Hesher

Directed by Spencer Susser and screenplay by Susser and David Michod from a story by Brian Charles Frank, Hesher is the story of a young boy whose life is falling apart following the death of his mother where he meets an anarchist who causes mayhem at every turn he’s in. Playing the titular character is Joseph Gordon-Levitt as the film also stars Devin Brochu, Rainn Wilson, Natalie Portman, and Piper Laurie. Hesher is a wild yet harrowing drama from Spencer Susser.

After the death of his mother (Monica Staggs) in a car accident two months ago, T.J. (Devin Brochu) is still reeling from her loss as he is obsessed with getting back the family car. With his father Paul taking numerous pills to deal with his loss as they both live at the home of Paul’s grandmother Madeleine (Piper Laurie), T.J. notices a weird young man named Hesher who had been following him after breaking a window in a home that was being built. Though T.J. has issues with a bully named Dustin (Brendan Hill), he still sees Hesher lurking around as Hesher decides to move in to the home where he befriends Madeleine. While T.J. wonders about Hesher and his antics, Hesher takes T.J. around to deal with Dustin’s car where T.J. gets in trouble with the police.

Hesher still likes to cause trouble as he becomes part of the home as he helps out Madeleine while noticing that T.J. has a crush on a 20-something grocery store cashier named Nicole (Natalie Portman). When Nicole accidentally hits another car, Hesher defends her as he takes her and T.J. into an adventure where things were fun for a while. Yet, Nicole feels she’s already in enough trouble with work and money issues as T.J. wants to help out. Yet, Hesher’s presence finally takes a toll between T.J. and Paul who are unaware about Madeleine’s illness. The result of Madeleine’s issues lead to T.J. acting out as he feels helpless in sorting things out where he deals with everything he’s lost as Hesher tries to pick up all of the pieces of a broken family.

What happens to a young boy whose life is going downhill following his mother’s death when an unconventional anarchist arrives to his home to shake things up? That’s the idea of what the film is about where it follows a young boy in his grief as he reluctantly lets in this 20-something guy who likes to listen to heavy metal, cause mayhem, and just live somewhere for a while. Essentially, it’s a coming-of-age tale for a young boy as he deals with loss and growing pains while his father is lost in his grief as they both live with his grandmother who is trying to feel useful only to find some companionship in someone like Hesher. There’s also a 20-something young whom T.J. has a crush on as she is trying to deal with her own issues as she befriends T.J. and Hesher in the fact that they’re both misfits as she admits to her own imperfections.

The film’s lack of conventional storytelling in the screenplay allows director Spencer Susser to go for a very stylistic approach to the film. Through some slow-motion shots, moments of unpredictability, and unwillingness to be sentimental nor brash. It’s a film that is very uncompromising just like the titular character himself who is clearly undefined and not willing to give any answers for why he is the way he is. Through some amazing compositions and wide shots set in California, Susser allows the film to be pretty sunny but also off-kilter due to Hesher’s antics often seen from T.J.’s perspective. Though there’s a few moments in the film such as a penultimate scene between Hesher, T.J. and Paul that is a bit much. The overall work is quite dazzling as Susser creates a truly mesmerizing drama about loss.

Cinematographer Morgan Susser does great work with the cinematography from the sunny exterior shots to the more stylish nighttime interior and exteriors to help set the mood for the scene. Editors Spencer Susser and Michael McCusker do excellent work with the editing to play out the intensity of some of the film‘s violence as well as the antics of Hesher. Production designer Laura Fox, with set decorator Jennifer Lukehart and art director Charles Vargas, does wonderful work with the set pieces such as T.J.’s home filled with places to suggest where T.J. and his dad are at as well as the messy van of Hesher.

Costume designer April Napier does nice work with the costumes as it‘s mostly casual with Hesher being the most outrageous due to largely black clothing. Sound designer Sam Petty and sound editors David Esparaza and Will Riley is terrific for the way it plays out the chaos in T.J.’s life in moments that involve Hesher as well as more calmer moments without Hesher. The film’s score by Francois Tetaz is very good for its low-key ambient score to play out the drama. The film’s music soundtrack consists largely of heavy metal music courtesy of Motorhead and Metallica where the latter carries the bulk of the music as the soundtrack also includes a Dion & the Belmonts song in a key scene.

The casting by Justine Baddeley and Kim Davis-Wagner is superb for the ensemble that is created as it include some notable appearances from John Carroll Lynch as a car repair shop owner, Monica Staggs as T.J.’s mom, and Brendan Hill as T.J.’s bully Dustin who likes to torment T.J. Piper Laurie is excellent as Paul’s mother who is trying to cope with the loss as well as trying to make herself feel useful as she befriends Hesher. Rainn Wilson is terrific as T.J.’s father Paul who is just trying to deal with loss as well as T.J.’s growing sense of anger. Natalie Portman is wonderful as Nicole, a young woman whom T.J. has a crush on as she is someone trying to deal with her own existence while being aware that she is very flawed.

Devin Brochu is great as T.J., a teenager who is trying to cope with the loss of his mother as Brochu brings a real sense of determination of a kid who is eager to save the one piece of the loss he had in a car while dealing with the antics of this strange being in Hesher. Finally, there’s Joseph Gordon-Levitt in an incredible performance as the titular character where there’s a lot of attitude to his performance as well as a physicality to display how dangerous he is. It’s Gordon-Levitt at his best as it’s a truly fearless performance for an actor who is already proving his versatility into playing any kind of role.

Hesher is an excellent film from Spencer Susser that features a towering performance from Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Along with strong supporting work from Devin Brochu, Rainn Wilson, Natalie Portman, and Piper Laurie, it’s a film that plays into the world of grief and mayhem while not being afraid to be a bit sentimental. Fans of Gordon-Levitt’s work will no doubt see this as one of his most essential performances. In the end, Hesher is a remarkably thrilling and chaotic film from Spencer Susser.

