Here is a review of Yoji Yamada's latest film (Bushi no Ichibun), which stars Takuya Kimura. Mark Schilling critiques movies for the Japan Times. I have read a lot of his reviews and even have a couple of books written by him about Japanese cinema, and it is rare that he awards a movie 4.5 stars out of a possible 5 which is what he gives Bushi no Ichibun.
By MARK SCHILLING
Some directors, like the recently deceased Akio Jissoji, have careers that look from the outside to be wildly eclectic. Jissoji's filmography encompassed everything from the early "Ultraman" shows to the arty films he made for the Art Theater Guild in the early 1970s.
Bushi no Ichibun
Rating: (4.5 out of 5)
Takuya Kimura and Rei Dan in "Bushi no Ichibun" (c)LOVE AND HONOR FILM PARTNERS
Director: Yoji Yamada
Running time: 121 minutes
Language: Japanese
Now playing (Dec. 8, 2006)
[See Japan Times movie listing]
Yoji Yamada, on the other hand, would seem to be the ultimate journeyman, churning out 48 episodes of the Tora-san series from 1969 to 1996 -- a feat that lifted him into the Guinness World Records. In discussing the series, Yamada often compared himself to a noodle cook, who aims for consistency as well as quality.
But Yamada's trilogy of samurai films -- "Tasogare Seibei (The Twilight Samurai)" (2002), "Kakushi Ken -- Oni no Tsume (The Hidden Blade)" (2004), and the new "Bushi no Ichibun (Love and Honor)" (2006) -- differ from much of his earlier work not only in subject matter but treatment and sensibility. The folksy humor and sentimentality that were once Yamada trademarks are seldom in sight. Instead, the dominant mood is autumnal, verging on somber; the stylistics spare, if visually rich.
If Yamada was once a sort of Japanese Norman Rockwell, giving the big audience warm tinglies with his idealized, portraits of national archetypes, he has since become more like Andrew Wyeth: still popular with the masses, but striking deeper, darker emotional chords.
Based, like the first two films in the trilogy, on the fiction of Shuhei Fujisawa, "Bushi no Ichibun" also resembles them in its story arc. Once again, a low-ranked samurai faces character-testing difficulties that he overcomes with the support of a pure-hearted woman, culminating in a sword duel with a rival. In other words, a third serving of soba.
But just as one bowl of noodles is not like the next, "Bushi no Ichibun" stands apart from the other trilogy films. First, its star, Takuya Kimura, is not, like Hiroyuki Sanada of "Tasogare Seibei" and Masatoshi Nagase of "Kakushi Ken," a middle-aged screen veteran, but a youngish TV megastar with limited film experience. Rei Dan, who plays Kimura's wife, is a screen newcomer, in contrast to Rie Miyazawa and Takako Matsu, established stars who played the female leads in the first two films.
Also, the situation of Kimura's samurai, Shinnojo Mimura, is more dramatically desperate. A food taster for his clan's lord, he is poisoned by bad shellfish and goes blind. Though poor by samurai standards, Shinnojo and his wife Kayo (Dan) have a happy marriage, and his career prospects as an expert swordsman are bright until suddenly it all goes crash.
Kayo and the couple's elderly servant Tokuhei (Takashi Sasano) remain devoted, but Shinnojo feels worse than useless. He contemplates suicide, and turns bitter and violent. Kayo, an orphan who married up, can bring no allies to this struggle. Meanwhile, Shinnojo's relatives, beginning with his aunt Ine (Kaori Momoi), are selfish, coldly practical sorts who, at a family conference, tell Kayo to find a powerful patron. She remembers Toya Shimada (Mitsugoro Bando), a clan banto (captain) who had once expressed sympathy for her plight.
Shimada proves to be as good as his word, using his influence to allow Shinnojo to keep his status, income and house. All seems to be saved -- the once light-hearted Shinnojo cracks his first jokes in ages -- but he can't escape the feeling that Kayo is slipping away from him, into the arms of another man. When a rumor confirms his fears, he goes off the deep end -- this time, it seems, for good.
This material is ripe with melodramatic potential, but Yamada films it with a minimum of histrionics. He keeps his scenes, even ones in which crockery is thrown, simple and pointed, with plenty of strong emotion but little overacting.
This sort of paring down is common in films by older directors, but "Bushi no Ichibun" does not share other familiar features of "geriatric" cinema: staginess or outdated-ness. One reason is that Yamada's principal couple is young and he allows them to act that way, instead of sitting on their personalities in the name of auteurist rigor.
Kimura disappears into his role more completely than I would have thought possible, while Dan, a former Star performer in the Takarazuka revue, is a revelation -- thoroughly professional, refreshingly natural. Not an aughties idol or diva, but an actress who could have walked in from a Mizoguchi film.
Also, instead of falling back on the tricks of his earlier career -- Tora-san redux -- Yamada is working in what for him is still a new genre, using new approaches. Even Tokuhei -- whom Yamada could have easily turned into yet other lovable version of Tora-san -- is a hard-bitten character in his own right.
