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.
1.40 - FOXCATCHER (2014) & Nostalgia (II)
1.39 - BRICK (2005) & Film Noir
1.38 - LONE RANGER (2013) & Racism
1.37 - SILENT RUNNING (1972) & Ecology
1.36 - WHIPLASH (2014) & Myth-Making
1.35 - STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS (2015) & Belated Sequels
1.34 - Top 5 Films Of 2015
1.33 - IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1946) & ‘The Christmas Film'
1.32 - GO (1999) & The Para-Christmas Film
1.31 - HOME ALONE (1990) & Family
1.30 - THE MYTH OF THE AMERICAN SLEEPOVER (2010) & Adolescence
1.29 - BEASTS OF NO NATION (2015) & Youth
1.28 - ZOMBI 2 (1979) & Schlock Colonisation
1.27 - Small Batch - SPECTRE (2015)
1.26 - THE BABADOOK (2014) & Trauma
1.25 - THE MARTIAN (2015), Science, & Solo Survival
1.24 - GIRL, INTERRUPTED (1999) & Mental Health
1.23 - THE SOCIAL NETWORK (2010) & Truth
1.22 - SEXY BEAST (2000) & Crime
1.21 - HIGH FIDELITY (2000) & Pop Culture Soundtracks
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