© thevoid99 2012

007 James Bond Marathon: Casino Royale (1967 film)

Based on Ian Fleming’s novel, Casino Royale is a parody film that makes fun of the James Bond franchise in which Bond comes out of retirement to deal with the deaths of fellow agents and face off against an organization called SMERSH. Directed by Ken Hughes, John Huston, Joseph McGrath, Robert Parrish, Val Guest, and Richard Talmadge with a screenplay by Wolf Mankowitz, John Law, and Michael Sayers. The film is a big-budgeted spoof where many people led by David Niven who plays a retired Sir James Bond. With a cast that also includes Peter Sellers, Orson Welles, Ursula Andress, Barbara Bouchet, Deborah Kerr, Jacqueline Bisset, Ronnie Corbett, and Woody Allen. The parody version of Casino Royale is a whimsical although extremely messy film.

With the world in danger by an organization named SMERSH, M (John Huston) and fellow spy leaders try to persuade Sir James Bond to come out of retirement to face SMERSH. Things suddenly go out of control when M is killed as Bond goes to M’s estate for the service where he meets M’s widow Lady Fiona McTarry (Deborah Kerr) who is really a double agent trying to capture Bond with the help of her women and others. Instead, the experience has her switching sides forcing Bond to return to the MI6 with a new Miss Moneypenny (Barbara Bouchet) with a plan to fool SMERSH by gathering many people posing as Bond.

With Moneypenny successfully seducing a man named Coop (Terence Cooper) to be Bond, Bond hires Vesper Lynd (Ursula Andress) to persuade gambler Evelyn Tremble (Peter Sellers) to be Bond in order to stop Le Chiffre (Orson Welles) who is trying to raise money to uncover his losses for SMERSH. Bond also decides to recruit his long-lost daughter Mata Bond (Joanna Pettet) to go to Berlin to uncover what Le Chiffre and SMERSH is up to as she succeeds for Tremble to travel to Paris at Casino Royale. Though Tremble was able to beat Le Chiffre, things go wrong forcing Bond to confront SMERSH and its mysterious leader.

The film is essentially a spoof on spy movies including the James Bond films where there’s lots of beautiful women in the film as well as silly situations where Bond has to face various nemesis and such. Yet, it is told in a very clumsy manner due to a screenplay that isn’t sure what it wants to be. The first act is about getting Bond out of retirement while it features this strong second act of Bond recruiting people to be James Bond that includes a baccarat master whose storyline is the most interesting since it plays true to the original Ian Fleming story. Then comes the third act where it becomes more uneven where it falls into loads of shenanigans where it’s funny at times but also takes itself way too seriously to be very funny.

The direction of the film is helmed by six filmmakers where the screenplay’s lack of cohesiveness really makes the film a mess. At times, the framing doesn’t carry much depth where an actor is at the edge of the frame barely seen. Still, there’s moments such as the sequences with Evelyn Tremble and Mata Bond that are very interesting. Notably the face off between Tremble as Bond and Le Chiffre despite some moments where it tries to be funny. The climatic reveal of the villain is definitely one of the film’s funny moments as well as its motivations. Yet, the direction at times tries to do a lot to entertain as well as keep up the times where it makes the whole film dated that included some silly psychedelic montages.

While some of the locations in Scotland is inspiring, the entire sequence that is directed by John Huston is uninspiring while the stuff involving Tremble, Lynd, and Le Chiffre by Joseph McGrath and Robert Parish is pretty good. The scenes with Woody Allen as Bond’s nephew Jimmy by Val Guest is hilarious though at times, does go overboard due to the climatic shenanigans that occurs as it features silly cameos from Jean-Paul Belmondo and George Raft. Overall, the film is a total mess where it tries to be a lot of things only to come out with so little.

Cinematographers Jack Hildyard, Nicolas Roeg, and John Wilcox do nice work with the photography for some of the interior Berlin settings as well as the look of the Casino Royale. Editor Bill Lenny does terrific work with the editing with some stylish montages in Tremble‘s kidnapping scene while some of the pacing goes into sluggish mode during the film‘s very farcical first act. Production designer Michael Stringer, along with art directors Ivor Beddoes, Lionel Couch, and John Howell, does fantastic work with the set pieces such as the place Mata‘s mother Mata Hari stayed at in Berlin to the Casino Royale and the secret SMERSH base.

Costume designers Julie Harris and Anna Duse do wonderful work with the costumes from the clothes the men wear as well as the dazzling dresses and 60s costumes the women wear. The special effects work of Cliff Richardson, Roy Whybrow, and John Richardson is quite good though very primitive at times such as the spaceship flying over London and other weird scenes. Sound editor Chris Greenham does excellent work with the sound such as Tremble‘s scene involving a large Scottish band. The film’s score by Burt Bacharach is superb for its playful music to emphasize the film’s humor with contributions by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass that provides the film’s theme as well as a beautiful song by Bacharach and lyricist Hal David in The Look of Love sung by the late, great Dusty Springfield.

The casting by Maude Spector is quite incredible for the vast amount of people who appears in this film. A lot of them include cameo appearances from Jean Paul Belmondo as a French Legionnaire, George Raft as a coin-tossing man in the film’s climatic fight, Peter O’Toole as a Scottish band player, Geraldine Chaplin as a Keystone girl, William Holden as a CIA official, John Huston as M, Ronnie Corbett as a man in Berlin who is entranced by Mata, Anna Quayle as Mata’s Berlin teacher, Bernard Cribbins as Mata’s taxi driver to Berlin, Daliah Lavi as an agent Coop meets in his training session, Jacqueline Bisset as the agent Miss Goodthighs that Evelyn Tremble meets, Terence Cooper as a Bond agent in training, and Deborah Kerr as Lady Fiona McTarry whose overdramatic performance as a double agent is often one that isn’t fun to watch.