Viewers of the other trilogy films will recognize familiar tropes, including the climactic duel that, true to Yamada's keep-it-real code, has none of the fantastic flash of other films about blind swordsmen, including the "Zatoichi" series. The sword moves are the real deal, the battle intensely personal, the results grippingly final. That is to say, if you liked the first two films, you'll like this one even more. Cooks tend to improve with practice -- and Yamada's third batch of noodles is his best.
Joined: 15 Jun 2004 Posts: 34087 Location: Los Skandolous, California Country:
Posted: Sun Dec 10, 2006 11:40 pm Post subject:
shin2 wrote:
Here is a review of Yoji Yamada's latest film (Bushi no Ichibun), which stars Takuya Kimura. Mark Schilling critiques movies for the Japan Times. I have read a lot of his reviews and even have a couple of books written by him about Japanese cinema, and it is rare that he awards a movie 4.5 stars out of a possible 5 which is what he gives Bushi no Ichibun.
thanks for the article...i'm looking forward to watching this film.
Gakko III: The New Voyage (1998). This is the third of Yoji Yamada's Gakko (School) series, and like the previous two which I have seen, this one is also excellent. Shinobu Otake--in a truly great performance--plays an over-40 widow with a teenaged autistic son; she has been laid off from her job and enrolls in a vocational school to learn building maintenance and hopefully start a new career. She is the only woman in a class full of middle-aged and older men who are also trying to start all over again. Yamada's films, whether comedies or dramas, focus on working class people and their daily struggles, and poor Sawako (Otake) has major obstacles to deal with. The rest of the large cast is solid with recognizable character actors like Kunie Tanaka, Takashi Sasano, and Nenji Kobayashi. There are very few writer/directors who are able to consistently elicit laughter and tears from an audience all in the same movie, and this movie, like almost every Yamada film I've seen, does that.
Kamome Shokudo (Seagull Restaurant). This is a 2006 film about a middle-aged Japanese woman who opens a restaurant featuring home-style Japanese food in Finland of all places. Satomi Kobayashi is very engaging as the protagonist who is convinced she can make the Finnish townspeople appreciate onigiri. Along the way she has help from two other Japanese women (Masako Motai and Hairi Katagiri--both also engaging in the movie) who also find themselves in Finland. This film is very deliberately paced, mirroring the repetitive nature of our daily lives. I think it's a very good film.
Hakase no Aishita Sushiki (The Professor's Beloved Formula). If you are into math, this movie is for you. It's a 2006 movie about a math professor (well played by Akira Terao) who, as the result of an accident, can only remember the last 80 minutes at any moment (he does remember everything prior to his accident). Eri Fukatsu, in a sparkling performance, plays a single mom who is the latest of a string of housekeepers who try to deal with the professor and his unique problem. There are math lessons, math formulas, math tricks, and math philosophy interwoven with a heartfelt story of kindness and friendship. Overall, a pretty good movie, imo, and a must-see if you're an Eri Fukatsu fan.
Nezu no Ban (A Night without Sleep). This 2006 film takes place in the world of Rakugo. The story is structured around three funerals where family, disciples, and friends reminisce in flashbacks about events which illustrate the character of the deceased. This is a bawdy, scatalogically overwhelming movie. There are dirty jokes, dirty songs, dirty stories, and dirty events all thoughout the movie. The language, if the subtitles are accurate, is very ripe, to say the least. At times it can get to be too much, too forced, but there are enough funny and entertaining scenes that overall I thought it was a pretty good movie. Dorama fans will recognize Kiichi Nakai and Yoshino Kimura among the cast and the film is directed by Masahiko Makino (more familiarly known as Masahiko Tsugawa, a great actor who's appeared in over 100 films and scores of dorama). One thing for sure--if you view this film, you'll never look at a manta ray in the same way again.
I recently watched 'Nagisa No Sinbad'. I really don't know what to make of this movie... the pace was annoyingly slow, the storyline definitely not conventional, but all the actors played wonderfully, and managed to express their respective emotions quite convincingly.
It basically deals with identity, hidden feelings, frienship, unrequited love and the resulting angst, and peer pressure in school. Typical teenage matters, that is, but with a twist.
Hollywood meets its match in Japan
von Leo Lewis (Tokyo)
Home-grown blockbusters beat imported films at the Japanese box office. Japanese films are leading foreign imports by a thin but now virtually insurmountable margin according to box-office figures.
ANZEIGE
With the clock rapidly ticking down on 2006, James Bond has been landed with a mission almost certainly beyond even his powers: saving Hollywood from a landmark defeat at the hands of the Japanese. For barring a sudden explosion of audience interest in Casino Royale, the current year will have been the first since 1985 in which Japanese films outdid foreign imports at the box office. Film industry experts also believe the rising appeal of domestic films at Japanese cinemas is part of a trend that may give Hollywood a prolonged slump in a market that has, for at least two decades, generally adored its output.
