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[jpnfilmblog]

Hayao Miyazaki: Spirited Away

Initial Reaction

I had high hopes for Spirited Away, since a friend told me that this is one of her all-time favorite films. I must admit, I was not disappointed. There’s so much to analyze from capitalism, consumerism culture, environmental concerns, and human rights issues. One viewing for this film is not enough to uncover Miyazaki’s whole message. Although it is an anime, I feel that this is one that adults may enjoy and appreciate more than children for its social commentary. Nevertheless, it is a film that transcends age and national boundaries making it a film that anyone can relate to. Out of all the films we’ve watched this semester, this is one I plan on re-watching.

Social Commentary

The Importance of Your Name

The first scene, we, as an audience, encounter the importance a name holds is when Yubaba takes Chihiro’s name from her and renames her Sen. In the scene, we see Yubaba sucking up Chihiro’s name from the contract and leaving her with only a part of her full name. Interestingly, if you look closely enough, Chihiro misspelled part of her last name. 

Though it is highly unlikely that she knew of the importance of retaining her name  – Haku only warns her afterwards that Yubaba enslaves people by taking their name away from them – this emphasizes the idea that a name represents someone’s identity. In taking away names from her workers, Yubaba takes away people’s freedom of thought and free-will and disables them from questioning her authority much like the societal structure we live in today. This especially rings true in Japan’s society in which hierarchical structures are, in many cases, based off age. While this practice has its pros in that the population at large respect their elders, it also reaps problems in which situations that should be based on merit may be overridden solely by who in the group is the oldest. Chihiro represents the antagonist to such structures and is able to save her parents and Haku, because she stays true to herself and her values.  

Money ≠ Happiness

Miyazaki quite obviously critiques the way in which capitalist society causes people to put money on a pedestal throughout the film’s screen time. This is prominently depicted in the scene where No Face shells out gold coins and the bathhouse workers immediately pick it up in a crazed manner. The workers only curry his (?) favor because they love his money and the status it brings him – not No Face, himself. Each mistakenly seem to believe that money will solve all their problems. After all, their lifestyle stems from only being able to work in a place that offers minimum wage at best and in which the working conditions are poor. However, Yubaba demonstrates that money may buy the tools to be happy, but does not necessarily correlate to a person’s level of happiness. Since, though, she may be financially well-off, she does not have enough time to spend time with her baby Boh who is the ultimate source of her happiness. In this sense, she also falls victim to the pitfalls created by capitalist societies. 

Also, can I just say that the ending song is exquisite!? It’s been one of my favorites for a long time, even though I had never watched Spirited Away the whole way through. 

Here’s a link to a beautiful rendition by the original singer, Youmi Kimura: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdO2X0QlYYI.

I also like this version by Ukrainian singer, Nataliya Gudziy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQJog0rs7Eg. The slower tempo fits the piece well and her personal connection to the lyrics represent the universality of Spirited Away’s themes. 

[homonecans]

Your viewpoint about the misspelling of Chihiro's last name adds a layer to my understanding of the film. I'll be honest, I did wonder why that part was left behind, but I assumed it was just a part of her magic. I appreciate your insight.

[homonecans]

Spirited Αway (2001)

As a child I definitely watched Ghibli movies, although I rarely remember the plot or any of the characters. When I was young I was mainly concerned with how pretty the art and music was and didn’t really care about the message at all. This movie was way more entertaining and engaging than I thought. It’s targeted to children but I had no hardship in sympathizing for Chihiro and getting immersed in the story. I was surprised at how the movie commented on greed and pollution.

Yubaba’s character really showed the negative aspects of greed. Her endless need to amass power and riches often leaves her using other people to do her dirty work. Her treatment of Haku is especially reproachable and it’s easy to see how her characterization would influence the youth that would be watching this film. Her sister’s characterization as a more relaxed and modest version of Yubaba also sets the tone that moderation is a positive aspect of life. We also see greed in the transformation of Chihiro’s parents into pigs. They act like pigs and then get turned into pigs. Pretty straightforward series of events. What’s also interesting is also the spirits that get lured by No Face’s riches are ultimately at a disadvantage because of their greed. They work fruitlessly just for a handful of fake gold and are even eaten. There is no benefit for chasing wealth presented in this film.

Another critique was also about the pollution of the land. The contrast between the stink monster and the beautiful scenery we were shown throughout the film really makes it seem as though the spirit was an unwelcome disturbance in the natural landscape. The spirit is disgusting, repulsive, and vile, but when the pollution is unblocked we can see the true beauty of the river spirit. This movie makes a clear commentary on how the beauty of nature is tarnished by man made contamination.

