tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post5621808849551700646..comments2024-03-27T18:24:19.683-07:00Comments on Steve Sailer: iSteve: Forget it, Barack, it's KoreatownUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger91125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-89794624466585323962014-05-05T22:23:23.918-07:002014-05-05T22:23:23.918-07:00Let me give you some old man advice.
1. You clear...Let me give you some old man advice.<br /><br />1. You clearly do not understand sarcasm. I'll let others be the judge of who is petulant and who is unhinged. Further conversation with you on this score is unnecessary and useless.<br /><br />2. My father died of a very aggressive cancer painfully. And my mother also had two very close brushes with cancer and remains in precarious health. They are not the only people who died painfully or tragically in my family.<br /><br />We all have suffering. Although I feel sorry for your loss, yours is hardly a unique situation. Have some dignity and don't play the victim card in a useless internet debate. Your suffering does not entitle you to some special knowledge or morality, for others too experience it. The older you get, the more loss you will experience. That's just life.<br /><br />And be especially grateful that you do not (yet or hopefully ever) know the soul-tearing pain of seeing your own child die, asking for you desperately.<br /><br />3. Finally, realize that we, none of us, lives for ourselves only. As the Japanese say:<br /><br />義は険しい山よりも重く、死は大鳥の羽よりも軽い<br /><br />Good luck to you. Have the final word, if you'd like.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-38862154548565314912014-05-04T09:00:13.077-07:002014-05-04T09:00:13.077-07:00"""""Yup. Clearly I am th..."""""Yup. Clearly I am the unhinged one.""""""<br /><br />Uh, yes, you are. You truly are.<br /><br /><br /><br />""""""Good luck being the legend in your parents' basement.""""""<br /><br /><br />My mother died of cancer last May (stage 4). I wont go graphic here, but suffice it to say that taking care of her during her ordeal can teach a person more about life and human nature than any and all the superficialities in the world. It is a hard lesson to learn and isn't for the faint of heart.<br /><br />VERY MUCH like Kurosawa's masterpiece Ikiru, loosely translated to life, or life or living, where a low level bureaucrat has stomach cancer and less than 6 months to live and after several trials and errors finds redemption for his life by establishing a park for others to enjoy after he's gone.<br /><br />Unlike Rashomon, Ikiru did extremely well at the box office and the critics then as now consider it to be one of the windmaker's all time greatest works.<br /><br />Clearly, clearly one of Takeheshi Shimura's finest moments (perhaps even better than his characterization as Gambei in 7 Samurai).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-50985843515375821902014-05-02T18:01:58.819-07:002014-05-02T18:01:58.819-07:00Yup. Clearly I am the unhinged one. Good luck bein...Yup. Clearly I am the unhinged one. Good luck being the legend in your parents' basement. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-10501646631507786292014-05-02T08:54:22.755-07:002014-05-02T08:54:22.755-07:00""""""Finally, who a...""""""Finally, who are the contemprary Japanese heirs of Kurosawa you like today? Who, in your view, rivals or exceeds the artistic quality of Kim Ki-Duk?""""""<br /><br /><br />AGAIN, note the misspelled word.<br /><br /><br />Instant Swamp by Satoshi MIki. Overtones of One Wonderful Sunday and a bit of No Regrets for Our Youth, but I won't push for the later. Miki is a keeper. To use a sports analogy, he's made it to the big leagues and is on the cusp of a couple HRs away from international acclaim. Should be there soon. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-36233308682674672842014-05-02T08:16:07.509-07:002014-05-02T08:16:07.509-07:00""""Unless you lived in Korea,...<br /><br />""""Unless you lived in Korea, it's difficult to understand the true depth of anti-Japanese feelings (justified or not) in Korea and the almost allergic reaction to Japanese cultural products in Korea."""""<br /><br />Name dropping. Oh, how good for you. You lived in Korea and Japan. Do tell, do tell for the thousandth time. Zzzzz.<br /><br /><br /><br />"""""I also trained in Aikido at its Hombu Dojo in Tokyo and trained in Hapkido in Korea and find the latter almost laughable, but that's another story).""""""<br /><br /><br />Oh, God and you're about to tell it here, aren't you? No? Thank god! Whew!<br /><br /><br /><br />""""But YOU are being disingenuous now. It WAS poorly received in Japan INITIALLY and only gained following"""""<br /><br />Uh, I did say that, actually. That the box office wasn't initially performing up to Kurosawa's previous hits Stray Dog and Scandal as well as the melodramatic A Private Little War. He made Rashomon at Deiei studios which wasn't on quite the same level with Toho. Toho = MGM, and Deiei = Columbia.<br /><br /><br />"""It ended up "recouping" the initial cost as a direct result of this, not because the Japanese public took to it on their own in the beginning.""""<br /><br />Well, they did come around and took it to their own in that era as well. And now, of course, it's on the ten greatest Japanese films ever list of theirs so they must still like it.<br /><br /><br /><br />""""Finally, who are the contemprary Japanese heirs of Kurosawa you like today?"""""