I’ve been on a Japanese bender recently, especially after reading Peter Carey’s memoir Wrong About Japan: A Father’s Journey with His Son. I’ve read two novels by Haruki Murakami: Kafka on the Shore and The Chronicle of the Wind-Up Bird (while critics seem to favor the latter I found his most recent novel, despite its flaws, the more entertaining and thought-provoking read) and watched a number of films: Yasujiro Ozu’s Floating Weeds, Isao Takahatu’s Grave of the Fireflies, Ryosuke Hashiguchi’s Like Grains of Sand, Hirokazu Kore-eda’s After Life and Nobody Knows. I also watched Shunji Iwai’s All About Lily Chou Chou for a second time. I can’t say I have come any closer to an understanding of Japanese culture—if anything these works seem to reflect a country that is more radiant chimera than coherent nation.
The role the past and memories of the past play in these narratives is obvious, the nature/civilization binary is very pronounced, the infatuation with narratives of childhood and youth a common thread, the phenomenon of “circularity†in which contemporary artists shaped by Western sensibilities rediscover and integrate traditional myths and classical forms into their work is also present; indeed, the white elephant in the room always seems to be American culture and American hegemony, yet I am surprised how little vitriol is directed toward America in these works (especially in the heart-wrenching Grave of the Fireflies).
I guess many of my responses were initially triggered by a discussion on this site of horror films and the “return of the repressed,†and I was fascinated by the image of the empty water well as a portal to other worlds in Murakami’s Chronicle as well as the Ringu films, but I might argue that these texts reveal not so much a culture that has repressed its past (they seem to be reenacting it over and over and over again) but one that has been entirely cut off from history and cast adrift. Fireflies really disturbed me; it was painful to watch and the fact that it was so beautiful to look at made it even more agonizing. Kore-eda’s Nobody Knows owes much in form and content to this anime classic (it is as if Frederick Wiseman updated Fireflies as a faux documentary in contemporary Tokyo).
The true revelation of the bunch is Kore-eda’s After Life. Though it is more sentimental and more conventional than Nobody Knows (which, while not cynical, leaves the audience anxiously suspended in stasis), I found After Life to be nearly perfect. Its story of the recently dead and the counselors (angels?) who help them choose a memory from their past in order to make a film of that memory before the dead are able to transition beyond this liminal space (which looks a lot like a dilapidated hospital or school) really moved me. The actors were, for the most part, non-professionals (as in Nobody Knows) and their presences were deeply felt. And the idea that making a film of your most significant memory seems to cross many cultural boundaries and desires. Has anyone seen this? It is not available on Netflix but my local Blockbuster had the DVD and VHS. I’m sure my ignorance concerning Japanese religious belief systems (especially Shintoism and Zen Buddhism) is at play here. Anyway, that’s a lot of stuff for one post . . . I apologize . . . but if anyone has anything to offer and/or add, I would appreciate the discussion.
I loved After Life a lot. One of my favorite films of – what – 4 years ago? And it got me to start taking chances on almost any modern Japanese (and occasional Korean) film that showed up at American Cinematheque here in Los Angeles. (For anyone living in L.A., I can’t recommend the programs at A.C. enough: A great old theater (the Egyptian), visiting directors and actors, lots of recent foreign films, and great programming, including their annual Mod fest and horror fest screenings. I even sat next to Werner Herzog once at a Chris Marker retrospective. (the guy sitting on the OTHER side of me was the red-haired sidekick to Kurt Russell in all of his old Disney movies.))
Back to Japan – I had meant to see Floating Weeds (trilogy, isn’t it?) after watching Onibaba, when I was on my post-Spirited Away and Cat Soup Japanese monster myths kick. So let me add Onibaba to Jeff’s quite good list. It’s a 16th century ghost story (kind of) of an incredibly poor family (mother and daughter-in-law) whose lives have been destroyed after their men were drafted into war. What they do to survive is shocking, and the “ghost” aspect of it is not central in my opinion. It’s great.
