Archive for C
For some reason this last month I went on a Japanese Yakuza movie kick. Yakuza are Japanese gangsters. “Why did you suddenly decide to watch a bunch of Japanese movies?” you ask. I have no idea why. I really don’t. Like most Americans, the only Japanese movies I was even remotely familiar with were
Godzilla movies. Oh yeah, I did watch
The Seven Samurai a couple years ago. In fact, like most Americans, my familiarity with foreign films is pretty slim. I already had a couple in my Netflix queue, so I advanced them and added a few more. Here’s my reviews of the 6 movies I watched. These reviews are from someone completely unfamiliar with the genre, Japanese culture, and Yakuza traditions. It was fun and educational.
A Colt is My Passport (Takashi Nomura, 1967) What a great name for a movie, but it’s a bit misleading. My favorite of this bunch.
A Colt is My Passport is very heavily influenced by both Spaghetti Westerns and
film noir. An odd combo perhaps, but it works. A hit man (Jô Shishido) is hired by a Yakuza gang, but is double-crossed by his employers for getting the boss involved. He and his driver are targeted so they try to hide out from both gangs in a fleabag hotel where they meet a girl. She wants to get away from her life also. The gangs find where he’s gone. Trouble ensues. The ending is very much from a Western, a showdown out on a dusty plain. The beauty of this film is the Spaghetti Western soundtrack (it really works!) and the black and white cinematography. 84 minutes long.
Youth of the Beast (Seijun Suzuki 1963) – Not sure what the name of this one means. A former cop (Jô Shishido again) who just got out of prison beats his way into the mob to find who killed a friend. He is one tough fellow. First he goes into a mob-owned restaurant and runs up a huge tab, then says “I don’t have any money.” They take him into the office and he beats up one of their guys and takes his gun. Of course, if a guy has that much chutzpa, they take him in. Eventually the other gang offers to let him join them as well. He agrees to work as a double agent, so to speak, and works both against each other to get his information and destroy the gangs. In color at 92 minutes.
Stray Dog (Akira Kurosawa 1949) –
Stray Dog is not really a Yakuza film, it’s more of a police procedural. A rookie homicide detective (Toshirô Mifune) loses his gun and works with another detective (Takashi Shimura) to find it. Along the way he sees crimes done with his gun and is torn up about it. He makes some smart moves for a rookie, and some dumb moves but he is single-minded and focused. He also is bothered by the fact that the criminal is so much like him. A few different decisions and they could change places, he the criminal and the criminal a cop.
Stray Dogs has the most drama, or I should say melodrama. I don’t say that as a negative, just trying to be accurate. A solid film from the master Japanese director Kurosawa (
The Seven Samurai). Black and white at 122 minutes.
Pale Flower (Masahiro Shinoda 1964) – The name isn’t much to go by and doesn’t sound as cool as
A Colt is My Passport or
Tokyo Drifter. However, the movie is straight-up
film noir: Nihilistic and dark. A Yakuza (Ryô Ikebe) gets out of jail after serving three years for murder of a rival gang member. Now the two gangs work together so he’s in a sort of limbo. He goes to gambling dens because it’s the only way he can feel anything. He meets a girl (Mariko Kaga) who’s just as lost as he is. She’s not interested in romance, she just wants to feel life. She’s one of those bored rich people. There’s a lot of gambling in this movie. There’s also a surprising (to me) scene in a bowling alley (see essays on bowling and
film noir http://wesclark.com/ubn/bowling_noir.html and
http://web.archive.org/web/20050205084815/http://members.aol.com/bobbuttman/bowlingnoir/bowlingnoir.htm).
Pale Flower is the darkest of these films, but it’s not violent. Also black and white at 96 minutes.
Tokyo Drifter (Seijun Suzuki 1966) – Another cool name and accurately describes the movie. A Yakuza guy named Testu stays loyal to his boss even though his boss is going straight. However, another gang wants one of the boss’s buildings and deals with him the Yakuza way. In order to keep the peace, Tetsu has to wander. But he gets hunted anyway. This one is the most action-packed of the bunch. However I had a bit of trouble following it early on. Part of the problem is each gang has a guy called Tetsu (Tetsuya Watari and Tamio Kawaji). Of all these films this one has the most B-movie feel with choppy editing and close-ups. However the set design, while minimal, is inventive and well used, even expressionistic and post-modern. The music sounds like 1950s crime jazz with a bit of Western thrown in. There’s an extended bar fight in a bar called Western Noon. There’s some Americans drinking in there and during the bar fight, they get the worst of it and are used as comic relief which was quite interesting. Actually, kind of a nice turnabout on the frequently-used Asian comic-relief in American films. Color at 82 minutes.
