Hall of Fame: Akira Kurosawa's Red Beard

Welcome to a brand new edition of Hall of Fame, a blog where I’ll be exposing my favorite movies and discussing exactly why I like them so much, this might include some pivotal plot points and even endings so if you haven’t seen the movie I suggest you don’t read these until you do.

This week is the turn of my favorite filmmaker, one that you should be expecting to see here very often, Akira Kurosawa and his 1965 film….

Red Beard 

First off, I’ll start with a brief summary of my history with Kurosawa and his films, which I’ve been seeing since a very early age. Seven Samurai was my first, and it was the film that changed how I view movies and made me realize their potential, I’d even go as far as saying that it is the movie that made me want to become a filmmaker. After that came the usual fare…Yojimbo, Rashomon, Ran, Ikiru, etc. All of which have shaped my film-viewing/making life in one way or another, I also love his underappreciated gems like The Bad Sleep Well, Dreams and One Wonderful Sunday. Basically, I’ve never seen a Kurosawa film I don’t like, though I have not seen them all.

Red Beard could’ve changed that. I don’t remember exactly when I first watched it, but I do remember not liking it very much.  I could probably attribute that to the fact that it’s a 3 hour movie with only a brief moment resembling action, a necessity for my then very young mind.  Over the years and after multiple viewings I have a lot more appreciation for it, so much so that I’d place it as one of his masterpieces.

This story, like many of Kurosawa’s films takes place in a small district of Edo during the 19th century and follows the young and highly unsympathetic and arrogant Dr. Yasumoto (who until recently I could’ve sworn was played by Tatsuya Nakadai and turns out it’s played by Yuzo Kayama; the resemblance is uncanny), who has been assigned to a small rural clinic which he believes is below his talent and aspirations as a physician. The clinic is filled with patients who are “poor, filled with fleas and lice and stink” as one character so eloquently puts it, the staff is small and can barely keep up with the constant influx of sick patients.

 Dr. Kyojo Niide, or “Akahige” (red beard, played by the legendary Toshiro Mifune) is the head of the clinic and though he seems autocratic at first, we soon discover he is actually sweet and compassionate, running the clinic with almost no resources and yet never charging poor people. Yasumoto rebels against him, “how does he dare to make me work for people who don’t pay me? I trained to be the Shogun’s doctor!” He thinks to himself; he never obeys Akahige and very rarely helps anyone.

Kurosawa’s mastery in demanding absolute perfection out of every single aspect of shoot, be it the actors’ make-up or the realistic and claustrophobically small rooms, makes the clinic come to life (which is rather ironic since most of the people in it are dying). It really puts you inside that place in that moment and it’s truly depressing. The juxtaposition of these images and Yasumoto’s attitude actually makes me angry, “What the hell is he doing? Can’t he see all that’s going on around him?”.

And right there, from the very beginning, it’s always clear to me that this is a movie that will make me feel and will make me think. Kurosawa always puts a lot of social commentary in his films and I feel like in this one, alongside Ikiru and One Wonderful Sunday he makes his views on injustice clearer than in any other.

Thanks to Akahige and his patients, Yasumoto starts to realize how terrible things around him truly are as well as what he can do to help.  From that point on I feel the film starts showing us Akahige from Yasumoto’s subjective point of view, because even though he continually criticizes himself he is shown as an almost flawless character, so kind and good that he seems almost like out of an alternative universe were people is completely thoughtful and compassionate, an idealized version of what a doctor should be (I’m not saying there aren’t doctors like him but they’re certainly a minority). This amount of social criticism might turn some people away from the film altogether, but I can’t help but agreeing with it and the fact that a film that takes place in the 19th century and was made in 1965 still resonates with the reality we’re living in right now is truly impressive.

As its common occurrence in Kurosawa’s films, the story of the lead character is but a small piece in a gigantic puzzle. There are many other sub-plots revolving around patients and staff of the clinic. Most of these are great and add a lot to the plot, the only notable exception is the story of Sahachi, a popular and generous man who tells the story about his wife and how it relates to a mysterious corpse that is discovered during a landslide on his deathbed. This takes roughly 15 minutes of the film and it’s not very interesting, it doesn’t add anything to the rest of the story either so it’s not only boring but also unnecessary.

