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.
3.19 - BIRDMAN (2014) & Renown
3.18 - BABEL (2006) & (Mis)Communication
3.17 - 21 GRAMS (2003), Change, & Grief
3.16 - AMORES PERROS (2000) & Violence
3.15 - REVIEW OF 2017
3.14 - LOVE ACTUALLY (2003) & Romance
3.13 - HOOK (1991) & Childhood
3.12 - VERONICA GUERIN (2003) & Fear
3.11 - 8MM (1999) & Voyeurism
3.10 - FALLING DOWN (1993) and America
3.9 - THE LOST BOYS (1987) & Subcultures
3.8 - DODES’KA-DEN (1970) & Dreams
3.7 - SEVEN SAMURAI (1954) & Class
3.6 - RASHOMON (1950) & Storytelling
3.5 - DRUNKEN ANGEL (1948) & Disease
3.4 - THE HURT LOCKER (2008) & Individualism
ZERO DARK THIRTY (2012) & The Other
3.3 - K-19: THE WIDOWMAKER (2002) & Camaraderie
3.2 - THE WEIGHT OF WATER (2000) & The Past
3.1 - POINT BREAK (1991) & The Female Gaze
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