The Yakuza (Sydney Pollack 1974) Technically isn’t a Japanese Yakuza movie. What a great film! Four guys served in the occupation Army in Japan right after WWII. This movie takes place twenty years after. George Tanner (Brian Keith), gets himself in a jam with a Yakuza gang. He asks Harry Kilmer (Robert Mitchum) to help him out because Harry has a bond with a Yakuza member named Tanaka Ken (Takakura Ken). Ken hates Kilmer, but owes him a
giri, an obligation, a burden or debt. Ken has retired from the Yakuza and to get involved again means a death sentence. Kilmer finds this out too late and the movie is spent trying to decide what is right and what is honorable and how to keep Ken from being killed. Sydney Pollack was a pretty solid director with some major films (see his IMDB page). Screenwriters today should watch this movie and learn some lessons about subtext (i.e. saying lots without saying much). The screenwriters are Paul Shrader (
Taxi Driver) and Robert Towne (
Chinatown). This movie is highly recommended, even though it isn’t a real Yakuza film. I will defiantly be watching it again. Color at 112 minutes.
Overall I was very impressed with the direction, cinematography, and acting in all of these. I recommend any of them and will probably watch more in the future. Another Yakuza film with a great name that I’ll get around to is
Branded to Kill
. All are availble through Netflix and but Pale Flower is the only one on Instant right now. If you have any suggestions on Yakuza films or even foreign films in general, feel free to leave a comment.
Filed under: C,Movies,P,Reviews,S,T,Y | 1940s, 1960s, 1970s, Crime Films, Film Noir, Japanese, Japanese Film, Robert Mitchum, Sydney Pollack, Yakuza|No Comments
Citizen Kane
?
Yes. I said my list was going to be like no other, yet here I am starting with the movie that ranks #1 on almost every list out there. You know why I’m including it? Because Citizen Kane is a great movie. The first time I watched it I was blown away. I was not influenced by lists, critics or any of that stuff.
In 1940, in the midst of tight studio control of every picture made, Orson Welles was given a practically blank check and no studio interference for his first picture. So of course, he created a masterpiece that was a financial flop.
So why is Citizen Kane a masterpiece? The story, the acting, the dialog, the directing, the cinematography, the editing, it all comes together in a way that few movies do.
The story by Herman J. Mankiewicz and Orson Welles is about a kid who inherits a gold mine. With all his money, when he grows up what he wants to do is to run a newspaper. He then uses this position to accumulate fame and power. His greatest wish is to be loved, but he doesn’t understand love. As he grows older, he grows more demanding, more arrogant, and ultimately withdraws from a painful world.
Citizen Kane introduced a handful of actors that you may be familiar with. This is the first full-length picture for Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten (Gaslight, Niagara), Agnes Morehead (Bewitched), Ruth Warrick (Payton Place), and Everett Sloane (character actor in a zillion things), all of whom are familiar faces to classic movie lovers. Joseph Cotten as Jedediah Leland is outstanding as the moral center of the story.
Robert Altman (M*A*S*H, Nashville) gets lots of acclaim for realistic overlapping dialog, but there is plenty on display in Kane which predates Altman’s movies by 25 years. Many memorable lines are sprinkled throughout the script:
Bernstein: Well, it’s no trick to make a lot of money… if what you want to do is make a lot of money.
Leland: Bernstein, am I a stuffed shirt? Am I a horse-faced hypocrite? Am I a New England school marm?
Bernstein: Yes. If you thought I’d answer you any differently than what Mr. Kane tells you…
Charles Foster Kane: You know, Mr. Bernstein, if I hadn’t been very rich, I might have been a really great man.
The direction can be a bit “stagey” compared to what we are used to today, but each scene develops organically. Camera placement, lighting, blocking, and the deep focus photography by cinematographer Greg Toland create a spectacular visual feast. The editing pulls together things like the camera coming thought the skylight and the “years of marriage at the breakfast table” scene beautifully.
Ultimately, every film is an ensemble piece, but Citizen Kane was obviously Orson’s baby. Like Charles Foster Kane, Welle’s ego and stubbornness eventually was his undoing. However, we are grateful that he was given a chance, for even if this was his only cinematic creation, he would still rank among the greats.
Citizen Kane, 1941, directed by Orson Welles, written by Herman J. Mankiewicz and Orson Welles, produced by Orson Welles, starring Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, and Everett Sloane. 119 minutes.
Citizen Kane (Two-Disc Special Edition) Citizen Kane – Screenplay formatted for Kindle
Citizen Kane [Blu-ray]
Citizen Kane (BFI Film Classics)
Filed under: C,Movies,Reviews | 1940s, Greatest Movies, Joseph Cotten, Orson Welles|1 Comment
This made-for-TV movie from 1979 starring Jerry Reed and Tom Selleck falls squarely into the hickspoitation/hick-flick genre. The cover says it stars Tom Selleck and Morgan Fairchild. In small print it also says Jerry Reed, which is what convinced me to pick it up. When the credits for Concrete Cowboys start, it’s obvious that Mr. Reed was the star, and the others were not. Fame is fickle.
