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Showing posts with label Masahiro Shinoda. Show all posts

Friday, June 25, 2010

Masahiro Shinoda - Shonen jidai AKA Childhood Days (1990)

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Bombing during World War II resulted in whole urban populations fleeing to the countryside, and this created a meeting of urban and rural cultures. Shinji (a young boy evacuated from Tokyo) and his new schoolmates (who are villagers) don't exactly know what is going on in the war. They see the B-29 bombers and the glow of cities on fire, but the problems of being separated from one's mother and surviving among one's peers loom larger than international politics.

Monday, June 21, 2010

Masahiro Shinoda - Shinjû: Ten no amijima AKA Double Suicide (1969)

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The outstanding Double Suicide is a film unlike any I've ever seen. Director Shinoda (considered a member of the "New New Wave" along with Nagisa Oshima) adapted a 1720 play about a paper merchant who sacrifices his wife and kids for the love of a courtesan. Shinoda begins his movie in a modern-day theater with puppeteers preparing for the show. When the story itself begins, Shinoda replaces the puppets with real actors, but the puppeteers' presence remains. Figures dressed entirely in black move among the characters, helping to position them and manipulating the story. This framework provides the story with an extra level, a feeling of fate or destiny controlling everything. Shinoda plays his trump card near the film's beginning by having his hero (Kichiemon Nakamura) walking over a bridge, then panning down to show the bodies of the soon-to-be-deceased lovers underneath. Shinoda also cast his real-life wife Shima Iwashita as both the courtesan and the paper merchant's wife. No matter where he turned, he was stuck with the same woman. The film is shot in lovely black and white with lots of constricting vertical lines trapping the characters into their destinies. Even in the end, when the lovers run away to an open field, the tall, dry grass forms vertical lines against their bodies.

Masahiro Shinoda - Buraikan AKA Outlaws (1970)

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A trio of characters in Edo intersect during a time of puritanical social reform. A ner-do-well, Naojiro, wants to become an actor and get his face in prints (this was the Japanese version of the supermarket tabloids in olden times) and he wants to marry a geisha but his overbearing mother disapproves. A man who abandoned his wife and child returns to discover tragedy has befallen his small family. A "buraikan" plots to overthrow the despotic lord who is imposing the strict social reforms.
Buraikan is an expert blend of art and history that follows the paths of six characters trying to make a living during the chaotic Tempou revolution. The intricate story lines are consistently funny, erotic, suspenseful, and absorbing. Nakadai Tatsuyo is eerily compelling as the handsome fortune teller. This dark, witty period drama is an absolute must for any film connoisseur.

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A distinctive style permeates the entire film. The image composition is excellent with wonderful color design. The strong soundtrack is a quirky but enjoyable mix of Henry Mancini style jazz, traditional Japanese music and some odd musical styling. The acting is strong and does a lot to carry the film for those of us baffled by some of the goings on. While the film is named for the "buraikan" (played by Tetsuro Tamba), it seems the the center of attention is really Naojiro, played by Tatsuya Nakadai. No problem, he's an interesting enough character.

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Veteran Japanese director Masahiro Shinoda ( Kaseki no mori a.k.a. The Petrified Forest, Shinmoku a.k.a. Silence) delivers another exceptional work of art. His absorbing movie from the beginning of the 70's revolves around six characters that try to make a living during Japan's chaotic Tempou revolution. Based on a popular Japanese stage play, Buraikan teleports the magic art form of traditional Kabuki to the video screens of all true connoisseurs!

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Nominally this movie fits into the "Jidaigeki" (Period Drama) genre. However, this movie is much more interesting with funny, complex characters. Tamba Testsuro (the head of Japanese secret service in "You Only Live Twice") is outstanding is the "lone wolf" Buraikan - a kind of good-hearted, if ruthless and highly clever monk. Nakadai Tatsuyo is also funny, eerie and compelling as the handsome, never-do-well, lazy fortune teller.

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The story is set during the "Tempo Reform" period of Mizuno Tadakuni (1793-1851). Lord Mizuno was an extreme moralist and tried to outlaw more or less anything pleasurable. His reasoning was that things like staged plays, posters of actors, popular novels, expensive meals, cakes, dolls, paintings, etc... were wastes of the country's resources and contributed to the decline of the national moral fiber. Not a very fun-loving guy.
The movie has everything: multiple, well-developed, interleaved story lines. Well developed individual characters. Some eroticism, a lot of traditional art, many funny sequences, suspense, action.
This is an excellent movie, especially for lovers of Japanese history and art.

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Friday, June 25, 2010

Masahiro Shinoda - Shonen jidai AKA Childhood Days (1990)

Monday, June 21, 2010

Masahiro Shinoda - Shinjû: Ten no amijima AKA Double Suicide (1969)

Masahiro Shinoda - Buraikan AKA Outlaws (1970)

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