1955 film
directed by Akira Kurosawa
written by Fumio Hayasaka, Akira Kurosawa, Shinobu Hashimoto, Hideo Oguni
In what is considered the last of his films to explore the immediate after effects of WWII and the US occupation in Japan, Kurosawa took another lift in censorship to explore one of the boldest topics:
The Bomb.
Toshiro Mifune plays Kiichi Nakajima, the elderly owner of a successful foundry, who lives every day with a deep fear of possible nuclear war. He feels the only place that would be safe from nuclear fallout is South America, so, like a number of Japanese at the time, he arranges the purchase of property in Brazil with the intention of moving his entire family - including three mistresses and their children - out of harm's way. This doesn't sit well with his extended brood who don't want to give up their individual lives in Japan and shrug off the threat of nuclear annihilation as something beyond their control. When stubbornness rears its ugly head, the case goes to family court as the kids try to have their father declared incompetent and bar him from his finances.
Though I admit he lights up the screen, I've been a bit critical of Mifune's performances in the past, seeing them as just a hair beyond that line that would take them over-the-top. Such is not the case here as he disappears into the role of Kiichi, a man 40 years his senior. Though the powdered hair and darkened age lines are surprisingly effective with the B&W photography, it's Mifune's shambling, weakened gait, grimacing scowl, and defiant yet tired eyes that really sell the part. And he manages to hold himself back just enough to keep it from feeling artificial.
The extended family is marvelously handled with each character getting their own reason for why they want to stop Kiichi's plans. Some don't want him to sell the successful foundry, the business they hope to inherit, as collateral. Some, the younger, don't want to leave their lifestyles behind. Some just think the guy's crazy. What I like, though, is that they each get a well rounded exploration of why they believe what they believe, instead of just lumping them together as a collective mass against this old man.
And we get some wonderful drama within the family itself, too, as this incident forces the legitimate kin to come face to face with the mistresses and children of an illegitimate nature. It's fascinating seeing some of these stray relations slowly find themselves enveloped in the warmth of a larger family, while others trigger explosive arguments over who should and shouldn't be included in the will.
I'm so glad Kurosawa has found a pair of writers, Hashimoto and Oguni, who know how to take his ideas and expand them to their fullest potential, while molding all the disparate elements into a collective whole and smoothing over the sentimental moments Kurosawa stumbled over earlier in his career. Between this, IKIRU, and SEVEN SAMURAI, they really do make a winning team and I'm very interested to see what their collaborations are like on later projects.
Back to the story, things take a nice twist half way through when the kids succeed in their case to have Kiichi declared incompetent. The film changes gears a bit here and becomes a fascinating exploration of how this man, who really had thought the situation through to a clever degree, slowly does slip into senility simply because he finds his choices, his options, his ability to lead his own life, pried from his grasp. It's a reversal, of sorts, on the themes explored in IKIRU. There, an unsuccessful man receives a sentence that leads him to better his life. Here, a successful man receives a sentence that causes his life to fall apart.
It's a tragedy, but a believable one that happens to a surprising degree in real life. And I like how Kurosawa uses Takashi Shimura as a court mediator who initially votes in the kids' favor, then comes to question his decision as he encounters Kiichi several more times and begins to feel for himself the nagging fear in the back of the soul that potential nuclear devastation can trigger.
It's surprising that this is one of Kurosawa's lesser known films, because it certainly isn't among his least. Maybe it's the quiet, meditative nature that resembles his final works, or the depressing tale that doesn't offer any easy answers. Whatever the case, this certainly is a film that deserves study, if only for the window it offers into the one society on Earth that fell victim to The Bomb.
(purchase DVD boxset of 4 Kurosawa films)
(purchase DVD boxset of 25 Kurosawa films)
(wikipedia)
(internet movie database)
November 29, 2008
Seven Samurai
1954 film
directed by Akira Kurosawa
written by Akira Kurosawa, Shinobu Hashimoto, Hideo Oguni
(my review of episode 1 of the 2004 television adaptation)
In 16th century Japan, a farming village learns that the upcoming harvest will bring with it a bandit raid, so they set out to hire a pack of samurai to protect them. Though the setup is simple, this film, Kurosawa's deserving masterpiece, most certainly isn't.
Let's start with the samurai. In many contemporary stories of the time, they are little more than fierce warriors bound by a code of duty, honor, and tradition. Yet Kurosawa gives us our first glimpse of his realistic ronin when one kicks the farmers down in the dirt for asking his help. This film isn't an illusion, a glossed over fantasy of times long past, it is a realistic, warts-and-all portrayal of people in a severely classist time. What hero of this period would care about a group of farmers when he has lords and castles to protect?
Enter Takashi Shimura as Kambei Shimada, a calm, strategic ronin who admits up front that most of his past battles were losses. He's introduced to us as he impersonates a monk by shaving off his topknot of hair, a major cultural taboo of the time, and uses charm and deception instead of fierce swordplay to free a hostage. This is a man who cares little for tradition and titles, just doing whatever it takes to save those who need saving, making him a strikingly modern hero in a period often packed with stereotypes.
In fact, I'd say there's only one stereotypical samurai in the entire piece: Kyozo (Seiji Miyaguchi), a stoic master swordsman who spends most of his free time either in quiet contemplation or an obsessive honing of his technique. The others are a more colorful bunch: Gorobei Katayama (Yoshio Inaba), a genial archer and military strategist; Heihachi Hayashida (Minoru Chiaki), a mediocre swordsman with a blunt sense of humor that rallies the others; Shichiroji (Daisuke Kato), an old friend of Kambei who openly laughs that he survived a major battle because he hid in the weeds; Katsushiro Okamoto (Isao Kimura), a young man of wealth with a lot to learn, but an eagerness to do so which wins him the opportunity.
And then we get to Toshiro Mifune. His character, known as Kikuchio though we never learn his real name, was born a farmer, yet lost his parents to similar bandit raids. He is brash, arrogant, and has a desperation for attention that leads to frequent overcompensation (just look at the size of his sword), but all he wants is the honor of being a samurai.
This superb cast forms the motley crew the villagers are able to hire (aka the only ones who will work for food). And how is their arrival greeted? With fear. These farmers have long memories and they won't forget the wars that spilled over onto their lands and the atrocities committed by samurai and bandit alike. This is brought furthest to the front when one old farmer snips the hair of his beautiful daughter and forces her to dress like a boy for fear that our heroes will rape her.
So the story isn't just about the samurai setting up a defense around the town, but about winning over the village's trust. A situation that doesn't help is when a cache of armor and weapons stolen from dead (or murdered) samurai turns up. It's an interesting study Kurosawa brings up as the heroes have to defend people they don't trust, and the people have to hire heroes they fear. But all must be pushed aside when the harvest arrives and the bandits make their grand entrance.
If everything else where a failure, this film would still deserve praise for the huge outdoor set of the village and surrounding mountains. Kurosawa is a grand master of shot composition and editing, so it's all put to glorious use, especially during the final battle in the middle of a mud-splattered rainstorm ... a Kurosawa tradition.
With the help of Hashimoto and Oguni, Kurosawa has crafted a story that magnificently manages to cover all the sides of a seemingly simple situation. And he laces it with such skill, such rich detail, such a keen understanding of the time and place, that one cannot help being swept away. I understand that some will instantly balk when they see the running time of 207 minutes, but believe me when I say every second is worth it. There's not a single moment that passes which doesn't add a further level of detail to the goings on. If anything, I wish it could be longer since the characters are so compelling I just want more.
(trailer)
(purchase DVD)
(purchase Blu-Ray)
(purchases DVD boxset of 25 Kurosawa films)
(wikipedia)
(internet movie database)
directed by Akira Kurosawa
written by Akira Kurosawa, Shinobu Hashimoto, Hideo Oguni
(my review of episode 1 of the 2004 television adaptation)
In 16th century Japan, a farming village learns that the upcoming harvest will bring with it a bandit raid, so they set out to hire a pack of samurai to protect them. Though the setup is simple, this film, Kurosawa's deserving masterpiece, most certainly isn't.
Let's start with the samurai. In many contemporary stories of the time, they are little more than fierce warriors bound by a code of duty, honor, and tradition. Yet Kurosawa gives us our first glimpse of his realistic ronin when one kicks the farmers down in the dirt for asking his help. This film isn't an illusion, a glossed over fantasy of times long past, it is a realistic, warts-and-all portrayal of people in a severely classist time. What hero of this period would care about a group of farmers when he has lords and castles to protect?
