Pioneer, only to have it backfire as their attempts are exposed, and the company disgraced. Ashahina, finally seeing the amoral ways of his boss and coworkers, leaves the company, and in doing so regains his girlfriend.

This is an excellent film by Masamura, whose place in cinema has increased with each dvd reissue. Voicing the moral conscience against an increasingly corrupt world, Masamura's films explore the mindsets, strategies and relations of people in modern Japanese society. Directors like Juzo Itami must have been influenced by his work. It was filmed in black and white, which lends a kind of noir aspect, as a lot of action was done at night or in claustrophobic interiors. Cinematographers have to take a look at this film; every scene is composed masterfully. If you like films like Kurosawa's The Bad Sleep Well, or Itami's Taxing Woman, this is a must see.

A Tale from the Floating World - Ooku

Released in 2006, Ooku is a period film that examines courtly intrigue and one woman's fleeting moment of happiness in a life of service to her Emperor. It is based on a hit television series of the same name. Ooku is a section of the Edo Castle where the Emperor's women reside - concubines, family, servants. During the Tokugawa era, it was believed to be a source of political intrigue. Nakama Yukie (Shinobi) stars as Lady Eijima, a court lady who is best friends with Lady Gekoin, the mother of the current Shogun Tokugawa, who is only 7 years old and of frail health. Lady Gekoin is romantically involved with Lord Echizen, a court advisor, and rumors of this relationship threatens to cause chaos in the inner court. Lady Tenelin, the widow of the former Shogun, is scheming against Lady Gekoin. Aware of a possible affair, Tenelin sets a trap by planning to use a Kabuki actor to seduce Lady Eijima, and using that affair as leverage to force her into exposing her friend's affair. But Lady Eijima is savvy to her schemes, and proves to be a loyal and honest court lady. Until the Kabuki actor, through circumstances (a fire in the theater) and some well planned events, manages to finally seduce her in an evening of bliss. What the actor didn't count on was actually falling in love with her. He refuses to carry through with the plot, even though Tenelin exposes their affair, and he his crucified. Eijima is expelled from the castle, saved from being executed by Gekoin's intervention, but Gekoin's affair is never revealed, even when the young Tokugawa dies. Eijima lives holding on to the short but beautiful memory of the love and happiness she felt that one evening.

This is a gorgeous film to look at. Not since Kurosawa's Ran have I been mesmorized by the colors and textures in a film. They went all out to portray a living breathing "floating world," and it works. The acting is above average, and the plot is decent enough. The only thing that prevents me from deliriously raving about this film is the directing, who I understand was the television director for the series. Not that he did a bad job; it just needed a firmer grip on the pacing and direction of the story, which does slow down when it pays too much attention to itself. I'm being very picky, of course, and it is nice to see a top quality Japanese film tackling period history with care and detail. Recommended.

Tazza: The High Rollers

A hit film in 2006, Tazza: The High Rollers is a quality drama from South Korea. "Tazza" is Korean slang for a gambler, dealing with the card game hwatu - palm sized cards with black backs. It looks like a combination of poker and blackjack -- each player gets a pair of cards, and the highest combination wins. Based on a Korean comic book, director Choi Dong-Hoon (The Big Swindle, yet another clever crime film) delivers a complex, well-paced 2/1/2 hour epic story of Go-Ni (Cho-Seung-Woo), from wannabe player to master hustler, told in flashback by ex-girlfriend and vindictive rival Madame Jung (played by the stunning Kim Hye-Soo, who won an award for her role). Go-Ni starts off as a small time gambler who loses everything to a better player. Realizing that he was swindled out of his family's savings (stolen from his sister), Go-Ni seeks revenge, but knows he has to become a beter player. He meets Pyeong (Baek Yoon-Sik, from Save the Green Planet), a master player, who becomes his teacher. Pyeong shows him the psychology of the game as well as playing the cards. He introduces him to Madame Jeung, who organizes the games, and assists him in hustling the opponents. They also become lovers. Soon, Go-Ni becomes an excellent player, and is seduced by the thrill of play and deceiving the opponents, as well as the financial rewards. That worries Pyeong, who has been there, and tells him not to get addicted. But Madame Jeung's influence over Go-Ni is to strong, and he leaves Pyeong. Pyeong is later killed on a train leaving the city, the murderer unknown. Go-Ni and Madame Jeung become a formidable pair, becoming successful wherever they go, only to be busted by the cops during one session. Madame Jeung is arrested, but Go-Ni, along with another player, One Ear, who actually beats him in a game. One Ear turns out to be, along with Go-Ni, one of the three best players in South Korea, the other being a man called Agwee. Madame Jeung serves time, and becomes bitter at being abandoned by Go-Ni. Time passes, and she is released from prison, and starts anew by seducing a wealthy businessman and setting him up for a big hustle, as he is an enthusiastic card player. She reforms a network of people who enforce her will, all the while pretending to be a demure and sweet girlfriend. Go-Ni, in the meantime, has fallen in love with a woman who runs a local bar/cafe. She is the polar opposite of Madame Jeung, and some one who hates gambling. Go-Ni wins a match against a businessman, who turns out to be a local mob boss, and knows that he had been swindled. He sends his men out for payback, and they find the girlfriend's business and disrupt it, holding her and her friend hostage. Go-Ni, in hiding, strikes a deal with the boss and agrees to work for him if he lets them go. Amid all this, Madame Jeung finds Go-Ni, and with Agwee, sets up a card match which becomes a final showdown for all involved on a ship. Her boyfriend finally becomes aware of what is happening, but loses his shirt, and can only watch as the others battle it out in the ultimate high-stakes game. Agwee stops Go-Ni from winning the match by insisting that he was dealing from the bottom of the deck, and that the card drawn was to favor Madame Jeung's hand with a matching pair. They each bet their hands -- Go-Ni insists that he did not cheat. Madame Jeung has her enforcer, the assassin who murdered Pyeong on orders from her, to tie their right hands up and to chop off the hand of the loser. Agwee is stunned to find out that Go-Ni was telling the truth, and loses his hand. Go-Ni beats up the assassin, and sets fire to the huge pile of money, to Madame Jeung's astonishment. He leaves as the cops arrive, the ship in flames.

One of the best Korean dramas in a long time, Tazza is a well told, beautifully photographed noir-like tale that grabs the viewer from start to finish. The acting is excellent and the direction tight and well paced. Kim Hye-Soo is outstanding as the seductive and cold blooded Madame Jeung; a femme fatale for the ages, slinking across the screen in form fitting and low cut outfits, oozing sexuality and yet the deadliest woman one could come across. Cho-Seung-Woo as Go-Ni does a fine job as well. Highly recommended!