Overall, I liked the movie a lot. The story was beautiful and brought forth a sense of nostalgia I wasn’t aware I would feel. I loved the music and the art was amazing, as expected.

[bigsconesjones]

Sukiyaki Western Django

Takashi Miike must have been an Eagle Scout because this movie is a masterclass in camp. Paralleled in goofiness only by Tampopo, Sukiyaki Western Django is a love letter to the Spaghetti Western highlighted by absurd action scenes and dragged down by Quentin Tarantino’s disgustingly weird accent.

Initial Reactions

My god I cannot stress how much Quentin Tarantino sucked in this film. This film started off pretty good, and Quentin Tarantino’s western accent was alright, if not funny, but when he switched into the faux-Asian accent, it displayed a clear lack of never having even studied the Japanese language because it was off in all the wrong places. Also why did he do it? It’s not like it added anything to the film other than a visceral gut reaction.

A contentious decision that could either be insanely funny or incredibly cringey was the final reveal that Heihachi becomes Django. I don’t know if Takashi Miike was serious about this, and if he was, then it might’ve taken the “Ode to Westerns” a bit too far and changed the tone of this movie into a gross origin story. HOWEVER, if this was some prank, then this would be a stroke of genius because something I get tired of seeing at the end of the movies is the “Where are they now?” sections, and seeing a dumb joke akin to the “This person grew up to be Jeff Bezos/Elon Musk” memes you see on the internet was a fun touch.

Other than that, this film was amazing, and mainly because everything was so goofy. Going back to the opening scene, the blood spattering on the backdrop and the dumb gritty dialogue made this feel like a parody of a scene building up to a shootout. Adding onto this, the gunfighting scenes are so much fun to watch, especially the scene where Yoshitsune (big bad dude in white) adjusts for the wind and proceeds to shoot Kiyomori (big bad dude in red). Yoshitsune having to point his gun like 40° to the left of Kiyomori, and then Kiyomori reacting like he was getting shot by an airsoft gun was comedic genius.

Deeper Thoughts/Analysis

The biggest thing that crossed my mind was how meta this whole movie was. One of the Heike boys compared the Gunman to a similar character in the movie Yojimbo, which reminded me that this movie is inspired by Spaghetti Westerns, which are in turn inspired by old Japanese samurai movies. This kind of reminds me of Jean Baudrillard’s idea of different stages of simulacra, where Spaghetti Westerns are an unfaithful copy (or second-order simulacra) of samurai movies, and Sukiyaki Western Django is an unfaithful copy of an unfaithful copy. I’m fairly certain this doesn’t mean it transcends to third-order simulacra, but it is interesting how removed Sukiyaki Western Django is from the original source material of Yojimbo.

Final Thoughts

This movie is too much fun. It reminds me of another favorite campy movie, Rob Zombie's House of 1000 Corpses in that it just exudes a specific genre and does a loving parody to it.

[homonecans]

I also really loved the campiness of the film it was so funny. The gags were hilarious and never failed to garner a laugh, which was a surprise considering how unintentionally funny the other films in the class were.

[homonecans]

Sukiyaki Western Django (2007)

I was expecting to like this movie and I wasn’t disappointed. This movie was so funny for so many reasons. Obviously, my favorite gag was when the snow started in the final battle and piled up to epic proportions with each shot. The beginning really set the tone for the entire movie with the impossible and theatrical manoeuvres, the goofy sound effects, and the obviously fake background. I couldn’t stop laughing whenever I looked at the half Heike half Genji kid because of his hair because all of it was short and black except the two long strands that were red and white. Powerful symbolism. I also liked how characters would just roll out of the way to safety, especially at the end when they were liberally using that gigantic machine gun and one of the characters (I think it was the previous sheriff) just closed his eyes and rolled away as the Heike leader, Henry, stepped over him. The fighting in the movie was ridiculous especially when Henry got shot like 7 times and revealed he was wearing a bulletproof vest and nobody thought to shoot his extremities until Benten did. The ending battle was definitely the funniest part not only because of the snow. The Genji leader actually being able to deflect all the bullets except for the one from the surprise gun had me nearly rolling out of my seat with laughter.

I would guess this entire film is a parody of spaghetti westerns, but I’m not exactly well versed in that genre to immediately draw connections. I would guess that the “lone wolf” that travels through towns doing anything for money but finding a reason to fight in the end is a common theme in westerns and maybe even the ridiculous fights we see may be prevalent in westerns as well. The fact that we see that the movie is set in a place called Nevada with English being the predominant language, yet the sign was written in Japanese and all the actors seem to be native Japanese, was really quite hilarious. The Genji leader’s obsession with being a samurai and insisting on fighting with a sword while the Heike leader was obsessed with Shakespeare, the War of Roses, and fought primarily with guns also spoke to their polar differences. The humor in this film makes it one of the top movies in this class if I’m being honest. I feel like we could’ve gone without Tarantino in it though.

