Our next film in Season 4 is 1931’s JIROKICHI THE RAT, the second in our chronological journey through a century of martial arts films. Sam’s a little luke-warm to start with, but is won round in the end — via discussions of cinematic archetypes, innovative camera techniques, and what it means to be a samurai.
Next Week The next film we take on is the directorial debut of an auteur we featured on the podcast last year, Akira Kurosawa: SANSHIRO SUGATA (1943). Watch it through the BFI Player/Amazon, here: www.amazon.co.uk/Sanshiro-Sugata-Denjiro-Okochi/dp/B07116L3MQ/ref=sr12?ie=UTF8&qid=1548627698&sr=8-2&keywords=sanshiro+sugata
This Week’s Media IN A VALLEY OF VIOLENCE (2016): Ti West, Ethan Hawke, Taissa Farmiga LES MISERABLES (2018): Tom Shankland, Adeel Akhtar, David Oyelowo
Recommendations RONIN (1998): John Frankenheimer, Robert De Niro, Jean Reno ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK (1981): John Carpenter, Kurt Russell, Lee Van Cleef RASHOMON (1950): Akira Kurosawa, Toshiro Mifune, Machiko Kyō BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID (1969): George Roy Hill, Paul Newman, Robert Redford
Footnotes First, we should link to an explanation of so-called ‘tendency’ films, for which the director (Daisuke Itō) was famous at the time: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tendencyfilm. This is a good book on the various changes in Japanese cinema around the time that OROCHI and JIROKICHI THE RAT were made, and the cultural aftermath of these: books.google.co.uk/books/about/AHundredYearsofJapaneseFilm.html?id=s7-Gon5-a0C&rediresc=y. On the innovative use of camera movement in films, this is a good article: www.filmcomment.com/article/game-changers-camera-movement. Finally, this is an engaging piece about the idea of ‘the hero’s journey’, which Rob mentions this week (but which, actually, is a trope these films seem to undercut!): venngage.com/blog/heros-journey.
5.8 - YUNIOL (2007) & Tone
5.7 - MY STRAIGHT SON (2012) & Acceptance
5.6 - EMBRACE OF THE SERPENT (2015) & Madness
Small Batch - Titane (2021)
5.5 - MADEINUSA (2005) & Dislocation
5.4 - CITY OF GOD (2002) & Corrupt Space
5.3 - 25 WATTS (2001) & Futility
5.2 - THE ACCUSED (2018) & Intensity
Small Batch - Free Guy (2021)
Small Batch - White House Down (2013) & Olympus Has Fallen (2013)
Small Batch - Pirates Of The Caribbean
5.1 - EMA (2019) & Seeds
200! - 300 (2007) & Fourteen Years
4.50 - MULAN (2020) and Honour
4.49 - MULAN (1998) & Gender
4.48 - THE LION KING (2019) & Hyperrealism
4.47 - THE LION KING (1994) & Privilege
4.46 - ALADDIN (2019) & PRETENCE
4.45 - ALADDIN (1992) & Worth
4.44 - BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (2017) & Loneliness
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