One of Hollywood's most frustrating recent news stories is that Francis Ford Coppola is having trouble finding distribution for his self-funded passion project, "Megalopolis" (via The Hollywood Reporter). In a just world, making "The Godfather" would grant Coppola a lifetime blank check, but that has never been the world we've lived in.
What you may not be aware of is one of Coppola's influences for his magnum opus. Like his friend "Star Wars" director George Lucas, Coppola looked to Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa. While Lucas took after Kurosawa's Jidaigeki (historical) films, Coppola looked to one of the director's contemporary-set films: "The Bad Sleep Well."
Released in 1960 and starring his go-to leading man Toshiro Mifune, the movie is one of Kurosawa's (comparatively) more obscure ones. It was especially overshadowed by "High and Low," the masterful kidnapping thriller that Kurosawa and Mifune released in 1963. Both movies are set in the world of...
What you may not be aware of is one of Coppola's influences for his magnum opus. Like his friend "Star Wars" director George Lucas, Coppola looked to Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa. While Lucas took after Kurosawa's Jidaigeki (historical) films, Coppola looked to one of the director's contemporary-set films: "The Bad Sleep Well."
Released in 1960 and starring his go-to leading man Toshiro Mifune, the movie is one of Kurosawa's (comparatively) more obscure ones. It was especially overshadowed by "High and Low," the masterful kidnapping thriller that Kurosawa and Mifune released in 1963. Both movies are set in the world of...
- 4/15/2024
- by Devin Meenan
- Slash Film
Based on Ueda Akinari's tales “The House in the Thicket” and “The Lust of the White Serpent”, “Ugetsu” is set in Japan's civil war torn Azuchi–Momoyama period (1568–1600) and is probably Kenji Mizoguchi's most celebrated work, and a definitive part of the Golden Age of Japanese films. The movie was restored in 2016 by The Film Foundation and Kadokawa Corporation, in the version we watched in Thessaloniki.
“Ugetsu Monogatari“ is screening at Thessaloniki International Film Festival
On the shores of Lake Biwa in the Omi Province, Genjuro, husband of Miyagi and father of an infant son, has his first break with selling his pottery in Nagahama, making a small fortune in the process. His brother-in-law, Tobei, is eager to become a samurai, and during the same trip is utterly disgraced, eventually agreeing to help Genjuro with his pottery instead of chasing his crazy dreams. Right before the next batch is made,...
“Ugetsu Monogatari“ is screening at Thessaloniki International Film Festival
On the shores of Lake Biwa in the Omi Province, Genjuro, husband of Miyagi and father of an infant son, has his first break with selling his pottery in Nagahama, making a small fortune in the process. His brother-in-law, Tobei, is eager to become a samurai, and during the same trip is utterly disgraced, eventually agreeing to help Genjuro with his pottery instead of chasing his crazy dreams. Right before the next batch is made,...
- 11/4/2023
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
By the end of the 1940s, director Akira Kurosawa had established himself as a dependable worker for several movie studios, including Daei, who had already produced “The Quiet Duel” in 1949 and who would approach him with the proposal of adapting “In a Grove”, a short story by writer Ryunosuke Akutagawa. At the end of the same year, and despite a fire in the studio, Kurosawa and his team managed to finish “Rashomon”, which would be released in Japan to moderate success, but ultimately to some international attention, such as Giuliana Stramigioli, the president of Venice Film Festival. The rest, as they say, is history, with “Rashomon” becoming a major success for its creator and the Japanese film industry as a whole, whose reputation, even today, relies to some extent on Kurosawa’s works. Despite its role for Japanese culture, “Rashomon” regularly attracts many cinephiles and scholars for its approach to storytelling,...