Barbara Bouchet is wonderful as the secretary Miss Moneypenny who is really Moneypenny’s daughter while Joanna Pettet is fun to watch as Bond and Mata Hari’s daughter Mata Bond. Woody Allen is hilarious in his small role as Bond’s bumbling nephew Jimmy Bond while Ursula Andress is excellent as the sexy yet determined Vesper Lynd. Orson Welles is very good as the whimsical Le Chiffre who likes to show off his gifts as a magician. David Niven is alright as Sir James Bond where he plays the character with a sense of charm and wit though he doesn’t seem to be the guy to really capture the sense of swagger that Bond is known for. Finally, there’s Peter Sellers in a superb performance as Evelyn Tremble where Sellers plays the role very straightforward and low-key while doing a few funny bits as it’s one of Sellers’ more underrated performances despite the notoriety he brought to the production in his emphasis to play James Bond straight and to the point.

The 1967 spoof version of Casino Royale is a film where it’s engaging at times but an overall incomprehensive film that tries too hard to entertain. Due to the dated humor and lots of silly shenanigans, it’s a film that Bond fans will have a hard time watching despite its interesting second act. While the film does offer something for fans of Peter Sellers and Woody Allen, it’s not enough to give it a strong recommendation. In the end, Casino Royale is a film that doesn’t offer much to anyone unless they’re James Bond completists.

James Bond Files: The EON Films: Dr. No - From Russia with Love - Goldfinger - Thunderball - You Only Live Twice - On Her Majesty’s Secret Service - Diamonds Are Forever - Live & Let Die - The Man with the Golden Gun - The Spy Who Loved Me - Moonraker - For Your Eyes Only - Octopussy - A View to a Kill - The Living Daylights - Licence to Kill - GoldenEye - Tomorrow Never Dies - The World is Not Enough - Die Another Day - Casino Royale (2006 film) - Quantum of Solace - Skyfall - SPECTRE - No Time to Die

Non-EON Films: Casino Royale (Climax! TV Episode) - Never Say Never Again

Bond Documentaries: Bond Girls Are Forever - True Bond - Everything or Nothing: The Untold Story of 007

© thevoid99 2012

Following (1998 film)

Written, shot, co-edited, and directed by Christopher Nolan, Following is the story of a man who follows strangers around London where one of the strangers he follows lead him to a dark underworld that he has become entranced by. The film is a neo-noir story that revolves around memories as it would later play to the themes that Nolan would explore in the years to come. Starring Jeremy Theobald, Lucy Russell, Alex Haw, John Nolan, and Dick Bradsell. Following is an eerie noir film from Christopher Nolan.

A young writer (Jeremy Theobald) who likes to follow around people in London has been following a man whom he’s intrigued by. Revealing to be a thief named Cobb (Alex Haw), the writer meets Cobb who likes to steal things from people’s home where he shows Cobb the ropes on how to be a thief. Taking on a different identity, the young writer starts to steal on his own where he falls for a beautiful blonde (Lucy Russell) who is having issues with a club owner (Dick Bradsell) where she claims to have photos that is in his safe. After stealing the owner’s safe, things go wrong when the writer realizes what is really going on as he is eventually interrogated by a police officer (John Nolan).

The film is about a young writer who likes to follow people where he eventually mimics the life of a thief only to get caught up in a dark world of theft, blackmail, and murder. A lot of it is told in a non-linear structure as it’s based on this young man talking to a police investigator as he reflects on everything that has happened. The screenplay does include a lot of exposition in how the life of a thief is told for the young writer to eventually figure out how to take on this life. Since the film plays to a lot of the schematics of the film noir, there has to be a femme fatale in the story as the blonde the young writer falls for isn’t exactly who she seems to be. Notably as there’s a twist that will occur late in the story to play up everything the young writer has endured.

Christopher Nolan’s direction is very entrancing for the way he presents the film as he creates an air of surrealism to its non-linear structure. A lot of it will include repeated images as well as the fact that the young writer would have a look that is similar to Cobb to make things confusing. Shot in black-and-white, the film has a very evocative look where it harkens to some of the early films of Stanley Kubrick while there’s a lot of hand-held shots to make it much more different. Notably as it features gorgeous yet eerie interior shots to play up the suspense as the overall work shows a young director making his mark with a solidly-crafted noir film.

Nolan and co-editor Gareth Heal do excellent work with the editing to play out the film‘s non-linear structure in the use of repetition and rhythmic cuts to play out the unconventional feel of the film. Art director Tristan Martin does nice work with look of the apartments the writer and Cobb rob including the nightclub where the blonde works at. The sound work of Ivan Cornell, David Julyan, David Lloyd, and James Wheeler is great for the atmosphere that is created in the robbery scenes in the way objects sound. The music of David Julyan is superb for its mixture of hypnotic ambient pieces to more thrilling electronic-driven music to play out the film’s suspense.

The casting for the film is incredible as it includes some notable small appearances from Dick Bradsell as the bald club owner the blonde feels threatened by and Christopher Nolan’s father John as the detective who interrogates the young writer. Lucy Russell is wonderful as the seductive blonde who is charmed by the young writer as she tries to get him involved in a crime that would cause trouble. Alex Haw is great as the thief Cobb who shows the young writer what to do in the world of theft while also being very shady about who he is. Finally there’s Jeremy Theobald in a marvelous performance as the young writer who starts off as this following slacker into a man that looks and plays the role of a professional thief only to realize the trouble he’s embarked on.

Following is a remarkable and clever debut film from Christopher Nolan. It is definitely a film that any fan of Nolan’s work should see as it would feature many small references to some of the work he would do in the years to come. Fans of noir films will definitely see this as a unique take on the genre in how it’s mapped out visually and schematically. In the end, Following is a brilliant film from Christopher Nolan.

