rajafacesbothways

Worse and Worser

 Watching the unfolding of events in Japan continues to become more and more depressing. To add to the situation, Kurosawa's incredible film, Kugemusha, (1980) arrived in my Netflix queue. The tale covered the historical era of about 1570, nearing the end of the samurai culture.

An outstanding film. He is a very favorite director of mine. The battle scene at the end of the film was influenced by Kurasawa's experience after Japan's 1923 earthquake, where he saw thousands of bodies  littered everywhere.

I guess the only plus in disaster is that occasionally some great talents can use the horrors of events and turn them into outstanding creative stories and lessons.

Judgment Call

All the old stars of my childhood are falling. I was a big fan of movie magazines almost as soon as I could read--the only outside glamour in my country upbringing. Now Jane Russell who then seemed so exotic and racy is dead. I recall seeing an original poster when "The Outlaw" was released: she was reclining on a pile of hay exposing some cleavage and looking like trouble. The film was very controversial and condemned by the Catholic church.

In recent years I've seen the film (pretty bad) which could be shown to fifth graders now. Since that time, she became an alchoholic, found Jesus, turned conservative and was speaking in tongues.

Despite my humble beginnings, now I'm the one more likely to be condemned by the Catholic church.

What I'm Watching

Departures (2008) Japanese.  Directed by Takita is a masterful, transcending revelation of the spirit of the living when dealing with death. A young Japanese cellist, Diago, loses his job when the orchestra is disbanded and he must seek a new direction for his life. With his young wife, he returns to his small town and becomes an "encoffineer", one who prepares deceased bodies for the next life. (He thinks he is going to work for a travel agency). Despite the nature of the work and the disgust of his wife and friends, he evolves to learn profound meanings in life and death, love and discovery.

Beautifully photographed and orchestrated and with humor, wonder, and sensitivity, this is a film that will linger with me for a long time. It received the Best Foreign Language Film at the Academy Awards and measures up to any of the great films by Kurosawa.

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Footlight Parade (1933) This is Busby Berkeley at his best starring James Cagney, Joan Blondell and Ruby Keeler. A  fantastic pre-code period scatology musical, it features three big numbers with scantily-dressed women, unbelievable routines and un-duplicated filming techniques. And ends with 185 dancers, 90 in a salute to FDR and the NRA. Akin now to a Hollywood musical ending with a dancers forming a stirring portrait of Obama and the Health Care law. What are the chances-----

(an ironic footnote? individuals involved in Departures, dealing with death, are probably currently all alive. Those individuals in Footlight Parade, a vibrant lively film are probably now all dead)

Blah Busters

Bashing the dark days and darker news with the following;

Pre-Code Hollywood films (late 20's-early 30's) when women were women and used what it took to survive the Depression. (Usually sex on poor dumb boys--except Dick Powell who sang his way through it all) Watched Night Nurse (1931) with Barbara Stanwyck, Joan Blondell and Clark Gable. (dir. William Wellman). I can identify all those old film stars but have NO idea who the famous faces are in People Magazine.

I Remember Nothing --Nora Ephron (2010) A humorous light read on growing older (she is 69) that I can relate to since almost all my nouns have taken flight like birds before an approaching tsunami.

High Low Party--given by friend Juilee. Everyone required to bring an example of each. The imprint of the Virgin Mary on slices of toast, box wine, Pimento cheese bought at a small town gas station store and a Gingerbread oven mitt where the hand fits inside the gingerbread man's butt were the lows.

Or were those the highs? I can't remember.

 

Julie and Julia--A Film

Julie and Julia (2009) directed by Nora Ephron is a delicious movie. Before attending we had a brunch of:
fruit nectar with rosemary and lavender
homemade rolls and butter
crispy organic fried green tomatoes with a tangy mayonnaise sauce
a mixed green salad
fresh blueberry and peach cobbler with almond flavoring

Great preparation to focus on the story and not suffer from food envy throughout the film. I suggest you do the same.

Julie (Amy Adams) and Julia Child never meet but they both have supportive husbands who encourage them to direct their lack of fulfillment (Julie in Queens, NY and Julia in Paris, France) into something they love--food and cooking. Julia Child changed cooking in America with her book, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and Julie Powell who blogs her experience of cooking every single recipe from that book in one year, turns her experience into her own book, Cooking With Julia.