My Wife is a Gangster 3

My Wife is a Gangster 3 is the latest in the financially blockbuster comedy action series from South Korea. This installment has nothing to do with the other two -- Eun-kyung Shin is not even in this, instead Shu Qi does the honors. She stars as Aryoung, the daughter of a Korean woman and a Hong Kong gangster, who at the beginning of the film causes an incident when while performing a sword dance in front of a gathering of triads. There was already tension between the international gangs, and Aryoung stabbing one of the other henchmen didn't help matters. So for protection, she is sent off to Korea under the custody of a major gang there. The Korean boss entrusts her to Ki-Chul (Beom-Su Lee), a loyal yet simple minded henchman with his two bumbling sidekicks. They hire a translator, Yeon-Hee, who is stunned to learn that she has to work for a bunch of mullet headed lowlife thugs. But she does do her job, mastering the fine art of translation by not exactly saying things word for word, but to make nice between the two parties. Aryoung is a guest; however disinterested and pushy she seems to be. Ki-Chul and his men can't figure her out, though after a drinking binge, Aryoung demonstrates her martial arts mastery by dispatching a couple of men from a rival gang. Word gets around. Her "secret" is revealed, and in Hong Kong, a group of assassins are sent to dispose of the woman. Ki-Chul and Aryoung have a series of comedic misunderstandings, with most of the jokes on Ki-Chul, until they are all brought in before a gang that wanted payback for Aryoung's beatings. Ki-Chul gamely tries to defend her, but he's simply all bark and no bite -- he gets his ass kicked. Aryoung again saves them by defeating the rival gang. This beating of the gang gets Ki-Chul promoted in rank within his own group, much to everyone's surprise, probably due to his taking care of Aryoung. Eventually they find that the other groups know where Aryoung is, and they go into hiding, Ki-Chul and Aryoung separating from the others to hide in Ki-Chul's family house with his parents. The father, knowing how to write Chinese, talks with Aryoung, and finds that she has a passing interest in his son. The assassins find them and try to kill Aryoung, but are easily dispatched. Aryoung's father is mortally injured in an explosion at a Hong Kong restaurant, after meeting with the rival triad boss. She leaves for home, taking a pendant from Ki-Chul, a gift from his mother, and he confesses his love for her. In Hong Kong, Aryoung and the remaining members of her father's group are hiding in the slums. She resolves to kill the rival boss. During the boss' son's wedding ceremony, Aryoung poses as the bride to be, and tries to assassinate the boss. Carnage ensues, with her father's gang backing her up, along with Ki-Chul, who arrived to see her, under the pretense of returning her mom's photo, whom she had finally met in Korea, but only from a distance. Ki-Chul distracts the boss long enough for Aryoung to kill him, but Ki-Chul falls over the top of the building and manages to land in a dump truck, much to her relief. Ki-Chul heads back to Korea, but is stopped by Aryoung, who wants to marry him, and he accepts.

This movie is all parts and no whole. It feels overmanaged; that they had to include so many things to hide the fact that there is no plot, no strong character interaction, nothing. Shu Qi and the always good Beom-Su Lee have nothing to work with, and they seem lost at times with their characters. Their relationship never really develops, in spite of the screen time they have together. The bonding moment -- when Aryoung is sitting on top of Ki-Chul while driving down a hill, both gasping in erotic delight because he's sporting a hard on, is just silly. What she sees in him we never truly understand. Really, the best person in the film is the woman who plays the translator, Yeon-Hee, who is a riot, starting off as a timid translator to a loud mouthed, gorgeous fireball who rightfully puts down the men for their antics and attitudes. The assassin fight scene was a waste. The ending was by the numbers. Having said that, this film is a lot better than #2 in the series, which was atrocious, but still pales to the classic first movie. Shu Qi fans will be entertained by her presence, and she is great eye candy, but she has proven that she can act, though not here. She was much better in So Close. Rent on a rainy night.

Classic Kobayashi - Inn of Evil

Coming on the heels of the classics Kwaidan and Samurai Rebellion, Kobayashi's Inn of Evil was released in 1970, centering on a small group of rogues who live in an inn on a small island near a port city. The inn provides harbor for the transport of goods from foreign ships and local officials, who provide them cover in return for a cut of money. Nadakai Tetsuya stars as a ronin who has fallen on hard times, and spends his time running errands for the innkeeper and drinking. A young man finds refuge there. He is mourning for the loss of his fiancee, who was sold into prostitution by her father to pay off debts. He ends up helping around the inn, but his yearning for his love, and the attempts to try to get her back against all odds touches Nadakai. He takes up the cause even though the attempt would be suicide -- the brothel has high class connections. The innkeeper sees that the time is coming to a close for the inn -- new officials have taken over the city, and the inn is no longer under any protection. Calls to wipe out the island of its bad elements are strong, and plans are made by the officials. Nadakai convinces the others to take up the young man's cause; to do something noble even though there is nothing in it for them. The initial attempt to free the woman is a disaster; out of the three sent, only Nadakai survives. The innkeeper kicks everyone out of the inn, to save their lives. But they all return, one by one, to fight on their home ground, as the military forces surround them. The rogues pitch one terrific battle, protecting the young man, so he can be reunited with his love. All are killed, but the young man gets away. The following day, the reunited couple returns to the inn and sees the devestation.

This is a good film that has yet to see the light of day on dvd in the States - check out the usual ebay or internet dealers who have an amazing ability to find and subtitle obscure films. Kobayashi again delivers with a tightly plotted film that takes time to develop, as most of the first hour takes place at the inn. It has a Lower Depths feel to it; a one set drama piece with people coming in and out, dealing with people who live under poor circumstances. The murder of the official by Nadakai is startling for its frankness. When the young man appears, things pick up, leading up to the visually stunning battle scene at the end of the film. The use of black and white photography, quite late at this point in time, really creates an atmosphere of isolation and foreboding, especially when right before the battle, the lanterns appear around the inn, as the officials close in to subdue the rogues. Thematically it is similar to Hara Kiri and Samurai Rebellion, as the rogues try to fight against the established corrupt system, to assert their individuality, but as in the other films, they are suppressed, though not without taking a whole bunch with them. Recommended!