[nanafilmclass]

Sweet Bean [Kawase Naomi]

Initial Thoughts

This movie was such a lovely change of pace for the horror movies of the past few weeks. I really enjoyed the calming, soft atmosphere this movie created and the emotions it evoked. The shot composition of this movie was gorgeous, highlighting the beautiful scenery of Japan. A complete contrast to the look and feel of Pulse. Having the two movies back to back, I noticed they have almost completely opposite messages. Both movies discuss how characters are lonely, but each one shows it differently which I find interesting.

My Interpretation

I thought that this movie had a really sweet message about living life despite prejudices that people may face. In this movie we see Tokue continue to enjoy her life, and the things around her despite the way she is treated by society. She if always taking in the scenery, enjoying the company of people around her, and giving advice to the younger people around her. It was nice to see a movie portray someone with a disability in such a positive light, and having the movie focus on how Tokue is mistreated for something she cannot control. People who suffer from leprosy have been outcasts in society for years even though it is not extremely contagious, and is very rarely spread to others. I was happy to see that this movie portrayed Tokue in such a positive light, and that we see the other main characters in the movie having sympathy for her.

Sentaro’s journey throughout the movie was one of the most moving parts of the whole film. We see him go from just doing his job because it’s his job, to enjoying making dorayaki as his passion. Meeting Tokue opens him up more, and she fills a role in his life that he was missing due to his mother’s passing. By hiring Tokue, she shows him just how meaningful and personal cooking food can be. Making the bean paste is more than just cooking for Tokue, and she teaches this to Sentaro. At the end, when we hear Tokue’s final message we learn that her motivation for working at the dorayaki shop was more than just because she likes dorayaki. She saw how sad Sentaro was feeling and wanted to help him get out of that sadness as she had been like him before. Her actions show just how selfless and kind of a person she really is.

I mentioned before that this movie has the opposite message from Pulse, and I think that Tokue’s final message is what solidified that feeling for me. In Pulse, people succumb to loneliness, and the movie emphasizes the lack of connections people make through the internet and daily life. However, Sweet Bean focuses on how connections to others can make such a huge difference in people’s lives. Just by getting to know Tokue, both Sentaro and Wakana’s lives are changed. Tokue helps both of them by being a positive figure in their lives. At the end we see that Sentaro is smiling and has a business of his own, and Wakana decided to go to high school even when she thought she wouldn’t. Both characters are brought out of their loneliness through their connections to people which I think rivals some of the messaging from Pulse.

Overall, I thought this film was really beautiful and well done. The characters were endearing, and the movie kept me engaged. Tokue’s attitude reminded me of my own grandmother which is why I think the movie got to me so much as well. It was an amazing film and now I really want to try some dorayaki.

[homonecans]

I like the comparison you made with Pulse. I dont think I would’ve made that comparison, even though we watched them back to back. Their development as characters through their connection was really heartwarming.

[homonecans]

Sweet Bean (2015)

In all honesty, I don’t have much to say about this film except I liked it.

Tokue serves as a catalyst for the others to start pursuing their own dreams and take advantage of the freedom they have been granted, which Tokue lacked so much of. The three main characters (Tokue, Wakana, and Sentaro), were each ostracized in some way or form, which I think is how they found a connection with each other. Wakana was clearly isolated from her school peers in academic ventures and socially, and combined with the neglect she faced at home, she wasn’t exactly the average middle school girl. I think Sentaro’s isolation is more self-imposed (other than prison) because of his profound guilt. Tokue’s isolation is the most obvious and clear of them all and I think her isolation from the general public is what allowed the other characters to truly have moments if introspection and come together in the end. All three characters were in some form cast off from society, yet they all developed, what I consider, a found family in each other. Tokue considered Sentaro to be her son while Wakana treated him as a father figure.

I found their relationship so sweet and I really liked the ending of Sentaro going out on his own and selling his product independently of the dorayaki shop owner. Sentaro taking control over his business and working on his craft really encapsulated Tokue’s message of seizing the freedom given and not taking it for granted. I thought it showed his development as a character because at the beginning, he seemed somewhat cold and callous, but by the end he was quite sensitive and vulnerable, especially at Tokue’s death, and was able to absorb the advice Tokue had been giving and actually use it.

