movies
Dreams - 18.05.24
In May, Dad and I watched Akira Kurosawa's film 'Dreams'. Usually, I'm not one to like movies, or going to the cinema, because I almost always end up feeling like I have wasted precious time, specially when I start early and finish it at noon. But, I liked it a lot - it was certainly very different from any western modern media that I see being popular today - it was more like Miyazaki's pieces, in the way that explored themes like Japanese mythology, nature, war and art.
I think my favorite moments were:
Spoilers
"Sunshine Through the Rain" we do not know if the boy received the kitsune's forgivness or if he had to commit suicide. I think that the fact that the mother kicked him out of the house made it seem, at the same time, more realistic and more fantastical.
"The Peach Orchard" also stood out to me because I've been reading works regarding japanese tree yoikai, so it was very cool to see how they would look visually, without descriptions.
"The Blizzard" was a brilliant move and carefully crafted. The way the sounds of harsh breathing drag longer than you'd expect and the visual impairement makes you feel uneasy, unlike modern day filming who focuses on the actors more than in the nature of the scene. It's like you are there with them, and the despair seems to choke you from the screen. I was surprised by the happy ending, but as Kurosawa said before: "Even in tragic stories, there should be some happy parts."
"The Tunnel" was one of those media moments that nests in your heart for you to remember for a long while. The way the soldier wanted to go back home, the dog with the weaponry, the revelation that only the commander survive from a huge platoon, when he cries, whising he could have gone with them...it was very unsettling. I loved
"Crows", and I guess Van Gogh would have love it too. It was a beautiful show of surrealism and impressionist art. When he entered the first frame I was spechlees by the dedication put on having the setting to be so perfect, I felt I was inside them too!
"Mount Fuji in Red" was that type of dream you get in the night when you wake up from a nightmare with sweat all over your body - like when imagining a zombie apocalise. I think the worst part is the truthfulness of it, and the way they had to abide their deaths, beacuse there was no fight to battle over - the enemy had alredy won.
"The Weeping Demon" show us the aftermath of the last dream, and the future that await us. The way society still has its power even during th end of times was a topic that stuck with me - demons with 2 or 3 horns were on the top of the food chain, and were important people while humans, that is why they eat the weak and lower demons.
Admist all of this suffering, "Village of the Watermills" gives us hope. If we can work towards embracing nature again, perhaps what happened during the previous nightmares won't befall on us. All throughout the movie I felt that Kurosawa captured exactly the reality of a dream, - the boldness you get from being asleep, the fear of it being real, the calm and acceptance that drugs your body... At least it's how I saw it.
People go on about how hard life is, but that's just a lot of talk. Honestly, it's good to be alive. It's quite exciting.
- Dreams, 1990 dir. by Akira Kurosawa
Wolverine & Deadpool - 02.10.24
Honestly, the only scene that really stood out to me was the openning - the fight after Wade unsucessfully tries to recover Logan's body - because of the choreography and the song. I felt that, despite the rating and promisse of dark imagery both on the premisse and the trailer, the movie failed to deliver a deep narrative that could've debated strong topics and more serious dialogue.
Maybe I just wish it was a bit more dark, without missing the comedic value.
This is a recurring frustration of mine when I watch the recent Marvel and Super-Hero themed movies -
it seems as if they catter to much to the young audience, consequently dumbing down the story with flat jokes and uncompelling characters - like 'Thor: Love and Thunder', which was a painfull experience.
The quality of the prodution of movies has, somewhat, declined for the past years - at least when we talk about big names like Disney and Netflix.
Of course, we can still find amazing works nowadays, but I think that the audience has stabilished a new low on what is acceptable regarding effort and quality of media.
Take for example the new Live Action adaptations of classics recently, 'The Little Mermaid' and now 'Snow-white'. Not to say that they were all bad or that they are just lazy forms of gaining money, but...they kind of are. I really liked the 'Cinderella' adaptaion when I was a kid, because it was something new and exciting, though, after you see the same thing happening to all of the movies you have already seen before, it just feels repetitive and uninspiring.
That's why I am focusing now on non-western media, to see if I can find some diversity in terms of content and new narratives.
Want To
Oyasumi, Punpun
A coming-of-age drama story, it follows the life of a child named Onodera Punpun, from his elementary school years to his early 20s, as he copes with his dysfunctional family, love life, friends, life goals and hyperactive mind, while occasionally focusing on the lives and struggles of his schoolmates and family.
Oyasumi, Punpun is the classic work not to be judged by its cover, or after reading only a few pages. In fact the mascot-like appearance of the protagonist, is nothing but a smokescreen. Asano himself confirms it: I wanted [to] take the readers coming to the book because they thought Punpun was cute, and upset them. (laugh) I wanted to say to the reader,
'Here's a different kind of manga. Look at what kind of depths of reality manga can plumb.'
- Asano Inio
This statement reflects upon Oyasumi, Punpun' solid and monochromatic embossed covers. The first volumes, focusing on Punpun's childhood, ae vivid and bright colours; the subsequent ones progressively lose saturation, until they reach the two last tankobon, the penultimate completely black and the last one completely white. As if the author wanted to represent the downfallen spiral path of depression in which Punpun tumbles throughout the story.
By Vieilocean's [Analysis] Oyasumi, Punpun – Goodnight, Punpun