Destiny or Foretold? - Death Note

Based on an enormously popular manga, Death Note was made into a motion picture in 2006, directed by Shusuke Kaneko (known for his 90's Gammera films, Pyrokenisis and Azumi 2). A series of murders are occuring all over the world, especially in Japan, where criminals are mysteriously dying. A name is linked to the deaths -- Kira (a derivative of the English word Killer). The authorities are on a massive manhunt for Kira, but all attempts to find him fail. In reality, Kira is a young college student named Light Yagami, who has recently passed a bar exam. He wants to join the forces like his father (played by Iron Chef emcee Takeshi Kaga), who is assigned to the case. Light stumbled across a mysterious book one day that had the words "Death Note" written on the cover, and opening it, he discovers that it is a blank notebook, except for the endpages, where the rules for using the book are written. The possessor of the book can kill anyone, just by writing the name in the book. But he or she must have a vivid picture of the person in their head when writing it, unless someone with a similar name will meet an untimely end. The means, the manner, the time of their deaths can all be predetermined, just by writing it down. Light, once discovering that he has this power, decides to use it for the good of mankind by getting rid of as many of the criminals that he can, by watching the television or meeting the people in person. His girlfriend, Shiori, is also a student, who is disturbed by Kira's actions and her boyfriend's sympathy towards Kira's cause. There is a side effect to using the book - Light can now see a demon called Ryuk, the god of death. Ryuk had lost the book, but seeing that it had a new owner, let Light keep it, and became an observer to how he would bear this tremendous responisbility. As the deaths keep piling up, the police are still baffled, until a senior official presents to the task force assigned to the case L, a mysterious figure who talks to them through a laptop computer. L is a mastermind who accurately narrows down the location of Kira by setting up a situation where Kira kills the head of the International Police, only to discover that the man was a criminal acting out the role. It was broadcasted only in Japan; therefore, Kira must be in Japan. Also, through some amazing leaps of deduction, L discovers that Kira must be a college student, based on the times of the murders, which take place during the evening and early morning, times when a student would be at home, and not at school. Light discovers that he is being tailed by a man, the reasons are unclear, but later it turns out that L had reasons to suspect him, as Kira knew things that were only known to the Task Force. Being the son of the chief, as well as having the skills to access the police server, raised L's suspicions. He asked for and got FBI support. The agent follows Light and Shiori onto a bus, where it is promptly hijacked by a criminal on the loose for bank robbery and murder. Light calls the agent's bluff of pretending not to know him by attempting to subdue the robber, but the agent -- revealing his name as Ray -- stops him. The hijacker threatens to shoot them, but is terrified by the sight of the demon, whom he sees after touching a piece a paper torn from the book. He is killed while fleeing the bus. Ray is later lured by Light/Kira onto a subway, where Kira manipulates him into revealing the names of all the FBI agents involved in the secret investigation. Ray is killed once he leaves the subway, only to be found by his fiancee, Naomi (Asaka Seto, from Bullets of Love and One Missed Call 2). A former agent herself, and having worked under L, she is determined to find her lover's killer. Meanwhile, the consequences of the FBI killings forces the Japanese task force to thin down to only those who are willing to give their lives to catching the killer. Those remaining, including Light's father, are introduced to L, who turns out to be a young man Light's age, who does not give his real name, and requests that the others do the same. L is convinced that the killer is related to one of the members of the task force, and has bugs and cameras implanted in all their homes. They spend a week studying, L especially concentrating on Light. It becomes clear to the others that L suspects Light, but there is no proof. Naomi is convinced, after doing an investigation of the bus incident where Ray was involved. She finds out about Light and Shiori, and tries to confront them about it, but Light refuses to acknowledge it. Naomi survives only by giving a false name to him. At the end of the 7 days a murder does finally happen, but closely watching Light, who was studying at the time, with the tv off, L fails to prove his guilt. But Light did kill a man, by secretly having a mini tv in a bag of chips that he was eating, and writing the name on a scrap of paper torn from the book. Naomi brings things to a head when she forces Shiori at gunpoint to ask Light to come meet her at the art museum. Light suspects something, but arriving at the museum (also being closely monitored by L), refuses to acknowledge that he is Kira, even when Naomi threatens to shoot Shiori. The police arrive, and Shiori escapes, but is shot by Naomi. Light is distraught, and Naomi suddenly realizes that she could have been wrong all the time, and confronted by the police, kills herself. All of it was planned by Light, who had written not only Naomi's death but Shiori's as well, a fact that amazed even the demon Ryuk. The film ends with Light asking his father to join the task force, and he reluctantly agrees, and Light and L finally meet, L eating a bag of chips -- the same kind that Light had been eating when he made his kill during their observation period.

Death Note and its sequel (released later in the year -- I'll do a review soon) came out within several months of each other, generating a lot of notice and were box office successes. I'll have to admit I was very surprised by this film, expecting yet another Ringu or Ju-On ripoff. What I got was a clever and original story, with one foot based on Japanese mythology, and the other in modern drama. Part ghost tale and mostly police procedural, Death Note plays on the notion of fate and control over one's life. The subplot dealing with Naomi's vengeance reveals that power can corrupt even the noble and idealistic Light, as well as demonstrating that even when he plots her demise, he has no idea how it would be carried out. There is still the element of chance and choice in how one lives one's life, no matter how predetermined. It was a kick to see the Iron Chef in a serious role, and Tatsuya Fujiwara in another prominent role after starring in Battle Royale. Kudos for the director Kanedo, who keeps a steady and even tone throughout the entire film, without resorting to hysterics or cliché, as well as putting Asaka Seto in a leather cat suit, bringing back fond memories of Diana Rigg as Emma Peel in the tv Avengers series. It's nice to see a straightforward big budget Japanese film that does not resort to monsters in big rubber suits, immature comedies, or demon girls with long black hair spilled over their faces. Recommended!

