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| makatiel
195th Post
 
Regular Customer
   
|  "Re(5):Yakuza the movie" , posted Mon 22 Jan 12:26:
quote:
I can't really picutre how Yakuza/Ryuu ga Gotoku would work as a movie since the draw of the game was the experience of swaggering around as a hard drinking, hard hitting tough guy and not the goofy story points.
A part of me wants to make a snide comment about game adaptations more often than not fall apart because the people making the films seem to forget that the plot of a game is a different creature than the plot of a movie. Another part, however, is wondering what happened to Japanese national cinema. Except for Miike punching out films every two weeks and the occasional Godzilla battle the pickings from Japanese movie houses have been mighty slim for the past 20-25 years.
I think you're forgetting about the Japanese horror movie boom we experienced a few years back.
Also, there have been quite a few decent samurai movies if I remember correctly... Twilight Samurai and that other movie by the same guy, Beat Takeshi's Zatoichi was fine, if pointless (as always). I'm sure there are others.
Edit: Just thought of another Japanese movie I enjoyed recently: Always: 3 chome no yuuhi. My wife also liked The Yutenji Hotel (I think that's the name). Those were fun. Actually there are a bunch of Japanese movies that have come out. It feels like there are more and more recently. Shinobi was silly but cool. Sekai no Chuushin ni Ai wo Sakebu did well in the theaters but I thought it was terrible (especially compared to the TV series). Udon was bad too. What about Sengoku vs. Jieitai? Hahahaha. I also remember a few sort of big budget movies like Nihon Chinbotsu (big budget dakke?), Dragonhead, Devilman, a few others. And Dororo is coming out in theaters soon too. Anyway as far as I know, Japanese cinema is booming. I guess much of it doesn't make it off the island though.
[this message was edited by makatiel on Mon 22 Jan 12:37] |
| Ishmael 2717th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
    
    
    
    
 
