Akira Kurosawa

Seven Samuari, Dreams and Kagemusha are three movies directed by Akira Kurosawa. All three movies are concerned with their own matters. However all three movies communicate the same emotional state. Regardless of what movie it was. There were reoccurring themes that seemed to relate back to the director/ auteur.

All three movies related to a more traditional Japanese state. Seven Samuari dealt with the poor villages of Japan and their constant fight with the bandits. Kagemusha was about clashing kingdoms and Dreams dealt a lot with Japanese traditions and history.

Kurosawa deals with traditions a lot in this stories. He also deals with the clashing of old and new ideas, usually giving sympathy to the older and more traditional ideas over the newer concepts.

            A good example of this is in Dreams. In some of the stories, traditional ideals are being threatened by some force. Like the child insulting the Kitsune by observing their wedding procession, or the peach trees being cut, and the community that moved away from modern society in order to live a more healthier and traditional life. In Dreams he constantly makes reference to nature, and how modern industry is peeling away what’s left of old Japan. One of the stories involves the destruction of Japan. The characters blatantly attack the government and irresponsibility on their part for this disaster. The conclusion in Dreams shows a lot of Kurosawa’s ideas of going back to a more traditional lifestyle, without poisoning the earth.

            In Seven Samurai, the setting itself takes place in rural Japan. It takes place during the 16^th century, and during a time of conflict. A lot of the movie is about the pressures that this little town has to face. The village is already weak, low on food and completely unguarded. After the samurai decide to help, you see an entire community building itself up for the incoming wave of bandits.             Essentially the story involves the violation of a traditional lifestyle by a disruptive force. In this case the bandits.

            In Kagemusha, the disruptive force was the king’s double, who takes over. Not only as the king, but as a family member too. Through the movie he grows affection for the people around him, eventually making him part of every day court life. When his guise is revealed, the court pushes him away, causing everything to go down hill. When he was King for a while, things went well, the great force that caused him to be banished was doubt and uncertainty of the people after his true guise was revealed.

            All three movies have no true ending, or closure. They leave the audience alone in the end, and forces them to ponder about the consequences of the choices made in each story. Kurosawa did this in all three movies. There is no good or bad, no heroes or villains. He has characters that perform certain actions, and it up to the viewers to determine justification of each choice. 

Dystopian Future

Clockwork Orange falls under the dystopian future genere. There are many markers that stick out that explain this. One of the most prominent, is the corrupted youth of this world and their “ultra violence”. The youth or malchicks run around town at night to cause ruckus and get into terrible fights. The main character Alex is part of this. Through his eyes we learn of his crimes and violence. Another example of it being a dystopian future is the use of different slang. The author created his own slang for this book. It’s a slang influenced by globalization and cultures mixing. This slang does not appear in real life, nor is it prevalent in today’s culture. The ludvico technique is the biggest marker, which makes this a dystopian future. It’s a rather menacing way to force and condition a subject to instantly hate something. In Alex’s case, its crime, violence and sex. This slightly futuristic conditioning program is grounded in realism, but taken far enough and far away that it could as science fiction. The biggest thing about Clockwork Orange is that it does lie in some genre, however the author used the dystopian future in a very mind sense. His main concern was in the character Alex, and his interactions with the world around him. The genre dosent bleed through as much as it does with other novels. 

Addiction

“He is abnormal. He is not a gentleman. But how magically his singing violin can conjure up a tenderness, a compassion for Lolita that makes us entranced with the book while abhorring its author!”(John Ray, Jr) This is the best way to explain the narrator, Humbert.

Lolita is a drug that Humbert was addicted too. Many substance abusers use people to get to a source of “high”. They would make connections based on their needs, and quickly dissolve them. Humbert’s goal though the first part of the book was to get as close to Lolita as possible. He does this be getting closer to her family, and patiently waiting for the time he could be alone with her. He only married her mother in order to be with Lolita. The only two characters with any strong prominence in this book is perhaps Humbert and Lolita. Its as if he saw everyone else as throwaway characters. Not needed to tell a story. He was an addict, throwing all his recourses towards one material goal.

As a drug addict, he finds ways to justify his reasonings, Humbert already makes it clear that he is a pedophile. He speaks in length about his desire for Lolita. He describes his desires in a very passionate and poetic way. Never stooping to describe anything explicit or sexual. He keeps the audience at bay, revealing only enough information, little bit at a time. He also starts pointing out various “facts” of various cultures that practice some form of pedophilia in order to justify his lifestyle. He even tells the audience that what he does not harm anyone else, and does not cause any sort of trouble, that he wishes to be left alone. Humbert uses his speech in a very eloquent manner. He sounds like a charming man, with a great sense of the English language, but if we ever met him in person, how would he really be like?