A Great Wall - An American Comedy Made in China

Peter Wang's A Great Wall, released in 1986, is a wonderful drama dealing with the cultural differences within one Chinese family -- a brother and sister whose families live in two separate parts of the globe. Peter Wang, the director, also plays the lead, Leo Fang, who is the brother who left for America (presumably before the Cultural Revolution?), settled in San Francisco, and became a successful computer engineer. He married a Chinese American woman, Grace (Sharon Iwai), and they have a son, Paul (Kelvin Han Yee), who portrays a typical all American son who loves sports. They live in an exclusive neighborhood in San Francisco, so they are well to do. Peter is passed over for promotion to chief of the department, a move that angers him because he was clearly next in line for the position. He feels that it is because of his race that he was passed over, and quits after an argument with his boss. His sister, Mrs. Chao (Guanglan Shen), writes to Peter and invites him and his family to visit them during the summer. They take her up on the offer, and spend a month in Beijing; Peter to get back in touch with his roots, and Grace and Paul to be exposed to a new world. Grace has only a basic knowledge of Chinese; Paul, despite taking language class year in and out, still doesn't know it well. There they meet Mrs. Chao and her husband, Mr. Chao (Xiaoguang Hu), a former communist high ranking official who lives in a sizable home at the edge of the city. They have a daughter, Lili (Qinqin Li), who is a pretty young woman studying for the national exams. She has a friend, Wang Xiao (Kelvin Wong), who has a crush on her, and is the local ping pong champion. He is studying for the exams as well -- for the third time, having failed exams twice before. He lives with his father in a tiny house, and they struggle to make a living. The Wangs initially stay at a hotel, but their reunion with the Chaos goes so well that they are invited to stay at their house. There each family note the differences between them -- Peter is annoyed at the bathroom, where there is barely a shower, and he has to squat when using the toilet. Mrs. Chao and Grace find some common ground in talking about their husbands, and Mrs. Chao makes Grace a Chinese dress -- Grace shares makeup with her. Mr. Chao accepts the Wangs, but is somewhat bothered by the wife and son's inability to speak the native tongue, plus, he has some preconceived notions of Americans -- promiscuity and violence. Lili, by spending time with the Wangs, comes to assert her own independence, to the point where she argues with her mom for opening the letters she receives from Wang Xiao. Wang is bothered by this intrusion by the American family; Lili never spends as much time with her. His friend thinks that he should follow a different path; not only because of the cultural differences, but the class difference between him and Lili might be too much to overcome. Peter takes up Ping Pong at the local center (having been a city champion player back home), where the coach see promise and includes him in the club to train. Wang, the current champion, ends up training with him. While the differences don't cause conflict between the two families, as the exams draw closer, Lili becomes moody, and ends up locking herself in her room, to cram. The Wangs leave the house and move back into a hotel, so as not to be a distraction. But Lili, going without food for several days, has a breakdown, and ends up going to the hospital, and misses the exam. Wang takes the exam, though it is not certain whether he passes. He beats Peter in the tournament, where both play very well, though Peter is despondent afterwards -- he hates to lose. The Wangs go back home, culturally enriched, while Lili and Wang, both jobless and passing time until the next exams, share a moment that may lead to them being reunited.

The movie is a mixture of drama and documentary. While the story is driven by the meeting of the families, and the differences they find between them, it is also about Chinese culture, both traditional and modern, specifically mid 80's Beijing. It's interesting to look at this film now, in light of the changes that have happened in the past decade. The Beijing of the mid 80's no longer exists, having been replaced by skyscrapers, computers and a new generation that has money, power, and cosmopolitan. There are many scenes of local life, of traditional music and dance, to playing football on the Great Wall. Thankfully there is none of the typical dramatic instances of cultural clashes. They are subtle yet clear to both sides the differences, yet they make the most of being together at this one moment in their lives. A Great Wall is a loving look at a time once lost, for both Peter Wang and Chao's Beijing.

Coming Soon to dvd - Black Test Car

Fantoma dvd continues to release films by the Japanese director, Yasuzo Masumura. Coming out in a couple of weeks, Black Test Car is another biting satire by Masumura, this time focusing on the Japanese auto industry. The film details the lengths that competitors will go to gain an advantage over their rivals, from behind closed door board room intrigue, to the bedroom, to even hilarious James Bond like escapades. Masumura's films are great to watch, as they are not only entertaining, but provide criticism of his own country, in the social and political realms. Other films to watch are Red Angel, Giants & Toys, Afraid to Die (starring the novelist Yukio Mishima in a detective film), Manji, and his wild masterpiece, Blind Beast. I'm looking forward to this one!

Curse of the Golden Flower

The Curse of the Golden Flower is Zhang Yimou's latest, an epic that takes place in 10th century China. Ping (Chow Yun-Fat), has risen from being captain to Emperor, and married the princess Liang (Gong Li), now the Empress Phoenix. Her beauty has now been overtaken by her erratic moods; Emperor Ping had ordered her to take medication. Little does she know that an ingredient has been added to the formula, a poisonous herbal extract, and now it is slowly killing her. Phoenix has suspicions, but there is no proof. She is busy having an affair with Ping's son, the Crown Prince Wan (Liu Ye) from a previous marriage. Wan in turn is in love with the royal physician's daughter, Jiang Chan, and spurns the Empress' advances. Prince Jai is the second son, behind Wan in succession, who leads the troops at the nation's borders, is called back by the Emperor for the Chrysanthemum Festival. But not before a bit of manly one upsmanship by the Emperor, who with his skilled swordplay reminds his son who is boss. Back at the palace, Phoenix is preparing for the festival, making lots and lots of embroidered scarves with the chrysanthemum sewn into it. Wan discovers that she is plotting an attack against her husband, as she knows that she is being driven insane by the medicine. A lady ninja had informed her, and she had a double mission: she was also the Emperor's first wife, who managed to escape execution, and disappeared 25 years ago. She later married the Court Physician, and bore a daughter, Chan. The incestuous implications of their relationship drives them apart, and Chan and her mother are later killed in a hail of arrows. Wan, caught between both the domineering father and the scheming mother, is eventually killed by Jai, who decides to take matters into his own hands. Soldiers loyal to each side fight in a brutal battle at the castle, where thousands are killed. Jai, ordered by his father to kill Phoenix, ends up killing himself instead. Phoenix finally goes insane, and the banquet table is covered in the family's blood.

Visually stunning, the yellows, greens and reds overwhelm the film. Like a baroque painting, the great attention paid to detail deflects attention paid to the characters and the story. Like House of the Flying Daggers, Curse of the Golden Flower has moments of brilliance, but lack any sense of coherence. There is no real depth to the characters, and the court intrigue lacks tension as the dominoes start to fall. The soap opera plot twists only annoy, rather than add to the story. Too many ideas, not enough focus. Gong Li is outstanding; she really is at her best when working with her old director, this being her first in over a decade. But her efforts are lost on a fellow cast that fumbles, including Chow Yun-Fat, which is sad to see. He still has a charismatic presence, but little to work with except being regal. Everyone else seems out of place as soap opera characters in a epic film. Surprisingly, the CGI is horrible -- this being one of the most expensive films made in China. The battle scenes at the end are laughable, and the superimposition of the characters over a color background feels cheap. The ending is as much a question mark as it is a sigh of relief. I no longer knew what was happening, nor did I care. A time waster.