But this is a small exception that can be easily overlooked when we consider how powerful the rest of the stories are, especially Otoyo’s, a girl who becomes the central point of the movie during most of the second half. The sick 12-year old is rescued by Niide and Yasumoto from her oppressive step-mother who makes her work in her syphilis-infested brothel without any regard for her health or sanity.

How she is rescued is actually amusingly strange. Niide has to fight off a gang of toughs and uses his martial arts and medical knowledge to break their bones and put them out of battle. The film is very consistent with its dark and dramatic mood, almost depressingly so, so this scene stands out because it comes out of nowhere and although very brief and not intended to be, it’s actually kind of funny. But I suppose that also applies to how Niide is presented as a nearly perfect human being.

Otoyo forms a bond with Yasumoto, who spends most of his time taking care of her, so much so that she even gets jealous when his fiancé visits him. With time, she earns everyone’s trust and even begins to work in the clinic helping the staff.  She becomes friends with a young thief her age, offering him food and life advice. Their story takes the center stage for a good portion of the movie, but it’s so rich and beautifully told that it’s hard to complain.

One of the most magnificent and heartbreaking moments comes near the end of the film. The kid is about to die so Otoyo runs out crying, we start hearing screams coming from outside; it’s Otoyo and the other women of the staff screaming the boy’s name into the well, they believe that if they call out to him his soul will return from the center of the earth and back to his body, if they can bring his soul back by the morning he won’t die, it gives me chills every time I watch it. It’s also a wonderful technical accomplishment; in one shot we see them from inside the well when suddenly the camera starts panning down its walls until it reaches their reflections below as a single drop falls. How this was made still boggles my mind.

We’re used to see Toshiro Mifune in larger than life roles as sometimes crazy but hilarious characters, but Niide is a whole different beast than Kikuchiyo or Sanjuro (his characters in Seven Samurai and Yojimbo respectively), he is a lot more calm, serious and knowledgeable, something more akin to his roles in The Bad Sleep Well and High and Low, though a lot less dark.  This also represents something of a step up from his early collaborations with Kurosawa where he often played the apprentice (most of the time opposite Takashi Shimura as his master), here he plays the master, a calm, serene and strong man. It truly is one of his great performances.

And yet, no matter how good Mifune is, it’s Terumi Niki as Otoyo who is the stand out in the cast. Despite her young age at the time, the performance is completely believable, touching and sometimes even painful to watch because of how real it is. If it wasn’t for how good the rest of the cast is, she could’ve completely stolen the show.

And what about the incredible cinematography? The beautiful soundtrack? The amazingly realistic sets? I could literally talk and write for days and days about this movie and that wouldn’t even scratch the surface of everything that could be said about it. This is a notable film in Kurosawa’s filmography for not only being his last one in black and white, but also the last time he would work with Toshiro Mifune, his collaborator in 16 films. The two-year long production and the fact that his natural beard had to be maintained through shooting because Kurosawa would not allow a fake beard which made him unable to act in other films and resulted in him being nearly bankrupt caused a breakup between them. Sure, it is a damn shame that we never got to see another Kurowa-Mifune film, but boy, what a swansong we got.            

Artists working

This is a photographic work that documents via a few pictures the day to day life of different Venezuelan street artists

(Click on picture for full size)


 

Hall of Fame: Sofia Coppola's Lost in Translation

Welcome to the first edition of Hall of Fame, a hopefully weekly (or bi-weekly depending on my schedule) blog where I’m going to talk at length about some of my favorite movies. I’ll be discussing exactly why I like these films so much, including some pivotal plot points and even endings so if you haven’t seen the movie I suggest you don’t read this until you do.

The first film of this new feature is my currently favorite film, which I thought was a good way of starting.

Lost in Translation

Tokyo, one of the most populated and convoluted cities in the world; its language, culture and lifestyle almost impenetrable to foreigners. This is the setting for Sofia Coppola’s Lost in Translation, a film that is as much about the quiet moments as it is about dialogue. It’s an exploration not of a country but of life.