[homonecans]

Pulse (2006) vs. Pulse (2001)

Although I didn’t particularly like the Japanese version, I found myself disliking this version all the more. I feel as though they took the only aspects of the original Pulse that I like and decided to decimate them. First of all, the entire movie felt like an episode of Supernatural. The beginning of the movie just introduced us to the main monster, showed how it went after victims, and put into the audience’s mind the idea of this mysterious Ziegler figure that is surely to appear later on. This movie tries to explain EVERYRTHING, which I felt took away from the unspoken symbols that the Japanese version had. They added a whole explanation for the red tape, which I honestly didn’t think needed to be added. I think they just shoved it in there to provide a way to defeat the monster. I think the original Pulse had a masterful use of the red tape without anything being spoken about it and added to the artistry and aesthetic of the film. The movie also made it very clear what direction the end would go. The news connecting all the suicides making it apparent it was an epidemic made it very obvious that society would be wiped out quickly and I didn’t like it. Pulse (2001) was much more subtle and it seemed like a background thing until the very end. The more I write about this movie the more I hate it.

This version of Pulsewas also deeply connected to the role of computers and technology, and although that is something I wanted in the original Pulse, I felt that this movie was just heavy-handed. The movie was also just stereotypically-early 2000s horror- blue/green filter, ugly. There was a reliance on jump scares which were somehow not scary at all. Something I greatly enjoyed about the original Pulsewas that the scares were slow moving and in the shadows, relying instead on the viewers to fill in what the shadows look like and what their purpose is.

I guess watching this movie allowed me to find a new appreciation for the original Pulse (2001).

[cjloogy]

Pulse - 回路

As far as Japanese horror goes, this is not near the top of my list sadly. While I did appreciate some of the on-screen visuals and the atmosphere on display, the constant bouncing between two distinct plotlines and a rather muddled message that ended with a pretty jarring shift to an apocalyptic setting really bogged down any positive elements I saw here.

It seems like this movie came in around the height of the J-horror boom after Ring really caught the international attention, and this film set out to deliver further on ghost stories that avoided gore and violence over tension and atmosphere. Plenty of points were definitely unsettling, but overall, I feel like the plot fell victim to “this is only happening because every character has a lower IQ than average.” It’s an interesting enough premise, once I pieced together what it actually is, which is that the world of the dead is becoming overrun, and spirits are invading the world of the living, or so one of the characters claims. The devices that are used to help keep us connected are vulnerable to these invaders, and so the living become subject to their intense apathy and give up on life the same as these ghosts did. Rather than inflicting pain, they simply invite the living into their own isolation. “Death is unending loneliness, why should I be the only one to suffer it?” is a possible motivation here, although it is never explicitly stated beyond a confrontation with a spirit towards the films end.

My issue with all this is I’m still not sure what message this is sending out exactly, I don’t think it’s meant to be pure entertainment or just shlocky, I’m sure there’s some kind of commentary on human isolation, connections, budding technology and how this affects people socially. My best guess is that this is trying to confront the issues of “hikikomori” culture, especially as it was developing at the turn of the millennia, in that many people in Japan were beginning to live in total isolation, almost withdrawing entirely from society. "People don't really connect, you know. We're all totally separate." Many of the deaths in the movie are suicide victims who were living alone, forced into isolation by their work routines or other life circumstances. It’s a real and prevalent issue in Japan to this day, with many people passing away alone and going unnoticed for extended periods of time. Maybe this film is an attempt at painting an image of what can happen to the world should too many people give up on staying connected while living their lives in a more fulfilling manner, and instead resign themselves to being isolated and passing on alone. I still think that the ending sequences feel too obtuse compared to the way the film was set up, and that a less dramatic and more somber ending would have been more appropriate.

I really can’t say this movie was really outstanding for me beyond a few cool visual sequences and some interesting attempts at commentary on human isolations and connections, but these ultimately fell flat in the end given the rather jarring transition into the unveiling of an apocalypse. This one really fizzled out for me.

[homonecans]

I also felt that the message was muddled and poorly portrayed. I enjoyed the beginning of the film but felt that it went off the rails toward the end especially the part where the main characters met up. Certainly not my favorite, but I enjoyed a large part of it.