<br /><br />One name that jumps out at me lately has been Naomi Kawase and her documentaries. Her narrative structure very much resembles the Emperor so perhaps she is the Empress.Been also watching some of their romantic comedies lately, so I'll check the names a bit later.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />NOTICE. You misspelled a word but I'll give the ancient elder the courtesy of not checking which particular word and allow that it wasn't intentional. Of course, never know.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />""""Who, in your view, rivals or exceeds the artistic quality of Kim Ki-Duk?"""""<br /><br />Currently, of course there's Martin Scorcese. Terrence Malick, if only he would consent to direct more consistently. Gus Van Sant, when he's on, he's really on. If he had only directed Kids, and not served in mere Exec. Producer, it would've been even more remarkable, but there you go.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-32161320533328266422014-05-02T08:15:55.636-07:002014-05-02T08:15:55.636-07:00""""You may not like it,"...""""You may not like it,"""""<br /><br />Ascribing motive again? Why would you presume to know what one likes, especially one you don't know?<br /><br /><br />""""but Korea's culture is just as old and possibly older than that of Japan. Certainly Japanese culture was exposed to the West much earlier, but again that's the Western perspective."""""<br /><br />Zzzzzzz. Are you through yet with the dissertation? Yes? No?<br /><br /><br /><br />""""Also I never suggested that "the influence only goes one way." """"<br /><br />If you think so, go right ahead.<br /><br /><br />"""""I merely pointed out that Korean cinema was overwhelmingly influenced in the last 50 years or so by the West and Hong Kong rather than Japan, mainly because of the overwhelming American influence after the Korean War and because Japanese cultural imports and any resemblance to the same were officially banned and publicly detested.""""<br /><br />Rabbiting on and on and on. Geez. You are definitely right about being old and perhaps a bit older than what I originally thought.<br /><br /><br /><br />"""""but rather that there was very strong, conscious effort by both the Korean public and artists to avoid imitating or being influenced by (or at least avoid being seen to be influenced by) Japan."""""""<br /><br />Unpleasant fact: Koreans are racist. Actually at some level so are the Chinese and Japanese as well. All three of their long histories have ample examples of bigotry and racial hatred. Not just white westerners who have been referred to as hatemongers.<br /><br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-87514763688330288132014-05-02T07:23:46.545-07:002014-05-02T07:23:46.545-07:00""""And to Godard's actual...<br /><br /><br />""""And to Godard's actual point, wasn't Mizoguchi indeed the more "Japanese" filmmaker than Kurosawa?""""""<br /><br />But with the French New Wave, one of their reasons of existence was to be anti-estalbishment. Choosing Japanese films in general more than half a century ago was considered a rebellious action vs the West and all its established canons of films.<br />As Mizogouchi and Ozu were the more established filmmakers at the time, it gave them additional credibility, so to speak, by favoring the more "authentic" filmmaker of the nation (though Kurosawa was in fact Japanese and began his career during WW2 making pro-japanese side features). But that's their prerogative. <br /><br />What I don't particularly like at all....<br /><br /><br />""""By the way, the English transliteration is "Mizoguchi," not "Mizuguchi." """"<br /><br />Ok, old man. I DONT like your corrective, petty minded and frankly, semi-psychotic tone. Perhaps that works down at your local....but really you need to get a grip. I have an autistic nephew and he is much better behaved and on the ball than what I've read here from you. Perhaps that is a bit blunt but that is what I'm witnessing. I wouldn't expect you to understand since, yes, autism is a real disease and it is a very unpleasant experience both for the victim and the loved ones.<br /><br /><br /><br />"""I am not (sorry, just an old white Southerner who spent too much time in Asia)"""""<br /><br />Old, yes, that does clearly show forth and shine thru. Never would've guessed the south.<br /><br /><br />""""but what if I were?""""<br /><br />That would suggest, that you have a self interest and are not some unbiased observer.<br /><br /><br />"""Why do you constantly resort to ad hominem and personalize the discussion?"""""<br /><br />You're reading into things that I've never said. Again, must be your advancing age. Is it ad hominem to disagree with another person's viewpoint? How is it 'personal' to hold another opinion than someone else?<br />On the other hand, your constant petty correcting over sp. is a bit creepy, and weird. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-81056475430276242802014-05-02T07:19:47.450-07:002014-05-02T07:19:47.450-07:00""""he was lionized in the Wes...""""he was lionized in the West in ways he was not in Japan,"""""""<br /><br />But....as his career went on.....he was and has been and continues to remain in Japan, one of their most respected greats. FACT: He is the only Japanese filmmaker to receive two films honored on their respected film critic magazine Kinema Jumpo among the greatest Japanese films ever made. So clearly, in Japan, his countrymen must currently hold a different viewpoint.<br /><br />And also as his films tended to gross very high revenues at the box office the Japanese public must also have enjoyed his films.