Enter Takashi Shimura as Kambei Shimada, a calm, strategic ronin who admits up front that most of his past battles were losses. He's introduced to us as he impersonates a monk by shaving off his topknot of hair, a major cultural taboo of the time, and uses charm and deception instead of fierce swordplay to free a hostage. This is a man who cares little for tradition and titles, just doing whatever it takes to save those who need saving, making him a strikingly modern hero in a period often packed with stereotypes.
In fact, I'd say there's only one stereotypical samurai in the entire piece: Kyozo (Seiji Miyaguchi), a stoic master swordsman who spends most of his free time either in quiet contemplation or an obsessive honing of his technique. The others are a more colorful bunch: Gorobei Katayama (Yoshio Inaba), a genial archer and military strategist; Heihachi Hayashida (Minoru Chiaki), a mediocre swordsman with a blunt sense of humor that rallies the others; Shichiroji (Daisuke Kato), an old friend of Kambei who openly laughs that he survived a major battle because he hid in the weeds; Katsushiro Okamoto (Isao Kimura), a young man of wealth with a lot to learn, but an eagerness to do so which wins him the opportunity.
And then we get to Toshiro Mifune. His character, known as Kikuchio though we never learn his real name, was born a farmer, yet lost his parents to similar bandit raids. He is brash, arrogant, and has a desperation for attention that leads to frequent overcompensation (just look at the size of his sword), but all he wants is the honor of being a samurai.
This superb cast forms the motley crew the villagers are able to hire (aka the only ones who will work for food). And how is their arrival greeted? With fear. These farmers have long memories and they won't forget the wars that spilled over onto their lands and the atrocities committed by samurai and bandit alike. This is brought furthest to the front when one old farmer snips the hair of his beautiful daughter and forces her to dress like a boy for fear that our heroes will rape her.
So the story isn't just about the samurai setting up a defense around the town, but about winning over the village's trust. A situation that doesn't help is when a cache of armor and weapons stolen from dead (or murdered) samurai turns up. It's an interesting study Kurosawa brings up as the heroes have to defend people they don't trust, and the people have to hire heroes they fear. But all must be pushed aside when the harvest arrives and the bandits make their grand entrance.
If everything else where a failure, this film would still deserve praise for the huge outdoor set of the village and surrounding mountains. Kurosawa is a grand master of shot composition and editing, so it's all put to glorious use, especially during the final battle in the middle of a mud-splattered rainstorm ... a Kurosawa tradition.
With the help of Hashimoto and Oguni, Kurosawa has crafted a story that magnificently manages to cover all the sides of a seemingly simple situation. And he laces it with such skill, such rich detail, such a keen understanding of the time and place, that one cannot help being swept away. I understand that some will instantly balk when they see the running time of 207 minutes, but believe me when I say every second is worth it. There's not a single moment that passes which doesn't add a further level of detail to the goings on. If anything, I wish it could be longer since the characters are so compelling I just want more.
(trailer)
(purchase DVD)
(purchase Blu-Ray)
(purchases DVD boxset of 25 Kurosawa films)
(wikipedia)
(internet movie database)
My Own Worst Enemy #5: The Night Train to Moscow
2008 episode
directed by David Semel
written by Rafe Judkins and Lauren LeFranc
created by Jason Smilovic
(previous)
(next)
One of the reasons Edward signed up for this program was the understanding that he wouldn't have any more serious relationships, wouldn't have to endanger his missions because of thoughts of someone waiting back home, wouldn't have to fall in love. When a presidential candidate in Kazakhstan is kidnapped by the KGB, Edward is paired up with the man's wife (Isabella Hofmann), a Russian operative who fell for the politician she was meant to spy on, and all of the lines between real relationships and cover start to crumble.
Take, for instance, Angie, Henry's everyday wife back home. When the hapless half of our hero spots her making secret meetings when she should be somewhere else, suspicions start to rise. Is she a spy? Is she a part of Janus? Is she a member of a foreign operation? Such questions only deepen when he finds out that a photograph from their past is fake.
The exploration here is truly fantastic and naturally plays off of the building sense of paranoia in Henry's mind. And the conflict is beautifully maintained between him and Edward because we've seen how the killer reacts when questions of security are raised, and neither Henry nor us want to see anything happen to Angie before answers can be found. And props to the writers for not going the way I expected them to. It would have been a memorable twist, but an artificial one that would feel like a shock for the sake of shock.
And then there's Edward's relationship with Dr. Skinner. Perhaps it's appropriate that we know little of what's specifically going on beneath the intensity of their romance, because they don't seem to have everything figured out, either.
And it's a shame that we may never see the resolution of that plot thread, or get the answers to so many other questions, because this series has been cancelled. From what I hear, there's four more episodes left to air, and I'll be here for every single one of them, but it's a shame that a series which not only had a killer concept, but some of the most spot-on perfect execution I've seen in years, from both cast and crew, is getting the axe when there's so much left to tell. (sigh) Such is the life of the TV viewing audience.
(purchase)
(official website)
(wikipedia)
(internet movie database)
directed by David Semel
written by Rafe Judkins and Lauren LeFranc
created by Jason Smilovic
(previous)
(next)
One of the reasons Edward signed up for this program was the understanding that he wouldn't have any more serious relationships, wouldn't have to endanger his missions because of thoughts of someone waiting back home, wouldn't have to fall in love. When a presidential candidate in Kazakhstan is kidnapped by the KGB, Edward is paired up with the man's wife (Isabella Hofmann), a Russian operative who fell for the politician she was meant to spy on, and all of the lines between real relationships and cover start to crumble.
Take, for instance, Angie, Henry's everyday wife back home. When the hapless half of our hero spots her making secret meetings when she should be somewhere else, suspicions start to rise. Is she a spy? Is she a part of Janus? Is she a member of a foreign operation? Such questions only deepen when he finds out that a photograph from their past is fake.
The exploration here is truly fantastic and naturally plays off of the building sense of paranoia in Henry's mind. And the conflict is beautifully maintained between him and Edward because we've seen how the killer reacts when questions of security are raised, and neither Henry nor us want to see anything happen to Angie before answers can be found. And props to the writers for not going the way I expected them to. It would have been a memorable twist, but an artificial one that would feel like a shock for the sake of shock.
And then there's Edward's relationship with Dr. Skinner. Perhaps it's appropriate that we know little of what's specifically going on beneath the intensity of their romance, because they don't seem to have everything figured out, either.
And it's a shame that we may never see the resolution of that plot thread, or get the answers to so many other questions, because this series has been cancelled. From what I hear, there's four more episodes left to air, and I'll be here for every single one of them, but it's a shame that a series which not only had a killer concept, but some of the most spot-on perfect execution I've seen in years, from both cast and crew, is getting the axe when there's so much left to tell. (sigh) Such is the life of the TV viewing audience.
(purchase)
(official website)
(wikipedia)
(internet movie database)
24: Redemption
2008 tv movie
directed by Jon Cassar
written by Howard Gordon
created by Joel Surnow and Robert Cochran
(next)
The fictional African nation of Sangala sinks into turmoil as General Juma (Tony Todd) preps a coup that will launch in several hours. Despite a known past of attempted uprisings, he's managed to sneak under the international radar this time by recruiting hoards of kidnapped and brainwashed children.
Jack Bauer (Keifer Sutherland) has been ducking from one country to another the last several years, avoiding the US forces that always seem to track him down. By the miraculous chance happenings of television, he finds himself assisting Carl Benton (Robert Carlyle), a missionary who runs a school for children orphaned by the frequent civil wars. When the forces of Gen. Juma decide to raid the school and convert the kids to their side, it's up to Jack to save the day.
Things go pretty much as expected for the next 90 minutes, with Jack shouting, shooting, and giving his all to protect the innocent. Hell, we even get the required scene of him getting tortured, only to turn the tables on his attackers. In other words, there's very little new on the Bauer front as he broods and internalizes his suffering, but it's still nice to see Keifer back in action, even if it's in a story that, while important to tell, comes off preachy and heavy handed. Especially when Jack finds himself gun to gun with one of the soldier children (a factor that's underused except in the beginning) and manages to talk the boy down through the power of his sheer heroicness. As terrible as this sounds, I think it actually would have increased the drama if Jack was forced to shoot the boy as the group of children he's protecting watched in horror, the psychological ramifications of which could be explored in the upcoming season.
Robert Carlyle deserves special mention. Usually cast as a villain or weaselly sidekick, it's great to see him in a heroic role as a man recovering from a shady past, a history that leaves him with just as much knowledge of guns and explosives as our lead. It's a shame he couldn't stick around for a bit of the following season, but he went out well.