The Incredible Memories of Matsuko

Memories of Matsuko tells the story of Matsuko, the eldest daughter of three born after World War II. Her life spans the rest of the 20th century, coming to a tragic close as her body is found near a river, outside her decrepit apartment. A young man, a slacker musician who has just lost his job and his girlfriend, is rotting his life away in his flat, when his father unexpectedly show up, carrying the cremated remains of the father's sister. It turns out Matsuko was the young man's aunt, and curious, he goes to her place to see what he can find about her. He acquaints himself with the punk rocker who lives next door, and they both find her apartment a shambles. Bags of garbage are piled high, graffiti etched into the walls -- the place is a disaster area. A pair of detectives arrive; they are investigating her death - she had been murdered. From them, and former friends, the young man is able to piece together her past and how she came to be here. Matsuko was a schoolteacher, a beautiful young woman with an angelic voice, and she taught her students singing. One day, a complaint is made against the school -- one of the students has stolen money from a local vendor. Matsuko is dismayed to learn that it is one of her students. She talks to him, but he refuses to admit his crime. A momentous decision is made. She takes money from a fellow teacher and "returns" it to the man, who accepts it, but wants the student to apologize in person. Matsuko apologizes, saying that she was the one who stole the money - she just wants to put this incident behind her. But it starts a long downward spiral for her. The student, after admitting to her that he took the money, in public accuses her of forcing him to admit blame. The teacher whom she "borrowed" the money claims that she took his cash, and finally she is fired by the school. She leaves home, which has become a stranglehold on her life, as everyone is investing their attentions to her younger sister, who is chronically ill. A series of men come in and out of her life -- a fellow teacher, a writer, the writer's rival, a barber, a gangster who turns out to be one of her ex students. Each and every time Matsuko tries to reassert her identity through the man she is with; she supports the writer; is a mistress to his rival; begins a career as a hair stylist, learning the trade from her lover; becomes a yakuza girl and whore; in the end she is left mistreated and terribly alone. Her relationship with her yakuza student was the most devestating, and after waiting for his release from prison, only to have him run away from her, she breaks down and decides not to trust any one and lives alone. No longer caring about herself, she gains weight, watches television, and only goes outside to get food and watch the sunset on the river. She forms one final attachment to a boy in a budding pop music band; it is her nephew, whom she recognizes. She develops an obsession for him, and writes her life story to him, in one final attempt to contact someone. But she never received a response, which eats away at her. Finally, she runs into an old friend, who is now a rich porn star. She remembers Matsuko from her salon days and wants to help her by offering her a job as her personal stylist. Matsuko, ashamed at her appearance, leaves, but not before the woman shoves her business card in her hand. That evening, while contemplating her future, she decides to start anew, but is killed by a bored group of kids playing baseball.

This is a stunning film. The visuals are over the top, from the rich colors to the drab corroded interiors of Matsuko's apartment, to the musical numbers of Matsuko's fantasies, everything is gorgeous visually. The story, a terrifying and sad portrait of a modern Japanese woman, seems to encapsulate how difficult it is for a woman to assert her own identity in a world where conformity is mandatory, from family to work. Her career is sabatouged because of her willingness to take a fall for the school's reputation. Her sense of worth can only be made valid by the man whom she is with, only to be constantly disappointed. While a hard and sad tale, it retains a sense of humor and sense of liveliness that transcends her hardships. From the director of Kamikzee Girls, this is a tour de force that can be considered one of the best Japanese films of this decade. While watching it I am reminded of another film dealing with the hardships of a singular woman - Sada, made in the 80's, reissued in the States on HVe. It too is a portrait of a woman - this time in the early 20th century - who after being sold, becomes a woman of pleasure and struggles to find her own happiness in a cruel man's world. The visuals in that film are remarkable as well, and I see Memories of Matsuko as a sequel to her tale. Highly recommended!

Ozu box set on Eclipse

Another Summer treat! Criterion's offshoot, Eclipse, specializes in compiling a series of films by prominent directors in one low priced box set. They began with the early films of Ingmar Bergman, and will follow up with a Louis Malle set. But what caught my eye is the third set slated, which is the late films of Yasujiro Ozu. It contains five movies - Early Spring, Tokyo Twilight, Equinox Flower, Late Autumn, The End of Summer. No bonus features, but all are remastered from the best prints. Definitely a must have.

Criterion does it again - Hiroshi Teshigahara box set this summer

Criterion, the leader in dvd reissues, has struck gold. A four dvd set of Japanese director's Hiroshi Teshigahara film's will be released this summer, and I am eagerly looking forward to it. Yes, I already have the Masters of Cinema editions of Pitfall and the Face of Another, as well as the BFI dvd of Woman in the Dunes, which is an extended cut. But what makes this four dvd box set so appealing (other than it being in region 1), is that it includes four short films by the director Teshigahara, interviews and a documentary. The films are all remastered from new prints, although how different they are from the British dvd are to be determined. These three films established Teshigahara as an important director, a leader of the Japanese "new wave" of the 60's, who dealt with issues of identity, and the anxieties of the self in relation to the world. By the way, Anyone having the out of print Image dvd of Woman in the Dunes should sell it - this will also be the extended cut version by almost 20 minutes.

Man in the Red Flannel Suit - The Chairman

The Chairman is a real oddity. Released in 1970, this cold war artifact stars Gregory Peck as a Dr. John Hathaway, a scientist who is sent to China to steal a formula that has been recently developed that can increase agricultural crops. The brass at the Pentagon are able to maintain contact by inserting a microphone in his brain, so everything that he hears, they hear. But they added something more -- a bomb that can detonate at any moment, in case something wrong happens. Hathaway doesn't know this. The plot is very run of the mill -- lots of footage is spent on exotic China (or Hong Kong, Taiwan, or wherever the filmmakers could shoot) and showing how drab and different it all is. Mind you, this is during the Cultural Revolution, so there is a lot of exposition on the group social activities of the local Communists, such as public humiliation, protests, etc. Hathaway, like us, is an observer to the events, guided by pretty Asian women -- first, a prostitute who tries to seduce him, them knocks him out with his own shoe as he realizes that he is being spied upon, and then Dr. Soong's daughter, Chu, who helps him flee the country as the military finds out his true intentions (Hathaway was not sent here to socialize) and send troops to kill him. During a tense finale, Hathaway drives, then runs for the northern border where Russia awaits, and the brass back home negotiate for his safety with the Russians, while at the same time are about to trigger the bomb in his head. He makes it. Apparently this was produced by the team that had done Planet of the Apes a year before. Look for Number One Son Keye Luke as Dr. Soong. Gregory Peck does a workmanlike job in this film, which is probably far and above the call of duty. The conceit of having a microphone in his head falls apart when you realize that for him to talk to the Pentagon, he has to stick his head out of a window and talk to himself to ensure privacy! A few monologues later and this plot device becomes very silly, and makes Peck look like a nutcase (this is pre-cell phone Bluetooth era, remember!). The ending is a bit exciting, but color by numbers suspense. Plus, for a film that came out in 1970, it looks oddly out of place for it's time; it looks and feels like a late 50's or early 60's Cold War drama. The times had changed.