<br /><br /><br />""""After all, Kurosawa's nickname of "Tenno" in Japan was not meant to be complimentary. It's meant to be sarcastic and derisive, as if to say, "He THINKS he's the emperor." """"""<br /><br />Please. The stuff of legends. If we went by what detractors said about every single filmmaker, in some cases we'd have to block out what we've learned to appreciate their work. Example: Roman Polanski is considered by many to be an artist of the highest order, and yet, he is still wanted for raping a 12yr old child in the US. Therein lies a conflict for some who may be torn between appreciating his work and yet the rape charge still hangs over him.<br /><br />Also, another Kurosawa nickname given him was "windmaker" since in so many of his films he utilized natural elements such as rain, wind, smog, etc. That naturalist aspect can be directly tied to Kurosawa and whenever it is consistently done in a filmmakers work, it is most likely that they were influenced by Kurosawa.<br /><br />And in relation to the box office in Japan, "Tenno" he certainly was.<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-55507771764661861812014-05-02T07:18:21.348-07:002014-05-02T07:18:21.348-07:00""""Yes, I am annoyed"&qu...""""Yes, I am annoyed""""""<br /><br />And frankly, it shows. You're coming across as petulant, a bit unhinged, and frankly, perhaps its your age, It makes it difficult to hold a rational conversation with someone who constantly has to resort to lecturing and lecturing and lecturing and lecturing per "when I was in" and "this this and this"<br /><br />Its like, son of a--maybe it is the way of age, that when a person passes a certain milestone he feels the need to constantly lecture others in the "proper way" of thinking and doing things.<br /><br />I don't attempt to 'read into' people's imaginary tone per online. That's neither here nor there but suffice it to say, that your tone appears to be quite disrespectful and unacceptable as well.<br /><br /><br /><br />""""I do not know how old you are, but you come across as very immature.""""""<br /><br />And you dont? behold the looking glass, as did narcissus.<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-29142129250358649882014-05-02T00:54:04.897-07:002014-05-02T00:54:04.897-07:00As for my favorite Japanese film of recent years (...As for my favorite Japanese film of recent years (and possibly of all time):<br /><br /><i>The Twilight Samurai was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 76th Academy Awards, <b>Japan's first in twenty two years</b>, losing to the French Canadian (Québec) film Les Invasions Barbares. The Twilight Samurai also <b>won an unprecedented 12 Japanese Academy Awards</b>, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Screenplay. [Boldfaces are mine.]</i>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-67014891614389480472014-05-02T00:01:33.768-07:002014-05-02T00:01:33.768-07:00As for "2nd rate Seoul" (presumably comp...As for "2nd rate Seoul" (presumably compared to Tokyo) how much have you lived in Seoul or any other Asian city? On what criteria do you make these evaluations? Nobody in the right mind would claim that today Korea is as rich as Japan is (but the gap has been closing rather fast) or doubt that Japan reached modernity earlier. But that's a different argument from Japan's culture being "more established" than Korea's. You may not like it, but Korea's culture is just as old and possibly older than that of Japan. Certainly Japanese culture was exposed to the West much earlier, but again that's the Western perspective.<br /><br />Also I never suggested that "the influence only goes one way." I merely pointed out that Korean cinema was overwhelmingly influenced in the last 50 years or so by the West and Hong Kong rather than Japan, mainly because of the overwhelming American influence after the Korean War and because Japanese cultural imports and any resemblance to the same were officially banned and publicly detested. <br /><br />This does not mean, of course, that Japanese popular culture had no influence or that Korean artists couldn't see Japanese works of art (that's not possible) -- quite a bit of it "seeped in" if you will -- but rather that there was very strong, conscious effort by both the Korean public and artists to avoid imitating or being influenced by (or at least avoid being seen to be influenced by) Japan. Unless you lived in Korea, it's difficult to understand the true depth of anti-Japanese feelings (justified or not) in Korea and the almost allergic reaction to Japanese cultural products in Korea. Even their national martial art, Tae Kwon Do, which is largely derived from Shotokan Karate, has been completely sanitized of the original Japanese influence and heavily "Koreanized" to the point where the two are very different today (I trained in Tae Kwon Do in Korea and Shotokan Karate in Japan and, in fact, favor Shotokan; I also trained in Aikido at its Hombu Dojo in Tokyo and trained in Hapkido in Korea and find the latter almost laughable, but that's another story).<br /><br /><i>But Rashomon over the years has more than recouped its initial cost and is considered a masterpiece, even in Japan</i><br /><br />I absolutely LOVED Rashomon. Who doesn't today?<br /><br />But YOU are being disingenuous now. It WAS poorly received in Japan INITIALLY and only gained following and acclaim AFTER it garnered extremely positive attention in Europe. It ended up "recouping" the initial cost as a direct result of this, not because the Japanese public took to it on their own in the beginning.<br /><br />Finally, who are the contemprary Japanese heirs of Kurosawa you like today? Who, in your view, rivals or exceeds the artistic quality of Kim Ki-Duk?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-85465693187754414532014-05-01T23:57:56.808-07:002014-05-01T23:57:56.808-07:00The tone of sour grapes.
