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Reviews
Popiól i diament (1958)
Move over James Dean! Here Comes... That Guy Whose Name I Can't Spell...
For my money, one of the best historical films I've seen. Although I know nothing of Polish history in WW2, I still found a great story on morality and the complex nature of war. The main character, played by Zbigniew Cybulski was fascinating! He was childlike, cynical and violent at the same time. It's no wonder they called him the Polish James Dean, he acted with such subtlety, style and charisma that you could't help liking him. Man He Was Cool!! And the Director too! I give many kudos to him for the excellent directing. The excellent plotting and symbolic imagery throughout the film made it an enigmatic experience. What a great move to open the film with such action! The first scene starts off things with such a bang and never lets you go! You are invested in every character, even the relatively bad ones (ie The Communist Guy). See this movie even if you know nothing about Poland in WW2, it's a great film anyway!
Yume (1990)
The Scilence
Of the few Kurosawa films i've so far seen, Dreams is the first one in color. Concerning the images on screen this film is beautiful. Kurosawa could truly make his films look like paintings. In a time where idiot reviewers can call 'The A-Team' poetry in motion, this film and other masterpieces will forever be underrated. Funnily enough, of all the films I've seen, I would relate this to a slightly inferior 2001. The reason is the scant dialogue and brutally slow moving scenes. This is one of the reasons I am not the ultimate Space Odyssey fan, because you really have to be in the right interprative mood. This is also what Dreams suffers and thrives from, a snail's pace.
There are pros and cons to each 'Dream' and I will mention each. When talking about slow pace, the one that suffers the most is 'The Blizzard'. This section, while entertaining, is the simplest of stories, and it drags on for too long. Although I'm contradicting myself,some Dreams are too talky- mostly 'the Tunnel', 'Village Of The Watermills',and 'the Weeping Demon' (in my opinion the weakest of the sections) in which half the dream seems to be comprised of a shot of a character talking in a very obvious way about some thematic statement. 'Sunshine Through The Rain' and 'The Peach Orchard' seem to end far too abruptly with most of the Dream being a Kabuki-esquire dance sequence. 'Mount Fuji in Red' is a scathing rant at all things Nuclear and in it's 2 scenes happens to have one of the films highlights and low points. Scene one of the Dream is a really scary Godzilla meets An Inconveniant Truith section that is ironic and unsettling. Part 2 is an overacted, preachy and talkative killer of momentum. Overall my second best.In my humble opinion, the best dream is 'Crows' because it combines the best use of cinematography and weaves it into the story, as well as blending silence with dialogue. This is the only Dream that isn't too preachy or too slow and is perhaps one of the most visceral things Kurosawa has done. The final sequence that has something to do with crows (no spoilers) took me completely by surprise and sent a chill down my spine. Capturing the surreal, enchanting and slightly unsettling feeling of Dreaming.
I know I've taken a few hits at this film but thats only because it's not perfect. It's certainly not Kurosawa's best (in my Opinion that's Rashomon) but the truith is that it's cinematically ingenious. In a world where banal stupidity thrives (cough TRANSFORMERS cough)and gets a fair amount of undeserved praise, on Rotten Tomatoes this film currently gets a 53%! That makes me angry! Watch this movie and see what you think...
8½ (1963)
What cinema is all about!