- 1/28/2023
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
The ruined gate of Rashōmon in Kyoto, which acts as the central setting in Ryūnosuke Akutagawa's short story "Rashōmon," had an unsavory reputation during the 12th century. A frequent hideout for thieves and hooligans, the Rashōmon gate came to be known as a symbol of moral degradation, which Akutagawa incorporated in his short to great effect. When filmmaker Akira Kurosawa wove together aspects of two Akutagawa shorts — "Rashōmon" and "In A Grove" — in his 1950 Jidaigeki drama "Rashomon," he transformed the ruined gate into a site of subjective retelling, a sort of moral crossroads where despair and hope coexist. Kurosawa opens "Rashomon" with three men seeking shelter from torrential rain under the ruined gate, which leads to the recounting of a murder mystery with no definite ending. Four eyewitnesses recall a singular incident in the forest in wildly different ways, making the truth impossible to arrive at. What does this all mean?...
- 1/6/2023
- by Debopriyaa Dutta
- Slash Film
By the end of the 1940s, director Akira Kurosawa had established himself as a dependable worker for several movie studios, including Daei, who had already produced “The Quiet Duel” in 1949 and who would approach him with the proposal of adapting “In a Grove”, a short story by writer Ryunosuke Akutagawa. At the end of the same year, and despite a fire in the studio, Kurosawa and his team managed to finish “Rashomon”, which would be released in Japan to moderate success, but ultimately to some international attention, such as Giuliana Stramigioli, the president of Venice Film Festival. The rest, as they say, is history, with “Rashomon” becoming a major success for its creator and the Japanese film industry as a whole, whose reputation, even today, relies to some extent on Kurosawa’s works. Despite its role for Japanese culture, “Rashomon” regularly attracts many cinephiles and scholars for its approach to storytelling,...
- 6/29/2022
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
After her first two features as a director, “Love Letter” and “The Moon Has Risen”, actress Kinuyo Tanaka, best known for her roles in Kenji Mizoguchi’s “Ugetsu” and “Life of Oharu”, would continue her exploration of femininity, especially within focus of the Japanese society and tje traditional concepts of sexuality and marriage. Based on the life and works of Japanese poetess Fumiko Nakajo, “The Forever Woman” or “The Eternal Breasts”, which it was also called, would cement her status as someone with talents before and behind the camera. While Tanaka is mostly known for being an actress, current retrospectives focusing on her directing career shed some light onto this aspect of her life, showing a person well aware of the contradictions within the traditions of her home country, while also following paths which might constitute some kind of escape from these ideas.
“Forever a Woman” is screening at the...
“Forever a Woman” is screening at the...
- 4/22/2022
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
After a successful career as an actress, starring in such features like “Oharu”. “Ugetsu” and “Sansho the Bailiff”, perhaps Kinuyo Tanaka thought she would receive support from Kenji Mizoguchi, the director whose work she had been a part of for so many years. However, when a recommendation from the Director’s Guild came to hire her as a director, Mizoguchi was against it, marking the end of their collaboration, and the start of a new part in Tanaka’s career, which would begin with her debut “Love Letter” entering the competition at the Cannes Film Festival in 1954. Within the context of Japan’s post-war cinema, the story of two lovers who became separated during the war is quite special, telling a story from a perspective which is rarely seen, even nowadays.
“Love Letter” is screening at the 11th Sdaff Spring Showcase
At the beginning of the feature, we meet Reikichi...
“Love Letter” is screening at the 11th Sdaff Spring Showcase
At the beginning of the feature, we meet Reikichi...
- 4/21/2022
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
“I am a person rarely impressed by actors… but in the case of Mifune I was completely overwhelmed. The ordinary Japanese actor might need ten feet of film to get across an impression. Toshirō Mifune needed only three feet,” said Akira Kurosawa.
One of the greatest talents in cinema history, Toshirō Mifune left behind a staggering body of work amassing over 150 starring roles. Born on April 1, 1920, a retrospective was planned for 2020 timed to his centennial and now, after a delay due to the pandemic, it will kick off next week at NYC’s Film Forum. Featuring 35mm rarities and rediscoveries imported from the libraries of The Japan Foundation and The National Film Archive of Japan, the series will run for a whopping four weeks, from February 11 through March 10, and feature 33 films.