Yes, I am annoyed becaus...<i>The tone of sour grapes.</i><br /><br />Yes, I am annoyed because I find your tone (to the extent it comes across the internet) rude, presumptive and entirely devoted to winning arguments at all costs rather than to communicate well, that is, to get your points across well and to really understand what the other party is saying rather than tirelessly attempting to paint a straw man for some juvenile notion of gaining "victory" on a website of all places.<br /><br />I find it tiresome, and whatever merits your statements contain become obfuscated. I do not know how old you are, but you come across as very immature.<br /><br /><i>All, right, then unanimous consensus, and the consensus is that Kurosawa was one of world cinema's all time greats.</i><br /><br />True enough, I never said he was a bad director or that he was not a great one, even. It is, rather, my opinion, one reinforced by my Japanese friends and my time in Japan that (to repeat my earlier assertion) he was lionized in the West in ways he was not in Japan, and further that his influence on Korean filmmaking was not significant (that last part is also influenced by my time in Korea).<br /><br />After all, Kurosawa's nickname of "Tenno" in Japan was not meant to be complimentary. It's meant to be sarcastic and derisive, as if to say, "He THINKS he's the emperor."<br /><br />What evidence do you propose to advance the view that, say, Kim Ki-Duk was significantly influenced by Kurosawa? Even if you ignore the rest, I'd like to know your answer to this substantive question. Present the evidence, please. It would be particularly helpful if you could point specific points, elements or techniques that Kim uses that are derived from Kurosawa.<br /><br />As for Godard (it's not "Goddard") not speaking Japanese, how much Japanese do you speak and how much time have you spent in Japan? I lived for years in both Japan and Korea and speak both languages well enough to watch films in both languages (I still score at the highest levels for both on DLAB tests).<br /><br />Didn't you argue recently, on another topic, that the understanding of an original language is not necesary to understand well a piece of work? You keep changing arguments based on temporary argumentative need that I have trouble following your logic.<br /><br />And to Godard's actual point, wasn't Mizoguchi indeed the more "Japanese" filmmaker than Kurosawa? I am not a big fan of the French New Wave (in fact, I find much of it execrable rather like "Dogme 95" today), but I agree with Godard on this.<br /><br />By the way, the English transliteration is "Mizoguchi," not "Mizuguchi."<br /><br /><i>Japanese culture has been more established and Japan's economy for decades was of a higher standard than 2nd rate Seoul's. To weakly attempt to argue that the influence goes only one way, and not at in the other way, sorry. Am beginning to wonder if you're not Korean.</i><br /><br />I am not (sorry, just an old white Southerner who spent too much time in Asia), but what if I were? Why do you constantly resort to ad hominem and personalize the discussion? Do you need to create and win internet flame wars that badly?<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-81951842134278323132014-05-01T08:28:50.959-07:002014-05-01T08:28:50.959-07:00""""But that's just me, I ... """"But that's just me, I guess. I think of films as more than entertainment."""""<br /><br />Yes, it certainly is you. All films post a certain era aren't all that, I hear what you said, got it. A generational thing, no doubt.<br /><br />Remember, great works of art must also contain a strong element of entertainment value, (albeit of a much higher level than mere commercialism). Film must function and run as a business or it will never survive as an art.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />"""""Of course, I loved "Rashomon," but consider this appraisal:"""""""""<br /><br />Didn't sound as though you did. Glad to hear you have a better opinion of it after all.<br /><br /><br /><br />"""Japanese critics did not like the film and it performed poorly at the domestic box office."""""<br /><br />Actually, this is a myth after the fact, a la Babe Ruth pointing to CF and calling his HR shot. At original release it performed lesser than expectations but it made money and upon re-release it proceeded to make a ton. <br /><br />AGAIN, it is now on the list of Japan's oldest established Kinema Jumpo's ten greatest Japanese films ever made.<br /><br /><br />""""When it received positive responses in the West, Japanese critics were baffled; some decided that it was only admired there because it was "exotic," others thought that it succeeded because it was more "Western" than most Japanese films."""""""<br /><br /><br />Yes, yes, that is the standard line. Also, Kurosawa had left Toho at the time due to a dispute as well as a strike at the studio. Filming at smaller Deiehi studios rather than at Toho has contributed to the overall perception that it wasn't an initial box office hit. It was less of a hit, but after the award came in it did become a massive hit.