[homonecans]

Pulse (2001)

The first thing I noticed about this movie was that I’ve watched it before. I don’t remember why or when, but I watched it and I was sure of that by the time the opening credits were through. This movie could have been AT LEAST 30 minutes shorter. The beginning of the movie was the best part, but I did not like the ending at all. The beginning had so many shots where it focused solely on the computers and in the first section the message seemed to be focusing on how the computer provides an illusion of connectivity, but is ultimately a façade to hide how truly lonely everyone is. Technology isn’t really presented in a positive light and there is a certain confusion about how computers functions shown in the movie (especially when they talk about how only the grad student who created the human representation program could understand it and Ryosuke’s general confusion on how to use computers. That would have been fine and dandy, but I feel as though the final act derailed from this point and instead turned into some apocalypse survival plot. They could’ve connected the use of technology to the story more concretely at the end to drive home the point (if that were the point), but I feel as though it missed the mark. Maybe I’m biased because I prefer ghost stories, but the general mystery and maliciousness of the phantoms in the beginning was much preferred to the theme of self-realization (?) that the latter part of the movie dealt with. I feel as though a more Ring-like approach would have held my attention.

On a positive note, there were several aspects of the film I enjoyed. The sound design was nice and effective to add to the suspense and terror for most of the movie. The moments where it would cut to silence was jarring and slightly scary. The music itself was eerie at times yet almost sounded like the natural ambiance. I also really liked the use of red in the characters’ clothes, the red tape, and general additions of red to warn of danger. Basically, every time red showed up on screen I could guess that something spooky was going to happen or a character wearing it would be the next victim. Yabe’s encounter in the Forbidden Room made use of the red effectively when being lured into the room and I also found myself slightly enjoying how slow the scares were in this particular scene. The phantom’s moves were slow and awkward just enough to make it uncanny and seem like something that could vaguely happen in real life. I also liked how dark everything was but the light slowly illuminated the red on the wall. Overall, the movie wasn’t bad, I just wish it were much, much, much shorter.

[jpnfilmblog]

Hideo Nakata: Ring (1998)

Initial Reaction

I was quite scared to watch this film, Ring (リング), at first as I didn’t know what to expect. Overall, it exceeded my expectations: 1.) It wasn’t that bad in terms of horror, and 2.) there was much more to analyze than I expected of (which wasn’t much) from a horror film.  

It’s always interesting to see an older film with a cast of which many are still active actors in the present-day, since they look so young. Sadly, Yūko Takeuchi who played Tomoko in this film died of suicide on September 27, 2020. There was a string of suicides in the entertainment industry at the time with the most famous incident being Haruma Miura, one of the most prominent actors of his generation, who died of suicide only a few months before Takeuchi.

Social Commentary/Cinematography

Cyclical Nature and the Patriarchy

The title, Ring, cleverly alludes to the film’s cyclical plot which we later learn that the only way to “break the curse” is to show someone else a recording of the cursed tape. Interestingly enough, Reiko, the protagonist’s name also alludes to this cyclical nature as part of her name, “Rei”, means zero (0) in Japanese. Additionally, the death sentence of someone who has watched the cursed tape is one week which can be thought of as one cycle (i.e., this Monday to next Monday).

I believe this reappearance and emphasis on a cycle represents Sadako’s sorrow and anger of her mother committing suicide at the hands of her own father, her partner, and the media – more specifically, male reporters. I would like to point out that Sadako and her mother’s unfortunate outcome of their life is primarily determined by the actions of men around them. Sadako’s mother dies of suicide due to her father’s decision to take advantage of her supernatural powers of being able to read people’s minds by selling her story to the press. As a consequence of his actions, Sadako’s mother is used as a test subject by Ikuma who holds a public press conference. Unfortunately, this results in negative press release of her being “abnormal” which ultimately pushes her over the edge. It should go without saying that the actions of the men who caused her mother to die of suicide had a direct effect on Sadako. Combined with the fact that her life is put to an end by her own father, Ikuma (which could be a play on words of “akuma” – devil), who is later revealed to have had an affair with her mother and feared his daughter’s supernatural abilities that surpassed her mother’s by being able to kill someone with a simple thought.

*It is worth noting that although Ryuji-san is loving and kind to his ex-wife Reiko - for the most part - he still embodies traditional, patriarchal values. This is demonstrated when he forces Reiko to stay at home with their son Yōichi, because she supposedly doesn’t have much time left. Keep in mind that he’s also Yōichi’s parent and only has an additional day to live than Reiko. The patriarchal values are further demonstrated when he slaps Reiko on the face when she seemingly “gives up” on trying to find Sadako’s body, which they mistakenly believe to be the key to ending the curse. Unnecessary much? Additionally, when Reiko goes down in the well to try to find Sadako, she superimposes Ryuji-san with Ikuma – one of the catalysts to Sadako’s curse. Interestingly enough, Ryuji-san is the only one that dies in this film, if we consider the starting point of Reiko’s story as being after the death of her niece, Tomoko.