A more modern film I highly recommend is a Korean film called The Isle. Korea of course has a very different culture from Japan, and I group them together only because I believe all things of the savage and primitive Korean culture should be run under the influence of the sophisticated and advanced Japanese culture.
Finally for a very different take than all of these “good” movies, let me recommend the trilogy of films called Yokai Monsters. These films deserve a post of their own, which I’ll do soon. But meanwhile just enter the phrase “Yokai Monsters” into Amazon or Netflix and marvel at those great cover images.
I need to see “After-Life”–which, if you add the hyphen, does pop up on Netflix, so it’s now in my queue.
Takashi Miike–I crap less often than this guy makes movies, but there’s still some astonishing cultural fodder in his flicks. They blend fascinations with ultraviolence, the strange sexual peccadilloes of anime (although avoiding, thank god, tentacle porn), yakuza brutality, cartoon fantasies, sci-fi ponderings…. Too often, his films are amazing for the first and last 15 minutes, and suck in the middle, but… he’s worth a look. Especially “Audition.” And “Gozu,” for its Cowhead man and equation of milk with sex and its final, gloriously twisted sex scene. (A scene that ranks up there with the first “Kingdom” for astounding finales. I think more films should end with Udo Kier’s head emerging from the nether regions of a woman giving birth, but that’s me.)
I looked to see if a film called “Crazy Family” was available, and alas it’s not. But if you could track it down, do. Early-eighties, it’s a bleak caustic satire on the drives/ambitions endemic to Japanese business culture.
The absent orientalist Bruns would surely bring up Juzo Itami, and particularly “Tampopo.” I’m less a fan, so I leave it to him to discuss why that film works so well, but it is a pleasure to watch.
Oh–forgot: has anyone seen any of the films in “The Yakuza Papers” (starting with “Battle Without Honor Or Humanity” or something like that)?
Also cool: “Adrenaline Drive,” “Versus,” the films of Seijun Suzuki, and Takeshi Kitano.
Shall We Dance . . . ‘nugh said.
Dayna & I went to see a Takashi Miike film at the Egyptian a few months ago. half an hour into it, I kept checking the program to see if I’d misread the director. It’s called Andromedia, and it is on DVD for some reason. I’m too drunk at the moment to explain it, and I’d have to think about it again too, which I don’t want to do.
Gozu was good, but I was still disappointed in it, especially since I watched Kitano’s Sonantine around the same time, and was re-amazed at how good that was.
I like Hanna-bi the most. Haven’t seen Battle Royale, should I? I watched a few minutes a couple of years ago (Reynolds had a bootleg VHS he loaned me), but it looked a bit amatuerish and I didn’t believe any of those kids were 14 years old.
I was just at the Egyptian and saw that Takaski Miike has made a new movie of my old favorite: Yokai Monsters. Apparently it was comissioned for the Masters of Horror series Reynolds has written about, but they decided not to use it because it was too extreme.
Should be out on DVD now though. I’d still recommend the original Yokai films, and will try to track down the new one somewhere too.
I actually watched Battle Royale the other night. I really liked it. It’s hyper and shallow (not such a bad thing) but packs a double wallup fueled by equal parts sentiment and adrenaline. I want to go see The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Slide (if that’s the title). It looks like a sleeper.
Yeah – Battle Royale is a lot of fun (stay away from the sequel though; no joke – there’s a sequel.) If your idea of fun is a bunch of 14 year olds forced to kill one another (And mine is just that). There’s a book that’s even more hyper and shallow; a Fight Club for 14 year olds that love anime.
There’s an ill-conceived rumour (that’s for Arnab) over at Aintitcoolnews that Larry Clark is going to direct a remake of Battle Royale for New Line Cinema. That I would see.
isn’t “hana-bi” by takeshi kitano? watched sonatine last night–will start a separate topic for it later. have never actually watched a takashi miike film–just the descriptions make me queasy.