<br /><br />But Rashomon over the years has more than recouped its initial cost and is considered a masterpiece, even in Japan.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />""""""However, Daiei Motion Picture Company (a producer of popular features at the time)""""""<br /><br />This is a spin on the fact. Actually, Daiei was not not in the same box office league as Toho. Toho = MGM in classic hollyood, and Daiei = Columbia. Barely above poverty row. Think of it as Gable making It Happened One Night at Columbia.<br /><br /><br /><br />""""and the Japanese government had disagreed with the choice of Kurosawa's work on the grounds that it was "not [representative enough] of the Japanese movie industry" and felt that a work of Yasujirō Ozu would have been more illustrative of excellence in Japanese cinema."""""<br /><br /><br />To be fair, and accurate, at this time, Ozu (and Mizuguchi) were the more established filmmakers in Japan at that time. Ozu did work on different themes than did Kurosawa. Both were masters each in their own way. But from this point on, Kurosawa was THE fillmmaker in Japan and would remain so for the next two decades.<br /><br />Thank you.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-19577509685320862252014-05-01T08:15:18.212-07:002014-05-01T08:15:18.212-07:00"""""(on the other side o...<br /><br /><br />"""""(on the other side of the coin, the ultra-conservative elements in Japan seem to foam at the mouth rather too vituperously at the so-called Korean Wave popularity in Japan)."""""""""""<br /><br /><br />It goes both ways. Japanese culture has been more established and Japan's economy for decades was of a higher standard than 2nd rate Seoul's. To weakly attempt to argue that the influence goes only one way, and not at in the other way, sorry. Am beginning to wonder if you're not Korean.<br /><br /><br /><br />"""""To the extent that there has been foreign influence on Korean cinema, the influence was overwhelmingly Western (American and European) and Chinese/Hong Kong, rather than Japanese and Kurosawa in particular."""""""""""<br /><br /><br />That's a bit disingenuous. Its a given, frankly that Korea and basically the rest of the world is influenced by Hollywood. The world has for nearly a century, duh. Nope, not buying it re: the rest of the world influenced Korean filmmakers but oh no NOT Japan, definitely not. And to suggest that few filmmakers in Korea have ever heard of Kurosawa or any other Japanese major filmmaker, frankly, is asinine and ridiculous.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />""""""I am also curious about your view of Yoji Yamada's "Tasogare Seibei" and what it says about Japanese contemporary society. How does Yamada rate in comparison to Kurosawa?"""""<br /><br /><br />Do also attempt to use the English translation. You of course are referring to Twilight Samurai. Excellent. Oh, wait, Yamada also did the Tora San series, right? Lucky in kindness but so unlucky in love? Sort of the Jack Lemmon character a la the Apartment.<br /><br /><br /><br />By the way, Kim's "Pieta" won the Golden Lion at Venice in 2012. Of course, you must know that Kurosawa's "Rashomon" won the same prize in 1951.<br /><br />Released in 1950, Rashomon. Was a fairly modest hit at the time. Winning the Golden Lion helped increase the popularity. <br /><br />AND it was included in Kinema Jumpo's 2009 'Ten greatest Japanese Films' of all time. So I guess the Japanese did finally come around to understanding it after all.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-45976848462603735822014-05-01T08:15:08.294-07:002014-05-01T08:15:08.294-07:00"""""What do you think of..."""""What do you think of Kenji Mizoguchi or Kim Ki-Duk and their films?""""""""<br /><br />Samurai Rebellion is interesting, as well as Hari Kiri, which did quite well at Cannes. And Tatsuya Nakadai's star making indelible performance in 'A Soldier's Prayer' no question about it. But, initially we were discussing, or YOU appeared to be discussing how of little artistic merit that Kurosawa's entire opus appears to be. You definitely in the minority of opinion re: Artistic greatness, whether East or West.<br /><br /><br /><br />""""Godard especially really championed Mizoguchi as the "authentic" Japanese director."""""""""""<br /><br />Yes, certain new wave critics did appear to champion Mizogouchi as well as Ozu as being more authentic Japanese. Never mind the fact that Godard didn't speak fluent Japanese and was ignorant of Japanese society as a whole.<br /><br />Donald Richie, however, who DID spend decades in Japan and is considered to be the foremost expert on Japanese cinema from a western perspective, ranked Kurosawa above them all. There, its called balance. And Goddard again, as most New Wavers, didn't speak fluent Japanese.<br /><br /><br /><br />""""""Although I do think Japanese directors influenced Korean ones, I think that influence was very limited largely because Japanese cultural imports were virtually banned in Korea for decades and anything seen to be overtly influenced by Japanese culture was and still is disparaged by the Korean public at large as unpatriotic""""""""<br /><br /><br />Question here: You're Korean, aren't you? This excessive defense of all things Korea, we get it. The filmmakers in Korea would've have had access to both Western films AND Japanese films as well. To minimize and downplay Kurosawa's global impact on world film (e.g. akin to Bergman, Fellini, etc) is to frankly, engage in a form of deception. Whether it is intentional or self-deluded its difficult at this point to tell.