Why are Japanese films so terrible?

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Ooh, thanks Pete - I shall look into this ASAP.

And Ozu makes it hard for me to remember if I've seen a particular film, since every other one is called 'Late Spring' or 'Early Autumn' or 'That Bit Just Before Winter When All The Leaves Have Finally Fallen But It's Not That Cold Yet' or something like that.

― Martin Skidmore, Monday, 29 July 2002 00:00 (10 years ago) Permalink

2 months pass...

have you ever seen mizoguchi´s 'sansho dayu', "street of shame' or 'life of oharu'? what about naruse´s 'when a woman ascends the stairs' or ozu´s 'tokyo story'? are you familiar with shindo´s 'robo no ishii' or kitano´s 'kids return'?
calling japanese films terrible is terrible wrong!

― michael zZzz, Sunday, 6 October 2002 06:53 (10 years ago) Permalink

By the way, I saw 8 or 9 of the Ichikawa films in that season. None of them was as magnificent as An Actor's Revenge, but all of them were strange and wonderful films. Ten Dark Women may have been the pick of the bunch, I think.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Sunday, 6 October 2002 09:58 (10 years ago) Permalink

Takeshi's films i like. haven't seen any works from any other directors.

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Sunday, 6 October 2002 10:04 (10 years ago) Permalink

Were the Gamera films Japanese or Korean?

I dunno, but it's kinda irrelevant, considering the universality of their wonderful theme song:

You are groovy Gamera
groovy, groovy Gamera

Betcha that Rock concert to stop pollution would've worked if they'd played that!

― Daniel_Rf, Sunday, 6 October 2002 13:44 (10 years ago) Permalink

Kurasawa's Dode'skaden = classic
Is Rashomon Kurasawa? i think so, well another great one there.

is anyone familiar with Terayama's cinematic output?
(Emperor Tomatoketchup, where children rule the world and have grown ups as there slaves, and Throw away your books, go out into the streets! which is like a japanese Brecht protest film)

― erik, Sunday, 6 October 2002 14:04 (10 years ago) Permalink

Gamera is really neat, he is full of turtle meat, we've been eating GA-ME-RA!

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 6 October 2002 14:17 (10 years ago) Permalink

Rashomon was the Kurosawa that brought him to the attention of the west, for whatever that is worth. Still the best rain scenes ever.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Sunday, 6 October 2002 14:56 (10 years ago) Permalink

6 months pass...

I saw Gohatto last night and loved it. I think I love Takeshi for all the reasons most people hate him (see Pete's initial post). I have Cruel Story Of Youth to watch tonight. *excited*

― Nordicskillz (Nordicskillz), Monday, 28 April 2003 11:43 (10 years ago) Permalink

The Zaticoichi, The Blind Samurai film series are quite fun. IFC has been showing one every Saturday morning for months and I check out one from time to time.

Nothing like eating cornflakes and watching a blind masseuse take out a dozen people in a few seconds with a katana hidden in a cane.

― earlnash, Monday, 28 April 2003 12:54 (10 years ago) Permalink

Is the pacing annoyingly slow in english-dubbed anime films' dialogue sequences because japanese speech takes longer than english or am I imagining things?

― Stuart (Stuart), Monday, 28 April 2003 15:25 (10 years ago) Permalink

Cruel Story of Youth is fucking incredible. Watch for the scene with the apple.

― amateurist (amateurist), Monday, 28 April 2003 16:18 (10 years ago) Permalink

have you ever seen mizoguchi´s 'sansho dayu', "street of shame' or 'life of oharu'?

Yes! Mizoguchi is less known than he should be. Other good films of his are "Sisters of the Gion", "The Story of the Last Chrysanthemums", "Women of the Night", "Miss Oyû", "Tales of Ugetsu", "Gion Festival Music", "The Woman of Rumour" and "The Tale of the Crucified Lovers".

― Tuomas (Tuomas), Tuesday, 29 April 2003 06:31 (10 years ago) Permalink

;; I saw SPIRITED AWAY yesterday. finally.

― Erik, Tuesday, 29 April 2003 06:53 (10 years ago) Permalink

what everyone else said + kiyoshi kurosawa.

― brian badword (badwords), Tuesday, 29 April 2003 07:03 (10 years ago) Permalink

Can someone name a particularly good japanese monster
movie I watched once that starred a giant human
that battled monsters? "Adventures of" may have
been in the title, and the power rangers bit his look.

― Squirrel_Police (Squirrel_Police), Tuesday, 29 April 2003 17:08 (10 years ago) Permalink

Mizoguchi is the greatest director ever to walk the earth -- don't get me started.