Christopher Nolan Films: Memento - Insomnia (2002 film) - Batman Begins - The Prestige - The Dark Knight - Inception - The Dark Knight Rises - Interstellar - Dunkirk - Tenet - Oppenheimer - The Auteur #13: Christopher Nolan

© thevoid99 2012

High and Low

Originally Written and Posted at Epinions.com on 10/12/08 w/ Additional Edits & Revisions.

Based on Ed McBain's King's Ransom, Tengoku to jigoku (High & Low) is the story of an executive whose attempted coup against greedy executives is thwarted by the kidnapping of his chauffeur's son as two detectives go on the search for the boy. Directed by Akira Kurosawa and screenplay by Kurosawa along with Eijiro Hisaita, Ryuzo Kikushima, and Hideo Oguni, the film is an exploration of morality and sacrifice. Starring Kurosawa regulars Toshiro Mifune, Tatsuya Nakadai, Takashi Shimura, Kyoko Kagawa, Isao Kimura, and Tsutomu Yamazaki. Tengoku to jigoku is a marvelous, character-study driven film from Akira Kurosawa and company.

After battling executives at the National Shoe Company over the quality of shoe products, King Gondon (Toshiro Mifune) and his aide Kawanishi (Tatsuya Mihashi) ponder about staging a coup against his superior whome he worked with for 30 years. With his wife Reiko (Kyoko Kagawa) looking on, Gondo reveals the shares he's bought from the business in hopes to take over the company and rid all of the corruption in the business. Just as things were going well, Gondo receives a phone call that his son Jun (Toshio Egi) has been kidnapped as the kidnapper wants $30 million. Yet, Jun suddenly appears where Gondo realizes that the kidnapper has taken Jun's friend Shinichi (Masahiko Shimazu) who is the son of Gondo's chauffer Mr. Aoki (Yutaka Sada).

Already dealing with financial issues over his attempted takeover, Gondo turns to the police for help as Chief Detective Tokura (Tatsuya Nakadai) leads the investigation along with 'Bos'n' Taguchi (Kenjiro Ishiyama) and two young detectives in Arai (Isao Kimura) and Nakao (Takeshi Kato). After another call about the kidnapper who continues to press matters for Aoki, Kawanashi reveals his own move to protect himself forcing Gondo to make his own decision about his lifestyle. While Tokura applauds Gondo's plans despite what Gondo will lose, Tokura turns to help from his superior (Takashi Shimura) about any leads following Shinichi's return. After Aoki has revealed to doing his own investigation, he and Taguchi learn something horrifying about the kidnapper (Tustomu Yamazaki) and his accomplices. With Gondo becoming a public hero despite a huge financial loss, Tokura and his team make a breakthrough based on a drawing Shinichi has made. With the identity of the kidnapper revealed, Tokura would go on the search for the man as it would lead to a showdown between Gondo and the kidnapper.

The film is really about morality and what a man should do when everything he's worked has to be sacrificed at great risk. That's what the first act of the movie is about while the second act is about the investigation, the aftermath of the sacrifice, and trying to capture the kidnapper leading to a meeting between criminal and victim at the end of the film. There's definitely motivation from Takeuchi into why he put Gondo in such a big dilemma. What he didn't know is how much Gondo is willing to reclaim his life, even if he has to start over. At the same time, how much public sympathy Gondo would get as he faces his own exile from the company he worked with for so long.

The script Kurosawa and his co-writers create is part-character study for the first act and part-noir for its second act. Kurosawa's direction though is entrancing from start to finish. The first act is done mostly in the home of Gondo in the living room as if it's theater. With the actors in a position to figure out the drama through Kurosawa's composition, it's clear that the first act plays like a theatrical play. The second act becomes different yet works to figure out the motive of the kidnapper. Kurosawa becomes interested in how the kidnapped victim tries to recollect things while staging scenes where one character is in view while a smaller character is trying to watch what's going on.

The direction of Kurosawa is sublime as it's all shot in black-and-white with one notable special effect shot that plays to a huge dramatic moment of the film. The level of suspense and momentum Kurosawa creates is truly unique as he sets up scenes of the investigation for Tokura and his men to figure out what Takeuchi is going to do. The film in some ways does play like a cat-and-mouse type of game in both acts since Takeuchi is a strategist in the kidnapping thing. Yet, when he becomes the target, he tries to remain non-existent only until a recollection from his victim causes a major break in the investigation. Overall, it's a stylish film from Kurosawa that blends both film noir and character-driven drama.

Cinematographers Asakazu Nakai and Takao Saito do great work in the black-and-white photography with wonderful grey colors for the film's interior shots of Gondo's living room while the night-time exterior shots of Tokyo in the film's second act has this great, noir-like look. The notable shot of the pink smoke coming out of a factory is a great visual effects shot as the look of the film is exquisite. The editing by Kurosawa himself is wonderful in building its momentum and dramatic tension with his trademark, side-swipe style of transitional cuts and rhythm to give the film a smooth yet engrossing feel in its pacing.

Production designer Yoshiro Muraki does amazing work in the look of Gondo's living room in all of its traditional and contemporary mix of walls, floors, and appliances which is in great contrast to the shabby home of the kidnapper. Costume designer Miyuki Suzuki does fantastic work with the costumes, notably for Mrs. Gondo with her styles of clothes ranging from traditional to contemporary dresses. Sound effects editor Ichiro Minawa, mixer Hisashi Shimonaga, and sound recordist Fumio Yanoguchi do great work with the film's sound, notably the phone recordings and what appears in those tapes. Longtime collaborator and music composer Masaru Sato creates unique, traditional Japanese drum-style music for the film's opening credits along with light, bass-driven orchestral music for the dramatic tension along with use of Franz Schubert's Die Forelle for more dramatic moments.