How many of us wouldn’t dream to go to with someone we loved to a new, fascinating place where nobody would recognize us? That’s what Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson) wants and expects when she travels to Tokyo with her photographer husband, but he is there for his work. She wants to be with him but the last thing on his mind is his wife. He leaves her alone for long periods of time and all she does is stare outside her huge window, what is she thinking about? We can only imagine.

And then there’s Bob, an actor whose best days are long behind him. He is in Tokyo to earn 2 million dollars doing a whiskey ad. You can tell he doesn’t really want or care about the money, he is only doing it to keep his wife back in Los Angeles happy. He’s almost emotionless to the news that he forgot his son’s birthday again and his wife keeps pestering him with messages about things he obviously doesn’t care about.

They are both staying in the same hotel and neither can sleep.

A lot of people complain that during this time nothing happens. I disagree. Through their interactions with their surroundings we understand much more about the characters. Charlotte walks around the city, going into temples and arcades, there’s some kind of magic about everything she sees, she’s obviously interested in trying but she uses the fact that she doesn’t know how to as an excuse not to do it, which goes far beyond these simple things.

Bob does his photo shoots trying his best to understand just what the hell his directors want. He is not annoyed, he just wants to get everything over with and go back home to stop being miserable in a strange, weird environment to be miserable in a more familiar one.  

It’s this state of seemingly perpetual loneliness that allows me to connect with the characters. We’ve all felt lost at some point, in one way or another. Sofia Coppola shows exactly how it feels like manipulating these characters in an almost hypnotic way. It’s hard to take my eyes out even if in the exterior it seems like they are not doing much.

And then the magic happens.One particular sleepless night they meet for the first time in the hotel bar. They’ve seen each-other around the hotel before but they’ve never talked until this moment.  The conversation is short and not too deep, neither of them seems to be awfully interested in the other and yet they are more truthful with each-other than they have been with anyone else, even their own partners.  

As the week passes they grow closer and closer, spending almost every moment of their short stay together.  Their relationship is more than just romantic or sexual attraction and Coppola makes it clear by having them spend a whole night in bed fully-clothed, just talking about life, though they obviously have feelings that go beyond a simple casual friendship; they connect in a way I’ve rarely seen characters in a movie do. They don’t kiss or have sex, they just exist there, in the same place, at the same time, understanding what the other is going through and loving every second of their company. It’s a beautiful thing to look at.  

The movie is just a series of tiny, quiet and almost inexplicably powerful moments: A conversation, a joke, a smile, an awkward pause. The one that has the most effect on me happens during a night out with Charlotte’s friends; they go to a club, then to a party and finally to a karaoke bar where Bob sings the 80s song “More than This”. After the chorus, during a short pause he turns around and just stares at Charlotte, she stares back and after a little while she gives him a little smile. It lasts only a few seconds but the way they look at each-other and the way the scene is shot and written says so much more than a simple dialogue would. It’s the most beautifully poignant moment in a movie full of them.

Murray and Johansson have an almost magnetic chemistry, the dialogue magnificently flows between them and every gesture, whether it’s a wink, a smile or a simple touch of hands feels important.  It’s almost effortless how they inhabit their characters and yet allow the audience to put themselves in their position without losing their personality and making every emotion feel real. Simply put: They are human.

I also enjoy the fact that the movie acknowledges that not everything in life, even for a lonely person, is never-ending sadness. There are many hilarious scenes and dialogue mostly provided by Murray. One particularly hilarious moment is when one of his Japanese assistants sends an aggressive exotic dancer to his room who keeps asking him to “lip her stockings”, the expression on Murray’s face as he tries to understand what the hell she’s asking him to do is priceless.

The other star of the movie besides the protagonists and Coppola is cinematographer Lance Acord, who captures every setting and brings them to life with a colorful yet modest look. The way he shoots the scenes with Charlotte looking outside her window is awe-inspiring; he is able to convey through the images exactly what the characters are feeling.