― amateurist (amateurist), Tuesday, 29 April 2003 17:28 (10 years ago) Permalink

I thought I was a Mizoguchi fan, a bit, but I confess I've not seen his giant monster movies.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Tuesday, 29 April 2003 18:52 (10 years ago) Permalink

The poignant tale of Mothra's young daughter, who is forced to become the mistress of a petty-bourgeois shop owner to support her younger sister. Soon, the shop owner dies and Mothrita is taken in by a brutal pimp. After she is beaten by the pimp, she returns to her sister and despairs of the plight of female Mothrites.

― amateurist (amateurist), Tuesday, 29 April 2003 19:00 (10 years ago) Permalink

Ah, yeah, of course. I saw that years ago, before any of you. I just forgot it for a minute.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Tuesday, 29 April 2003 19:40 (10 years ago) Permalink

Some of my fave Japanese movies:

Toky Decadence
Tetsuo
Tampopo
Akira
Audition

Spirited Away hasn't had its official release in Belgium. Waiting.

Jan

― Jan Geerinck (jahsonic), Tuesday, 29 April 2003 19:57 (10 years ago) Permalink

i love japanese films

Search: Ugetsu, Onibaba, Kwaidan, Audition, DeadorAlive, Battle Royale, Tetsuo, Tokyo Fist, Electric Dragon 80000, Angel Dust, Ringu, Blind Beast, Tokyo Drifter, Sonatine, Hana-bi, Afterlife, Hole in the Sky, In the Realm of the Senses, Tampopo, Throne of Blood, Bullet Ballet, Uzumaki, and random Godzilla films i liked as a child.

there should be more Kurosawa, Miyazaki and Ozu and stuff but they somehow don't fall as much into my "canon". maybe i am just being contrarian.

Still must see: Dark Water, Love & Pop, Gemini, Happiness of the Katakuris, A Snake of June, Juon, Eureka, Cure, Tokyo Decadence, Branded to Kill

― Honda (Honda), Tuesday, 29 April 2003 22:43 (10 years ago) Permalink

Iron Man Tetsuo owns this thread for sucking and being totally awesome at the same time.

― Millar (Millar), Tuesday, 29 April 2003 22:49 (10 years ago) Permalink

"All About Lily Chou-Chou" is good.

― kirsten (kirsten), Tuesday, 29 April 2003 23:45 (10 years ago) Permalink

What????

Akira Kurosawa is one of the greatest filmmakers of all time! The 'Baby Cart' series are AMAZING! The Godzilla films from the 60s (especially) are great fun with tremendous scope photography and set design and modern Japanese cinema has belched out such instant classics as 'Audition', 'Tokyo Fist', 'Uzumaki', 'Hypnosis' and 'Dark Water'. I saw 'Inugami' last week and it has style for sale! Man, they know how to make a film look good in Japan.

Kill this thread. I mean, whatever next - Hong Kong cinema, a load of shit or wot???!!!???!!!

― Calum, Tuesday, 29 April 2003 23:54 (10 years ago) Permalink

8 months pass...

"All About Lily Chou Chou" IS good.

― @d@ml (nordicskilla), Monday, 5 January 2004 19:55 (9 years ago) Permalink

I didn't like it

― s1ocki (slutsky), Tuesday, 6 January 2004 04:58 (9 years ago) Permalink

Ugh, I just saw "Ichi the Killer" and it was terrible.

― phil-two (phil-two), Tuesday, 6 January 2004 05:09 (9 years ago) Permalink

I enjoy much Japanese cinema. Takeshi Kitano is one of my faves; search "Kids Return", "Sonatine", and "Kikujiro" for sure, also "Metropolis", "Grave of the Fireflies", and "Spirited Away" for anime. "The Eel" was good, I also liked "Shall we Dance?". I'm far from the toughest critic though; I don't require that films be the pinnacle of their respective genres for me to admit to liking them. I consider the above to be entertaining and interesting, with fairly unique storylines, and a refreshing change from the usual mainstream American garbage I'm exposed to here in the States.

― webcrack (music=crack), Tuesday, 6 January 2004 16:51 (9 years ago) Permalink

There are plenty of other threads in this series to collect.

― Pete (Pete), Tuesday, 6 January 2004 17:04 (9 years ago) Permalink

Phil, where did you see Ichi at?

― dean gulberry (deangulberry), Tuesday, 6 January 2004 17:29 (9 years ago) Permalink

they had the DVD of Ichi at Kim's Video here in New York... Don't bother though. It was really really bad. The story was stupid/confusing and the gore was pretty silly.

― phil-two (phil-two), Tuesday, 6 January 2004 19:35 (9 years ago) Permalink

I've got the DVD of Ichi, one of the very few freebies I got last year. Nasty.