The curse is finally “put to an end” when Reiko drives off at the film’s end to her parents’ house to pick-up Yōichi and, I assume, ask her father to watch a recording of the cursed tape in order to save her son. Although it’s a grim reading, this can symbolize an end to the patriarchy, since it’s the first time in the duration of the film that a woman takes initiative of her own fate (Reiko relied on Ryuji to save her life before, after all). I suppose another reading could be that the god-like right to decide someone’s life or death (and the violence that comes with killing) is held by a female, Sadako, and thereby subverts the patriarchal paradigm.

[homonecans]

I really didn’t consider the naming of the film until you pointed it out! Your analysis of the patriarchy’s role in the story is also really interesting and something I never would’ve thought of. The superimposition of Ryuji and Ikuma is something I never dwelled on and I think is a strong piece of evidence for your argument.

[homonecans]

Ring (1998)

I really didn’t know what to expect going in to this movie because I don’t have memories of watching the American version other than seeing the scene of Sadako climbing out the TV. I definitely didn’t expect it to be as “tame” as it was. There were no excessive jump scares or overly terrifying visages. The horror aspect was mainly psychological, knowing that death was coming. It was so different from the American horror I usually watch because I was actually expecting a triumphant outcome for the family. I can’t compare this movie with the American version, so I don’t know if there are any significant cultural differences that I didn’t pick up on that changed in the American film. The idea that the protagonist isn’t necessarily good and contributes to the cycle of this horror is particularly scary because I fully expected her to conquer the evil and have a happy ending instead of, presumably, passing the curse on to her father. I guess she thought the curse would die out if she gave it to her elderly father who probably wouldn’t pass it to anyone else, but it was still surprising she chose to do that. Something that kind of pissed me off was that Asakawa did all this research and interviews about the cursed tape yet she still watched it, passed it on, and forgot the solution that the people she was interviewing told her.

I really like how they didn’t show Sadako fully. I feel like when we watch American horror, there is always a full monster reveal which takes away from the fear. We never see Sadako’s face other than her eye which was terrifying. The faces of her victims were probably the most terrifying thing about the movie, which is interesting because they’re just human faces contorted. In all, I liked the movie more than I thought I would.

[jdzng04]

Swallowtail Butterfly

While I acknowledge the efforts put into this fantasy-like epic, Swallowtail Butterfly was in some ways an immense disappointment. The constant back and forth between Chinese, English, and Japanese was a nice attempt at multiculturalism and bringing together different people from different walks of life. However, it is that very attempt at unification that faltered in terms of its execution. Looking back at this film, I wish it had been better executed in terms of its dialogue, and the character development with Glico and her rise to stardom from being a sex worker was quite cheesy if I must say. Her singing reminded me of a half-hearted attempt at a Sheena Ringo impression with the wispy breathy voice that instead turned out mediocre. Though I respect the portrayal of sex workers in film and media, I still found her character quite grating and not adding much to the film. I wish the film was more focused on the development and story of Ageha. Though I will say, the ending was satisfying to some extent.

[homonecans]

I disagree with your assessment of Glico as unimportant. I think her inclusion provided a motherly figure to Ageha and sort of facilitated the message that money is worth less than a sense of community with their found family.

[homonecans]

Swallowtail Butterfly (1996)

This movie caught me off guard from the very beginning. The intro was in jumpy and the font was eccentric while the narration was in English. I really didn’t know what to expect from the movie, other than the subject matter discussed by the narration. I really didn’t expect the movie to be as entertaining or as funny as it was considering the subject matter. The movie managed to connect me to the characters and feel sorrow with them while at times being a little silly. The funniest parts were probably the parts with Ranki and his goons. His goon with he white painted face was especially funny with his love for Glico depicted while he actively attempted to kill her. Another thing that surprised me was that so much of the movie had English dialogue. It was just completely unexpected.

The movie’s main theme seems to be a coming of age story for Ageha and an exploration of identity. Ageha never really has a clear identity other being a Yentown, which I thought helped amplify the sense of community and unity that Yentown fosters. The Yentowns are separated by their otherness from the rest of the Japanese people, although there isn’t any clear distinction to what inherently makes you a Yentown other than being from Yentown. Being born in Japan and speaking Japanese doesn’t make you a Japanese person, as illustrated by Ageha and the Yentown band members. I suppose the Yentown identity represents the lives and treatment of people in Japan that are deemed different. When we were discussing Go (2001), I felt it showed a similar theme, although focused exclusively on Koreans in Japan. This movie presented much more varied representations of discrimination because Yentowns themselves are varied and so you’re able to see the different struggles everyone faces in Japan. Fei Hong’s death was particularly upsetting seeing that the police obviously didn’t see him as deserving of human decency. Overall, I really liked the film.