Faring not so well is Tony Todd as the villainous General. He's only in a grand total of two scenes and does little more than glare and snarl lines in his gravely voice. More attention is given to his underling, Col. Dubaku (Hakeem Kae-Kazim), who endangers his mission when Jack kills his brother. To put it simply, they're bland, card-board cutouts who serve as little more than message-making foils for our heroes and broader society to overcome.
Elsewhere, what would 24 be without the soap opera twists and turns of political leaders? While most is just setup for the following season, there's a nice clash between outgoing President Noah Daniels (Powers Booth) and President Elect Allison Taylor (Cherry Jones). In two hours, she'll be swearing in to the office, and has her opinions on how best to handle the coup of Sangala. But Daniels will have none of it and orders an evacuation that gives Jack a ticking clock that he'll have to overcome in order to get his batch of children to the protection of the US embassy. In an episode of otherwise forced plotting, this is a nice concoction that naturally ups the drama while also giving us a taste of where this new President stands on things.
In terms of the stuff that sets up the next season, we get John Voigt as the leader of a corporation, with ties to the Secret Service, who's been funding the coup. There's a bit of a plot when an employee, a friend of President Taylor's son, Roger (Eric Lively), tries to leak financial information, but there's very little of the broader thread that gets resolved by the end, so we'll have to see where they go when the season proper starts.
It's hard for me to be critical of this show because, honestly, it's no worse that it's ever been. Is it heavy handed? Yes. Is there very little gray area between the black and white of good and evil? Yes. Does it vilify people who use brutal tactics unless they do it for good reasons? Yes.
But that's 24. They may be the shortcomings of the series as a whole, but they are the core elements that make this show what it is. And it's a bluntness that I've come to expect, so it's hard to criticise. As it is, this special episode of 24 is just as good or bad as every other chapter of the series, so I doubt it'll change any minds. If you like what's come before (I do in spite of myself), then you'll enjoy this. Now I'm just waiting to see what they do with season 7.
(trailer)
(purchase)
(purchase)
(official website)
(wikipedia)
(internet movie database)
directed by Jon Cassar
written by Howard Gordon
created by Joel Surnow and Robert Cochran
(next)
The fictional African nation of Sangala sinks into turmoil as General Juma (Tony Todd) preps a coup that will launch in several hours. Despite a known past of attempted uprisings, he's managed to sneak under the international radar this time by recruiting hoards of kidnapped and brainwashed children.
Jack Bauer (Keifer Sutherland) has been ducking from one country to another the last several years, avoiding the US forces that always seem to track him down. By the miraculous chance happenings of television, he finds himself assisting Carl Benton (Robert Carlyle), a missionary who runs a school for children orphaned by the frequent civil wars. When the forces of Gen. Juma decide to raid the school and convert the kids to their side, it's up to Jack to save the day.
Things go pretty much as expected for the next 90 minutes, with Jack shouting, shooting, and giving his all to protect the innocent. Hell, we even get the required scene of him getting tortured, only to turn the tables on his attackers. In other words, there's very little new on the Bauer front as he broods and internalizes his suffering, but it's still nice to see Keifer back in action, even if it's in a story that, while important to tell, comes off preachy and heavy handed. Especially when Jack finds himself gun to gun with one of the soldier children (a factor that's underused except in the beginning) and manages to talk the boy down through the power of his sheer heroicness. As terrible as this sounds, I think it actually would have increased the drama if Jack was forced to shoot the boy as the group of children he's protecting watched in horror, the psychological ramifications of which could be explored in the upcoming season.
Robert Carlyle deserves special mention. Usually cast as a villain or weaselly sidekick, it's great to see him in a heroic role as a man recovering from a shady past, a history that leaves him with just as much knowledge of guns and explosives as our lead. It's a shame he couldn't stick around for a bit of the following season, but he went out well.
Faring not so well is Tony Todd as the villainous General. He's only in a grand total of two scenes and does little more than glare and snarl lines in his gravely voice. More attention is given to his underling, Col. Dubaku (Hakeem Kae-Kazim), who endangers his mission when Jack kills his brother. To put it simply, they're bland, card-board cutouts who serve as little more than message-making foils for our heroes and broader society to overcome.
Elsewhere, what would 24 be without the soap opera twists and turns of political leaders? While most is just setup for the following season, there's a nice clash between outgoing President Noah Daniels (Powers Booth) and President Elect Allison Taylor (Cherry Jones). In two hours, she'll be swearing in to the office, and has her opinions on how best to handle the coup of Sangala. But Daniels will have none of it and orders an evacuation that gives Jack a ticking clock that he'll have to overcome in order to get his batch of children to the protection of the US embassy. In an episode of otherwise forced plotting, this is a nice concoction that naturally ups the drama while also giving us a taste of where this new President stands on things.
In terms of the stuff that sets up the next season, we get John Voigt as the leader of a corporation, with ties to the Secret Service, who's been funding the coup. There's a bit of a plot when an employee, a friend of President Taylor's son, Roger (Eric Lively), tries to leak financial information, but there's very little of the broader thread that gets resolved by the end, so we'll have to see where they go when the season proper starts.
It's hard for me to be critical of this show because, honestly, it's no worse that it's ever been. Is it heavy handed? Yes. Is there very little gray area between the black and white of good and evil? Yes. Does it vilify people who use brutal tactics unless they do it for good reasons? Yes.
But that's 24. They may be the shortcomings of the series as a whole, but they are the core elements that make this show what it is. And it's a bluntness that I've come to expect, so it's hard to criticise. As it is, this special episode of 24 is just as good or bad as every other chapter of the series, so I doubt it'll change any minds. If you like what's come before (I do in spite of myself), then you'll enjoy this. Now I'm just waiting to see what they do with season 7.
(trailer)
(purchase)
(purchase)
(official website)
(wikipedia)
(internet movie database)
November 22, 2008
Ikiru
1952 film
directed by Akira Kurosawa
written by Akira Kurosawa, Shinobu Hashimoto, Hideo Oguni
(my review of an undated draft of the screenplay)
I was wondering why, in Kurosawa's adaptation of THE IDIOT, the filmmaker decided to excise a huge plot thread about a man coming to grips with the knowledge that he will soon die. It wasn't a particularly strong thread and I was glad to see it go, but I'm still surprised Kurosawa didn't do something with it.
Well, I guess this is the answer: he gave it its own film.
Takashi Shimura plays Kanji Watanabe, an aging echo of a man who leads a department in City Hall which was created for the sole purpose of keeping "useless causes" out of the hands of the other divisions. All day long for the last few decades, he would just shuffle through sheet after sheet, stamping them with his seal. He doesn't hang out after work with friends, he doesn't have fun, he doesn't do anything besides eat, sleep, flip a sheet, stamp.
But then comes stomach cancer and a realization that he only has six months to live. What would you do in his situation? Would you just let yourself fade away, or would you try to go out and make the most of your time? Well, it's the latter course that Watanabe follows, though his social inexperience leaves him a little stuck as to how he should see such an endeavor through. Thus begins a pair of extended episodes as Watanabe latches onto a drunk author in a bar and a young woman at his office, connections that will take him through the whirling dancing and drinking of the Japanese night-life and the joy of simple youthful exuberance.
It really is a beautiful story and Kurosawa is at the peak of his skill, swaying from delicate jaunts, to shaded moments of despair, to the chaotic flurry of party after party after party. If there's one place it stumbles, it's in the last 40 or so minutes.
As I said in my review of the script, I like the idea of picking up the story after Watanabe's death, exploring how his final act really did have meaning and a positive affect on those who were willing to allow it to, but it just drags on and on for far, far too long, and becomes more about the clutter of bureaucratic red tape than the accomplishments of this fallen man.
And, as much as I hate to say it, I wasn't completely sold on Shimura's performance. Now, hold on. Hear me out. He's an absolutely stunning actor, definitely one of my favorites in the history of the industry, but there were far too many moments (and this is partially the result of Kurosawa's precise, unforgiving composition) that felt artificial. Instead of looking weak or depressed, he truly looked like he was playing someone weak or depressed. In other words, I didn't buy it. And his voice, his unconvincingly hoarse and whispery voice, only made it worse. That said, Shimura is still a damned captivating presence on screen and whatever he overplayed through his voice and posture he more than made up for with his eyes. Only through them did I see the true depth of his despair and eventual moments of hope and perseverance.
I know some will scoff at me for arguing that the film isn't perfect. I'm sorry, I can't help the way I genuinely feel about something. That said, I do still hold it up as a classic of cinema that should be watched, appreciated, and treasured from now to the end of time. None of those flaws I mentioned are enough to tarnish the majority of elements which it not only got right, but mastered.