Ahead of the retrospective, we’re pleased to exclusively debut the trailer, edited by John Zhao, highlighting what is...
One of the greatest talents in cinema history, Toshirō Mifune left behind a staggering body of work amassing over 150 starring roles. Born on April 1, 1920, a retrospective was planned for 2020 timed to his centennial and now, after a delay due to the pandemic, it will kick off next week at NYC’s Film Forum. Featuring 35mm rarities and rediscoveries imported from the libraries of The Japan Foundation and The National Film Archive of Japan, the series will run for a whopping four weeks, from February 11 through March 10, and feature 33 films.
Ahead of the retrospective, we’re pleased to exclusively debut the trailer, edited by John Zhao, highlighting what is...
- 2/4/2022
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Whereas Takeshi Kitano’s ninth feature as a director seems like a return to the yakuza genre, and thus characters and themes he had already explored in works like “Sonatine”, “Violent Cop” and “Hana-Bi”, the project itself marks a fundamental turning point in the career of the filmmaker. For a long time, he and producer Masayuki Mori had been negotiating with US-American producer Jeremy Thomas for “Brother”, a film whose story would be set in both Japan and the USA, more specifically Tokyo and Los Angeles. As Thomas puts it, the greatest challenge was to make sure Kitano would have the same working conditions in the United States he was accustomed to from his works in Japan. Eventually, “Brother” began filming in late 1999 and was finished in early 2000, and thus became an entry into the director’s filmography which seems to divide his fans to this day.
Buy This...
Buy This...
- 2/1/2022
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
In 1959, Japanese director Akira Kurosawa was at the height of his success in his home country and had received much international praise for features such as “Rashomon” and the “Seven Samurai”, works which have defined Asian cinema and how it is perceived throughout the world to this day. To have more creative control over his works, a huge step in that direction was the foundation of the Kurosawa Production Company, especially since his projects tended to become increasingly ambitious, even though it was also linked to a huge financial risk. In that regard, it is somewhat surprising Kurosawa would make a feature like “The Bad Sleep Well”, a work inspired by William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet”, his first film after the foundation of the studio given the film’s very critical view on post-war Japan focusing on how the affiliations of politics and corporations corrode society and democratic principles.
Buy This...
Buy This...
- 3/29/2020
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
Stars: Masayuki Mori, Eitaro Ozawa, Kinuyo Tanaka, Mitsuko Mito, Machiko Kyō | Written by Matsutarō Kawaguchi, Yoshikata Yoda | Directed by Kenji Mizoguchi
Kenji Mizoguchi was one part of the Holy Trinity of directors – alongside Akira Kurosawa and Yasujirō Ozu – spearheading the Golden Age of Japanese cinema in the 1950s. Released in 1953, Ugetsu is based on the book by Ueda Akinari, written in the 18th century (one of two known works by the author). Mizoguchi states upfront that he’s “refreshing the fantasies” of Akinari, which is a nice way of putting it.
The story opens in the village of Nakanogō in Omi Province, sometime in the 16th century. Genjūrō (Masayuki Mori) and Tōbei (Eitaro Ozawa) are best pals. Genjūrō is a potter; Tōbei is a clutz who dreams of being a samurai. One day the village is attacked by soldiers. Genjūrō and Tōbei flee with their wives, Miyagi (Kinuyo Tanaka) and...
Kenji Mizoguchi was one part of the Holy Trinity of directors – alongside Akira Kurosawa and Yasujirō Ozu – spearheading the Golden Age of Japanese cinema in the 1950s. Released in 1953, Ugetsu is based on the book by Ueda Akinari, written in the 18th century (one of two known works by the author). Mizoguchi states upfront that he’s “refreshing the fantasies” of Akinari, which is a nice way of putting it.
The story opens in the village of Nakanogō in Omi Province, sometime in the 16th century. Genjūrō (Masayuki Mori) and Tōbei (Eitaro Ozawa) are best pals. Genjūrō is a potter; Tōbei is a clutz who dreams of being a samurai. One day the village is attacked by soldiers. Genjūrō and Tōbei flee with their wives, Miyagi (Kinuyo Tanaka) and...