The Namesake

The Namesake is a wonderful film that focuses on an Indian family and their life in America from the 70's to the present. Irfan Khan is Ashoke Ganguli, a young man who is travelling on a train reading a Nikolai Gogol collection of short stories. He talks to a fellow passenger who remarks that now he is out of school he should see the world. Ashoke responds that by reading he can travel without leaving the chair. Then, a terrible train accident occurs in which many of the passengers are killed, but Ashoke survives. He takes the passenger's words to heart and goes to America, where he eventually settles. He visits his family back in India, where his parents are making plans to marry him to a beautiful female singer named Ashima (Tabu), who is intrigued by his white shoes. The marriage is arranged, and she goes with him to New York City, where it is winter, and she sees his spare apartment and the wintery landscape. At first she is miserable, but Ashoke proves to be a kind and loving husband, and they eventually have two children, Sonia and Nikhil "Gogol" - obviously named after the author that Ashoke loved. They had to come up with the name, not according to their customs, but in order to get the baby out of the hospital -- U.S. law states that a child must be named before he or she could leave (Ashoke's parents were to come up with a name, which would have taken a while). Gogol, as he grows older, comes to hate his name. He endures the constant teasing, in school and out. The years pass by and Gogol is now called Nik, and is a young promising architect, dating a blonde named Maxine, who is from a well to do family in Manhattan, and they are very much in love. She has not been introduced to his parents, because Gogol is aware of the culture differences. The one time they are all together for dinner, Maxine inadvertently touches Gogol, showing affection, and this raises eyebrows - public displays like that are not allowed in Indian culture. Ashoke, under the pretext of going to get some dessert for the dinner, has Gogol come with him. He stops the car near a park and explains to him the importance of his name, telling him of the train accident, and how that brought him here to the States. It leaves an impression on Gogol. Some time later, Gogol and Maxine are in bed, and he mentions about his dual name, and was thinking about reverting to Gogol. She thinks that is a silly name. Ashoke lands a university job in Cleveland, and has to leave Ashima in New York, to both their reluctance. This will be the first time that she will be alone -- the children are out in the world. Ashima wants Gogol to be in constant contact, especially during the upcoming Christmas holidays, but he is off with Maxine and her family, having a great time near a lake, and he forgets to call. Ashoke unexpectedly calls Ashima from the hospital, having difficulty breathing, but tells her not to worry. But she is worried, and later gets a nasty shock -- Ashoke dies from a heart attack. She tries to call Gogol, but he is unavailable, and he has to hear the news from his sister. Gogol goes to Cleveland to identify the body, and filled with regret for not being in contact. There is a large funeral ceremony when he gets home, and Gogol immerses himself in the customs and rites -- even shaving his head to show grief. It is during this time that he embraces the Gogol name, and when Maxine arrives during the wake, the cultural differences seem glaring, and Gogol sends her away, ending the relationship. Some time passes, and Ashima mentions that Moushumi, a woman whom she and Ashoke had tried to pair off earlier, has returned from England to live in New York. Moushumi at the time was plain, studious and not interested in even talking to Gogol, and he is not looking forward to meeting her. But the duckling became a swan, and Gogol is entranced. They hit it off well enough to start dating, and they eventually marry. All seems well until she keeps her maiden name, and Gogol finds that despite the common background in family and culture, there are differences that threaten the relationship, in outlook and expectations. She declines a job that was in Europe, a bitter pill for her to take. She lets slip a man's name, in such a way that clearly to Gogol this person was more than a friend. It turns out she had been seeing an old lover, and was resuming the relationship. Gogol leaves her. For the first time he takes comfort in his own life and family, seeing his mom leave to go back to India, who is also asserting herself for the first time, to be a singer. He embraces his name and identity, remembering his father.

The Namesake is beautifully shot, showing the colorful, warm homeland of India to the cool, blue and grey tones of New York City. It is well paced, and the characters are fully realized. I like how certain elements of the cultural integration are twisted - Gogol's rejection of the blonde all American gal for the Indian-American woman works against him, since Moushumi proves to be more independent, so unlike a traditional Indian woman than he expected. Perhaps he would have been better off with Maxine? The developing relationship of his parents provide a nice background as well -- theirs is a slow but long burning love that only grows as the years go on. This is a fine effort by Mira Nair, who also is notable for the films Salaam Bombay and Monsoon Wedding. Worth seeing!

Slave to your influences - Grindhouse

Just saw this yesterday. I wanted to like it. Reeeaally wanted to, but couldn't. Grindhouse is a 3 hour plus double feature containing Planet Terror, directed by Robert Rodriguez (Sin City) and Death Proof by Quentin Tarrantino (Kill Bill). This is a loving tribute to the drive in films of the 60's and 70's, where z-grade, cheaply made independent films were paired with slightly better B films for an evening's entertainment. The genres ran from sci fi to horror to exploitation, sometimes combining all three. Tarrantino is a noted fan of this era, and has made an effort to collect the original reels of many of the pictures, exhibiting at his home his own curated versions of movie night. Rodriguez has also been a fan, and together they came up with the idea of each making a 90 minute film. Planet Terror stars Rose McGowan as Cherry, an exotic dancer who quits her job, having enough of this lifestyle, and prepares to leave the dingy Texan small town in search for a better life. Unfortunately, fate intervenes. At a nearby military base, a deal for an illegal shipment of chemicals falls apart as the dealer, a rogue scientist, gets double crossed and Lt. Mouldoon (Bruce Willis) takes the shipment. But the scientist shoots one of the canisters, and the green mist escapes, infecting most of the soldiers. It turns them into disfigured zombies, although continued small exposure doses keeps Mouldoon and some of his men from changing. At a local BBQ restaurant, the Bone Shack, Cherry unexpectedly reunites with an old boy friend, El Rey (Freddie Rodriguez), and is not happy to see him. He isn't pleased either -- she ran off with his favorite jacket, and in it an engagement ring that he had planned to give her. Cherry asks Ray if he could drive her out out town, as he was just passing through. As they leave, they are attacked by the first wave of zombies that leave the base. Cherry is assaulted and her leg ripped off. Meanwhile, in the town, people are getting infected. The victims are brought to the hospital, where Dr. William Block (Josh Brolin) and his wife Dakota (Marley Shelton) are tending to the wounded. Their marriage is an unhappy one, rapidly disintegrating, as Dakota is making plans for a tryst with another woman, Tammy. El Ray brings Cherry to the hospital, but not before he is arrested by Sheriff Hague (Michael Biehn), who treats Ray as a threat to the general public, and throws him into jail. The zombies rapidly take over the town. After Tammy's body is brought to the hospital, Dr Block confronts his wife. Is she going back to her cheating ways? He attacks her, injecting her hands with the anesthetics that she uses to treat patients. She escapes and manages to drive using her wrists and a watchband to go home. There she gets her son and goes over to her father's house for refuge. But her dad (Michael Parks) is busy killing his wife, an invalid who has turned into a zombie. Her son kills himself accidentally with the handgun that she gave him to protect them both. Dr. Block, now a zombie himself, tracks her down and attempts to kill her but is offed by her dad. Zombies are everywhere, and they attack the police station, where Sheriff Hague and his men fight a desperate battle against them. In the chaos El Rey escapes, and heads for the hospital where he cuts down a number of zombies to find Cherry. She is safe, hiding under a blanket, wallowing in self pity and fear. El Rey jams a 2 x 4 into the leg stub and forces her to walk, helping her out of the building. They, along with the remaining town survivors, flee to The Bone Shack, where they arm themselves and plan to escape. El Rey is a gun slinger, a fact that Sheriff Hague knew, and they become uneasy allies. Cherry manages to get the truck (with the help of El Rey's shooting) and crashes it into the restaurant. The survivors climb aboard it and a couple other vehicles and escape, heading toward the base. They attack the soldiers -- Cherry gets an upgrade by having her amputated leg augmented with an AK-47 -- and she becomes a one woman killing machine, using her go go talents in the process. El Rey confronts Lt. Muldoon, who has gone completely insane, turning into a zombie, and he and the chemicals are destroyed in a huge explosion. El Rey is killed in the end, but Cherry lives on to deliver the survivors to a coastal area in Mexico, near an ancient Mayan ruin, as they build a new future as idyllic beach bums.