The film's cast is unique with small but memorable roles from Jun Tazaki, Nobuo Nakamura, and Yunosuke Ito as the corrupt executives, Minoru Chiaki as a reporter, Toshio Egi as Jun, and Masahiko Shimazu as Shinichi. Other notable small roles like Kurosawa veteran Takashi Shimura as the chief investigator, and Isao Kimura and Takeshi Kato in their respective roles as the young detectives Arai and Nakao. Yutaka Sada is excellent as Mr. Aoki, the chauffeur who goes to panic when his son is captured while carrying the guilt as he feels responsible for Gondo's loss of power. Tatsuya Mihashi is also excellent as Kawanishi, Gondo's aide who betrays him only for his own gain and protection as a man who is a catalyst for the decisions Gondo makes. Kenjiro Ishiyama is superb as Tokura's aide Taguchi, a man who is filled with a lot of moral while questioning about the motives of the kidnapper and the world of Gondo.

Kyoko Kagawa is great as Gondo's wife, a woman who watches everything while wanting to know what's going on as she is aware that the decision her husband makes will change her life. Kagawa's performance is wonderfully subtle and understated as she's the person that grounds Gondo while remaining the traditionalist, Japanese housewife. Tsutomu Yamazaki is excellent as Takeuchi, the kidnapper with a real motive as he tries to destroy the life of Gondo.

Tatsuya Nakadai is brilliant in a great supporting role as Tokura, the detective leading the investigation as he tries to figure out how to bring justice. Nakadai's performance is very understated and done with such class, it's basically the best performance of the film. Finally, there's Toshiro Mifune in a great role as King Gondo. Mifune's performance is filled with a lot of tension, conflict, and despair as a man whose life is about to change by a decision aware of its consequences. Mifune brings a lot of drama and sadness to the role as a man who becomes victimized and coping with possible loss.

Tengoku to jigoku is an engrossing yet provocative film from Akira Kurosawa and one of his essentials thanks to Kurosawa's direction and its ensemble cast led by Toshiro Mifune and Tatsuya Nakadai. Fans of Kurosawa will no doubt see this film as essential while seeing it as a great translation to the work of Ed McBain. In the end, for a film that mixes character study and film noir, Tengoku to jigoku is the film to see.

Akira Kurosawa Films: (Sanshiro Sugata) - (The Most Beautiful) - (Sanshiro Sugata Part II) - (The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail) - No Regrets on Our Youth - (One Wonderful Sunday) - Drunken Angel - (The Quiet Duel) - Stray Dog - Scandal (1950 film) - Rashomon - The Idiot (1951 film) - Ikiru - The Seven Samurai - (I Live in Fear) - Throne of Blood - (The Lower Depths (1957 film)) - The Hidden Fortress - The Bad Sleep Well - Yojimbo - Sanjuro - Red Beard - Dodesukaden - Dersu Uzala - Kagemusha - Ran - Dreams (1990 film) - (Rhapsody in August) - (Madadayo)

© thevoid99 2012

007 James Bond Marathon: You Only Live Twice

Based on Ian Fleming’s novel, You Only Live Twice is the story of James Bond heading to Japan to stop SPECTRE from furthering the tension between the U.S. and Soviet Union over incidents relating to their space programs where Bond finally meets up with SPECTRE’s leader Ernst Stavro Blofeld. Directed by Lewis Gilbert and screenplay by Roald Dahl (with additional work by Harold Jack Bloom), the film is another ambitious story where Bond travels to different places to face SPECTRE as Sean Connery once again plays Bond while Donald Pleasence plays the mysterious Blofeld. Also starring Mie Hama, Akiko Wakabayashi, Tetsuro Tamba, Karin Dor, Lois Maxwell, Desmond Llewelyn, and Bernard Lee as M. You Only Live Twice is a grand yet exciting film from Lewis Gilbert.

After faking his death in Hong Kong to sway attention from his enemies, James Bond is assigned to uncover a mysterious plot that involved a U.S. space capsule captured by a rocket that had landed somewhere in Japan. In hoping that the incident doesn’t spark World War III, Bond travels to Japan to meet his contact Henderson (Charles Gray) where things go wrong until he secretly goes into a building to find secret documents from an industrialist named Mr. Osato (Teru Shimada). After giving the documents to a Japanese secret service agent in Tiger Tanaka (Tetsuro Tamba), Bond suspects that Osato has something to do with the incident as he pretends to a businessman to meet Osato and his assistant Helga Brandt (Karin Dor).

After Bond and an agent named Aki (Akiko Wakabayahi) went to Osato’s dock to inspect his boat, things go wrong when Bond is captured by Osato and Brandt where the latter tries to seduce him and later kill him. Bond manages to escape where Q (Desmond Llewelyn) and Tanaka help Bond to inspect the mysterious island that is believed where the secret rocket is launched. Though Bond doesn’t find anything, he is later attacked by helicopters where he manages to out maneuver them thanks to Q’s additions in the helicopter Bond is flying. Still, Bond decides to hide out in Tanaka’s secret base to train as a ninja following an incident where a Soviet space capsule was captured leading to more U.S.-USSR tension.

With the help of an agent named Kissy Suzuki (Mie Hama), Bond and Kissy masquerade as a married Japanese couple to trek around a mysterious island where they make a big discovery. Just as the U.S. is set to launch another space capsule, Bond finally meets the man who organized everything in SPECTRE’s leader Ernst Stavro Blofeld.

The film is simply about James Bond traveling to Japan to uncover a plot to sabotage the dueling U.S.-Soviet Union space missions in an attempt to start World War III. While in his mission, he faces numerous foes who try to kill him where he would eventually meet the man who organized the whole thing in Ernst Stavro Blofeld. In meeting Blofeld, Bond gets a chance to confront the man he had been fighting against for the past few years after foiling Blofeld’s plans since Dr. No. While Blofeld might not be a strong villain as he always has people doing his dirty work, he is still a very intriguing villain for the way he organizes schemes and will not let anyone get in his way or mess things up for him. Even if it’s someone from his own organization where if someone from his group messes up, he takes care of that someone in the most gruesome way.