(trailer)
(purchase bare-bones DVD)
(purchase special edition DVD)
(purchase DVD boxset of 25 Kurosawa films)
(wikipedia)
(internet movie database)
directed by Akira Kurosawa
written by Akira Kurosawa, Shinobu Hashimoto, Hideo Oguni
(my review of an undated draft of the screenplay)
I was wondering why, in Kurosawa's adaptation of THE IDIOT, the filmmaker decided to excise a huge plot thread about a man coming to grips with the knowledge that he will soon die. It wasn't a particularly strong thread and I was glad to see it go, but I'm still surprised Kurosawa didn't do something with it.
Well, I guess this is the answer: he gave it its own film.
Takashi Shimura plays Kanji Watanabe, an aging echo of a man who leads a department in City Hall which was created for the sole purpose of keeping "useless causes" out of the hands of the other divisions. All day long for the last few decades, he would just shuffle through sheet after sheet, stamping them with his seal. He doesn't hang out after work with friends, he doesn't have fun, he doesn't do anything besides eat, sleep, flip a sheet, stamp.
But then comes stomach cancer and a realization that he only has six months to live. What would you do in his situation? Would you just let yourself fade away, or would you try to go out and make the most of your time? Well, it's the latter course that Watanabe follows, though his social inexperience leaves him a little stuck as to how he should see such an endeavor through. Thus begins a pair of extended episodes as Watanabe latches onto a drunk author in a bar and a young woman at his office, connections that will take him through the whirling dancing and drinking of the Japanese night-life and the joy of simple youthful exuberance.
It really is a beautiful story and Kurosawa is at the peak of his skill, swaying from delicate jaunts, to shaded moments of despair, to the chaotic flurry of party after party after party. If there's one place it stumbles, it's in the last 40 or so minutes.
As I said in my review of the script, I like the idea of picking up the story after Watanabe's death, exploring how his final act really did have meaning and a positive affect on those who were willing to allow it to, but it just drags on and on for far, far too long, and becomes more about the clutter of bureaucratic red tape than the accomplishments of this fallen man.
And, as much as I hate to say it, I wasn't completely sold on Shimura's performance. Now, hold on. Hear me out. He's an absolutely stunning actor, definitely one of my favorites in the history of the industry, but there were far too many moments (and this is partially the result of Kurosawa's precise, unforgiving composition) that felt artificial. Instead of looking weak or depressed, he truly looked like he was playing someone weak or depressed. In other words, I didn't buy it. And his voice, his unconvincingly hoarse and whispery voice, only made it worse. That said, Shimura is still a damned captivating presence on screen and whatever he overplayed through his voice and posture he more than made up for with his eyes. Only through them did I see the true depth of his despair and eventual moments of hope and perseverance.
I know some will scoff at me for arguing that the film isn't perfect. I'm sorry, I can't help the way I genuinely feel about something. That said, I do still hold it up as a classic of cinema that should be watched, appreciated, and treasured from now to the end of time. None of those flaws I mentioned are enough to tarnish the majority of elements which it not only got right, but mastered.
(trailer)
(purchase bare-bones DVD)
(purchase special edition DVD)
(purchase DVD boxset of 25 Kurosawa films)
(wikipedia)
(internet movie database)
Ikiru
undated (circa 1951-52) screenplay
written by Akira Kurosawa, Shinobu Hashimoto, Hideo Oguni
(my review of the 1952 film)
What would you do, how would you react, if you discovered you had less than a year left to live? These are the questions posed to Kanji Watanabe, chief of a department in City Hall. Every day for the last thirty years has been a thankless routine of stamping papers he doesn't read and sending desperate citizens on an endless romp from division to division, none of which want to take any responsibility. Outside the office, he is a widower who gave up his own dream early to support a thankless son.
In other words, he has no life. So imagine his regret when he learns it will soon end.
This is an extremely brisk, tight script, forgoing detailed descriptions for meaningful actions and everyday philosophical discussions of what it all means and what we leave behind. After a period of sulking, Watanabe goes on a series of escapades with a young woman who works at the same office and an unnamed author he meets in a bar. Through them both, he sees the joy of pushing through the struggles in life instead of falling beneath their burden.
It really is quite an inspiring, thoughtful character study. Though obviously sentimental, it handles the manipulative emotions well instead of devolving into pure sap. If there's anything wrong with the script, it's an extended section near the end. I can see where Kurosawa is going, showing how different people react to their memories of the deceased, but it goes on too long and takes things off in some unnecessarily complicated directions.
But that's it. This really was a great read, but it's one of those scripts that's so simple, the success or failure of the film depends entirely on the direction. Granted, this is Kurosawa we're talking about, so there's little doubt in that regard.
(purchase paperback collection of 3 Kurosawa screenplays)
written by Akira Kurosawa, Shinobu Hashimoto, Hideo Oguni
(my review of the 1952 film)
What would you do, how would you react, if you discovered you had less than a year left to live? These are the questions posed to Kanji Watanabe, chief of a department in City Hall. Every day for the last thirty years has been a thankless routine of stamping papers he doesn't read and sending desperate citizens on an endless romp from division to division, none of which want to take any responsibility. Outside the office, he is a widower who gave up his own dream early to support a thankless son.
In other words, he has no life. So imagine his regret when he learns it will soon end.
This is an extremely brisk, tight script, forgoing detailed descriptions for meaningful actions and everyday philosophical discussions of what it all means and what we leave behind. After a period of sulking, Watanabe goes on a series of escapades with a young woman who works at the same office and an unnamed author he meets in a bar. Through them both, he sees the joy of pushing through the struggles in life instead of falling beneath their burden.
It really is quite an inspiring, thoughtful character study. Though obviously sentimental, it handles the manipulative emotions well instead of devolving into pure sap. If there's anything wrong with the script, it's an extended section near the end. I can see where Kurosawa is going, showing how different people react to their memories of the deceased, but it goes on too long and takes things off in some unnecessarily complicated directions.
But that's it. This really was a great read, but it's one of those scripts that's so simple, the success or failure of the film depends entirely on the direction. Granted, this is Kurosawa we're talking about, so there's little doubt in that regard.
(purchase paperback collection of 3 Kurosawa screenplays)
Sanctuary #6: Nubbins
2008 episode
directed by Peter DeLuise
written by Sam Egan
created by Damian Kindler
(previous)
(next)
It's "Trouble with Tribbles" time as the gang find themselves buried under cute, furry, rapidly-spawning creatures called Nubbins. Though I wish the creators had the balls to push it a little further, a clever plot twist reveals that the creatures excrete human-affecting pheromones, which leads to much awkward flirting from our increasingly aroused team.
Peter DeLuise has always been my favorite among the STARGATE directors. He can do action, drama, suspense, yet always manages to slip in moments of his side-splitting humor (the frequent play on the name Nubbins is a dead giveaway).
So, yes, it is a fun episode. But what holds it back from being great is a plot thread featuring Katharine Isabelle as a young woman with empathic abilities who seeks out treatment at the Sanctuary. She isn't bad, but there just isn't enough there to make her character compelling and far too many missed opportunities when it comes to tying her into the broader story.
That said, I still had fun. And that's all that really matters in the end.
(purchase)
(official website)
(official website)
(wikipedia)
(internet movie database)
directed by Peter DeLuise
written by Sam Egan
created by Damian Kindler
(previous)
(next)
It's "Trouble with Tribbles" time as the gang find themselves buried under cute, furry, rapidly-spawning creatures called Nubbins. Though I wish the creators had the balls to push it a little further, a clever plot twist reveals that the creatures excrete human-affecting pheromones, which leads to much awkward flirting from our increasingly aroused team.
Peter DeLuise has always been my favorite among the STARGATE directors. He can do action, drama, suspense, yet always manages to slip in moments of his side-splitting humor (the frequent play on the name Nubbins is a dead giveaway).
So, yes, it is a fun episode. But what holds it back from being great is a plot thread featuring Katharine Isabelle as a young woman with empathic abilities who seeks out treatment at the Sanctuary. She isn't bad, but there just isn't enough there to make her character compelling and far too many missed opportunities when it comes to tying her into the broader story.
That said, I still had fun. And that's all that really matters in the end.
(purchase)
(official website)
(official website)
(wikipedia)
(internet movie database)
My Own Worst Enemy #4: This is Not My Son
2008 episode
directed by Fred Keller
written by Kim Clements and Courtney Kemp Agboh
created by Jason Smilovic
(previous)
(next)
I've been wondering since the first episode how the producers managed to sign an actress of Saffron Burrows's caliber to play a largely thankless role like that of Dr. Norah Skinner, the company analyst who acts as little more than a wall for Henry to bounce his frustrations off of. But now I see that there was a deeper plan to the character, a broader thread that elevates her to a much higher degree of importance.