According to box-office figures, Japanese films are leading foreign imports by a thin but now virtually insurmountable margin of about Y1bn (E6.5m). The four largest film distribution companies in Japan have confirmed that the domestic industry generated 51 per cent of the Y161bn box office revenues logged so far this year. The same sources also believe that strong Japanese releases will not be threatened at the ticket counters by December's "uninspiring" US fare.
Yuko Sekiguchi, the chief editor of Japan's oldest filmgoers' magazine, Kinema-Junpo, says: "Although we don't yet know whether Japanese movies will keep this up for another year, Hollywood movies are in a slump, and from now on I am certain the box office gap between domestic films and imports will always be small. Hollywood is not producing those large-scale, high-tech extravaganzas that used to fascinate Japanese audiences." Ms Sekiguchi says Japanese audiences have become more selective and critical. They are increasingly looking for films that deliver high emotion, and are particularly keen on the sort of tear-jerker Hollywood no longer produces. She points to the success of Umizaru, a low-budget coast-guard drama that, with ticket sales of Y71bn, made about the same at the Japanese box office as Mission Impossible III and King Kong combined.
The success of Japanese films marks a sharp recovery from the late 1990s. Throughout most of the 1980s, the combined box office revenues of Japanese films tended to lag behind those of foreign imports by about Y10bn. By the end of 1998, Hollywood outpaced the domestic industry by nearly Y40bn. But changing consumer tastes, a drop in imports of once popular Korean films, heavier investment in Japanese studios, and a much steadier flow of home-grown, blockbuster animation titles has redrawn the landscape. The turnaround began in earnest in 2005 with the animated film Howl's Moving Castle, which that year outdid in Japanese box office takings every Hollywood film except Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
Takayoshi Koike, an entertainment industry analyst at Deutsche Bank, says the change, though highly significant, was not surprising: "The performance of domestic Japanese movies has been rising steadily for the past three years and has come at a period of what may be a temporary decline for Hollywood. Meanwhile, the big domestic distributors and film-makers have been investing heavily in production and promotions."
That investment, say analysts, is the key to the resurgence of Japanese cinema and comes from the increasingly desperate domestic television broadcasters. With advertising revenues flowing towards the internet, the likes of Fuji TV, Nippon Television and Asahi TV have begun pumping money into feature films. And the money is certainly there: Japanese broadcasters between them spend about Y500bn a year producing programmes for television - nearly six times what they and the rest of the Japanese film industry spends on movies.
By shifting a small proportion of programming budgets towards low- and medium-budget domestic movies, said a UBS analyst, broadcasters have landed upon a source of revenue that both plays to existing corporate strengths and could eventually be far more lucrative than the advertising they are losing to the internet. With the broadcasters' investment behind them, Japanese film-makers in 2006 have been able to match Hollywood, blockbuster for blockbuster. Countering The Goblet of Fire was the animated epic Tales of Earthsea. The Da Vinci Code was matched by a celebrity-packed comedy Uchoten Hotel and a gothic horror called Death Note.
Japanese broadcasters between them spend about Y500bn a year producing programmes for television - nearly six times what they and the rest of the Japanese film industry spends on movies.
This could be the reasons why Japanese movies lag behind hollywood movies for 20 years. I think finally the Japanese companies realize that if they increase investment in productions they can produce higher quality movies.
Also Japan needs to limits the amount of hollywood releases in Japan because they are stealing away the dollar from japanese movies. Never wonder why there's no japanese movies in Hollywood?
I hope japanese companies continue this trend for years to come. If they continue to produce high quality movies people will watch them. Japan has the technologies to match hollywood.
I saw yesterday the film 'Love Letter' by Shunji Iwai after many people I know told me it's good. And it is. Very beautiful cinematography, and a really touching story... I never saw Miho Nakayama before but now I'll be on the lookout because she's such an amazing actress. I really thought the characters she potrayed were played by two different actresses!
who knows some sites to download some japanese movies?
You can also try mininova, the pirate bay and tokyotosho then look for the subs in kloofy.net
btw, anyone here knows where I can download Masami Nagasawa's movie-ROUGH? Been looking for it since October can't find any sources whatsoever. Thanks in advance! Merry Christmas!
Thanks for the info.We downloaded a version from mininova I think but the subs were not that good plus the quality was really low so I guess I'll try this link too.
Joined: 24 Jun 2005 Posts: 11925 Location: burunto o suimasu ka? Country:
Posted: Sat Jan 06, 2007 8:16 am Post subject:
Usagi Yojimbo wrote:
Thanks for the info.We downloaded a version from mininova I think but the subs were not that good plus the quality was really low so I guess I'll try this link too.
Missed this post earlier.
you're welcome, and I hope this one was better for you.
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is it already available to download now??.. thanks..