This is a delightful film; Meryl Streep and Paul Tucci capture the character of the Child's lives in Paris after WW2. Streep is Julia, but doesn't overshadow the excellent cast surrounding her.

And what food! We should all live so long and eat so well.

A Mini Celebration

My friend got an excellent report on the progress of her treatment at the Markey Cancer Center so we celebrated with sushi and a movie--Paris 1936 (2008), french director Christopher Barratier. The film is the story of a Chaubourg music hall and the people involved with it. It's a mixture of medleys, politics, failure and success, family and entertainment with background scenes of Paris and traditional France.

Not a musical, but the kind of music that made me  briefly wonder why I moved to Georgetown instead of Paris.

Up-- (A review) and Down (the street)

If you only see one movie this year, make it UP--Pixar's latest film is incredible from beginning through the final credits. Written by Pete Douter and Bob Peterson and directed by Peterson (who is also the voice of the dog, Dug) it is filled with heart and soul. The visual and sound effects are amazing with great story telling, involving adventure, an old man, a young boy and talking dogs. Throughout the film is abundant action and hilarious humor. There are life messages on many levels--great for kids and adults. I laughed, I cried and can't wait to see it again.
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Returning from the movie,I saw a rally at the courthouse. Curious, I walked down to check it out--it was a "Tea Party" group of Republicans (about 100) listening and cheering speakers who urged them to take back their country (hmm--from that black boy?) Later I (naively) asked a departing overweight couple what the speakers suggested we do. They said they are going to write Washington, demanding to quit spending and bring honesty back to government .
Amazing how irony is lost on some people. "Oh,' I said, "you mean like Bush and Cheney?"
Yep.

May I Recommend?

For anyone looking for good summer viewing, I recommend Honeydripper (2007) directed by John Sayles and starring Danny Glover, set in a juke joint in Alabama in the early fifties. And Kinky Boots (2005) directed by Julian Jarrold; a British film where a transvestite comes to the rescue of the owner of a failing shoe factory. Both films have excellent sound tracks along with the fine story telling.

And two books--Ignore Everybody and 39 Other Keys to Creativity by Hugh MacLeod and Simplexity--Why Simple Things become Complex (and How Complex Things Can Be Made Simple) by Jeffrey Kluger. Both books put a different spin on ways to look at many subjects. They are scheduled to be released this June.

Enlightening the Young--about sex?!

The Intimacy in Film class is analyzimg Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice (1969, dir. Paul Mazursky.) I found it to be a hysterically funny satire of that period of the culture of Eselen, feelings, openness in sex. It's illuminating to get the students reactions. They felt that the two couples did not switch partners at the end of the film because they knew each other--not the brief unfaithful sanctioned fling with the tennis pro or on a business trip.

I pointed out that this was also the period of "key parties,"  where couples did know each other. The kids had never heard of neighborhood parties where women would throw their keys in the center of the floor, mix them up and guys would pick one and they'd "get it on" with the keeper of the key. I was surprised I had to explain this to the class, emphasizing that I never lived in one of those neighborhoods. I was going to mention Sam Shepard, the famous murder case in Bay Village, Ohio, who was part of such a group, then I realized I'd have to explain that too.

One girl complained these movies showed men thinking of sex all the time! A couple of the guys looked at me and grinned--they seem to recognize I get it; as a male friend confirms--"guys are just bears with furniture." I actually give them more credit than that--but what do I know?

Class Report Card

In my UnivKY "Intimacy in American Film" class an anonymous poll was taken on paper, to answer the question, "Do you want to get married?" and "Do you approve of open marriage?" There were about 20 twenty-something in class yesterday. The instructor was surprised that 4 voted "no" to marriage--usually only one or two do not want to marry. And all voted against open marriage.

One student pointed out one or more of their parents have had affairs. One young woman lives with her boyfriend and has a child but is in no hurry to marry him.  Her mother gave her the book, "The Rules",
 ( sexual  behavior straight out of the fifties) although her mom has been married 4 times. Five in the class are conservative Christians and would not choose living together before marriage.

Young women complained that there are many books/articles on how to attract and please guys, but no books for guys on how to please women. For them it's all about sex and how to score.
HE-L-L-O women! Some things never change.
 I love the class, discussing the films and the readings and hearing about the thoughts of the students. Because I'm the grandmother in the class I've seen the cultural range of the films, sexual behavior and marriages over the decades. That probably makes me the most liberal thinker in the class, since what they are discovering is just the same-o same-o story.