| Day Three |
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Saturday September 9th, 2000
Day Three and my first FULL day of four films. An eclectic mix of films today, beginning with a Spanish film called To Die (Or Not) at 10 am followed by a Japanese Samurai flick called Gohatto at 3pm, followed by an American production called Momento at 6pm and finally capping the day off with a Japanese gangster film transported to the USA called Brother at 9:30pm.
Title: To Die (or not) An adaptation of a play by Sergi Belbel, Morir (o no), is a story of alternate universes. The first half of the film is composed of a series of 7 vignettes shot in black and white in which 7 individual characters meet with tragic deaths. The second half of the film, shot in colour, focuses on the redemption of these characters and how their lives are ultimately saved both physically and emotionally. The second half of the film however includes an added twist as we see how the characters fates are intertwined and that the redemption of one leads to the saving of another. An enjoyable film with a humourous framing sequence in which a writer overcoming a writer's block explains to his wife his idea for a new screenplay. The writer envisions a scene where a young man on his way home from a nightclub on his motor scooter is run over by a police car on the way to a call. The writer explains that at the crucial moment the young man is struck, time freezes and the man hears a voice asking him if we wants to live or die. The writer explains the young man is given a chance to see his future before deciding his own fate. Enthraled with the concept his wife praises him, comparing his concept to Frank Capra's It's A Wonderful Life, and Dicken's Christmas Carol. As the writer continues with the story he is suddenly experiences a massive heart attack and dies, starting the sequence of vignettes in the movie. I rather enjoyed this film finding that the emotional roller coaster of tragic deaths interwoven with humourous scenes worked well at exploring how simple actions and coincidence can have a ripple effect and influence many people lives. I would rank this film Intriguing and Rewarding.
Title: Gohatto Directed by legendary Japanese director Nagisa Oshima, who is perhaps best known for his film In the Realm of the Sense (1976), has once again chosen not to shy away from cultural taboos. Gohatto is a film that explores the inner workings of a militia unit of Samurai in 1865 Kyoto. At the center of the story is Sozaburo Kano, a young man from a fairly wealthy family, whose unnatural beauty attracts the interest of nearly every man in the unit, including those that consider themselves hetero through and through. A Samurai movie without a doubt complete with spectacular sword play, but one whose gay overtones continue to bubble to the surface to create and interesting mix of masculinity and gay desire. Takeshi "Beat" Kitano, a terrific actor and director, is featured in Gohatto as the militia Captain whose is ordered by his superiors to sort out Kano and the disruption he is causing in the unit. Kitano's character entrusts the duty of introducing Kano to the pleasures of woman to another Samurai, who in turn becomes object of Kano's desire. Kitano's hilarious deadpan stares, and comic timing make the film all that more enjoyable. I found Gohatto Enjoyable but disappointing.
Title: Memento Director: Christopher Nolan Run Time:113 minutes Country: USA Memento by director Christopher Nolan is a fantastic exercise in storytelling that leaves your mind reeling. Told in reverse chronological order, with the climax of the movie shown first, the director takes you on a wild ride backwards through the story in an experience that is not unlike running up an escalator that is going in the opposite direction. If you think the director is just trying to be clever, there's more to it than that. This disorienting storytelling technique has a purpose and that is to reflect the confused nature of the protagonist who is suffering a short term memory problem. Leonard is searching for the killers of his wife, only problem is he suffered a head injury that has made him unable to store new memories. Leonard is only able to recall memories from before the attack and any new information he learns quickly fades if he doesn't write it down. For Leonard even his own body becomes his notepad as he leaves clues and reminders to himself in the form of tattoos. By telling the story in reverse order, the effect on the audience becomes a mildly euphoric one in which we experience our own form of memory loss, trying to remember what happened two scenes ago and how it fits with the current. A risky experiment on that director's behalf that pays off by not disorienting the audience to the point where they can't follow the story. While the story itself is a pretty straight forward mystery/revenge story, the combination of the unique story telling techniques and the Leonard's memory loss make for an outstanding cinematic experience that explores the nature of time and memory. I definitely give Memento a rating of Fantastic! The director currently has a web site for the movie, which while currently light on content is definitely as slick as the movie. Including the URL which is www.otnemem.com (That's memento backwards by the way).
Title: Brother Director: Takeshi Kitano Run Time:107 minutes Country: Japan Today seems to be my Takeshi Kitano day, first with Kitano featured in Gohatto and now with a movie directed by and starring Kitano. Brother features Kitano as Yamamoto, a disgraced Japanese Yakuza who is forced into exile in the USA, where he looks up his younger brother Ken. Ken and his friends are small time operators in the Los Angeles drug scene until Yamamoto begins to take and interest in their operation. In a bid to make a name for themselves, Yamamoto finds himself and his gang taking on overlords, rival gangs and eventually the mafia themselves in a series of escalating violent confrontations. A brutally violent movie that includes some very graphic scenes, Brother manages to fuse traditional American mafia movies with Japanese yakuza film and create an interesting hybrid. While the plot line invokes comparisons to classic movies like Once Upon a Time in America, or even the Godfather, Kitano's unique sensibilities and acting style make it all his own. I found Brother Enjoyable but disappointing. Kitano's Fireworks remains his best film to date in my opinion. Until Later.... |