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-11672567267266469402014-05-01T08:14:38.095-07:002014-05-01T08:14:38.095-07:00"""I don't think there can be o..."""I don't think there can be objective "winners" in an anonymous internet discussion about the artistic merits and influence of Kurosawa vs. Korean auteurs."""""""<br /><br />The tone of sour grapes. All, right, then unanimous consensus, and the consensus is that Kurosawa was one of world cinema's all time greats. Not arguable. AND that he was directly responsible for influencing a couple of generations of filmmakers both in the west AND particularly in the East, as in Asia.<br /><br />You seem to have such a hangup giving Kurosawa his just artistic due, as if YOU are attempting to say "he isn't all that". Uh, yes he is.<br /><br /><br /><br />""""I note that, curiously enough, you make absolutely no mention of other Japanese directors or Korean ones, for that matter.""""<br /><br />Up to now, Korea has been largely irrelevant. Hard to accept, but facts are facts. Kurosawa was the best of his generation. Yes, of course Mizoguchi, Ozu, and Kobayashi. I didn't think this was a history lesson on filmmakers in so short a space. <br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-49345925633238804632014-05-01T02:12:56.375-07:002014-05-01T02:12:56.375-07:00And:
The film appeared at the 1951 Venice Film Fe...And:<br /><br /><i>The film appeared at the 1951 Venice Film Festival at the behest of an Italian language teacher, Giuliana Stramigioli, who had recommended it to Italian film promotion agency Unitalia Film seeking a Japanese film to screen at the festival. However, Daiei Motion Picture Company (a producer of popular features at the time) and the Japanese government had disagreed with the choice of Kurosawa's work on the grounds that it was "not [representative enough] of the Japanese movie industry" and felt that a work of Yasujirō Ozu would have been more illustrative of excellence in Japanese cinema. Despite these reservations, the film was screened at the festival and won both the Italian Critics Award and the Golden Lion award—introducing western audiences, including western directors, more noticeably to both Kurosawa's films and techniques, such as shooting directly into the sun and using mirrors to reflect sunlight onto the actor's faces.</i><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-63342269634010708492014-05-01T01:35:00.509-07:002014-05-01T01:35:00.509-07:00I had trouble believing in the Buddhist temple con...<i>I had trouble believing in the Buddhist temple context, where peace, contemplation, simplicity, the cycles of nature and the essentially Zen Buddhist ideas just didn't feel authentic and Korean in any meaningful way to me, but very out of context with the thrust of what else I am aware of in their culture.</i><br /><br />You know, Korean culture is not monolithic, just as Korean cuisine is not monolithic to use another metaphor. The mass culture is not all that there is there.<br /><br />In Asia, I lived and worked in China, Japan, Korea as well as Singapore (and I travelled extensively in other parts of Asia). I was something of an old Asia hand before I retired.<br /><br />I found the setting in "Spring..." entirely believable and authentically Korean if timeless. In the not too distant past, it was common for Koreans (especially women) to hide out in isolated Buddhist temples when fleeing from trouble or attempting to find a cure for an illness or sterility. There is a long tradition of such tales in Korea.<br /><br />Of course, watching a film more than half an hour may be necessary to give it a proper appraisal, especially if it's in another language and the context appear alien.<br /><br /><i>Twilight Seibei" was a pleasing film, but I would certainly not class the images or ideas it presents as striking on any level of a film like "Rashomon", at all. I'd class it as ultimately a pleasing yet rather enervated melodrama with a happy ending...</i><br /><br />I don't know that after suffering poverty and ridicule, and risking one's life for one's clan only to die for the losing side in a civil war while one's peers all survived and became successful is "happy ending." Certainly not so in the Western sense. But the Southerner in me appreciates this profoundly. Both Southerners and the Japanese have strong sentimental attachments to noble losers.<br /><br />I thought the film captured perfectly the contemporary moood of the aging Japanese workers especially the once envied Sarariman some of who are, gasp, being laid off. <br /><br />Of course, I loved "Rashomon," but consider this appraisal:<br /><br /><i>Japanese critics did not like the film and it performed poorly at the domestic box office. When it received positive responses in the West, Japanese critics were baffled; some decided that it was only admired there because it was "exotic," others thought that it succeeded because it was more "Western" than most Japanese films.[12]</i><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-29420931251149720042014-05-01T00:55:12.988-07:002014-05-01T00:55:12.988-07:00I'm another Anonymous entirely (the one that l...I'm another Anonymous entirely (the one that linked on the characteristics of Chinese viewers of Korean drama vs American drama), but I would say I certainly found "Spring, etc." hard to get into and wasn't able to watch past half an hour of it. <br /><br />Part of this may be that I had trouble believing in the Buddhist temple context, where peace, contemplation, simplicity, the cycles of nature and the essentially Zen Buddhist ideas just didn't feel authentic and Korean in any meaningful way to me, but very out of context with the thrust of what else I am aware of in their culture.