- 3/5/2019
- by Rupert Harvey
- Nerdly
Joseph Baxter Dec 18, 2018
Amblin Television is developing a TV series based on Akira Kurosawa’s bellwether samurai classic, Rashomon.
The Rashomon effect is about to hit the medium of television. – At least, that’s the way it seems from our perspective.
Indeed, Rashomon, director Akira Kurosawa’s 1950 breakthrough samurai-age film – a crucial step in the evolution of stylistic film narration – is getting a serial treatment from Amblin Television, which has just optioned the rights. The film, centered on a crime that saw the death of a samurai and the rape of his wife, famously unfolded its story as told from the differing perspectives of multiple characters, notably buttressing the trope of the unreliable narrator. Indeed, the term "Rashomon effect" became popularized from the subjective narration style of the film.
Amblin’s plan is to adapt Rashomon as a series released in 10-episode intervals, with the (somewhat grandiose) design of using...
Amblin Television is developing a TV series based on Akira Kurosawa’s bellwether samurai classic, Rashomon.
The Rashomon effect is about to hit the medium of television. – At least, that’s the way it seems from our perspective.
Indeed, Rashomon, director Akira Kurosawa’s 1950 breakthrough samurai-age film – a crucial step in the evolution of stylistic film narration – is getting a serial treatment from Amblin Television, which has just optioned the rights. The film, centered on a crime that saw the death of a samurai and the rape of his wife, famously unfolded its story as told from the differing perspectives of multiple characters, notably buttressing the trope of the unreliable narrator. Indeed, the term "Rashomon effect" became popularized from the subjective narration style of the film.
Amblin’s plan is to adapt Rashomon as a series released in 10-episode intervals, with the (somewhat grandiose) design of using...
- 12/18/2018
- Den of Geek
Amblin Television has optioned the rights to Akira Kurosawa’s 1950 classic Rashomon to turn into a dramatic mystery thriller series. The plan it to make each 10-episode season focus on a singular event told from multiple points of view. The differing characters’ perspectives will allow the audience to come away with the truth behind each mystery.
The series will be executive produced by Amblin TV’s co-presidents Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey, with Atmosphere’s Mark Canton and David Hopwood and Opus 7’s Leigh Ann Burton.
“We couldn’t be more excited to adapt this extraordinary film as the foundation for a new dramatic mystery thriller series,” said Frank and Falvey in a statement. “It will explore the boundaries of truth and how different perspectives don’t often reveal the same reality. We also couldn’t be happier to be in business with Mark, Leigh Ann, and David who are great producers and partners.
The series will be executive produced by Amblin TV’s co-presidents Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey, with Atmosphere’s Mark Canton and David Hopwood and Opus 7’s Leigh Ann Burton.
“We couldn’t be more excited to adapt this extraordinary film as the foundation for a new dramatic mystery thriller series,” said Frank and Falvey in a statement. “It will explore the boundaries of truth and how different perspectives don’t often reveal the same reality. We also couldn’t be happier to be in business with Mark, Leigh Ann, and David who are great producers and partners.
- 12/18/2018
- by Patrick Hipes
- Deadline Film + TV
“I still have something to do.”
“Don’t be too reckless.” Shortly after the release of “Beyond Outrage”, the first sequel he filmed to this day, Kitano stated how he wanted to conclude his modern day-narrative on the yakuza. Besides the financial success of the last two films, a conclusion seems to be the logical next step after focusing on the hierarchy within the underworld (“Outrage”) and its evolution to a business (“Beyond Outrage”). The last entry into the series would be centered around the individual and highlight the lasting consequences of Otomo’s actions and those of the other characters.
Outrage Coda is screening at the Toronto Japanese Film Festival
Despite their roots within the cinema of directors like Ken Takakura or Kinji Fukasaku, Kitano emphasizes how he regards his films as different from these traditions. Even though his approach remains stylized, the image of the yakuza as an...