Roald Dahl’s screenplay does play to a lot of what is expected in the Bond formula in the way he goes about in his mission to do some investigating, fighting, and making out with women. Yet, the story opens with two big scenes to set up the story such as the U.S. Gemini capsule being captured and then Bond in Hong Kong where he fakes his death. By faking his death, Bond has to go undercover to Japan to find out what is going on as he deals with a shady industrialist and several assassins that will eventually lead him to Blofeld. One of the script’s great strengths is in the few people that assist Bond such as Tiger Tanaka and Aki. The latter of which is among one of the most interesting Bond girls who aids Bond in his work while being someone who can hold her own. While the other Bond girl in Kissy Suzuki only arrives in the third act, she’s also interesting since she is a great swimmer as well as a skilled assassin.

Lewis Gilbert’s direction is definitely big for the way he creates amazing action sequences and suspenseful moments. While some of it does require visual effects which were quite primitive in the mid-1960s, it does play to the world that Bond is in as it includes some amazing scenes set in outer space such as the opening prologue scene. By having Bond go to Hong Kong and later Japan, the film definitely has a different atmosphere since Bond has to learn about the world of Japanese culture where he would eventually disguise himself as a Japanese man late in the film.

Gilbert’s approach to suspense is engaging for the way he sets up having characters being killed off as well as the big unveiling of Blofeld who never had shown his face in the previous films. His unveiling is a big moment where Gilbert reveals what kind of man Blofeld is where it would lead to this huge climatic battle with vast compositions for Gilbert to present. With a lot of stylistic shots that includes a few hand-held stuff, Gilbert does create a very extravagant yet thrilling film that is among one of the great films of the Bond franchise.

Cinematographer Freddie Young does excellent work with the photography to capture the gorgeous landscape of the Japanese locations including some nighttime shots of Tokyo as well as some great lighting set-ups for the scenes inside Blofeld‘s home base. Editor Peter R. Hunt does brilliant work with the editing to create amazing rhythmic cuts for the film‘s action scenes along with some stylish jump cuts and dissolves to play with the film‘s rhythm. Production designer Ken Adam, with set decorator David Ffolkes and art director Harry Pottle, does spectacular work with the set pieces such as Blofeld’s home base that included a pond for his piranhas as well as the traditional Japanese houses that Bond would live in.

The special effects work of John Stears is very good for the way the scenes in space looked as well as a few visual effects driven work such as Bond on the mini-helicopter as well as some of the car chase scenes. Sound recorders Gordon K. McCallum and John W. Mitchell do terrific work with the sound to capture the atmosphere of the sumo building where Bond meets Aki as well as the big climatic battle at Blofeld‘s base involving ninjas. The film’s score by John Barry is among one of Barry’s best score for the lush string arrangements that he creates for the film’s theme that includes traditional Japanese string instruments. The title song co-written with lyricist Leslie Bricusse and sung by Nancy Sinatra is a gorgeous ballad that plays to the world of Japan as it is one of the top songs of the Bond theme songs.

The casting by Weston Drury Jr. is superb for the ensemble that is created as it includes some small but memorable roles from Tsai Chin as Bond’s Hong Kong lover, Charles Gray as Henderson, Ronald Rich as Blofeld’s bodyguard Hans, and Teru Shimada as the powerful industrialist Mr. Osato. Other notable small roles from Bond regulars include Lois Maxwell as the very witty Miss Moneypenny who gives Bond a memorable code word, Desmond Llewelyn as the very funny Q, and Bernard Lee as Bond’s no-nonsense boss M. Karin Dor is very good as Osato’s secretary Helga Brandt who tries to have Bond killed and later seduce him in an another assassination attempt. Tetsuro Tamba is excellent as the resourceful and disciplined Tiger Tanaka who helps Bond in his mission to stop SPECTRE.

Mie Hama is wonderful as Kissy Suzuki who aids Bond in the film’s climatic mission while pretending to be his traditional Japanese line where she and Sean Connery have a few funny moments. Akiko Wakabayashi is great as the Japanese agent Aki who helps Bond throughout the film as she proves to be a very smart and helpful woman who does more than the typical Bond girl. Donald Pleasence is excellent in his small but memorable role as Ernst Stavro Blofeld where Pleasence definitely lives up to the megalomania of Blofeld with a creepy voice as well as a dark sense of humor. Finally, there’s Sean Connery in a fantastic performance as James Bond. Although there’s nothing new that Connery brings to the character, Connery does make Bond compelling enough as well as presenting new challenges that does shake Bond’s sense of professionalism as well as the mission at hand.

You Only Live Twice is a marvelous film from Lewis Gilbert with another winning performance from Sean Connery. Thanks to great set pieces, beautiful locations, John Barry’s exquisite score, and a top-notch ensemble cast. The film is definitely among one of key James Bond films during Sean Connery’s period as Agent 007. It’s also a very engaging film for the way it sets up the idea of World War III giving the audience a chance to root for Bond once again. In the end, You Only Live Twice is a superb film from Lewis Gilbert.

James Bond Files: The EON Films: Dr. No - From Russia with Love - Goldfinger - Thunderball - On Her Majesty’s Secret Service - Diamonds Are Forever - Live & Let Die - The Man with the Golden Gun - The Spy Who Loved Me - Moonraker - For Your Eyes Only - Octopussy - A View to a Kill - The Living Daylights - Licence to Kill - GoldenEye - Tomorrow Never Dies - The World is Not Enough - Die Another Day - Casino Royale (2006 film) - Quantum of Solace - Skyfall - SPECTRE - No Time to Die

Non-EON Films: Casino Royale (Climax! TV Episode) - Casino Royale (1967 film) - Never Say Never Again

Bond Documentaries: Bond Girls Are Forever - True Bond - Everything or Nothing: The Untold Story of 007

© thevoid99 2012

Sanjuro

Originally Written and Posted at Epinions.com on 12/8/07 w/ Additional Edits.