Note for people who haven't seen Afterlife, the Ritzy is showing as its world cinema matinee all week from Friday. 1-ish I think, £3 a pop. I am ver ver tempted to go see again.

― Pete (Pete), Wednesday, 7 January 2004 10:47 (9 years ago) Permalink

I agree that Ichi was quite bad, the plot was muddled and the sick humour wasn't as funny as in other films of Miike, for example Visitor Q.

― Tuomas (Tuomas), Wednesday, 7 January 2004 11:18 (9 years ago) Permalink

kazuki tomokawa is in the new miike movie (with beat takeshi). i probably still won't see it.

"bright future" was pretty good.

― amateur!st (amateurist), Wednesday, 7 January 2004 13:49 (9 years ago) Permalink

2 weeks pass...

My downstairs neighbor, who is big on such types of films, showed me Ichi The Killer last night. I couldn't really concentrate on it but at the very least I thought it's sadomasochistc take on the whole Batman vs. Joker concept was intriguing. I might not have noticed it unless he pointed it out (the bad guy's grin, his purple and green clothes, etc.). Did anyone else catch that element?

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Saturday, 24 January 2004 01:10 (9 years ago) Permalink

I couldn't really concentrate on it

because we were yammering about stuff and it was really, really gross.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Saturday, 24 January 2004 01:11 (9 years ago) Permalink

He also showed me Battle Royale, which I hadn't seen yet. I found that more horrifying than Ichi in its own way, and definitely superior.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Saturday, 24 January 2004 01:16 (9 years ago) Permalink

As pete mentioned on another thread Ozu's tokyo story is being shown daily at the NFT till next thursday. I caught it yesterday and it was some of the most moving cinema I've ever seen.

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Saturday, 24 January 2004 10:24 (9 years ago) Permalink

:-D

― cozen (Cozen), Saturday, 24 January 2004 13:04 (9 years ago) Permalink

i saw Ktano's Zaitochi yesterday as opening film to the Rotterdam Film Festival. Samurai turns to Riverdance.

― Eriik, Saturday, 24 January 2004 13:53 (9 years ago) Permalink

yeah but just for the last three minutes which felt like a cheat to me

although i guess the dancing is foreshadowed a few times

that film left me pretty cold overall

― amateur!st (amateurist), Monday, 26 January 2004 11:21 (9 years ago) Permalink

5 months pass...

bump

anyone for Hiroshi Teshigahara?

http://www.bfi.org.uk/showing/nft/teshigahara/calendar/index.php

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Sunday, 18 July 2004 18:29 (8 years ago) Permalink

I'm going to three of them, Julio - Pitfall on Tuesday, Face Of Another on Thursday, then Rikyu on the Wednesday or Friday of the following week. An old friend is coming to the first two with me (no one you know) but you're obviously more than welcome to come along too - and I'm currently on my own for Rikyu, so if you fancy either showing of that say the word.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Sunday, 18 July 2004 20:05 (8 years ago) Permalink

cool, I'm seeing 'woman of the dunes' tomorrow. won't be there on tue, will try and make it to thurs.

Will def see 'rikyu' the following week.

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Sunday, 18 July 2004 21:19 (8 years ago) Permalink

Anyone seen Suicide Club?

― roxymuzak (roxymuzak), Sunday, 18 July 2004 21:20 (8 years ago) Permalink

I love Japanese cinema. Audition, Gate of Flesh, Spirited Away and the rest of the anime films, Naked Blood, Stacy etc... Sure some of it is tacky, but it's good fun. Trying to say that Japanese cinema is all about giant monsters attacking cities is like trying to say American movies are all about cowboys and indians.

― dog latin (dog latin), Sunday, 18 July 2004 21:34 (8 years ago) Permalink

Contemporary Japanese cinema has it's own clichés, and once you get used to them they can be as irritating as their Hollywood counterparts. This applies especially to anime, which is fun for awhile, but gets really boring once you've seen enough of it. There are gems there, like Miyazaki's flicks, but a lot of the stuff that's imported to the West is mediocre shite aimed at the fanboy market.

― Tuomas (Tuomas), Sunday, 18 July 2004 21:44 (8 years ago) Permalink

We rented "Suicide Club" last week - really good, albeit disturbing. Much graphic violence, much mystery, much schoolgirls leaping to their deaths on the subway track. What more can you want?

― Layna Andersen (Layna Andersen), Sunday, 18 July 2004 23:29 (8 years ago) Permalink

Has anyone seen the three most recent Seijun Suzuki films released on DVD (Underworld Beauty, Kanto Wanderer, Tattooed Life)? The first is a yakuza noir and the latter two are period yakuza films in color, I believe.