“Don’t be too reckless.” Shortly after the release of “Beyond Outrage”, the first sequel he filmed to this day, Kitano stated how he wanted to conclude his modern day-narrative on the yakuza. Besides the financial success of the last two films, a conclusion seems to be the logical next step after focusing on the hierarchy within the underworld (“Outrage”) and its evolution to a business (“Beyond Outrage”). The last entry into the series would be centered around the individual and highlight the lasting consequences of Otomo’s actions and those of the other characters.
Outrage Coda is screening at the Toronto Japanese Film Festival
Despite their roots within the cinema of directors like Ken Takakura or Kinji Fukasaku, Kitano emphasizes how he regards his films as different from these traditions. Even though his approach remains stylized, the image of the yakuza as an...
- 6/14/2018
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
Ugetsu
Blu-ray
Criterion
1953 / B&W / 1:33 / Street Date June 6, 2017
Starring: Mitsuko Mito, Masayuki Mori, Kikue Mouri, Sakae Ozawa, Kinuyo Tanaka
Cinematography: Kazuo Miyagawa
Film Editor: Mitsuzô Miyata
Written by Matsutarô Kawaguchi, Yoshikata Yoda
Produced by Masaichi Nagata
Music: Fumio Hayasaka, Tamekichi Mochizuki, Ichirô Saitô
Directed by Kenji Mizoguchi
In 1941 Orson Welles was busy giving the film industry a hot foot with Citizen Kane, a bullet-train of a movie whose rhythms sprang from the ever accelerating hustle and bustle of contemporary American life. That same year one of Japan’s greatest filmmakers, Kenji Mizoguchi, was taking his sweet time with a four hour samurai epic set 240 years in the past, The 47 Ronin.
The story of a band of loyal soldiers seeking revenge on a corrupt landowner, The 47 Ronin plays out in a precisely measured, ceremonial style, its 241 minutes leading up to the moment when the fierce band of brothers...
Blu-ray
Criterion
1953 / B&W / 1:33 / Street Date June 6, 2017
Starring: Mitsuko Mito, Masayuki Mori, Kikue Mouri, Sakae Ozawa, Kinuyo Tanaka
Cinematography: Kazuo Miyagawa
Film Editor: Mitsuzô Miyata
Written by Matsutarô Kawaguchi, Yoshikata Yoda
Produced by Masaichi Nagata
Music: Fumio Hayasaka, Tamekichi Mochizuki, Ichirô Saitô
Directed by Kenji Mizoguchi
In 1941 Orson Welles was busy giving the film industry a hot foot with Citizen Kane, a bullet-train of a movie whose rhythms sprang from the ever accelerating hustle and bustle of contemporary American life. That same year one of Japan’s greatest filmmakers, Kenji Mizoguchi, was taking his sweet time with a four hour samurai epic set 240 years in the past, The 47 Ronin.
The story of a band of loyal soldiers seeking revenge on a corrupt landowner, The 47 Ronin plays out in a precisely measured, ceremonial style, its 241 minutes leading up to the moment when the fierce band of brothers...
- 7/1/2017
- by Charlie Largent
- Trailers from Hell
Anytime I watch Mizoguchi’s work…really any of it, but especially from this later period of his career – which includes The Crucified Lovers, Sansho the Bailiff, The Life of Oharu, and The Woman in the Rumor – I really am put face to face with how relatively little we gladly settle for in much of the rest of cinema. It’s not that there’s anything necessarily wrong with all those other movies. Many of them I value a good deal more than I do Mizoguchi. But in Mizoguchi, as one often does in Bergman, you’re granted a rare combination of imagination, audacity, and mastery that few films even attempt and very, very, very few manage to pull off. You can too often pick apart some tonal shift, some acting choice, some extraneous scene or shot or just something that doesn’t fit. In Mizoguchi’s best work, everything fits.