[jdzng04]

Hana-bi (1997) dir. Takeshi Kitano

I will admit, I was not at all tuned in for the first half of the film, so I was very confused why there was a lot of mindless, senseless murdering and gunning down people. However, as the film reaches its middle act with its deeper focus and insight on Nishi and his wife, I started to get the gist of things more.

Hana-bi is essentially a moving and wondrous yakuza film on a former detective who spends the rest of his time unemployed and taking care of his leukemia-ridden wife, to the extent of getting into financial troubles with the yakuza themselves. It is a film deeply rooted in its humanity, which to me is what makes it an excellent and heartbreaking film to take in. The gloomy cool skies of the film and the cold demeanor of Nishi as he relentlessly tries to escape the yakuza and spend quality time with his wife is a great mesh of the stale depressive parts of living and the one bright light of joy that one looks forward to when they wake up. I think it's this aspect that makes the viewer all the more enticed and engaged as they watch, seeing a seemingly cold and stoic man go out of his way to be vulnerable around someone they love while also standing up for themselves and who they love.

I think even without Hisaishi's score the film would have still been complete in its intentions of its message, but nonetheless, it definitely added depth to a lot of important scenes and also a lot of humanity to the murders. Furthermore, the one particular extreme close-up of Horibe's pointillist painting and the zoom-out from it was absolutely breathtaking to see. It really encapsulated his ongoing emotions as a paralyzed man whose daughter and wife has left him.

The ending at first seemed lost and ambiguous to me, but then after looking back I missed the part where Nishi is seen loading his gun with two bullets (unless it was Nakamura's and I am mistaken). It seems a bit clearer now that Nishi seems to have shot his wife and them himself after embracing for a while and watching the waves crash on the beach. It is a kind of ending that definitely leaves a hollow feeling in your heart the more you think about it.

[homonecans]

I was also zoned out for the entire beginning of the film. Something about the violence wasn’t especially captivating so the second half being so enthralling was a real surprise. The film was somehow heartwarming which makes it one of my top films of the class.

[homonecans]

Hana-bi (1997)

Reading the description of this movie, I didn’t expect to like it as much as I did. I actually didn’t start liking the movie until about halfway when they left for their trip. For a movie so full of violence and fight scenes, I didn’t expect to find the scenes of Nishi enjoying himself on the trip with his wife to be the most interesting and exhilarating. The music throughout the movie was super beautiful, which I guess contrasted the over the top violence. (Side note about the violence: Maybe it’s because I’m not a medical professional but the blood seemed a little excessive for some of the injuries suffered).

Something that was really interesting was how Horibe’s art sort of told the story of Nishi and his wife. The art at times depicted items we would see in Nishi’s storyline (like all the flowers), showed activities Nishi would do with his wife (the fireworks and stargazing), or sometimes art that mimicked Horibe’s style showed up in the background (like Horibe’s pointillism style being mirrored in the painting behind Nishi’s wife when she got her photo taken). The constant connection of Horibe’s pieces with Nishi’s story made the last painting with ‘Suicide’ written on it a clear indication of how the story would end. There was a point where I thought the suicide wouldn’t actually happen because of the paint Horibe threw on the painting, but alas…

The music was intense and almost hauntingly beautiful throughout the entire film, but the clearest instance of the music being registered in my mind was when Nishi decided that he would kill himself and his wife. The music was extremely lively and upbeat so I took the decision to do so as something that would be a new beginning and a better existence for the both of them. The ending was particularly heart wrenching because it’s the only time we hear Nishi’s wife speak clearly. She says “Thank you” and “Sorry” which I interpreted as her showing gratitude that her husband would go through all of this for her. I think she knew or asked Nishi to kill her after this trip was over. I couldn’t think of any other reason why she would say “Sorry” other than her expressing how she knows that killing her is something painful for Nishi to do. The couple clearly love each other and the trip felt like a trip made with the intent to complete all the things on her bucket list.

In contrast to all the bloodshed we see previously in the film, the death of the two are concealed from the audience’s eyes as the camera pans to a view of the bright day sky, making the sound of the following pops indisputably those of gunshots. It’s a moment of privacy and dignity given to the two in their final moments. Overall, this was a surprisingly great film.

[senior-year-blog-project]

Go

I didn’t know what to expect from Go. I knew going into it that it would be a coming-of-age story but not much else. This movie dripped with early 2000s energy. The constant references to popular culture and what was going on was very nice. It felt like a product of its time. Everyone loves a brooding young man with clear anger issues. From the beginning of the movie, Sugihara was very relatable and felt like a good protagonist. The movie did a good job painting a very clear message about Sugihara. He wasn’t a bad kid instead he was a product of the various generational traumas and racism that affected him. He wanted to fit in and tried his best at times. However, at one point he became very disillusioned with the whole idea of integration. He realized that he would never be able to find a place within society due to his heritage. This frustration led to Sugihara engaging in dangerous activities that included attacking cops and getting into many fights. The movie did a good job setting up the fact that Sugihara didn’t necessarily want to fight it’s just he felt like he needed to.

