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.
2.10 - JASON BOURNE (2016) & the Mainstream
2.9 - THE BOURNE LEGACY (2012) & New Starts
2.8 - THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM (2007) & Tonal Shifts
2.7 - THE BOURNE SUPREMACY (2004) & The Art of the Sequel (II)
2.6 - THE BOURNE IDENTITY (2002) & Amnesia
2.5 - INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL (2008) &Reality
2.4 - INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE (1989) & Myth-Making (II)
2.3 - INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM (1984) & Orientalism
2.2 - INDIANA JONES AND THE RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (1981) & Adventure
2.1 - BLUES BROTHERS 2000 (1998) & Change
1.50 - THE BLUES BROTHERS (1980) & Pop Culture Musicals
1.49 - JOHN DIES AT THE END (2012) & Meta
1.48 - BIG HERO 6 (2014) & Loss
1.47 - THE ASSASSIN (2015) & Cultural Tourism
1.46 - SILENCE OF THE LAMBS (1991) & Transformation
1.45 - GOOD WILL HUNTING (1997) & Mentors
1.44 - BOOK OF ELI (2010) & Religion
1.43 - Small Batch - BATMAN V SUPERMAN (2016)
1.42 - ZODIAC (2007) & Reality
1.41 - SCREAM (1996) & Meta-Text
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