Death Proof stars Kurt Russell as Stunt Man Mike, a stunt double actor for television. His only pleasure in life is pursuing the young ladies - preferably in his muscle car Chevy Nova, which he uses to hunt down then plow though his victims. We are introduced to three young ladies, out of college and working and living the life. Sidney Potier is Jungle Julia, a dee jay for a local station, who has created a bit of trouble for her friend, Arlene (Vanessa Ferlito) by announcing on her program that whoever calls Arlene "Butterfly," buys her a drink and recites a segment of a Robert Frost poem to her, that she will give him a lap dance. Arlene is horrified. It is Jungle Julia's brithday, and the girls go to the local watering hole and get plastered. A couple of guys try to make a move on them by hitting them up with liquor, but nothing ever comes of it. Arlene notices a black Chevy Nova cruising around town, and that the driver is checking her out. Stunt Man Mike appears at the bar, and talks to a blond woman (Rose McGowan), and offers to drive her home. He asks if she knows the girls over int he corner, and she laughs, saying that she knew Julia from school. He introduces himself to them and looking at Arlene, does the quote. Jungle Julia intervenes, saying that Arlene has already done it, but Stunt Man Mike looks at Arlene and can tell that she is lying. He talks her into doing it (which is never shown, being a "lost reel"). We cut to the girls driving off, driving off to a cabin near a lake. But they never get there. Stunt Man Mike has been following them, and blows by them on the road. He turns around, waiting for them, and then jams on the accelerator, coming at them head on with the headlights off. The collision is textbook car crash, and we see in disturbing detail what happens to the girls in the car, who are all killed. Stunt Man Mike survives -- his car is made for tv and movie stunts, so it is extra armed. We are introduced to another group of ladies, all of whom work for a film crew which is in production in Tennessee. After an excruciatingly long girl talk at a diner, Zoe states that she wants to drive an old classic American muscle car, the one used in Zabriskie Point. And as luck would have it, she has found that car advertised for sale in the local paper. She talks her friends into taking her to the seller and seeing if they could con the person into letting them do a test drive without him present. They do, using an unsuspecting Lee (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) as man bait, while Zoe and her friends Abernathy and Kim drive off. Kim is just tagging along; Abernathy and Zoe are both car junkies, and they are out to do a stunt: the Ship's Mast, where Zoe climbs on the hood of the har while Abernathy drives at full speed, and holds onto two belts that are tied to the doors. They are all having a great time, until Stunt Man Mike comes out of nowhere to mess with them, crashing his Nova into their car, trying to jar Zoe loose. Somehow, Abernathy shakes him off by shooting at Stunt Man Mike, and he flees. After collecting themselves, their thoughts turn to revenge, and armed with a pipe, Zoe climbs back into the car and Abernathy turns the car around to pursue the Nova. Stunt Man Mike is taken by surprise; the cars crash against one another in a long chase sequence. The Nova is knocked out of action, and the girls drag Stunt Man Mike out of the car and beat him to death. The end.

It's a study in contrasts. Planet Terror is an enjoyable romp that, while true to the spirit of the Grindhouse film, betters it in every aspect - story, acting, action. The characters are well realized, notably Rose MacGowan's Cherry, who is in a life crisis and though these wild series of events, becomes a self assured woman with a purpose. Josh Grolin is great as the thermometer chewing Dr. William Block with a chip on his shoulder -- his wife! On the other hand, Death Proof comes across as a conversation piece with moments of action. Sure, the dialogue is very well done -- it has to -- but the build up takes up so much time that it kills the payoff. In other words, it is just like a lot of the other Grindhouse films from the 60's and 70's, and it's a problem for Tarrantino. He loves his influences, but when making his films he never transcends them. Only in Jackie Brown did he do so, and I consider it his best picture, which I am sure will raise eyebrows. A key to his influence here is the t-shirt on one of the ladies, which has a poster of Faster Pussycat! Kill!! Kill!! on it. The nod is not to the film but to the director, Russ Meyer, and Death Proof echoes another film of his from the same time period, Motor Psycho. The innuendos, the visual gags are all from that movie, even if the story is different. The incessant girl talk was painful to sit though; like sitting in on another group's conversation and being forced to listen to it. Which is the point, but Tarrantino has to know that he is giving the finger to his mostly male audience who are expecting another Pulp Fiction exercise. Also, Kurt Russell is woefully used. In the first half of the movie, the interaction between him and his prey is suspenseful and creepy, but it completely vanishes in the second half, where he just shows up, and becomes a cartoon character. Silly. At least for a price of a ticket you can watch one decent shlock movie and then slip out.