Dr. Skinner is the head of a department that monitors agents to make sure their dual personalities are properly in check. It's not yet revealed how she found out, but she knows about the breakdown between Henry and Edward. But, instead of signing him up for termination (the meaning of which we learn in a clever way), she acts as yet another guardian angel within the company to protect our hero(es) from the ruthless oversight of Trumble.
That's not to say she's a hero. No, we learn that she could care less about Henry or the other agents she oversees. It's a connection with Edward that drives her to take the cold actions she does. I'm still reeling from the knowledge that this show has been cancelled, so I hope we at least get some further exploration of just how deep their relationship goes.
And then we get to Tom/Raymond and his suspicious wife. I honestly thought this thread would play out over a longer arc and have deeper implications in the world, but they surprised me by wrapping it up in a clever, intelligently executed way.
Probably the tastiest tidbit of all was an incident involving Henry's son, who has a bit more of Edward in him than Henry would like. It's an interesting development I hadn't thought of, but makes perfect sense, and I like how they're showing that Edward isn't as independent from Henry's family as initially thought.
As I said before, I'm still reeling from the cancellation news. This was such a fantastic series, building on a solid concept with a great crew of people in front of the camera and behind. Though my enthusiasm has understandably waned, I'll stick with it until the end.
(purchase)
(official website)
(wikipedia)
(internet movie database)
directed by Fred Keller
written by Kim Clements and Courtney Kemp Agboh
created by Jason Smilovic
(previous)
(next)
I've been wondering since the first episode how the producers managed to sign an actress of Saffron Burrows's caliber to play a largely thankless role like that of Dr. Norah Skinner, the company analyst who acts as little more than a wall for Henry to bounce his frustrations off of. But now I see that there was a deeper plan to the character, a broader thread that elevates her to a much higher degree of importance.
Dr. Skinner is the head of a department that monitors agents to make sure their dual personalities are properly in check. It's not yet revealed how she found out, but she knows about the breakdown between Henry and Edward. But, instead of signing him up for termination (the meaning of which we learn in a clever way), she acts as yet another guardian angel within the company to protect our hero(es) from the ruthless oversight of Trumble.
That's not to say she's a hero. No, we learn that she could care less about Henry or the other agents she oversees. It's a connection with Edward that drives her to take the cold actions she does. I'm still reeling from the knowledge that this show has been cancelled, so I hope we at least get some further exploration of just how deep their relationship goes.
And then we get to Tom/Raymond and his suspicious wife. I honestly thought this thread would play out over a longer arc and have deeper implications in the world, but they surprised me by wrapping it up in a clever, intelligently executed way.
Probably the tastiest tidbit of all was an incident involving Henry's son, who has a bit more of Edward in him than Henry would like. It's an interesting development I hadn't thought of, but makes perfect sense, and I like how they're showing that Edward isn't as independent from Henry's family as initially thought.
As I said before, I'm still reeling from the cancellation news. This was such a fantastic series, building on a solid concept with a great crew of people in front of the camera and behind. Though my enthusiasm has understandably waned, I'll stick with it until the end.
(purchase)
(official website)
(wikipedia)
(internet movie database)
November 18, 2008
The Idiot
1951 film
directed by Akira Kurosawa
written by Eijiro Hisaita and Akira Kurosawa
based on the novel by Fyodor Dostoevsky
(my review of the 1868 novel)
Ever since he was a young man, Akira Kuroswa was an absolute fanatic when it came to the writings of Fyodor Dostoyevsky. So it's no surprise that, from the moment he started work as a director in the film industry, his ambition was to put a faithful, loving adaptation of a Dostoyevsky classic up on the big screen. Sadly, it was not to be. At least, in part.
Kurosawa does succeed incredibly well in transferring the 19th century Russian novel to post-WWII Japan by keeping the story focused on the human drama and separation of the classes. It opens much the same way with a seedy man offering up a large dowry so he can marry off his young mistress, Taeko Nasu (Setsuko Hara). Her two suitors are Mutsu Kayama (Minoru Chiaki), a clerk only interested in the money, and Denkichi Akama (Toshiro Mifune), a rich thug who so passionately lusts for her that he's willing to not only forgo the dowry, but pay extra.
Into their midst comes Kinji Kameda (Masayuki Mori), a young man still recovering from a nervous collapse and recurring epileptic seizures. Though he starts out penniless, a sudden inheritance places him in an equal class to the surrounding characters. Yet such a change never alters his innocence, for this is a man who, while simple and naive, has a refusal to see the evil in others that often brushes off on some, making them better people just for having known him, while simultaneous putting him on the wrong side of others.
Upon arriving in town, the first sight to catch his attention is a picture of Taeko, and all he can do is suffer at the sight of anguish in her eyes. He wants nothing more than to meet this woman and be with her so he can help her through the pain and on the road to happiness. But this not only places him at instant odds with Akama, but Taeko herself will have none of it. Sure, she's seduced by the kindness and respect he offers, but she fears she will only break this gentle lamb of a human being. So she's off with Akama, triggering the first of several episodes that will lead these three down some very dark paths.
Mori is wonderful as Kinji, the Prince Myshkin of this version. He's almost like an eager yet bashful puppy who looks people straight in the eye and offers up surprisingly acute observations of who they are deep beneath the masks of society. Though he overdoes it just a tad with hands loosely folded at his front, or sometimes clenched to his chest like a silent actor, there's something so genuinely pure to the depth of his gaze and the gentleness of his voice and touch.
On the opposite side of the emotional spectrum is Mifune as Akama. With his blazing brow and layered fur clothing, he tromps about like a lion in the fields, a flock of latch-ons and wanna-bes scrambling in his wake. Though he does go a little overboard with the growling sneer, it's no worse than he's done in the past and, you have to admit, Mifune does keep you riveted to the screen.
Hara is just marvelous as Taeko. One of Kurosawa's smartest decisions was to keep her clad in a sleek black cloak. When we first meet her, she looks like a stylish lady about town. As we then glimpse her through the Prince's eyes, she seems like a nun draped in the sorrow of a tragic life. As she goes down darker and darker roads, she ends up almost the image of a scowling, yet still strikingly beautiful, witch, her figure formless beneath the ebony shroud. As with all the roles, it's a perfect combination of cast, costume, and direction.
And let us not leave out Yoshiko Kuga as Ayako, the other woman in Kinji's life. Kuga captures the character of the book perfectly, eager to learn about the world and passionate about Kinji's affection, but tragically stuck with her mother's sarcasm and pessimism which clashes with the views of the man she loves.
Earlier, I said this dream of Kurosawa's was not to be. Allow me to elaborate. Kurosawa wrote, shot, and edited this as a 265 minute film intended to be released in two parts. Well, the studio wasn't too thrilled with the idea, so they staged a negative screening that gave them the excuse to cut out 100 minutes (the length of a film itself) and release it as a single, three hour melodrama. And what a hack job they did, with jammed-in text screens, nonsensical voiceovers, and wipe after wipe after wipe after wipe ... often over the course of a single scene.
And it's a shame they had to fuck things up for as gifted a man as Kurosawa, because he really worked his magic. From the casting of the leads, to the lush, winter setting, to striking, detailed sets (Akama's cavern of a home is a superb standout), to the perfect staging of the book's most memorable scenes, he directed to the peak of his abilities. And I'm glad I read the original book because I can recognize some of the cuts that are still eluded to elsewhere, like the suicide attempt of a major character, or more stuff between Kinji and Ayako, or a pair of characters who were the prince's greatest allies in the novel, but little more than cameos here.
Now, that's not to say it's all perfect. While I can see why he did it, I don't like Kurosawa revising the origin of the prince by having Kinji be a veteran who was almost executed in a prisoner of war camp. It does offer a nice opportunity to relate a tale from the book, but being on the fields of combat is just so not a part of this character. A more compelling variation (and a more accurate one) would be if Kinji was away, receiving treatment in a foreign country, since before the war. While the people of Japan had been through hell and back, he'd known nothing but kindness and peace, instantly creating both clashes and bonds with those he meets upon his return.
But that's about it in terms of complaints. It was a great book and could have been a fantastic movie had the studio just let Kurosawa have his way. I hear an organization has been formed in an attempt to hunt down whatever missing footage might still be out there. If they find some, I'd love to be among the first in line to give it a watch.
(purchase DVD box set of 4 post-WWII Kurosawa films)
(purchase DVD boxset of 25 Kurosawa films)
(wikipedia)
(internet movie database)
directed by Akira Kurosawa
written by Eijiro Hisaita and Akira Kurosawa
based on the novel by Fyodor Dostoevsky
(my review of the 1868 novel)
Ever since he was a young man, Akira Kuroswa was an absolute fanatic when it came to the writings of Fyodor Dostoyevsky. So it's no surprise that, from the moment he started work as a director in the film industry, his ambition was to put a faithful, loving adaptation of a Dostoyevsky classic up on the big screen. Sadly, it was not to be. At least, in part.
