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.

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: 31 Aug 11: Shinoda Week 3

Taking his cue from Jean-Luc Godard’s use of style and filmic form, Shinoda’s Killers on Parade (1961) exposes Japans ever-growing, post-war fascination with Western culture. The lust and desire experienced by the characters is played out in comic-book styled satire with the figurative and the literal intertwining with the soundtrack and action scenes. Here, a building contractor who wishes to dispose of a journalist who has learnt too much of his unscrupulous business deals hires a band of eclectic assassins to finish her off.

And for the last showing on the Shinoda special is Double Suicide (1969) wherein Jihei, a paper merchant, and Koharu, a geisha, plan their suicides so they may be united in death. The lovers, forced to be separated due to social conventions and class, first appeared in bunraku puppet play in Japanese culture in the 1700s. Here, in Shinoda’s adaption, the characters still exhibit the tendencies of their puppet origins as they are being pulled and manipulated throughout life. Double Suicides juxtaposes Japanese myth and old customs with new wave cinema and modernist elements, enabling the film to resonate with audiences.

This film also signals the end of the Samurai, Assassins, Rebels and Double Suicides that were the Shinoda retrospective of the 1960s. Up next at Cinematheque is a week-long look at pre-code Hollywood.

MIFF Review: Zebraman: Attack on Zebra City

Follow @ausfilmreview

See, this shows why The Green Lantern sucked, and this film does not suck.

Hells. Yeah. This movie is nothing but pure, unadulterated balls-to-the-wall entertainment.

I haven’t seen the first Zebraman, but if there are any people out there in need of a weird Japanese comedy about a school-teacher turned superhero fighting a homicidally-deranged pop star, Zebraman 2 will satisfy. As a sequel I couldn’t say if they’ve stayed true to the spirit of the original, but who cares?  Everything is fairly shallow, they tell you the bits of plot you need, and stripe it with broad lashings of Zen-lite philosophy. It won’t blow your consciousness to hell, but you’ll laugh, which in my opinion is worth more.You don’t need to know a damn thing about the Zebraman universe to get this so I’ll not waste precious words with plot.

Just watch this for fun subversion of Japanese tropes. And awesome outfits. And a giant soul-separating centrifuge. And sexy dudes with great hair. And the Mini-Skirt Police. And proof that comic timing transcends language. This film is great for a number of things, but what it really relies on most is the perfect interplay of restraint and insanity (hey, meta shit right there). I think everyone in the cinema breathed a sigh of relief when potential live-action tentacle rape was averted. As it was the girly crotch shots got more hilariously gratuitous as the film went on, and had this been an American movie it probably would have been offensive instead of funny. Also, best Safe Sex Endorsement ever.

If you’re into that sort of thing, you will have a damn good time if you see this film.

8.5/10

DVD Review: Summer Wars (2009)

By Michael De Martino

(Mamoru Hosoda, 2009, Japan, in Japanese, Science-fiction, 114 minutes)

Time and time again, Japanese anime proves that the field of animation extends farther than that of Disney, Pixar or Dreamworks, and what a marvellous little gem of an example this film is!

Kenji, a 17 year old maths-wizz school student and moderator of the online interactive world, OZ, is asked to stand in as the boyfriend of 18 year old student, Natsuki, for her grandmother’s 90th birthday party. While at the party, Kenji is sent a mysterious numerical code. Kenji cracks the code, thus unknowingly allowing OZ to be hacked, creating a super avatar which takes over the security systems.

At first you wonder why that’s such a big deal, a couple of people lose their account and that’s all, right? Wrong. So very, very wrong.

OZ is much more than a social network or online role-playing game. As it turns out, the world has put so much faith into this program such as major corporation accounts and emergency services contact details. As the super avatar wrecks havoc in the OZ universe, consequences are felt in the real world, growing progressively more disastrous as the program is corrupted.

Aesthetically this film is to the point of masterpiece. Intricately crafted backgrounds with precise detail are illustrated in every frame. From the cute avatars of OZ, to the humanoid characters and rendered sceneries, every aspect of the animation is executed with great precision.

Summer Wars is a very modern film which communicates a powerful statement on the way the rapid expansion of online communities can not only create a global village but also have catastrophic consequences that are much worse than we could ever imagine.

Summer Wars is an elaborately executed and highly enjoyable work of imagination which teaches a powerful message to citizens of our time. The Japanese anime can be very addictive, and this film is an apt example of how the obsession begins. Even so, I recommend this film not only to the animation fans, but to everyone, for it is an overall enjoyable film.

8.9/10

Special features

Special features include a detailed interview with the director, theatrical trailer, TV promotional spots, footage from an exclusive theatrical promo, and interviews with several cast members.

The highlight of these special features is the informative interview from director Mamoru Hosoda. Sometimes learning the inspiration behind a film can add to its appreciation, and this is certainly the case with Summer Wars. Hosoda speaks of his views on the prominent involvement of technology in Japan today, as well as Japan’s culture. This interview alone makes the separate Special Features well worth it.

3.5/5