- 6/29/2017
- by Scott Nye
- CriterionCast
(Region B) Akira Kurosawa's unquestioned top rank classic remains a fascinating study of truth and justice. A forest encounter left a man murdered and his wife raped. Or did something entirely different happen? The witnesses Toshiro Mifune, Takashi Shimura and Machiko Kyo give radically differing testimony. This UK edition offers a full commentary by Japanese film expert Stuart Galbraith IV. Rashômon Region B UK Blu-ray BFI 1950 / B&W / 1.33:1 / 88 min. / Street Date September 21, 2015 / Available at Amazon UK / £15.99 Starring Toshiro Mifune, Machiko Kyo, Masayuki Mori, Takashi Shimura, Minoru Chiaki, Kichijiro Ueda, Fumiko Honma. Cinematography Kazuo Miyagawa Art Direction So Matsuyama Film Editor Akira Kurosawa Original Music Fumio Hayasaka Written by Shinobu Hashimoto, Akira Kurosawa from stories by Ryunosuke Akutagawa Produced by Minoru Jingo, Masaichi Nagata Directed by Akira Kurosawa
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
This reviewer doesn't review most foreign discs, but with major studios licensing out their libraries, there are...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
This reviewer doesn't review most foreign discs, but with major studios licensing out their libraries, there are...
- 11/3/2015
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
A second behind-the-scenes clip has been released for Takeshi Kitano’s Outrage Beyond, following up the first released back in early May.
In the new footage, former Sanno-kai boss Otomo (Kitano) clashes with Hanabishi-kai lieutenants Nishino (Toshiyuki Nishida) and Nakata (Sansei Shiomi).
“Outrage Beyond” will be released by Warner Bros. in Japan on October 6, 2012. Obviously, there are a lot of people eagerly anticipating the completion of this project, from fans to film festival programmers. According to producer Masayuki Mori, they’ve already received several inquiries on the status of production from overseas film industry insiders.
Source: Cinema Today...
In the new footage, former Sanno-kai boss Otomo (Kitano) clashes with Hanabishi-kai lieutenants Nishino (Toshiyuki Nishida) and Nakata (Sansei Shiomi).
“Outrage Beyond” will be released by Warner Bros. in Japan on October 6, 2012. Obviously, there are a lot of people eagerly anticipating the completion of this project, from fans to film festival programmers. According to producer Masayuki Mori, they’ve already received several inquiries on the status of production from overseas film industry insiders.
Source: Cinema Today...
- 5/17/2012
- Nippon Cinema
The upcoming sequel to Takeshi Kitano's 2010 gangster film Outrage has been a tough one to figure, and fair warning -- the reason for that involves some spoilers from the original.
On Tuesday, a press event was held at Seimei no Mori Resort in Chiba Prefecture to present the cast of the second film, now titled Outrage Beyond. New additions Toshiyuki Nishida, Yutaka Matsushige, Katsunori Takahashi, Kenta Kiritani, and Hirofumi Arai were in attendance along with returning cast members Kitano, Tomokazu Miura, Ryo Kase, and Fumiyo Kohinata.
There has been some question about how a sequel might work, simply because the first film was a complete blood bath. Most of the main characters were killed and it ended with Kitano's character, Otomo, getting stabbed and then later being confirmed dead by Kohinata's character, a crooked detective named Kataoka.
Producer Masayuki Mori confirmed that Otomo is in fact alive, but was...
On Tuesday, a press event was held at Seimei no Mori Resort in Chiba Prefecture to present the cast of the second film, now titled Outrage Beyond. New additions Toshiyuki Nishida, Yutaka Matsushige, Katsunori Takahashi, Kenta Kiritani, and Hirofumi Arai were in attendance along with returning cast members Kitano, Tomokazu Miura, Ryo Kase, and Fumiyo Kohinata.
There has been some question about how a sequel might work, simply because the first film was a complete blood bath. Most of the main characters were killed and it ended with Kitano's character, Otomo, getting stabbed and then later being confirmed dead by Kohinata's character, a crooked detective named Kataoka.
