The Look: Darren Aronofsky’s PI and Seijun Suzuki's Tokyo Drifter

peterm1: Thank you for the tips. I am familiar with both Kurosawa and Ozu and you are right about the latter: the static camera is very special, you need to get used to it but if you have some experience with old silent movie then i think you're good to go. I have not seen Chushingura so it is now added to my list. I won't go into the whole Hollywood thing but generally speaking, when it decides to remake something, well, you better watch the original first as the remake tends to be limp. And I do love Hollywood but as of the last 2-3 decades it has really dropped the ball. O well, ebb and flow bla bla 🙂

Filmtwit: Tri-X 16mm pushed two stops must be nuts. I mean you can already tell with 35mm when it is pushed and processed properly, there is some serious mid tone crunching going on. With 16mm? Man, there is nothing left. And on top of that overexposing? Yeah, goodbye greys!

Judge Holden: Tetsuo Iron Man! Haven't though of that one in ages. Saw it at the Laemmle five theatre on Sunset in LA upon its release. Great weird movie. I need to watch that one again. Thanks for the reminder 🙂

charjohncarter: I love Foma 400. I need to go through some bulk of XX and Orwo 74 but once I am done, back to Fomapan. I give it a two stop push and with my pre asph, 35mm Summilux it is amazing.

Again, thank you all for chiming in!


"And I do love Hollywood but as of the last 2-3 decades it has really dropped the ball."

Yep I would have to agree. Over the past few decades Hollywood has not just dropped the ball it has deflated it and buried it in a hole with a dead donkey. Today it seems to specialize in publishing little more than trash. There are rare exceptions such as some movies made by the likes of the Cohen Brothers (who are special) and those instances when the Hollywood machine finances movies which are made overseas (leaving Hollywood to claim the credit) but using stories and talent from other countries. And occasionally a top end Director like Scorcese will "push out the boat" and make a movie like "Silence" which is almost an art house movie by Hollywood standards. Although even here I find it a little bit too "Hollywood" for my taste at least in certain respects.....I think most likely what bugs me is Hollywood's insistence on casting "stars" in key roles rather than just plain old, good "actors". And this fact too often leaves me conscious of the "star" who is playing the part rather than connected to that character thereby becoming fully immersed in the story. Which is what I want if it is actually a good story.

Other than this Hollywood these days seems to churn out little more than formulaic nonsense - at the best no better than "made for TV" movies. Or rubbish for children (adult children that is) based on comic book stories. Oh, and sequels and remakes. Let's not forget sequels and remakes.

As you say......... "O well, ebb and flow bla bla" 🙂
 
Thanks for the Japanese movie recommendations.
Most recently I have watched two movies by Mikio Naruse: Floating Clouds and When A Woman Ascends The Stairs. Both star Hideko Takamine and are filmed in the back streets of war ravaged Tokyo.
Heart wrenching movies about the challenges for women in post WWII Japan society.
Very morose watching Naruse.
Looking forward to Tokyo Drifter.
 
Thanks for the Japanese movie recommendations.
Most recently I have watched two movies by Mikio Naruse: Floating Clouds and When A Woman Ascends The Stairs. Both star Hideko Takamine and are filmed in the back streets of war ravaged Tokyo.
Heart wrenching movies about the challenges for women in post WWII Japan society.
Very morose watching Naruse.
Looking forward to Tokyo Drifter.

My thanks go to those who made suggestions too. And Maigo, thank you too. I have found the first one already since reading your post and will watch it with interest.

regards Peter
 
BTW If anyone is into Japanese movies or seriously wants to be, I can highly recommend the "Twilight Samurai" trilogy. Be aware they are color films made a little after the year 2000. But their look is beautiful and the stories are told with great fidelity and emotion. The thing I really love about Twilight Samurai in particular is the sense it conveys of how it actually was in that time. It achieves this by portraying in some detail the everyday aspects of the hero's work life and family life. I found this deeply immersive.

Filmed by Yoji Yamada and based on stories by a Japanese writer, Fujisawa Shuhei they all tell the stories of the everyday life of low grade samurai at the end of the Tokugawa period, just as the Meiji Restoration was about to take place (around 1860). At this time Japan had experienced 250 years of peace under the ruling Tokugawa family but was ripe for change. As a class, most Samurai had little to do that was warlike, so instead spent most of their time performing more bureaucratic and administrative functions for their clans.