| "OT movie stuff" , posted Tue 23 Jan 06:00
quote:
I think you're forgetting about the Japanese horror movie boom we experienced a few years back.
Also, there have been quite a few decent samurai movies if I remember correctly... Twilight Samurai and that other movie by the same guy, Beat Takeshi's Zatoichi was fine, if pointless (as always). I'm sure there are others.
Edit: Just thought of another Japanese movie I enjoyed recently: Always: 3 chome no yuuhi. My wife also liked The Yutenji Hotel (I think that's the name). Those were fun. Actually there are a bunch of Japanese movies that have come out. It feels like there are more and more recently. Shinobi was silly but cool. Sekai no Chuushin ni Ai wo Sakebu did well in the theaters but I thought it was terrible (especially compared to the TV series). Udon was bad too. What about Sengoku vs. Jieitai? Hahahaha. I also remember a few sort of big budget movies like Nihon Chinbotsu (big budget dakke?), Dragonhead, Devilman, a few others. And Dororo is coming out in theaters soon too. Anyway as far as I know, Japanese cinema is booming. I guess much of it doesn't make it off the island though.
Believe me, I would love to be proven wrong about the state of Japanese cinema. Part of the problem is, like you said, that only the most simple, easy to market items are making the jump across the water. That sort of attitude does nothing to help my view of their current national cinema since a little of Ryuhei Kitamura's spazzy nonsense goes a long ways. Thanks for noting some titles that haven't made it to my part of the world yet.
I've always suspected I'm missing something by not seeing Kiyoshi Kurosawa's stuff on the big screen since a lot can get lost when a movie is stuffed onto a television screen. But even with that I do wonder if the J horror boom will be remembered more for the stylistic quirks and trappings it brought to the genre instead of any of the work of the people who created the films. That spate of movies featuring long haired dead girls felt to me as quickly punched out as those karate movies from the 1970's. Hmm, both of those movie fads prominently featured Hiroyuki Sanada. Odd how that worked out.
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| nobinobita
74th Post
Occasional Customer
| "Re(6):Yakuza the movie" , posted Tue 23 Jan 21:49
quote:
Beat Takeshi's Zatoichi was fine, if pointless (as always). I'm sure there are others.
I disagree, I think Kitano's Zatoichi had a very coherent theme and point. At the risk of sounding like a pompous jerk I will explain myself.
Spoilers about the movie follow:
Spoiler (Highlight to view) -
I think the movie dealt mostly with the concept of masks, as in hiding your true self and your intentions.
Most of the characters in the film were in disguise. Zatoichi the incredible swordsman travels as a blind masseuse, the Naruto sisters pretend to be musicians (one of them pretends to be a girl!), The Yakuza leaders hide as regular townsfolk. On top of that they hide that they were the murderers of the Naruto family.
When Tadonobu Asano faces the Ronin that ruined his life at his deathbed, the Ronin admits that he is a fake and has never even owned a real sword (as an aside, he defeated Asano by cheating with moves that would only work on a wooden sword, such as catching the blade in your hand)
The retarded fat guy dreams about being a Samurai and runs around in his funky Samurai getup every day.
Even the goofy guy with the gambling problem figures into this. At one point he tries on womens makeup and he also emulates Zatoichi when he tries to read the dice and when he tries to teach sword fighting. He's always looking to reinvent himself, but nothing seems to be a good fit (hence they are masks).
There's also alot of imagery supporting this theme, such as the frequent shots of the scarecrow. At one point, Zatoichi diverts from his path to put the scarecrow back in place. This puts him out of the path of the assassins that the Yakuza have sent for him (and they are disguised as monks). This is visually exemplery of how having a mask has saved his life.
Of course, you could talk fancy about masks for most any movie. But I think Zatoichi at least, really sticks with its theme and lets it play out.
Zatoichi isn't even blind, but actually feigns it to trick his enemies. By hiding his true self, he is able to build up a persona capable of surviving his difficult lifestyle. The tradeoff is that he can never let anyone know who he really is and he never gets a real break.
Everyone in the film that wears a mask is miserable. Zatoichi isn't exactly a happy camper. Tadonobu Asano's character leads a sad life because he's lost his identity as a Samurai. All the bad guys are found out and killed. The Naruto sisters were forced into a life of pain and deception in order to avenge their parents.
With vengence being realised however, they can return to their natural selves (as shown by the weird morph during the dance when they turn back into kids for a shot).
Zatoichi on the other hand is still left wandering from town to town getting into fights. I think that's why he trips up at the end and comments on how "he can't really see at all" because the townsfolk are all better off, but he's back to exactly where he started.
So uh... I felt the film had a very coherent point. Masks are useful, but ultimately they ultimately wear you down and it's better to just be yourself.
Of course, you can get that same message from any teen movie, but most teen movies aren't as beautifully shot and choreographed and violent.
End of Spoiler
I apologize in hindsite for the long posts. I just needed a break from school and somehow it's very relaxing for me to discuss stuff like this.
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| Maese Spt 346th Post
Bronze Customer
| "Chiba for teh win!" , posted Wed 24 Jan 10:15
While I think Shogun's Ninja was utter crap (despite, or perhaps thanks to, its puzzling music score), and while I do believe that Japanese cinema is pretty much in good shape nowadays, I must totally agree with you on your recommendation of GI Samurai.
My favourite part is when Sonny fights Takeda Shingen man-to-man, shots him on the leg and then proceeds to decapitate him. Heck, I wish I had a screenshot of that so I could make a signature! If you look for the definition of AWESOMENESS on a Japanese encyclopedia, surely it has the pic of a grinning Sonny Chiba, blood-covered GI uniform, brandishing Shingen's head to illustrate the concept.
About how great Japanese 70's cinema was, well, I have yet to get deeper into that kind of stuff, and surely Japanese cinema scene nowadays can't live up to its glorious predecessors (throw in Kurosawa, Mizoguchi and Co. here as well)... but given the resources they have and the fierce competition China and HK (not to mention Hollywood!) exerts, I think they still produce a pretty decent amount of interesting movies every year. And I mean "interesting" for a brorad range of audiences: you have Miike's bizarreness; you have your share of Hollywoodesque, high-budget movies like The Shrinking of Japan; you have war movies; wuxia-wanabees; some pretty decent jidaigeki like Yoji Yamada's trilogy (have to watch Bushi no Ichibun yet, but I'm sure it will be as gorgeous as the other ones); cheesy old-style, if somewhat updated, chanbara flicks (Azumi, anyone?)... Even kaijuu eiga is not dead yet! And of course you have Kitano out there, who likes to swing his magic wand every now and then.
And I'm only speaking about the genres/kind of movies that attract me. If you're into comedies or dramas, I'm sure you can dig out interesting things as well. Maybe 80% of today's production is crap, but same could be said of all relig... ehr, uhm, cinematographies around the world.
Aaaah, I think I'm going to watch Fuurin Kazan only to enjoy Sonny Chiba's appearances! I'll have to bear with that plastic-faced Gackt playing Kagetora, tough, which won't be an easy feat. But somehow, I know I'm gonna like better GI Samurai's version of Kawanakajima battle anyway...
マツケン サンバ!!!!
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| nobinobita
77th Post
Occasional Customer
| "Re(1):Chiba for teh win!" , posted Wed 24 Jan 23:14
quote:
If you look for the definition of AWESOMENESS on a Japanese encyclopedia, surely it has the pic of a grinning Sonny Chiba, blood-covered GI uniform, brandishing Shingen's head to illustrate the concept.
Oh HELL YEAH!!! That's got to be one of the best moments in Cinema history. That image pretty much sums up everything I liked about that movie (and Sonny Chiba in general).
I pretty much agree with everything you just said 100%.
Well, cept i kinda have a soft spot for Gackt. I admire his stark, masculine personality (which is why his image works for me) and how he's been able to stay in character for like a decade.
But yeah, the 20/80 rule pretty much applies to everything. Like Ishmael said, old movies only seem better because they've passed the test of time.
If you like current stuff and classic stuff (Kurosawa, Ozu etc), you really should look into
the 70s stuff. At the very least, the films are beautiful to look at. They have the most wonderful and vibrant colors. They're just on the brink of garishness, but they're scaled back enough to make them really easy on the eys.
At the same time, it's great to keep up with the films being produced today. It's nice to be able to relate to something current rather than to pine for the good old days.
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