Producer Masayuki Mori confirmed that Otomo is in fact alive, but was...
- 4/17/2012
- Nippon Cinema
In 1950, Akira Kurosawa released a film based on two stories, told from four perspectives. Rashomon is a gorgeous exercise in minimalism with courageous acting from Toshiro Mifune, Masayuki Mori, Machiko Kyo and Takashi Shimura. This iconic movie tells the tale of the rape of a woman and the murder of a man, but the details and actions change depending on who’s telling the story. For those who haven’t seen it, it’s high time they did. For those that have, they know how infinitely rewatchable it is. It is, without hyperbole, one of the best movies ever made, which is why we’re honored to be hosting a very special online screening of this masterpiece on Wednesday, March 28th at 7pm Central. It’s our first, powered by our new partnership with Constellation, and the perks are undeniable: The site works like a box office, but the movie comes to you. Which...
- 3/21/2012
- by Cole Abaius
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
Criterion tried playing a fast one this week by releasing all the new films while we were recording our super two year anniversary special. Sneaky Criterion, how could you do such a thing? But lo and behold they gave us another 11 titles, which again just goes to show that Criterion/Janus have multiple tricks up their sleeves. Especially this week, they gave us a couple of catalog titles and the rest are new and exciting, especially one that is the original edit of a particular film that was put on the page last week. Once again, if you want to join what a million other people are enjoying right now, please sign up here. It will help the series of articles and you’ll get to experience the best bang for the buck.
First up is the original version of a film that was put up last week, which is...
First up is the original version of a film that was put up last week, which is...
- 7/12/2011
- by James McCormick
- CriterionCast
2010 began and ended with the deaths of great octogenarian film artists. Eric Rohmer died on January 11, a few months shy of his 90th birthday; and Hideko Takamine left us on December 28, at the age of 86. In Rohmer's case, death had been waiting in a corner of the room: just a few months before, we had seen Jackie Raynal's 2009 documentary footage, showing the alarming decline of his physical (but not mental) powers over the course of a few months. But it was quite different with Hideko, who was said to be living happily in retirement in Hawaii with her husband, writer Zenzo Matsuyama. Out of the sight of film audiences since 1979, she existed in a sunlit, remote corner of the imagination: there seemed no reason for her ever to die.
The image of Hideko that comes quickest to my mind is a scene from Mikio Naruse's A Wife's Heart...
The image of Hideko that comes quickest to my mind is a scene from Mikio Naruse's A Wife's Heart...
- 1/5/2011
- MUBI
The Film:
Before Unforgiven won the Best Picture Oscar in 1992, Clint Eastwood visited the Walker Art Center for a retrospective of his films. Part of that retrospective included a night where the actor discussed various clips with a noted film critic. I remember being impressed with Eastwood’s approach to direction: his preference is to shoot quickly and move on. The lanky director explained, “Does it really matter if the glass is here, or here? Not really. If an actor wants another take, I’ll do it [for that person]. But the first take is usually the best.”
Takeshi “Beat” Kitano (who writes, directs and stars in this 2000 film) espouses Eastwood’s philosophy toward direction and acting. As Aniki Yamamoto, the Yakusa member leaves Japan for American in search of a “better death.” In La he mixes with other underworld characters Japanese (Kitano speaks no English), black and Mexican. For the first few scenes Yamamoto says nothing,...
Before Unforgiven won the Best Picture Oscar in 1992, Clint Eastwood visited the Walker Art Center for a retrospective of his films. Part of that retrospective included a night where the actor discussed various clips with a noted film critic. I remember being impressed with Eastwood’s approach to direction: his preference is to shoot quickly and move on. The lanky director explained, “Does it really matter if the glass is here, or here? Not really. If an actor wants another take, I’ll do it [for that person]. But the first take is usually the best.”