Funny and Provocative - I Am an S+M Writer

Again, another long delay. Well, let's get right to it, shall we? I have been seeing a lot of films, especially because of the cold weather on the East Coast. Here we have an excellent film, Ryuichi Hikori's I Am an S+M Writer, a scathing and hilarious look at a battle between the sexes, a husband who writes lurid fiction and his wife, who will not tolerate the means that he goes to get his creative stimulation. The husband, Kurosaki (played by Ren Osugi), is a fiction writer who has only found success by writing sado-masochist fiction. He has an assistant, Kawada (Jun Murakami) who provides creative stimulation by hiring models who are tied up and seduced in front of Kurosaki. They describe in crude detail what is happening, and Kurosaki, in a fire of creativity, writes down the graphic sex. On one particular occasion, Kurosaki's wife (Yoko Hoshi) comes home to find them engaged in the "creative process" -- she wordlessly draws close the sliding doors to the outside around them, and leaves. Later at dinner, she calls him a pervert, and denies him access to sleep together, moving into a different room. One day she brings home a man, an English language professor from the west, and shamelessly flirts with him in front of Kurosaki. He is not amused, but does not show any real anger or jealously. His wife eventually turns to Kawada, seducing him and having sex at a hotel. Kurosaki observes the change in her behavior and sees a glow in her that can only come from making love, and correctly concludes that she is having an affair. Kawada confesses to Kurosaki that it is with him that she is seeing. Kurosaki, after showing a brief display of anger, decides to turn it around and use their affair as material for a novel, and asks Kawada to describe the intercourse in intimate detail. Kurosaki becomes absorbed, writing page after page, until he completes what he feels is his masterwork. He invites his neglected wife, Kawada, and the English professor to a bar where he boasts about his accomplishment. But his wife is no longer interested, and has made plans to leave him. Kawada and the professor fight, leaving Kawada with a bloody nose. In a last ditch attempt to save their marriage, Kurosaki attempts to make love to his wife, but he can not sustain the fervor. His wife eventually leaves him, but not before revealing that she has been an avid reader of erotic fiction, and had hoped that she could have been the one tied up as the model for her husband's musings. She meets Kawada one last time at a hotel for one last, intense tryst. Kurosaki dedicated the novel to her but fails to get it published, having second thoughts.

While it is a portrait of a crumbling marriage, I Am an S+M Writer is a very funny film, being outrageous and yet showing great humor and discretion, without going overboard. Let's face it, there are things that inhabit Japanese culture that are considered decadent or indecent here in the States. Bondage exists, but in Japanese culture and the arts one can find images dealing with women being tied up in various states as a sign of subordination and/or sexual liberation. In the 70's the Japanese film industry was making a lot of money from the Roman Porno genre, softcore sex films that was exploitative and arousing. I have not seen any of those films, but it is clear while watching this film that it is playing around with the master/slave relationship of bondage, feminist reaction and independence, and a basic notion of a creative person losing his sexual potency, finding his only arousal in his work. It is part of why the marriage fell apart -- that Kurosaki and his wife could no longer be a loving couple, and that his work superceded her in his world. Yoko Hoshi does a great job as the author's wife; being a sensible classy woman, while being exquisite and sexually provocative. Hiroki does an excellent job at keeping things on an even keel, a fine directing effort. Recommended!

To Live is Hell - Bohachi, Clan of the Forgotten Eight

This is a twisted jidaigeki film from 1973, directed by Ishii Teruo. A ronin (well played by Tanba Tetsuro) has been terrorizing the countryside with his cruel acts of violence. The local government has sent men out to kill him, but the ronin defeats every man who tries to stop him. After a furiously bloody opening sequence, where blood sprays like geysers and limbs fly free, Tetsuro mentally grows weary of all the violence, and tries to kill himself by drowning, throwing himself off of a bridge and into the cold waters below. But he is rescued, by two lovely prostitutes who are members of a local gang, the Bohachi. The second in command shows the ronin around the premises, explaining their philosophy, which amounts to an anti-code of honor, denying God and spiritualism, showing no loyalty or friendship, embracing our animal instincts. Women are shown being publicly humiliated, tortured and debased as they are inducted into the clan. The ronin is asked if he would consider joining the group, and Tetsuro agrees. Part of his initiation is to help a member collect debts, and they go into town, finding a young woman who has not paid. She is captured and run through the wringer. After being defiled, she is to be sold off at auction to her first customer as a prostitute. The ronin is given 50 ryo for his initial services, which he uses to buy the girl after a frantic auction. But he does nothing to her. Morning comes and finding that he has not taken her, the Bohachi fails him in his initiation test -- apparently, the whole abduction was a set up, a test to see if he could be like them. Even the woman was in on it, herself a prostitute of the clan. He is sent out into the town, where soldiers are waiting. After a brief skirmish, an elderly man interrupts the action -- he is the Chief of the Bohachi clan, and to prevent further violence, he states to the official that the ronin is not only protected by the clan, he has been made a member. The Chief wields considerable political power, so the official has no choice but to leave, taking the soldier with him. Back inside, the Chief explains the local situation: During the construction of the city, there was great outbreaks of violence among the men. An official, reviewing the situation, came up with the idea of bringing thousands of women to the area, so the men could work their aggressions elsewhere. And so prostitution flourished in the city, with hundreds of groups and thousands of freelancers vying for business. The Bohachi, having one of the more successful groups, are seeking total control of the business. The Chief asks the ronin to be their hatchet man, going out to kill every man who engages with a woman of a certain group. The ronin consents, and in short order businesses are closed, men fearing for their lives, and women being assimilated into the Bohachi. Soon the red light district is deserted. They retaliate by attempting to assassinate the ronin; they fail. A government official later breaks up a fight between the two groups, stating that the chancellor will hear both sides and determine the outcome. There is a compromise, and the red light district is reopened, but to conditions that clearly favor the Bohachi. The Chief in return is forced to sacrifice the ronin. The Bohachi prostitutes seduce him with opium and their bodies, but he is more resilient than they thought -- he kills the group of women, and forces the Chief at gunpoint to smoke the opium. It is more than his system can handle, and the Chief is destroyed, tossed into a cell in the lower chambers, where a woman diseased with syphillis awaits. The ronin leaves the compound, and is attacked by the soldiers. The film ends with the ronin still standing, prepared to meet his end, but not before taking as many of them down with him.

This is a wild, visually arresting movie that suffers from a meandering plot. The first half hour is pure exploitation, with plenty of naked flesh and rutting bodies. The final hour runs like a variation of a classic samurai film - the ronin as a catalyst for the bubbling local unrest, though in this case it is taken to nihilistic ends; the Bohachi seeking total power through the destruction of its citizens. There is a lot of shifting moods in the film, and visually, it runs through so many effects, all gorgeous, at times theatrical, with color shifts of spotlight, fade to black, slow motion. I don't know if it all works. It is meant to show that the ronin's life on earth was indeed a living hell, and in that sense it works. I have problems with the Bohachi clan, as they are too one dimensional in their cruelty. They end up acting like any other high powered clan in a samurai film. Ishii's films during this period were of wild creativity, at the expense of story, and this is no exception.