Kurosawa does succeed incredibly well in transferring the 19th century Russian novel to post-WWII Japan by keeping the story focused on the human drama and separation of the classes. It opens much the same way with a seedy man offering up a large dowry so he can marry off his young mistress, Taeko Nasu (Setsuko Hara). Her two suitors are Mutsu Kayama (Minoru Chiaki), a clerk only interested in the money, and Denkichi Akama (Toshiro Mifune), a rich thug who so passionately lusts for her that he's willing to not only forgo the dowry, but pay extra.
Into their midst comes Kinji Kameda (Masayuki Mori), a young man still recovering from a nervous collapse and recurring epileptic seizures. Though he starts out penniless, a sudden inheritance places him in an equal class to the surrounding characters. Yet such a change never alters his innocence, for this is a man who, while simple and naive, has a refusal to see the evil in others that often brushes off on some, making them better people just for having known him, while simultaneous putting him on the wrong side of others.
Upon arriving in town, the first sight to catch his attention is a picture of Taeko, and all he can do is suffer at the sight of anguish in her eyes. He wants nothing more than to meet this woman and be with her so he can help her through the pain and on the road to happiness. But this not only places him at instant odds with Akama, but Taeko herself will have none of it. Sure, she's seduced by the kindness and respect he offers, but she fears she will only break this gentle lamb of a human being. So she's off with Akama, triggering the first of several episodes that will lead these three down some very dark paths.
Mori is wonderful as Kinji, the Prince Myshkin of this version. He's almost like an eager yet bashful puppy who looks people straight in the eye and offers up surprisingly acute observations of who they are deep beneath the masks of society. Though he overdoes it just a tad with hands loosely folded at his front, or sometimes clenched to his chest like a silent actor, there's something so genuinely pure to the depth of his gaze and the gentleness of his voice and touch.
On the opposite side of the emotional spectrum is Mifune as Akama. With his blazing brow and layered fur clothing, he tromps about like a lion in the fields, a flock of latch-ons and wanna-bes scrambling in his wake. Though he does go a little overboard with the growling sneer, it's no worse than he's done in the past and, you have to admit, Mifune does keep you riveted to the screen.
Hara is just marvelous as Taeko. One of Kurosawa's smartest decisions was to keep her clad in a sleek black cloak. When we first meet her, she looks like a stylish lady about town. As we then glimpse her through the Prince's eyes, she seems like a nun draped in the sorrow of a tragic life. As she goes down darker and darker roads, she ends up almost the image of a scowling, yet still strikingly beautiful, witch, her figure formless beneath the ebony shroud. As with all the roles, it's a perfect combination of cast, costume, and direction.
And let us not leave out Yoshiko Kuga as Ayako, the other woman in Kinji's life. Kuga captures the character of the book perfectly, eager to learn about the world and passionate about Kinji's affection, but tragically stuck with her mother's sarcasm and pessimism which clashes with the views of the man she loves.
Earlier, I said this dream of Kurosawa's was not to be. Allow me to elaborate. Kurosawa wrote, shot, and edited this as a 265 minute film intended to be released in two parts. Well, the studio wasn't too thrilled with the idea, so they staged a negative screening that gave them the excuse to cut out 100 minutes (the length of a film itself) and release it as a single, three hour melodrama. And what a hack job they did, with jammed-in text screens, nonsensical voiceovers, and wipe after wipe after wipe after wipe ... often over the course of a single scene.
And it's a shame they had to fuck things up for as gifted a man as Kurosawa, because he really worked his magic. From the casting of the leads, to the lush, winter setting, to striking, detailed sets (Akama's cavern of a home is a superb standout), to the perfect staging of the book's most memorable scenes, he directed to the peak of his abilities. And I'm glad I read the original book because I can recognize some of the cuts that are still eluded to elsewhere, like the suicide attempt of a major character, or more stuff between Kinji and Ayako, or a pair of characters who were the prince's greatest allies in the novel, but little more than cameos here.
Now, that's not to say it's all perfect. While I can see why he did it, I don't like Kurosawa revising the origin of the prince by having Kinji be a veteran who was almost executed in a prisoner of war camp. It does offer a nice opportunity to relate a tale from the book, but being on the fields of combat is just so not a part of this character. A more compelling variation (and a more accurate one) would be if Kinji was away, receiving treatment in a foreign country, since before the war. While the people of Japan had been through hell and back, he'd known nothing but kindness and peace, instantly creating both clashes and bonds with those he meets upon his return.
But that's about it in terms of complaints. It was a great book and could have been a fantastic movie had the studio just let Kurosawa have his way. I hear an organization has been formed in an attempt to hunt down whatever missing footage might still be out there. If they find some, I'd love to be among the first in line to give it a watch.
(purchase DVD box set of 4 post-WWII Kurosawa films)
(purchase DVD boxset of 25 Kurosawa films)
(wikipedia)
(internet movie database)
The Idiot
1868 novel
written by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
(my review of the 1951 film adaptation)
Aside from the handful of backlogged reviews I posted last Wednesday, I'm sure all of you (there has to be at least one semi-regular reader out there) have noticed that the site has been a little dead the last couple of weeks. The reason is that my current trek through the works of Akira Kurosawa has led me down a road I never before travelled: 19th century Russian literature. Scoff if you will but, while I have occasionally dabbled in bits of reading considered above the average, my high-school educated, film novelization accustomed mind nonetheless filled with doubts as I looked upon the 700-page, tiny text monstrosity that lay before me. I figured I'd give the first few chapters a read and see how it went from there. Suffice it to say, I got through with surprising ease, even if it did take much longer than expected.
Nastasya Fillipovna was adopted at a young age and groomed and educated as the perfect concubine for an aging man name Totski. When he decides to settle down and marry, he figures the best way to part with his young mistress is to place a large dowry on her head, luring in any suitors willing to overlook her former status.
Gavrilya Ardalionovich Ivolgin is the young secretary of a general, convinced that his lack of abilities is directly tied to his meagre income. So, with the help of General Ivan Yepanchin, he sets out to woo the striking woman, with his eyes firmly set on the dowry.
Parfyon Rogozhin is a wealthy thug living off the fortune of his late father. He wanders the streets with a posse of scoundrels and brutes, using cash or threats of violence to push his way through obstacles. He quickly develops an obsessive passion for Nastasya and is willing to completely overlook the dowry. Hell, he'll even throw 100,000 roubles of his own cash on the table if she says yes.
It's into this situation that our hero enters. Prince Lev Nikolayevich Myshkin is among the last of a dying family line. After spending the majority of his young life in Switzerland receiving treatment for debilitating epileptic seizures, he's returning to his homeland, penniless, with the hopes of settling some business with a distant relative, the wife of General Yepanchin.
He is the idiot of the title, not because he lacks knowledge or intellect, but because he lacks the ability to lie. While the members of Society put on false faces and work their sly manipulations, this man enters into their midst, unafraid to gently state his blunt, and often shockingly astute, observations. But these are never mean, never used to harm or offend. In fact, he has a naivete that keeps him focused on the positive in people and he uses his sharp insights in attempts to heal or console. Society, of course, doesn't always like it when people see through its curtains, so he quickly builds just as many enemies as friends.
It's within hours of his arrival that the prince, his business left unsettled, finds himself among the guests at a party where Nastasya will choose her fiance. To the horror of Gavrilya and Rogozhin, there's an instant connection between herself and the prince. He is able to see the suffering in her eyes, the depravity to which she endured before getting cast aside by Totsky. She sees in him genuine compassion and, more importantly, respect.
Hell of a story, right? Well, this is only the first of four parts. Nastasya, fearful that she, an impure woman, would somehow break the innocence of the prince, runs off with a gloating Rogozhin ... and six months go by.
The business the prince was so eager to attend to, we learn, was a surprising bit of inheritance he earned. He heads off to the city to get things settled and start building a new life before returning to the friends he met that first night in town. One would think such a change in fortune would skew the naive outlook this man has on life, but the prince is still the kind-hearted man we knew and loved. And this has led him to a bit of ridicule when it's found out that people have started playing on his sympathies by milking him for money. One such man is Lebedev, a worshipper of the rich who used to hang with Rogozhin's posse, but now he goes out of his way to welcome the prince into his home, eager to serve the man's every need with the hope of laying a finger on just a tiny portion of the man's wealth. And, yet, it is this man who will go further and further out of his way to help the prince, and become one of his most beloved companions. Such is the power of the prince to inspire others to greatness while repelling others to childish disgust.
