Melbourne Cinematheque- The Youth of the Beast: One Hundred Years of Nikkatsu, week III

Having made over forty films for Nikkatsu studios, Melbourne Cinematheque is closing their retrospective with two films by Seijun Suzuki. Making many Yakuza/mafia B-genre films, Suzuki became more and more interested in the surreal and created an extremely distinct visual style, drawing the ire of the studio which eventually got him fired and black listed for ten years.

Kanto Wanderer (1963) portrays two relationships in one man’s life; his romantic interest in an unattainable woman from his past, and his devotion and contempt to the all-male Yakuza groups of Japan. In a world where honour is everything, Katsuta is thrust into situations where tensions escalate throughout the film, finally coming to a head over a rigged card game.

Made directly after Kanto Wanderer, The Flowers and the Angry Waves (1964) looks at the corruption of honour and tradition in the face of commercialism and modernity throughout early twentieth-century Japanese society. There is a forbidden love story too, adding to the frantic and frenzied plot of one of Suzuki’s least known films.

MIAF Day 3 – International Program #8: Abstract Showcase

Word from event organiser, Malcolm Turner, is that MIAF is one of the very few major animation festivals to promote abstract animation, and I tip my hat to him. I have been lucky enough to witness the abstract session three years in a row and it never fails to amaze me. Walking into this session is tantalising because you never know what to expect. There are no rules or criteria to these films; they exist to be out of the ordinary, and those willing to have their mind expanded will thank themselves.

20 Hz (Ruth Jarman, Joe Gerhardt, 2011) – Hypnotising waves and patterns of static. Looks much more appealing than it sounds.

One Second Per Day/ Une Seconde Par Jour (Richard Negre, 2011) – The challenge was set: 1 second of footage, 25 frames per second, for every day of the year. Entertaining from an audience point of view and intriguing from a wannabe-creative point of view in terms of what can be achieved in a set period of time, and how simple and complex one second of film can be.

Strings (Benjamin Ducroz, 2011) – This Australian film has a brilliant flow of colourful vectors to fast-paced music. Miniature film with lasting impact.

Sensology (Michael Gagne, 2010) – This is the kind of film I come to a festival hoping to see. An animated representation of three avant-garde pieces of music. May not be the most original idea but the beauty and pacing of this film is utterly incredible.

MIAF Day 2 – International Program #1; Focus on Belgium #1

REMINDER: The Australian Showcase is Saturday the 23^rd at 4.00pm. Tickets will most likely sell out so make sure you get your ticket secured.

International Program #1

The first twelve assorted films in the running for Best of the Festival. Mostly consisting of European and Asian films, the first international program gave us viewers a good taste of what is to be expected from the films up for the grand prize. What is that expectation? Complete and utter randomness. CGI, scratch, cel, cut-out, stop-motion; it was all there!

Here are my top picks for this screening:

About Killing the Pig/ Dell’ammazare Il Maiale (Simone Massi, 2011) – Very dark charcoal-looking animation with little colour but plenty of style.

My… My (Lei Lei, 2011) Heavily inspired by video games, a man chases a moose-man through a glitch-ridden world.

Auntie Nettle (Svetlana Zueva, 2011) Russian cut-out animation with almost an expressionist look about it. A haunting little film; like the nightmare of The Secret Garden, complete with piercing string music and grotesque visuals. Arguably the best film of the session.

How to Eat Your Apple (Erick Oh, 2011) – Exactly as it sounds, but with a bizarre, humorous twist.

Focus on Belgium #1

Before this session I didn’t even know Belgian animation existed. I’m sure glad I gave it a go. The session consisted of a fine mixture of historic and contemporary Belgian animation. From this collection of films there seems to be a pattern or theme with Belgian animation – as cheerful as a film may seem, it will inevitably have a negative conclusion.

Un Voyage Imprevu (Albert Fromenteau, 1944) – Proof that Disney set the blueprints of animation to the entire world, this film from the 40s resembles the forest setting and singing animals of the American animation powerhouse. The key difference is this film is a little crazier than Disney and didn’t have much of a story to go with it.

Goldframe (Raoul Servais, 1969) – Hilarious tongue-in-cheek film about a filmmaker, Mr. Golframe, who must be the first to produce a film in 270mm. He attempts this by dancing off against his silhouette.

To Speak Or Not To Speak  (Raoul Servais, 1970) – What begins as a humorous piece of social commentary mohps into a straight-faced and blatantly political piece of propaganda.

Compartments Or “I Am Not A Monster” (Hannah Letaif, 2011) – Totally insane animation that grotesquely exaggerates everyday tasks. Will be repeated at the Late Night Bizarre session.