The emotional roller-coaster that is this story culminates in the most powerful ending I’ve ever seen in type of media. As Bob is about to leave Tokyo he sees Charlotte walking down the street, he promptly gets out of his limo and runs to her, there’s a moment of silence and then he hugs her. She starts crying and he whispers something to her ear, we can’t hear what he says but it doesn’t really matter, it is a secret between them. They kiss briefly and say one final goodbye before continuing their different paths. The adventure is over, they’ll probably never see each other again but in the end the movie leaves a hopeful message: We are all meant to be found, it doesn’t matter where, when or how long it’ll last.

Every time I watch Lost in Translation I feel something different, I learn something, I question the purpose of life, I question the meaning of happiness. It’s not all the time that a movie deeply influences you or makes you think and feel, let alone makes you discover new feelings and thoughts each time you see it and I’ve seen this movie over 20 times since I first watched it in 2006. That’s why it is holds a very special place in my heart and it is my favorite movie 

We Bought a Zoo Review

We Bought a Zoo (2011)

Dir: Cameron Crowe

We Bought a Zoo is a part of a particular sub-genre of movies that most people refer as “feel-good movies”. They are un-complicated dramas usually based on real-life events  were everything turns out for the best and in the end everyone is happy and viewers leave the theater with a positive attitude, a recent example of this is 2010’s Academy Award winner The King’s Speech.  They usually do well with critics and award shows (especially the Oscars) but I’ve never particularly cared for them. It’s not that I’m a depressive person, but they tend to be too by-the-book, not that they’re bad movies but if you’ve seen one you’ve seen most of them, which is why I’m surprised I enjoyed this as much as I did.

Cameron Crowe’s latest film stars Matt Damon as Benjamin, a widower who is trying his best to take care of his young daughter and rebellious son after the death of his wife.  Everyone around him feels pity for him, which drives him crazy and absolutely every place in the site reminds him of his wife so he decides to move to a place that will make him and his kids happy.  The problem is that his dream house is part of a zoo, complete with all kinds of exotic animals and a small staff to take care of them.

After some consideration he chooses to buy the zoo and reopen it. During the process he and his family establish a bond with the animals and the eccentric staff which includes Kelly (Scarlett Johansson) and her cousin (Elle Fanning).  There are complications, fights and misunderstandings but in the end everyone learns something from the experience.

Yes, this story is very predictable and some of the dialogue, particularly the one from the kids is pretty terrible.  It follows an extremely common pattern, down to the shot of the protagonist gazing at the sight of the house while a hopeful piano tune plays in the background, the comic relief little daughter, the love confession under the rain and working in the title of the movie in an inspirational speech, which is done a little too many times for my liking.

But deep in all the predictability and terrible dialogue lays a really sweet and charming story. While it starts out pretty bad, it picks up after the whole buying a zoo thing begins. The trials and tribulations of maintaining the animals is by far the most entertaining aspect, though the relationships between characters work well and while none of them are terribly deep, they all add something the story.

This is a movie that plays with the emotions, and does it well. I’m not afraid to admit that I shed a few tears during a particular scene with a tiger and I laughed a lot at some of the stuff that happened, there are a lot of funny moments there.  The relationship between Benjamin and Kelly is good but I was far more invested in the one between Elle fanning’s character and her son, which was a lot sweeter and more compelling.


Benjamin is the character who grows the most during the movie and Damon does a fine job showing the wide array of emotion he needs. Johansson plays somewhat against type as a character who is not as defined by her beauty as some of the other stuff she has done, which is a nice change.  With the exception of Elle Fanning, who is terrific in the movie, the kid actors are very soap-operish, becoming unintentionally funny sometimes and their line delivery is pretty terrible. Thomas Haden Church is the best part of the ensemble being hilarious as Benjamin’s older brother.

We bought a Zoo is more than the sum of its parts thanks to Cameron Crowe’s ability to create a touching story with charismatic characters. And despite the almost unbelievable and ridiculous positivity it is a film that everyone can enjoy, I’d recommend it even if like me, you’re not the type to watch this kind of films, because it is great.