Each story is really a love story more than a sword fest, and though there is some sword play in each movie don't expect heros with near superhuman powers cutting down dozens of villains. The characters are all much less black and white, and much more interesting than this. Most of all the stories are sensitively told and beautifully filmed - with great attention to period details. At times they are slow paced too, giving the viewer plenty of opportunity to absorb the details of everyday life being depicted. Really very lovely movies and quite engrossing.

The titles of the 3 movies are "Twilight Samurai", "Hidden Blade" and "Love and Honor." All are good but in terms of story-telling and emotional impact I would rank them in the above given order and the first, Twilight Samurai, is quite unsurpassed in my view, quite simply being one of the best movies made anywhere ever.
 
No Kenji Mizoguch or Kon Ichikawa? What about the "Battles Without Honor and Humanity" Yakuza series from Kinji Fukasaku? or maybe Masaki Kobayashi Human Condition series? or maybe even Shohei Imamura Japanese New Wave material like "Pigs and Battleships"

BTW If anyone is into Japanese movies . . .
 
and blown up to 35mm negative with release prints made from that.

peterm1:

Filmtwit: Tri-X 16mm pushed two stops must be nuts. I mean you can already tell with 35mm when it is pushed and processed properly, there is some serious mid tone crunching going on. With 16mm? Man, there is nothing left. And on top of that overexposing? Yeah, goodbye greys!

Again, thank you all for chiming in!
 
Thanks for the info, I will definitely check out these interviews, I am a big fan of his films and the work of Teshigahara.

[ please forgive my previous message if it sounded disbelieving, I was just hungry for more knowledge ]

Caro,

Subscribe to the Criterion Collection online, darling. www.thecriterionchannel.com All of these movies and more!!

Ciao,
Mme. O
 
Thanks for the Japanese movie recommendations.
Most recently I have watched two movies by Mikio Naruse: Floating Clouds and When A Woman Ascends The Stairs. Both star Hideko Takamine and are filmed in the back streets of war ravaged Tokyo.
Heart wrenching movies about the challenges for women in post WWII Japan society.
Very morose watching Naruse.
Looking forward to Tokyo Drifter.

I have been watching Floating Clouds. Enjoying it very much. If "enjoying" is the right word to use for a movie that is essentially sad and a little dark . About half way through right now so I will know more later. The Japanese are very good at these rather morose stories.
 
If anyone is interested here are some of my faves (in that specific look) besides Tokyo Drifter, Woman In the Dunes and Branded To Kill.

In alphabetical order:

A Page Of Madness (silent)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0017048

Eros + Massacre
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWVrSxivE1Y

Funeral Parade Of Roses
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7c-Lanw1I8

Heroic Purgatory
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELSLiHWt0NM

Pale Flower
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOOr4nuWFqU

Shura
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0165473/
 
"And I do love Hollywood but as of the last 2-3 decades it has really dropped the ball."

Yep I would have to agree. Over the past few decades Hollywood has not just dropped the ball it has deflated it and buried it in a hole with a dead donkey. Today it seems to specialize in publishing little more than trash. There are rare exceptions such as some movies made by the likes of the Cohen Brothers (who are special) and those instances when the Hollywood machine finances movies which are made overseas (leaving Hollywood to claim the credit) but using stories and talent from other countries. And occasionally a top end Director like Scorcese will "push out the boat" and make a movie like "Silence" which is almost an art house movie by Hollywood standards. Although even here I find it a little bit too "Hollywood" for my taste at least in certain respects.....I think most likely what bugs me is Hollywood's insistence on casting "stars" in key roles rather than just plain old, good "actors". And this fact too often leaves me conscious of the "star" who is playing the part rather than connected to that character thereby becoming fully immersed in the story. Which is what I want if it is actually a good story.

Other than this Hollywood these days seems to churn out little more than formulaic nonsense - at the best no better than "made for TV" movies. Or rubbish for children (adult children that is) based on comic book stories. Oh, and sequels and remakes. Let's not forget sequels and remakes.

As you say......... "O well, ebb and flow bla bla" 🙂

Not to say that American films are bad. Very very far from that! There are great directors who make great movies. Just two off the top of my head that I really liked. Both from director Debra Granick.

Winter's Bone
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQdcSXqwb48

Leave No Trace
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_07ktacEGo8
 
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