<br /> <br />"Hwal" by the same director, another movie focused on lives lived with simplicity, I found more watchable, with actually less of a sense of an urbanised intellectual fetishising a culture he is removed on and does not understand.<br /> <br />Many of his other films I have not bothered with as they appear to centre around strange, lurid, emo, emotionally dysfunctional and pointless romantic relationships. Like intellectualized, sexually transgressive and arty versions of the emo, emotional porn Korean dramas. What's the point of that?<br /><br />"Twilight Seibei" was a pleasing film, but I would certainly not class the images or ideas it presents as striking on any level of a film like "Rashomon", at all. I'd class it as ultimately a pleasing yet rather enervated melodrama with a happy ending, and the slice-of-life structure so beloved by many modern Japanese. Fundamentally a very unchallenging film, with characterization that does not reveal much about human life that the audience will be unaware of.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-9217675426799925642014-04-30T22:47:03.585-07:002014-04-30T22:47:03.585-07:00Good, Bad, and Ugly is an artistic masterpiece, ju...<i>Good, Bad, and Ugly is an artistic masterpiece, just ask Oscar winning director Tarrantino. Thank you!</i><br /><br />I enjoyed the Spaghetti Westerns and find some Tarantino (it's not "Tarrantino") films entertaining (especially "Reservoir Dogs") if derivative (Hong Kong remade as America?), but it's clear that you and I have vastly different definitions of "masterpieces." I think "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly," for example comes off rather poorly and juvenile in comparison to the likes of "Shane" and "High Noon," particularly in the context of what these films tell us about human nature and the nature of society. But that's just me, I guess. I think of films as more than entertainment.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-73990326702978563512014-04-30T22:40:35.857-07:002014-04-30T22:40:35.857-07:00Because you can't win that one, understandable...<i>Because you can't win that one, understandable.</i><br /><br />I don't think there can be objective "winners" in an anonymous internet discussion about the artistic merits and influence of Kurosawa vs. Korean auteurs. But if feeling like a "winner" on the internet is crucial to your psyche, have at it. YOU are the winner! Happy?<br /><br />I note that, curiously enough, you make absolutely no mention of other Japanese directors or Korean ones, for that matter.<br /><br />What do you think of Kenji Mizoguchi or Kim Ki-Duk and their films?<br /><br />Godard especially really championed Mizoguchi as the "authentic" Japanese director. <br /><br />Kim Ki-Duk's "3-Iron" and "Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring" are touted (justly in my view) as highly authentically Korean films with very strong native focus and elements.<br /><br />Although I do think Japanese directors influenced Korean ones, I think that influence was very limited largely because Japanese cultural imports were virtually banned in Korea for decades and anything seen to be overtly influenced by Japanese culture was and still is disparaged by the Korean public at large as unpatriotic (on the other side of the coin, the ultra-conservative elements in Japan seem to foam at the mouth rather too vituperously at the so-called Korean Wave popularity in Japan).<br /><br />To the extent that there has been foreign influence on Korean cinema, the influence was overwhelmingly Western (American and European) and Chinese/Hong Kong, rather than Japanese and Kurosawa in particular.<br /><br />I am also curious about your view of Yoji Yamada's "Tasogare Seibei" and what it says about Japanese contemporary society. How does Yamada rate in comparison to Kurosawa?<br /><br />By the way, Kim's "Pieta" won the Golden Lion at Venice in 2012. Of course, you must know that Kurosawa's "Rashomon" won the same prize in 1951.<br /><br />You seem to think that Koreans are "late to the scene." And in that light, where are the Kurosawa-influenced Japanese directors today? Who are the rivals of the likes of Kim Ki-Duk internationally among the Japanese directors of today?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-87556521057919444082014-04-30T08:26:28.532-07:002014-04-30T08:26:28.532-07:00'One Wonderful Sunday'; 'The Lower Dep...'One Wonderful Sunday'; 'The Lower Depths' were neither loud nor bombastic.<br /><br />"""And is he known in the West for these films?"""""<br /><br />Changing the terms in mid sentence eh?<br /><br />YOU said, Kurosawa's films weren't all that in Japan. 'One Wonderful Sunday' is a very touching moving film and it made money IN Japan. This film enabled Kurosawa to go on to make the amazing post-war themed film 'Drunken Angel'.<br /><br />Actually, re: 'The Lower Depths' uh,....yes. It was known at the time since it was a make of playright Maxim Gorky's play. (Remember, Russia is also part of Asia, but you already knew that one, of course).<br /><br /><br /><br />"""""What are the most well-known and popular Kurosawa films in the West?""""""<br /><br />Gosh, there are so many many of them, now. Are you claiming that you don't know any titles? Are you saying that he had absolutely no influence on Asian directors? Come, come now!