Directed by Akira Kurosawa with a script he co-wrote with Ryuzo Kikushima and Hideo Oguni, Sanjuro is the story of a samurai warrior who helps a group of young, hapless samurai warriors rescue their master from a rival. The film is a continuing exploration of the character's anti-hero status from Yojimbo while teaching young men about honor and such as well as the role of samurai as he's once again played by Toshiro Mifune. Also starring Tatsuya Nakadai, Keiju Kobayashi, and Yuzo Kayama with appearances from Takashi Shimura and Yunosuke Ito. Sanjuro is an entertaining film from Akira Kurosawa and company.

When a Chamberlain (Yunosuke Ito) has been kidnapped in a feud against a superintendent over a false crime, a group of young, hapless samurai warriors led by Iori (Yuzo Kayama) try to figure out what to do where they find a samurai named Sanjuro sleeping in their home. The old, grizzled warrior hears their plans and is convinced that it won't work at all. When the superintendent known as Kikui (Masao Shizmu) arrives with his army, the young warriors are scared only until Sanjuro managed to defeat some in front of the Kikui. With the superintendent's army now retreating as they take care of the Chamberlain at the home of friend Kurofuji (Takashi Shimura), the young warriors try to plan to retrieve the Chamberlain, who is at Kurofuji's home along with his wife (Takako Irie) and daughter (Reiko Dan).

Realizing that Kikui has a smart warrior named Muroto (Tatsuya Nakadai) who is leading the army, Sanjuro is aware that plans has to be made to save the Chamberlain's wife and daughter. When the plan succeeds along with a hostage (Keiju Kobayashi), they learn about the superintendent's plan to make the Chamberlain sign a confession. With Sanjuro's patience at the incompetence of Iori and his men, he decides to join Kikui, where his real intention is to become a spy. With Iori and a few of his men tried to find out what's going on, they got captured as Sanjuro plays a game of wits against Muroto. After killing some more samurai and pretending to have been attacked, he finds where the Chamberlain is but the plan is too risky. With a suggestion from the Chamberlain's wife about camellias, Sanjuro concocts a plan that could make or break everything he and his young warriors work for.

While the character of Sanjuro is essentially an anti-hero with no moral justification, in this film, there is a bit of moral justification when he's dealing with the idea of killing as he is confronted somewhat by the Chamberlain's wife. It's noteworthy in the film's ending that is probably the most memorable scene of the entire film. While it's no doubt Sanjuro is a fine film, it lacks the psychological tone of its predecessor Yojimbo and is replaced more with humor. While the humor works, it does make the film a bit disjointed with its script. Particularly in the lack of development in Iori and his warriors who seem eager to fight but don't have a gift of strategy or the idea of honor that Sanjuro has. Even in the end, they still don't understand Sanjuro's role following the climatic event involving the Chamberlain.

While the script is excellent for the most part, Kurosawa's direction is still intoxicating from his presentation of tension and theatrical-like feel in the acting. While some of the humor works to convey the young samurai's immaturity, it's the drama and action that really gets exciting. The film in some ways is a bit more accessible than Yojimbo in its fight scenes and humor. Yet, it lacks the cohesiveness of Yojimbo. Still, with Kurosawa's stylish editing and intense direction with a look that's darker and eerie, Kurosawa definitely has a tone that is dark and more in the tradition of samurai films. Overall, despite the film's flaws, Kurosawa's solid direction keeps it from being boring.

Cinematographers Fukuzo Koizumi and Takao Saito do amazing work in the film's black-and-white presentation, notably the night-time exterior sequences with very little light in those scenes to convey the sense of tension and action in the Kurofuji's home that is extremely intoxicating in every frame. The interior sequences are also brilliant for its compositions and set-ups where it plays up to the film's theatrical style. Longtime production designer Yoshiro Muraki does great work in the film's look, notably the homes of the Chamberlain that is in traditional, 19th Century Japanese homes as well as the exterior sequences that includes wonderful camellias in those exterior settings. Sound recordists Wataru Konuma and Hisashi Shimonaga do great work in capturing the film's tension and fight sequences to convey the sense of action.

Longtime music composer Masaru Sato does an amazing job with the film's score filled with layers of percussions and traditional Japanese string instruments undercut with a great orchestral score. Sato's score also has a great theme that is comical in some aspects to the film's title character while some of the music is played to convey the sense of action and tension as Sato's score is amazingly brilliant.

The film's cast is excellent in a lot of respects with performances from Akira Kubo, Kenzo Matsui, Hiroshi Tachikawa, Yoshio Tsuchiya, Kunie Tanaka, Tatsuyoshi Ehara, and Tatsushiko Hari as the samurai warriors who try and plan to rescue the Chamberlain though they're not entirely memorable individually. The smaller performances of Kurosawa regulars Takashi Shimura as Kurofuji and Yunosuke Ito as the Chamberlain are great in their respective roles. Takako Irie is excellent as the Chamberlain's sympathetic, moralistic wife who might not be very intelligent but has a good heart while Reiko Dan is good as the daughter who has a love for camellias. Masao Shizmu is superb as the corrupt Kikui while Keiju Kobayashi is funny as the hostage who tries to help the samurai warriors while unwittingly joins in their little celebrations. Yuzo Kayama is excellent as the naive Iori, a young samurai who thinks he knows what to do but his immaturity and inexperience shows his flaws as he is a memorable and interesting character in the film.