With Rogozhin and Nastasya temporarily out of the prince's life, a new romance starts to form between him and Aglaya, the youngest of General Yepanchin's three daughters. Like her mother (I love the character of her mother), she has little patience for the flights of fancy the prince is prone to, but can't help but look in awe at the care and attention he offers others. It looks like bright things for these two - which means the dumps once again for her other suitor, Gavrilya - but ...
Nastasya won't stop haunting the prince. He feels she was the ultimate missed opportunity to help a person in need. She feels he was the ultimate treasure that she let get away. The two keep swinging into one another both in thought and in person. And Rogozhin is always there to break it up.
Rogozhin and the prince form an intricate duality to the story. The prince is the outsider, approaching society with an innocence that can be beneficial to those willing to listen. Rogozhin is the insider, the symbol of all that is cold and corrupt about wealth and status. And, yet, they form an almost brotherly bond over their passion towards the increasingly troubled Nastasya. A bond that will carry us to the tragic, yet necessary, conclusion.
I won't say any more for fear of giving things away. This was a marvelous book that succeeds at sweeping the emotional connections of a group of characters off to an epic level of social exploration. Yes, it's long, and there's some little tangents here and there that add little to the broader material, but it's still a damned compelling read.
That said, there was one thing that almost killed it. Ippolit is a teenager slowly dying of tuberculosis who takes a strange sort of glee in sharing his misery with others. While I can understand the existence of his character as yet another contrast to the prince, he was far too overused. He would come in for long stretches of the story, offering up little more that a wall for the plot to slam into, and it was almost a chore getting through his lengthy rants and waiting for everything else to pick up again.
But that's it, the only major complaint I had for this classic novel. I'm sure some with a much higher appreciation than me for classic literature will read my review and snicker at the simplicity of it. But, hey, it's the best I can offer at the time. Take it or leave it.
(read)
(purchase)
(wikipedia)
written by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
(my review of the 1951 film adaptation)
Aside from the handful of backlogged reviews I posted last Wednesday, I'm sure all of you (there has to be at least one semi-regular reader out there) have noticed that the site has been a little dead the last couple of weeks. The reason is that my current trek through the works of Akira Kurosawa has led me down a road I never before travelled: 19th century Russian literature. Scoff if you will but, while I have occasionally dabbled in bits of reading considered above the average, my high-school educated, film novelization accustomed mind nonetheless filled with doubts as I looked upon the 700-page, tiny text monstrosity that lay before me. I figured I'd give the first few chapters a read and see how it went from there. Suffice it to say, I got through with surprising ease, even if it did take much longer than expected.
Nastasya Fillipovna was adopted at a young age and groomed and educated as the perfect concubine for an aging man name Totski. When he decides to settle down and marry, he figures the best way to part with his young mistress is to place a large dowry on her head, luring in any suitors willing to overlook her former status.
Gavrilya Ardalionovich Ivolgin is the young secretary of a general, convinced that his lack of abilities is directly tied to his meagre income. So, with the help of General Ivan Yepanchin, he sets out to woo the striking woman, with his eyes firmly set on the dowry.
Parfyon Rogozhin is a wealthy thug living off the fortune of his late father. He wanders the streets with a posse of scoundrels and brutes, using cash or threats of violence to push his way through obstacles. He quickly develops an obsessive passion for Nastasya and is willing to completely overlook the dowry. Hell, he'll even throw 100,000 roubles of his own cash on the table if she says yes.
It's into this situation that our hero enters. Prince Lev Nikolayevich Myshkin is among the last of a dying family line. After spending the majority of his young life in Switzerland receiving treatment for debilitating epileptic seizures, he's returning to his homeland, penniless, with the hopes of settling some business with a distant relative, the wife of General Yepanchin.
He is the idiot of the title, not because he lacks knowledge or intellect, but because he lacks the ability to lie. While the members of Society put on false faces and work their sly manipulations, this man enters into their midst, unafraid to gently state his blunt, and often shockingly astute, observations. But these are never mean, never used to harm or offend. In fact, he has a naivete that keeps him focused on the positive in people and he uses his sharp insights in attempts to heal or console. Society, of course, doesn't always like it when people see through its curtains, so he quickly builds just as many enemies as friends.
It's within hours of his arrival that the prince, his business left unsettled, finds himself among the guests at a party where Nastasya will choose her fiance. To the horror of Gavrilya and Rogozhin, there's an instant connection between herself and the prince. He is able to see the suffering in her eyes, the depravity to which she endured before getting cast aside by Totsky. She sees in him genuine compassion and, more importantly, respect.
Hell of a story, right? Well, this is only the first of four parts. Nastasya, fearful that she, an impure woman, would somehow break the innocence of the prince, runs off with a gloating Rogozhin ... and six months go by.
The business the prince was so eager to attend to, we learn, was a surprising bit of inheritance he earned. He heads off to the city to get things settled and start building a new life before returning to the friends he met that first night in town. One would think such a change in fortune would skew the naive outlook this man has on life, but the prince is still the kind-hearted man we knew and loved. And this has led him to a bit of ridicule when it's found out that people have started playing on his sympathies by milking him for money. One such man is Lebedev, a worshipper of the rich who used to hang with Rogozhin's posse, but now he goes out of his way to welcome the prince into his home, eager to serve the man's every need with the hope of laying a finger on just a tiny portion of the man's wealth. And, yet, it is this man who will go further and further out of his way to help the prince, and become one of his most beloved companions. Such is the power of the prince to inspire others to greatness while repelling others to childish disgust.
With Rogozhin and Nastasya temporarily out of the prince's life, a new romance starts to form between him and Aglaya, the youngest of General Yepanchin's three daughters. Like her mother (I love the character of her mother), she has little patience for the flights of fancy the prince is prone to, but can't help but look in awe at the care and attention he offers others. It looks like bright things for these two - which means the dumps once again for her other suitor, Gavrilya - but ...
Nastasya won't stop haunting the prince. He feels she was the ultimate missed opportunity to help a person in need. She feels he was the ultimate treasure that she let get away. The two keep swinging into one another both in thought and in person. And Rogozhin is always there to break it up.
Rogozhin and the prince form an intricate duality to the story. The prince is the outsider, approaching society with an innocence that can be beneficial to those willing to listen. Rogozhin is the insider, the symbol of all that is cold and corrupt about wealth and status. And, yet, they form an almost brotherly bond over their passion towards the increasingly troubled Nastasya. A bond that will carry us to the tragic, yet necessary, conclusion.
I won't say any more for fear of giving things away. This was a marvelous book that succeeds at sweeping the emotional connections of a group of characters off to an epic level of social exploration. Yes, it's long, and there's some little tangents here and there that add little to the broader material, but it's still a damned compelling read.
That said, there was one thing that almost killed it. Ippolit is a teenager slowly dying of tuberculosis who takes a strange sort of glee in sharing his misery with others. While I can understand the existence of his character as yet another contrast to the prince, he was far too overused. He would come in for long stretches of the story, offering up little more that a wall for the plot to slam into, and it was almost a chore getting through his lengthy rants and waiting for everything else to pick up again.
But that's it, the only major complaint I had for this classic novel. I'm sure some with a much higher appreciation than me for classic literature will read my review and snicker at the simplicity of it. But, hey, it's the best I can offer at the time. Take it or leave it.
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Sanctuary #5: Kush
2008 episode
directed by Martin Wood
written by Damian Kindler
series created by Damian Kindler
Since the publication of John W. Campbell Jr.'s novella WHO GOES THERE?, there have been a myriad of similar cinematic endeavors which play on paranoia in an isolated location where one or more people might be a shapeshifting creature in disguise. Behold, we have yet another as a plane containing Helen, Will, and a ragtag crew goes down in the Kush Mountains, freeing the skinwalker they locked up in the cargo hold.
Don't be so quick to dismiss this as a total knock-off, though, because Kindler threw his own little twists into the mix. Instead of shapeshifting, the creature clouds peoples' minds, forcing them to see what it wants them to see, which not only serves up a tasty little riff on the blood-test of Campbell's classic, but gives the whole episode an eerie, dreamlike quality as elements from the characters' subconscious memories start blurring with their present reality.
Is it perfect? No. Ashley and Bigfoot want to race in for a rescue, but are stopped by an all too typical blizzard. And then there's the terrible, horrendous, "why the fuck did they cast this dude?" performance from Adrien Dorval as the grumpy dude who makes everyone miserable.
Those aside, it gets far more right than it doesn't, giving us a solid little potboiler that makes great use of what looks to be a single set. And kudos for having the balls to kill of a significant supporting character so early in the series.