Takeshi “Beat” Kitano (who writes, directs and stars in this 2000 film) espouses Eastwood’s philosophy toward direction and acting. As Aniki Yamamoto, the Yakusa member leaves Japan for American in search of a “better death.” In La he mixes with other underworld characters Japanese (Kitano speaks no English), black and Mexican. For the first few scenes Yamamoto says nothing,...
- 11/23/2010
- by Steve Brock
- Killer Films
Akira Kurosawa, the legendary Japanese director, was born 100 years ago today. He's already the subject of a Google doodle, now here's a guide to ten key Kurosawa movies, from classics such as Seven Samurai and Throne of Blood to late greats Ran and Dreams
1) Drunken Angel (1948)
The youngest of eight children, Akira Kurosawa grew up in Tokyo where, at the age of 26, he began an apprenticeship at Pcl studios. His first features as director, made in wartime, had nationalistic strains but No Regrets for Our Youth (1946) and Drunken Angel, about an alcoholic Tokyo doctor trying to get a stagnant pool drained, established a critical engagement with contemporary Japan.
2) Stray Dog (1949)
Drunken Angel inaugurated Kurosawa's working relationship with the actor Toshiro Mifune, which was repeated in this picture, with Mifune playing a policeman on an increasingly obsessive quest to retrieve his stolen gun. Set during a sweltering summer, Kurosawa's breakthrough film...
1) Drunken Angel (1948)
The youngest of eight children, Akira Kurosawa grew up in Tokyo where, at the age of 26, he began an apprenticeship at Pcl studios. His first features as director, made in wartime, had nationalistic strains but No Regrets for Our Youth (1946) and Drunken Angel, about an alcoholic Tokyo doctor trying to get a stagnant pool drained, established a critical engagement with contemporary Japan.
2) Stray Dog (1949)
Drunken Angel inaugurated Kurosawa's working relationship with the actor Toshiro Mifune, which was repeated in this picture, with Mifune playing a policeman on an increasingly obsessive quest to retrieve his stolen gun. Set during a sweltering summer, Kurosawa's breakthrough film...
- 3/23/2010
- by Ben Walters
- The Guardian - Film News
In 1922, Robert J. Flaherty gave us Nanook of the North, one of my favourite silent films and an early example of a snow movie--that is, a movie that wouldn't be what it is without its wintry landscape. In some films, snow is incidental--a pretty backdrop or a minor metaphor (like the snowfall that blankets the Bride's duel with O-Ren Ishii in Kill Bill Vol. I). In others, a snowy climate is central to the story or sometimes even a character in its own right. Here are 10 movies that each use ice, snow, and cold in a specific way; together, they collectively demonstrate the range one symbol can have.
As with a typical Pajiba Guide, many genres are represented (don't worry Nanook fans -- silent film, documentary, and Inuit culture are all covered below in some form). And as with a typical Guide, apologies must be made for omitting many more...
As with a typical Pajiba Guide, many genres are represented (don't worry Nanook fans -- silent film, documentary, and Inuit culture are all covered below in some form). And as with a typical Guide, apologies must be made for omitting many more...
- 2/18/2010
- by Dustin Rowles
The concept behind the box is simplicity itself, exemplified by its title: "25 Films By Akira Kurosawa." This is released in commemoration of what would have been the Japanese master's 100th birthday; this fact is elegantly implied by a little logo atop the box. This logo is reiterated, with a single variation, on every single one of the 25 identically-sized DVD cases contained in the box. That variation being that the "100" is replaced by the 20th-century year in which each given film was made. Note below that the logo on The Idiot bears the logo "Ak/'51."
The very elegant simplicity of the package design itself, and the unerring use of simple detailing therein (that red line bisecting Masayuki Mori's eyes above is a particularly apt touch), make this an item you can contemplate for some time before popping the first DVD in. The films here are presented differently than those...
The very elegant simplicity of the package design itself, and the unerring use of simple detailing therein (that red line bisecting Masayuki Mori's eyes above is a particularly apt touch), make this an item you can contemplate for some time before popping the first DVD in. The films here are presented differently than those...
- 12/7/2009
- MUBI
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