Kurosawa mainstay Tatsuya Nakadai is brilliant as the dark but intelligent Muroto who is an equal to Sanjuro in many respects as a samurai who has a gift for strategy while often telling his superiors what they should do and such. Nakadai's performance is very memorable that is almost as good as his previous role in Yojimbo as another equal of Sanjuro. Toshiro Mifune gives another magnificent performance as the grizzled Sanjuro with his cynical viewpoint and his skills as a warrior. Unlike his previous performance in Yojimbo as the same character, there's a bit of morality to his role when he deals with killing as if he seems tired of being a samurai while trying to teach the young men about honor and such. Mifune's performance is just brilliant through and through as he carries the film with such ease and humor while showing that he is one of cinema's quintessential badasses.

While Sanjuro doesn't quite rank with several of Akira Kurosawa's films including Yojimbo, it's still a must-see film from the legendary auteur with another winning performance from Toshiro Mifune in the title role. This film is no doubt a more entertaining feature than its predecessor while it's one of the director's more accessible films. It's definitely one of the director's essential films among his fans yet with Yojimbo, it would make a very interesting double-feature from the revered auteur. In the end, for a film that has lots of violence, humor, and entertaining values, Sanjuro is the film to see.

Akira Kurosawa Films: (Sanshiro Sugata) - (The Most Beautiful) - (Sanshiro Sugata Part II) - (The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail) - No Regrets on Our Youth - (One Wonderful Sunday) - Drunken Angel - (The Quiet Duel) - Stray Dog - Scandal (1950 film) - Rashomon - The Idiot (1951 film) - Ikiru - The Seven Samurai - (I Live in Fear) - Throne of Blood - (The Lower Depths (1957 film)) - The Hidden Fortress - The Bad Sleep Well - Yojimbo - High and Low - Red Beard - Dodesukaden - Dersu Uzala - Kagemusha - Ran - Dreams (1990 film) - (Rhapsody in August) - (Madadayo)

© thevoid99 2012

The Films That I Saw: June 2012

Another month of films have gone by as the numbers actually went up a bit though something in the last few days of June had me go on a personal retreat due to stress. I’m OK now but I was really going into a bad place as I needed to seek some treatment for a while. So I personally would like to thank the staff and people at Ridgeview Institute for taking me in for a few days.

The summer film season is still going on and not much is really happening. I’ve only seen 3 new big films for the summer in The Avengers, Moonrise Kingdom, and Brave as they’re clearly in my top 3 spots in the five films I’ve seen from 2012 that includes 21 Jump Street and The Hunger Games. The only new films I’m eager to see this summer are Beasts of the Southern Wild and The Dark Knight Rises. That’s practically it as I have no interest in seeing anything else for now.

In June, I saw a good number of films as I saw a total of 42 that includes 23 first-timers and 19 re-watches. One of those re-watches was a theatrical screening of Cinema Paradiso which I recommend to see no matter what cut it’s in on the big screen. Here are the 10 best first-timers I saw:

1. Moonrise Kingdom

2. From Russia with Love

3. Pusher Trilogy

4. The Guard

5. Goldfinger

6. Dr. No

7. Brave

8. Thunderball

9. Hatfields & McCoys

10. The Way Home

Monthly Mini-Reviews:

Bratz: The Movie

Is this what we want young girls to be? Vacuous, fashion-obsessed, idiotic young girls who are willing to spend their parents money to be popular and aim to be on MTV? While it’s a movie aimed for young girls, it really isn’t a film or a movie but a piece of propaganda that tells young girls what to do to be popular. It is truly one of the most disgusting and obscene pieces of trash that I had ever seen in my entire life. It’s already now in my list of the worst films ever made.

Kung Fu Panda 2

While it’s not as good as the original, there is enough for the sequel to make it enjoyable enough that allows the audience to get to know more about Po and the Furious Five. Notably as the screenplay, that features additional work by Charlie Kaufman, explores Po’s past and where he came from while Gary Oldman delivers a solid performance as a villainous peacock hell-bent on reclaiming his throne and stop Po.

Prog Britannia & The Story of Krautrock

Two brilliantly-made BBC documentaries that can be seen on YouTube explores two very different genres in the world of popular music. Prog Britannia is a wonderful documentary that covers the evolution of progressive music from the late 1960s to its fall in the late 1970s due to its self-indulgence and why it’s still considered a dirty word in British popular music. The Krautrock documentary is much more different due to the fact that it’s based largely in Germany where it reveals how German popular music managed to get the attention outside of its native country following the events of World War II where it features bands like Neu!, Can, and Kraftwerk. Both documentaries are widely recommended for music fans.

NWR

A one-hour documentary on Danish filmmaker Nicholas Winding Refn made for French television is an intriguing film that explores Refn’s career up to the release of Drive as well as his arrival to Bangkok to start work on his upcoming film Only God Forgives. It’s definitely something that fans of his work should see as it features interviews with filmmakers Gaspar Noe and Alejandro Jodorowsky as well as Refn associates like Mads Mikkelsen, Zlatko Buric, and wife Liv Corfixen as they help tell Refn’s story and career including his contentious relationship with the Danish film industry.

Re-Watches:

1. Morvern Callar

2. Paris, Texas

3. Boogie Nights

4. Cinema Paradiso

5. Master & Commander: The Far Side of the World

6. Major League

7. A Fish Called Wanda

8. Bull Durham

9. Innerspace

10. You Only Live Twice

Well, that is all for June. In July, expect a few reviews of films by Christopher Nolan as he is the next Auteurs profile in anticipation for The Dark Knight Rises. The Bond marathon will continue as I’ll watch the 1967 parody film version of Casino Royale to maybe Moonraker as I’ll be watching them this time around on TV. I will also be watching some films by various filmmakers including Andrei Tarkovsky who will be an Auteurs subject for August. Until then, this is thevoid99 signing off.

© thevoid99 2012