(purchase)
(official website)
(official website)
(wikipedia)
(internet movie database)
directed by Martin Wood
written by Damian Kindler
series created by Damian Kindler
Since the publication of John W. Campbell Jr.'s novella WHO GOES THERE?, there have been a myriad of similar cinematic endeavors which play on paranoia in an isolated location where one or more people might be a shapeshifting creature in disguise. Behold, we have yet another as a plane containing Helen, Will, and a ragtag crew goes down in the Kush Mountains, freeing the skinwalker they locked up in the cargo hold.
Don't be so quick to dismiss this as a total knock-off, though, because Kindler threw his own little twists into the mix. Instead of shapeshifting, the creature clouds peoples' minds, forcing them to see what it wants them to see, which not only serves up a tasty little riff on the blood-test of Campbell's classic, but gives the whole episode an eerie, dreamlike quality as elements from the characters' subconscious memories start blurring with their present reality.
Is it perfect? No. Ashley and Bigfoot want to race in for a rescue, but are stopped by an all too typical blizzard. And then there's the terrible, horrendous, "why the fuck did they cast this dude?" performance from Adrien Dorval as the grumpy dude who makes everyone miserable.
Those aside, it gets far more right than it doesn't, giving us a solid little potboiler that makes great use of what looks to be a single set. And kudos for having the balls to kill of a significant supporting character so early in the series.
(purchase)
(official website)
(official website)
(wikipedia)
(internet movie database)
My Own Worst Enemy #3: Hello, Henry
2008 episode
directed by Bryan Spicer
written by Tyler Mitchell
created by Jason Smilovic
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I'll be honest. I feared this was a concept that would quickly get stale as the producers/writers settled things into a formulaic procedural that would play out their kooky scenario over and over and over again. But I must applaud them. They've found some really clever ways to build developing plot threads that look to carry this season into a sturdy arc. Kudos.
For example, in the last episode, Henry explored the only option he could think of when it came to the broken chip in his head: an old college buddy currently working as a neurosurgeon. Tests were run, questions were asked, but then Edward found out and the old college buddy became a splayed corpse in the parking lot. This understandably shocks Henry as he sees just how far Edward is willing to go to keep their life in some semblance of his desired order. This leads to excellent moments of conflict as the diametric personalities, growing more and more frustrated with what they see as each other's failings, start finding ways to hurt one another, to sabotage their individual lives and relationships. There's some really twisted, heady places they can go with this and it'll be interesting to see how far they're willing to push it.
So, while they're off struggling to make a deal with a Mexican arms dealer (Julio Oscar Mechoso!), we get a new element added to the equation. Tom/Raymond's wife, Mary (Missy Yager), is starting to put the pieces together that everything isn't normal with her husband and his frequent business trips. He's visiting websites he shouldn't be, not showing up at the hotels he's booked for, and there's something cold about the way he talks to her on the phone. I won't spoil everything here since there's some setup for down the road, but I'm very curious to see how this situation develops.
All in all, yet another great entry in a surprising series. Three weeks in a row they've caught me unexpected with the thoroughness and complexity with which they approach the concept of this series, and I couldn't be more eager to tune in again.
(purchase)
(official website)
(wikipedia)
(internet movie database)
directed by Bryan Spicer
written by Tyler Mitchell
created by Jason Smilovic
(previous)
(next)
I'll be honest. I feared this was a concept that would quickly get stale as the producers/writers settled things into a formulaic procedural that would play out their kooky scenario over and over and over again. But I must applaud them. They've found some really clever ways to build developing plot threads that look to carry this season into a sturdy arc. Kudos.
For example, in the last episode, Henry explored the only option he could think of when it came to the broken chip in his head: an old college buddy currently working as a neurosurgeon. Tests were run, questions were asked, but then Edward found out and the old college buddy became a splayed corpse in the parking lot. This understandably shocks Henry as he sees just how far Edward is willing to go to keep their life in some semblance of his desired order. This leads to excellent moments of conflict as the diametric personalities, growing more and more frustrated with what they see as each other's failings, start finding ways to hurt one another, to sabotage their individual lives and relationships. There's some really twisted, heady places they can go with this and it'll be interesting to see how far they're willing to push it.
So, while they're off struggling to make a deal with a Mexican arms dealer (Julio Oscar Mechoso!), we get a new element added to the equation. Tom/Raymond's wife, Mary (Missy Yager), is starting to put the pieces together that everything isn't normal with her husband and his frequent business trips. He's visiting websites he shouldn't be, not showing up at the hotels he's booked for, and there's something cold about the way he talks to her on the phone. I won't spoil everything here since there's some setup for down the road, but I'm very curious to see how this situation develops.
All in all, yet another great entry in a surprising series. Three weeks in a row they've caught me unexpected with the thoroughness and complexity with which they approach the concept of this series, and I couldn't be more eager to tune in again.
(purchase)
(official website)
(wikipedia)
(internet movie database)
November 12, 2008
My Own Worst Enemy #2: The Hummingbird
2008 episode
directed by Felix Enriquez Alcala
written by Jason Smilovic
created by Jason Smilovic
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Trumbull (James Cromwell), the enigmatic leader of the government organization, is concerned with the erratic behavior Edward has started to display on his missions, so he decides to personally supervise the interrogation of a recently recovered prisoner. The problem? Edward isn't Edward at the moment. He's meek, everyday Henry.
Though I wonder how long they'll be able to come up with crazy situations for our hero(es) to flip in, I have to admit this is a clever one, showing us one man suffering through his own internal "good cop, bad cop" view of the situation.
Also of great interest is Henry's sinking realization that his entire childhood is a concocted cover story. He pours through pictures, home movies, school year books, desperate for something real from his past that he can latch onto, and Christian Slater absolutely nails his despair as he continuously comes up empty handed.
While I'm glad they finally answered the question as to whether or not Tom/Raymond are a part of the same mental manipulation program, I'm still a little uncertain as to the specifics of the cover corporation everyone works for. Is everyone there an agent of some sort? Is it a mix of real people and plants? I don't know. And what about Saffron Burrows as the company therapist? Is she just an eye for Trumbull or could she be taken into the central group's trust so as to better help Henry deal with his situation?
And here's the part that I'm getting stuck on: what, specifically, is so important about Henry/Edward that Mavis is unwilling to kill him? He could potentially blow his cover any moment, he's already bungled a few important assignments, his unpredictability is a threat to the whole program ... so why not eliminate him? I know, I know, there wouldn't be a show if they did do that, but I'm not yet convinced that there's a reason to keep him around. It's a major hole in an otherwise clever show.
And it really is quite a clever show with snappy writing, slick direction, and a great cast. I just wish they could sort out these little issues before the stuff that doesn't work overwhelms the stuff that does.
(purchase)
(official website)
(wikipedia)
(internet movie database)
directed by Felix Enriquez Alcala
written by Jason Smilovic
created by Jason Smilovic
(previous)
(next)
Trumbull (James Cromwell), the enigmatic leader of the government organization, is concerned with the erratic behavior Edward has started to display on his missions, so he decides to personally supervise the interrogation of a recently recovered prisoner. The problem? Edward isn't Edward at the moment. He's meek, everyday Henry.
Though I wonder how long they'll be able to come up with crazy situations for our hero(es) to flip in, I have to admit this is a clever one, showing us one man suffering through his own internal "good cop, bad cop" view of the situation.
Also of great interest is Henry's sinking realization that his entire childhood is a concocted cover story. He pours through pictures, home movies, school year books, desperate for something real from his past that he can latch onto, and Christian Slater absolutely nails his despair as he continuously comes up empty handed.
While I'm glad they finally answered the question as to whether or not Tom/Raymond are a part of the same mental manipulation program, I'm still a little uncertain as to the specifics of the cover corporation everyone works for. Is everyone there an agent of some sort? Is it a mix of real people and plants? I don't know. And what about Saffron Burrows as the company therapist? Is she just an eye for Trumbull or could she be taken into the central group's trust so as to better help Henry deal with his situation?
And here's the part that I'm getting stuck on: what, specifically, is so important about Henry/Edward that Mavis is unwilling to kill him? He could potentially blow his cover any moment, he's already bungled a few important assignments, his unpredictability is a threat to the whole program ... so why not eliminate him? I know, I know, there wouldn't be a show if they did do that, but I'm not yet convinced that there's a reason to keep him around. It's a major hole in an otherwise clever show.
And it really is quite a clever show with snappy writing, slick direction, and a great cast. I just wish they could sort out these little issues before the stuff that doesn't work overwhelms the stuff that does.
(purchase)
(official website)
(wikipedia)
(internet movie database)
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