<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />"""""As for the Zatoichi serials, as pulpily entertaining as they were, they were hardly artistic masterpieces, were they?""""""<br /><br />The first 2 were masterpieces. Then admittedly it took on a life of its own. It was a distinctly unique character at the edges of 19th cent. Japanese society. An outcast, a blind masseuse, whom is not welcome in society as a full member and must make his way in the world by any way and means he can. It is a truly amazing character study.<br /><br /><br />"""""They are the Japanese equivalent of "The Man with No Name" serials."""""<br /><br />Good, Bad, and Ugly is an artistic masterpiece, just ask Oscar winning director Tarrantino. Thank you!<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />If you have attended gathering of filmmakers (especially script writers) of late, you'd know that there is a widespread acknowledgment that there has been a large creative burst in the South Korean cinema in the recent years <br /><br /><br />What took them so long? Well, the film students are well familiar with what they learned from Kurosawa and other Japanese masters, so it's hardly surprising that the Hermit Kingdom would finally catch on to how get things right. Sure took 'em long enough.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-66579308739340565982014-04-30T08:26:14.482-07:002014-04-30T08:26:14.482-07:00""""I am not going to engage i...""""I am not going to engage in "my kung fu is better than your kung fu" over this marginal topic of Korean vs. Japanese cinema.""""""""<br /><br />Because you can't win that one, understandable. Kurosawa is the acknowledged master of Asian cinema of the 20th century and his wide ranging influence is shown on filmmakers from East Asian nations today. Thank you.<br /><br /><br />"""""""Also popular and high-grossing are not the same as artistic merit and quality."""""""""<br /><br />YOU said that Kurosawa's films weren't all that in Japan because the Japanese filmgoers viewed him as "too wesern", and YET they tended to out earn other films in Japan for their given year and made tons of money. What you seem to forget is that Japanese studios, like US at the time (and also now as well) generally want their released films to make money. If a filmmaker has too many flops, he won't be in the business for very long.<br /><br />Artistic merit and quality? Lets see: 7 Samurai, won the SIlver LIon at Venice; Rashomon, won the Golden Lion at Venice; Hidden Fortress, won the Golden Bear at Berlin; Kagemusha, won the Grand Prize at Cannes? I wont go on to save you embarrasment, DOH!<br /><br />Point is, Kurosawa's films were not only box office hits, they were also widely praised by the critics and won tons of awards (given to "artistic" films) at the international level. Also, Kurosawa won 4 Japan's academy awards for best director.<br /> <br />So,....seems as though Aki was quite able to get his awards from the artistically minded hoity toity critics and award judges.<br /><br /><br />Speaking of Wiki on Kurosawa and Western-influence, here you go:<br /><br />NO, I do acknowledge his influene on the West, BUT, Kurosawa was heavily influential on both Japanese cinema and on East Asian cinema at large.<br /><br />It would be like saying that Michelangelo had no influence on other Renaissance artists at large.<br /><br />Also, UNLIKE many artists who tend to ignore the people's voice (box office), he understood all too well how fragile and fickle the public could be:<br /><br />"As long as my films make money, I can afford to be unreasonable. As soon as I make a few flops, then I know I will have made some enemies." (quote from woodblock from actor Chiaki Minura)<br /><br />You know, when a master is "ahead of the curve", so to speak, oftentimes the negative critics will make disparaging remarks here and there. But when the results are in and he still is at the top of all Asian filmmakers, well then........<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-82168096237273697082014-04-29T23:04:00.803-07:002014-04-29T23:04:00.803-07:00I've heard several commenters online suggest t...<i>I've heard several commenters online suggest that the looting in Koreatown in 1992 was overwhelmingly committed by Hispanics. And watching the footage in the clip below shot near Koreatown during the riots, over 90% of the looters do indeed seem to be Hispanic. What do you know about this?</i><br /><br />The first day was dominated by blacks attacking everyone and looting. The second and third days were dominated by purely opportunistic looting by Hispanics, who didn't care any more about Rodney King then than they do now, and the mood looked downright festive.Dennis Dalehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03233729780363740881noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-71283995590762944442014-04-29T20:56:28.752-07:002014-04-29T20:56:28.752-07:00The UK police started to get tough *only* when the...<i>The UK police started to get tough *only* when the rioting had spread to mostly white cities outside of London.</i><br /><br />The UK police are arranged by counties so that places outside London dealt with rioters as rioters whereas in London one area burned because the "Roscoe P Coltrane" refused to stand by his officers and let an innocent strand of hair of a rioter be injured by the police whereas its neighbouring area (Chikasaw) had its head guy stand by his officers.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com