An opinion. Cinema is a medium where the viewer must see, feel and think. See: The visceral images and be immersed in their hypnotic insanity. Feel: Experience the realism enough to feel connected to the story and characters. Feel as though they are in the middle of things. and most important, Think: To be interpreting, questioning, and readily observing. To be a viewer of great cinema you must be an active audience. So here we have 8 1/2. A film that does all of these things! For a new viewer of the film you must remember a few things. 1. Cinema has changed since then and you will notice glaringly outdated special effects that look really bad. 2. You will be very confused by this film the first time you watch it. This could cause you to give up on it (I almost did). Just remember not to over think it, let yourself be caught up in the hypnotic imagery. Besides, you're supposed to be confused! The only one who fully understands the film is Fellini, and well we all know where he is! 3. This film is a comedy... only problem is it's a different style of comedy, fitted towards the particular culture. Since I have zero Italian blood in me, certain things have gone over my head. 4. For those not assosciated with Fellini, this film is very surrealistic. It jumps between reality, fantasy, imagination, past, and God knows where else. This was in fact my first introduction to Fellini and since seeing his other films, have been surprised at just how radical this film is. Anyway, just a heads up to people who haven't seen the film, on to a brief review. 5. This film is from a director's eye. It will cut away from a plot line to give a close up to a random person just to focus in on them or give them a few lines. As an aspiring director, I found this strangely relatable. The entire film feels quirky and frantic, much like the mind of a creator.
Mastroianni's performance was stellar. A character both different and exactly the same as the one in La Dolce Vita. With wit and cynicism he travels with us on this strange journey. This was one of the first black and white films I've seen where I never felt like I was watching a black and white film. It is filmed in such a vivid and passionate way you never feel bored! Certain scenes are meant to wow you or shock you. A controversial scene that has something to do with a whip (no spoilers!) makes you feel filled with pathos, laughter, anger, and confusion all at the same time! That is much like this film, which fills you with odd, contrasting emotions that offer no simple answers and ask you to choose which ones to act upon.
Kumonosu-jô (1957)
Atmospheric Kurosawa
Considering that I knew nothing of either Noh theatre or Shakespeare's Macbeth. Considering this was only my second Kurosawa film (after Rashomon). Considering that I was newly acquainted with both black & white and forgin language films. THIS FILM BLEW ME AWAY! The first time I watched, I'll admit it was hard to get through, and the plotting was a little difficult to follow, but the overall presentation (and mind blowing finale!) made this film a winner. The best part of the film (in my opinion) was the performance of Toshiro Mifune! I had previously seen his acting in Rashomon and thought that his was probabily the best in the film. While I still prefer his acting in that film over this one, it was Throne of Blood that proved to me that Mifune was of a high caliber. He's actually my favourite actor. The reason is that, while he went BIG in Rasomon (and arguably even bigger in 7 Samurai which I've seen since), here Mifune gives a much more sustained performance. To me that is acting(And this is something actors today never do) to have more than one face and character! I guess this film also showed me something about Kurosawa as a director. See, from reading about him, I'd expected a sort of Kubrick meets Sergio Leone in Japanese. It's because Kubrick is the most visceral of filmmakers (in my opinion). With Kurosawa you have less of a cinematic approach- yet not a talkative novel in pictures (like Godard).Instead, you have a subtle balance of both of these sides. As he said himself, he doesn't have films filled with bloodcurdling visceral images (ie Kubrick). With Kurosawa you have a story that is key and all the filmic devices that you notice have a metaphorical value that contribute to this thematic story... I guess this is something to remember when watching this film (or other Kurosawa films).
Thunder Ninja Kids: Wonderful Mission (1990)
Pure Comic Gold!!!
This film was absolutely Ed Wood esquire! The historical mistakes! The abrupt cuts! The Hilariouly bad dialogue! What was with the voice of that kid? He sounded like a dying elf? And what about the stupidly abrupt ending... I wanted to rip off those stupid rugby helmets! Why a 10/10 you ask? This is the funniest film I have ever seen! HAHAHAHAHALOLHAHAJHA!!... the bhudda... My favourite character was the master of the White Guys, first he doesn't leave with them for no particular reason, then at the VERY end of the film he reappears. He's so creepy and so not a ninja master like! The plot revolves around 3 different clans searching for a golden budda. Some random kid follows them and acts like a comic hero... I guess... Do I sense like a Hidden Fortress, Yojimbo reference here? I wouldn't expect the director to be that smart. HAhahahaha! I didn't understand the Thunder Kids aspect, who were these random kids? (who talk like elves from hell). You know it says a lot that I found this DVD at a dollar store!! However, it greatly made my day...