Basically Jerry Reed carries this movie, but Tom Selleck doesn’t hurt it any. Roy Acuff, Ray Stevens and Barbara Mandrell each make a cameo appearance. Morgan Fairchild isn’t too memorable in this roll that probably could have been done better by several actresses of the time. Of course, I could be swayed by her later, more glamorous, image and seeing her as a Nashville wannabe just didn’t seem to fit her.
Jerry Reed and Tom Selleck play J. D. Reed and Will Eubanks, two drifting cowboys on the way to California. But they get sidetracked to Nashville while running from some hick sheriff and a crooked poker game. When they arrive, they call up Lonnie Grimes, a guy they got drunk with at a football game, and he offers to let them stay at his place if they pick up a package. He is on his way out of town, but they can use his apartment and his car. In fact, he seems almost too happy to have them pick up the package and use his car and his apartment.
A hit man mistakes the cowboys for Lonnie when they pick up the package. The hit man doesn’t know who to get, just whoever picks up the package. And a woman who mistakes them for Lonnie because they are at his apartment comes and asks them to find her sister. She offers $1000 so they take the job. Surprise, Surprise, the two incidences are related.
If you just want to kick back and enjoy some good-ole-boys, this is a fine movie. Don’t try to patch the holes in the story, they are too big. The fun in this movie is Jerry Reed and Tom Selleck. But mainly, Jerry Reed. A lot of faces you’ll recognize. There’s some cool fashions and decorations also. Lonnie has a movie camera that pops out of the ceiling aimed at his bed. Selleck as Will asks “What would a fella be doin’ with a setup like this in his bedroom?” Reed: “Well… The trouble with you Will Eubanks is you’ve let too sheltered a life.”
Concrete Cowboys, 1979, directed by Burt Kennedy, written by Jimmy Sangster. starring Jerry Reed, Tom Selleck, Morgan Fairchild, Claude Akins. 100 minutes.
Filed under: C,Movies,Reviews,Television | 1970s, Country Western, Jerry Reed, Tom Selelck|No Comments
Captain Blood is one fantastic adventure movie. It was nominated for the Best Picture Oscar in 1935, but lost to another sea film, Mutiny on the Bounty. Errol Flynn is a natural at these larger-than-life characters and it’s easy to see why he was a top box office star for so many years. His demeanor is perfect for righteous indignation and rousing speeches. Olivia de Havilland is beautiful, coy, and charismatic as Arabella. Flynn and de Havilland would make a stunning eight movies together including The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938). Basil Rathbone is much better than expected as the Frenchman Levassuer and was Flynn’s nemesis in Robin Hood.
Dr. Peter Blood (Errol Flynn with great 1970s hair) isn’t interested in politics when he is summoned to help a man wounded in a revolt against King James in 1685. While attending the man, Dr. Blood is rounded up with several other traitors and condemned to death. By chance, a group of the condemned are spared hanging and sent to be slaves in Jamaica, including Dr. Blood. He is allowed a certain amount of freedom because of his occupation as a doctor and the fondness of Arabella Bishop (Olivia de Havilland) and he uses this freedom to orchestrate an escape for himself and his comrades. The escaping slaves take over a Spanish fighting ship and become pirates led by Captain Blood. Three years later Arabella is captured by the pirate Levasseur (Basil Rathbone). Levassuer and Captain Blood fight a duel for her and when Blood wins the duel, he finds Arabella hates him and all that he has become.
Michael Curtiz (who directed Casablanca) is a great action director. He highlights contrasts well. One example is the men who were formerly turning a water wheel while whipped are seen gladly turning the wheel to raise anchor on their new ship.
One of the very best swashbuckling movies of all time, it’s hard to believe this is Errol Flynn’s first starring role in a Hollywood movie and only his third Hollywood feature overall. According to the DVD special feature
Captain Blood: A Swashbuckler is Born, several other stars of the time were tested for the role, but the unknown Flynn kept returning as very impressive. Some of the others considered include Leslie Howard, Ronald Coleman, Clark Gable, Robert Donat (who turned down the role), and Fredrick March. There is also An Evening at the Movies, introduced by the omnipresent Leonard Maltin, with all the various types of things you would see in a theater in 1935: newsreel, cartoon, etc. A great movie for kids and adults alike, buy
Captain Blood
from Amazon, you won’t be sorry.
Filed under: C,Movies,Reviews | 1930s, Basil Rathbone, Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Pirate Movies|2 Comments
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