I found UB at Borders this weekend, but haven't had a chance to watch it.

― miloauckerman (miloauckerman), Sunday, 18 July 2004 23:57 (8 years ago) Permalink

Skipping 193 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

Saw Ecstasy..., its very rough around the edges (that's the way he likes it), a very different side to Japanese film (even compared to Oshima), he likes to initiate conversation around other underground(s) (Japanese free jazz, deals w/The Red Army), doesn't flinch at the seedy Shinjuku side of life etc.

Don't enough about 'pink cinema' though...

― xyzzzz__, Friday, 4 January 2013 13:15 (4 months ago) Permalink

Would really like to see that. Got the Ozu Student Comedies box for Christmas, haven't dug in yet but will soon.

The title of this thread is kinda depressing, wish we could change it.

― MaresNest, Friday, 4 January 2013 13:29 (4 months ago) Permalink

pisses me off every time it pops up. Pete you are a bad man.

― ばかザッピ (zappi), Friday, 4 January 2013 13:35 (4 months ago) Permalink

worst and wrongest thread title on ilx?

― Jamie_ATP, Friday, 4 January 2013 14:17 (4 months ago) Permalink

it was a 'thing':

French films are shit. Porquoi?

― Ward Fowler, Friday, 4 January 2013 14:19 (4 months ago) Permalink

A mod title change is in order. May I suggest

Japanese films are kuso. Doshite?

― Pauper Management Improved (Sanpaku), Friday, 4 January 2013 14:41 (4 months ago) Permalink

lol

― silver pozole (clouds), Friday, 4 January 2013 16:14 (4 months ago) Permalink

(my copy of rashomon has just arrived, but is missing the slipcase and the booklet. boo)

am now onto the Kurosawa Classics box. but only managed 30 minutes of The Lower Depths at the weekend. should branch out a bit, i think...

― koogs, Friday, 4 January 2013 16:49 (4 months ago) Permalink

The title of this thread is kinda depressing, wish we could change it.
― MaresNest, Friday, 4 January 2013 Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
pisses me off every time it pops up. Pete you are a bad man.
― ばかザッピ (zappi), Friday, 4 January 2013 Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
worst and wrongest thread title on ilx?
― Jamie_ATP, Friday, 4 January 2013 Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

YOU GUYS

I need to remind myself to tell Pete about this when I run into him again.

― xyzzzz__, Friday, 4 January 2013 17:23 (4 months ago) Permalink

you know it's a good troll when it's still aggravating people eleven years down the line.

― c sharp major, Friday, 4 January 2013 17:44 (4 months ago) Permalink

The Living Koheiji?

http://www.moma.org/visit/calendar/film_screenings/17290

― saltwater incursion (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 10 January 2013 18:44 (4 months ago) Permalink

2 weeks pass...

Susumu Hani films at MoMA this weekend (he'll be present too). Bad Boys and what else?

― saltwater incursion (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 30 January 2013 21:01 (3 months ago) Permalink

Only seen Nanami: Inferno of First Love but oh my if it isn't one for all of you new wavers out there.

― xyzzzz__, Wednesday, 30 January 2013 22:11 (3 months ago) Permalink

3 weeks pass...

― shouting in a bucket blues (MaresNest), Monday, 25 February 2013 16:47 (2 months ago) Permalink

1 month passes...

Kwaidan, 1964, colour, 183 minutes (4 separate stories). looks lovely and i think the audio would work on its own, just don't listen after dark.

― koogs, Thursday, 18 April 2013 21:04 (1 month ago) Permalink

one of the greats

― Pope Rusty I (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 18 April 2013 21:23 (1 month ago) Permalink

2 weeks pass...

coming back to kwaidan i have a question. the answer is probably 'of course, you idiot' but hey. the first segment, 'the black hair', at the end the music and sound effects bear no relation to his stumbling around. is it meant to be like that? makes the whole thing feel horribly disconcerting, which i guess is the point.

― koogs, Monday, 6 May 2013 10:43 (2 weeks ago) Permalink

yes

― clouds, Monday, 6 May 2013 12:57 (2 weeks ago) Permalink

coincidently, i found this, from the same week i watch kwaidan, talking about the music by toru takemitsu, mostly of the third part, hoichi the earless. http://www.20jazzfunkgreats.co.uk/wordpress/2013/04/kwaidan/

― koogs, Monday, 6 May 2013 15:42 (2 weeks ago) Permalink

and the music appears to be available here: http://avantgardeproject.conus.info/mirror/AGP24/index.htm

― koogs, Monday, 6 May 2013 15:45 (2 weeks ago) Permalink

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