The deepest and most subtle manipulation is the book itself. He is writing this memoir, and this gives him a lot of creative control over every situation in the stories presented to us. For me the entire book is one big manipulation. From his charming personality, to the death of his wife and every encounter he had. It seemed almost too fake for some of the situations to arise. The biggest thing that I find strange is his “charming” speech. There was a part in the book where he was wondering if he should send a telegram or call. if he had called, he could lapse into broken English. This could be a bit of the truth being revealed. He does come from another country; perhaps he fantasized about his personality to the point of him thinking it is true. Perhaps the real Humbert is a clumsy European with a sick mind and a huge ego, enough to morph him self into a figure for every reader to remember him by. I know that’s how I pictured him as I read through the book. 

The Grifters: Redesigned

Contributers: Sishir Bommakanti, Maura Henline,Lillian Gottwald, Kenneth Sterling Gronquist We read the Grifters for our screenplay assignment. Because the story involved crime, murder and cons. We decided it would be best to replace this setting from a early 90s setting to a 20s setting. By replacing the setting to the 1920s and New York we all of a sudden create a timeless Noir story. New York was booming with money and crime during the 20s with the social climbers, new money and the anti-prohibition institutions all over the city. Along with many other political tension like Mccarthy, women's rights and even teaching evolution. We made Roy a successful social climber who sells bonds and grifts on the side. The females characters: Lilly and Myra were very independent and ruthless. We compared them to the independent flappers of the 1920s. In this new setting, Lilly was helping rigging various gambling institutions/speakeasies in New York. The original screen play never really had a big emphasis on setting. We understood where we are, but the screen play never made any emphasis on the world around them. We felt that setting was very important. it creates an essence, context and gives life to a story. We wanted this Film Noir to be based more on temperature and value than color. by having a scene look warm in colors or cool in colors, we can create a mood. Even selective coloring can create interesting moods. in essence we wanted to place a lot of emphasis on colors/temperature to create this nostalgic crime feel. Because we placed the story in a historic setting, we decided that having good establishing shots throughout the movie will help bring out the essence of New York at that time. Mad Men and Watchmen do a great job of showing news clippings, stories and even subtle references to many things going on during that time. Finally by setting it in a different time period, it gives us more open space to work with. Essentially we took the screen play which we saw as the blue print or skeletal structure of the story, and added essence, a historical context and a more timeless story. As students in a design school we essentially redesigned the whole story but kept its foundation intact.

Metropolis

This is a movie that needs to be watched many time in order to appreciate its story, art direction and acting. There is so much about this movie that un nerves me, from the exaggerated acting to the beautiful composition. The entire movie is one dark art deco design. This movie had many of the parallels of hunger games, where society is separated between the high class and the working industry. It would be of no surprise if Metropolis was part of the inspiration for Hunger Games (seeing how many dystopian fictions use Metropolis as a blueprint). The most significant thing for me was the design of the actors. You knew right away who was fair, who was corrupted, who was a worker and a high class member. Much of the story is told in the silhouettes and action of each figure. The setting too told a story about the conditions of the world they lived in. There are two societies, the high class that lives in the upper parts of the city, and the industry that serves as the spine and heart of the city. The Hunger games is also like this, where its split between the haves and have nots. Metropolis has a much more twisted plot incorporated into its story, making it much more than a plot for rebellion and instigation. It also focuses much on the character interaction, we feel and suffer when the character feels and suffer. In Hunger Games, we suffer through the same pains and burns that Katniss goes through. So we can relate to their point of view. I still feel that Metropolis needs to be watched again and again, because I am still trying to understand it.

Hunger Games

Hunger games has the same idea of survival and character building that lord of the flies and the most dangerous game has. In the case of Hunger Games, the author managed to create a whole world, history and lore to compliment the story at hand. The history of the characters and the history of the world they live in gives more significance to their situation and survival. Katniss not only fights for survival, but draws on prior history, or flashbacks to help her get to her goals and return to those who she loves. This also helps us understand her relation to the other characters, and her justifications. This story also promotes a lot about rebellion, standing against authority and many Marxists concepts. Which is interesting to see in a book for younger audiences. Personally I did not enjoy the hunger games. It didn’t appeal too much to me.

Ponyo

Ponyo simply is a story of a girl from another setting running away to find comfort and love In another existence that seems new and exciting. Its got references about the little mermaid, global warming, current state of our eco system all packed into this family friendly movie. Ponyo seems much simpler than many of Miyaazaki’s other works, both in terms of style and story. I see it as appealing to both adults and kids, but the story is simple enough for a child to take in without any problems. There are no overt metaphorical ideas or deep character interactivity, but its got a simple charm to it. Scott Mcloud talks about how simplicity let people relate more to a subject than something far more specific. Here I get the idea of a girl running away from her living situation to another setting that is magical to her but normal to the immediate population around her. I also get the idea of how fishing, and human intervention is hurting the ocean and ecosystem. On occasion they talk about, or show humans fishing, and its effects on the ocean. The film emphasizes more on the little things, like family, friends, interactions between people, than on an overall concept.