MIAF 2012

And it’s here once again: the spine-tingling, mind-blowing, death-defying, break-neck, out-of-this-world event of Melbourne’s cinema scene – the Melbourne International Animation Festival, or, MIAF 2012. The world unites as one in a place where age, race, religion, status, and cultural background are replaced by the artistic wonder that is animation. I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again: THIS is the event to blow your socks off and demolish the barriers of creative limitations you thought existed. But why take this fanboy’s word for it? Why not let the films speak for themselves…

This year focuses on Belgium and Poland. Natives – come support your nations! Non-natives – come see why the natives think they’re cooler than you! And to the anime fans out there: why not get a taste of REAL Japanese animation? Take Bonnie for example. Impressed? Well there’s much more where that came from.

Last night’s Opening Night Gala gave us a taste of what to expect from this year’s festival. This cannot be stressed enough: there is something in this festival for literally everyone. Everything from child-friendly animation to adult-only head trips; from the 1940s to the present day; from cut-out to claymation to CGI to 3D; with over 400 films from over 30 countries is very likely your fancy will be tickled. I will be there all week and so should you.

Melbourne Cinematheque- The Youth of the Beast: One Hundred Years of Nikkatsu, week II

Nippon Katsud Shashin (‘Nikkatsu’ for those in the know) was founded in 1912, making it Japan’s oldest major film studio. With over 3,300 productions to its name Nikkatsu studios has been pivotal in the development of sound within cinema in Japan, helped the emergence of numerous directors, screenwriters, producers, and actors, and worked hard to survive the fallout of World War II. Becoming known for its youth film of the 1950s and crime films of the ‘60s, the studio eventually fell prey to the invasion of home video in the late ‘70s, forcing the company to focus on ‘Roman Porno’- soft-core erotica- before eventually declaring bankruptcy in 1993.
But never fear- Nikkatsu is back! In 2010 a new-look studio was opened and production began on a film series, ‘Sushi Typhoon’.

Home Village (1980) follows the rise of Yoshio Fujimura, a talented young singer noticed by a “society lady” who helps him achieve his dream, and the fall of his maid Ayako who is in love with him. Directed by Kenji Mizoguchi, the film showcases his love for long takes and the perfect mise-en-scene whilst also incorporating an uncharacteristic (for Mizoguchi) amount of close-ups and montage sequences. Home Village also marks the first use of sound in a Nikkatsu film.

Profound Desires of the Gods (1968) is a culmination of Shohei Imamura’s pre-occupation with the lower strata’s of Japanese society, dominant throughout his work in the 1960s. Set on a seemingly lost and incredibly small island, the film follows the Futori family who are greatly inbred, believe in the Old Laws, and are ridiculed by the other few families on the island. With the arrival of an engineer to build a well, the barely-there truce shatters, sending the island into disaster.

Melbourne Cinematheque- The Power of Desire: The Decadent Visions of Josef von Sternberg (week III)

The Blue Angel (1930) was the film that introduced Marlene Dietrich to the world. It was also one of the last films silent star Emil Jannings completed. Filmed simultaneously in German and English- and being considered the first fully sound German film- the plot follows Professor Immanuel Rath (Jannings) who, after confiscating a photograph of a cabaret dancer from his students, goes to the bar later that evening to meet her. Upon catching sight of the notorious Lola (Dietrich) Rath’s life spirals out of control, forcing him to leave his teaching position and become a clown in the troupe. Rath is now nothing more than a man driven insane with humiliation, poverty and Lola’s infidelity.
Rainer Werner Fassbinder, who we all know and love from previous Cinematheque experiences (BRD Trilogy, anyone?), based his feature Lola (1981) on von Stenberg’s work. He didn’t remake it as such, rather he played homage to von Stenberg’s vision. Also, Antony Hegarty has a song entitled ‘Blue Angel’. I’m not sure if it is related but it is a good song, so you should all get on to that too.

The Last Command (1928) again features Emil Jannings, this time in a role that won him the first every Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role. He plays Sergius Alexander- a poverty-struck extra in Hollywood who is cast as a Russian general in a film about the fall of the Tsarist regime by director Leo Andreyev. Unknown to others, Alexander and Andreyev share a history causing Andreyev to humiliate him. Ten years previous Alexander had indeed been a Tsarist general who sent the revolutionist actor Andreyev to prison, who now commands the exiled man who relive the past he would rather forget.

To end the Josef von Sternberg retrospective is the short The Town (1943), a documentary on the effect war has had on life in Madison, Indiana.