From the beginning of the movie, Sugihara states that this movie is his love story. This love story takes a while to start up. However, once it is in motion the movie does a good job building the relationship up. There was a little to be desired from the relationship. I wish there was more time dedicated to building that bond. I only have this criticism because the breakup felt bad but not like it hit hard enough. It hurt when she told Sugihara that they couldn’t be together because he was Korean. It felt like the one safe space that Sugihara had was destroyed. At no point in this movie is Sugihara in peace other than when he is with Sakurai. Seeing how he reacts when she expressed her racist sentiments was saddening. He is very quiet for most of it and then curtly answers her before leaving. You can tell that he is just disappointed and upset more than angry. We then get a scene where he chooses to knock out and then talk to a cop. This is the first time we see Sugihara feel comfortable talking about his feelings to someone. It was even more important because he was opening to a Japanese cop. This cop turned out to be more accepting than most of the people Sugihara had interacted with. It was a nice scene and did a good job showing the process that Sugihara was going through.

I think my favorite part of this movie was Sugihara’s relationship with his father. There was love there. However, there was a lot of anger and resentment. You can tell Sugihara blames his father and resents him due to the struggles he must go through. You can also tell that his father cares about him and wants to see him succeed. However, his father has no way of communicating this healthily. The relationship is so strained that when his father opens to him Sugihara’s only desire is to fight him. That is why when Sugihara states that he knows that his father only became South Korean for his future it felt gratifying. Being a child of two immigrants I understand the struggle and resentment that can be passed down due to that process. However, it is always important to remove that your parents took this dangerous step knowing the consequences. They knew that they wouldn’t be accepted and that they would face many hardships. But they also knew that this was the only way to give their child a real future. This part of the movie was conveyed beautifully and was capped off well.

[homonecans]

I feel the same about the relationship between Sakurai and Sugihara. I feel that the relationship between the two was very light and whimsical until the point of the breakup. I was also really enthralled by the familial relationship shown and how the family members interacted.

[homonecans]

Go (2001)

I really liked this movie. The film starts with the Romeo and Juliet quote, “What's in a name? That which we call a rose. By any other name would smell as sweet" which gives us a basically complete image of what the relationship will look like. The Romeo and Juliet aspect, the forbidden lovers, and the meaning of the quote itself denoting the struggle with identity that Sugihara has. The core idea this film focusses on is in the meaning of the quote. In the play, Juliet uses this to justify a relationship with Romeo, saying that his name means nothing because it does not determine his basic characteristics. No matter what nationality Sugihara chooses, he’s the same person. When Sugihara’s at the restaurant with Jong-Il and talks about tracing Japanese DNA (to Korean Chinese origins and even further to all humans having a common ancestor), I feel that in a broad sense the film is delves into the idea that no matter how humanity tries to divide by ethnicity, race, or nationality, we are all from the same source and share similar characteristics and are at the end of the day all humans. The entire intro at the basketball game cycles through these arbitrary labels used to divide people and truly question what they mean, which I feel sets the tone for the self-discovery explored throughout the film.

Although despite how many times Sugihara mentions that this is a telling of his love story, I wasn’t particularly interested in his relationship at all. Sugihara had much more interesting things going on in his life like his relationship with his parents, his delinquent friends, and Jong-Il. I feel as though the romance was a subplot to the main focus which was Sugihara’s development as a person. Jong-Il’s death in particular felt like a major turning point in Sugihara’s character. He rejects the idea of violence and revenge that his delinquent friends present to him at the funeral. Before Jong-Il’s death, I feel like Sugihara would have at least entertained the idea of retribution. Sugihara’s life has so much violence in it (Sugihara getting into fights at school, his mother, and his father in general), it was a surprise that he didn’t declare a quest for vengeance himself. We also saw this shift in character when he knocks the policeman down but goes back to buy him a coffee and sit with him.

Sugihara’s relationship with Sakurai felt confusing, but I’m neither Japanese nor Korean so I feel as though I have no proper way of understanding the conflict and tension between them. I have a limited knowledge of Japanese imperialism and horrors of their empire building. I feel as though my limited scope of knowledge isn’t enough to truly view the deepest parts of Sugihara’s struggle with nationality and Sakurai’s prejudice against Korean and Japanese people.