<html><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; ">Hi Frako,<div><br></div><div>this played at a couple of indie theatres here, and a festival, but I couldn't swing any of the screenings.</div><div>It was reviewed in the <span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-decoration: underline;">Weekly</span>, at <a href="http://www.laweekly.com/2010-05-27/film-tv/beetle-queen-conquers-tokyo-a-bug-s-life/">http://www.laweekly.com/2010-05-27/film-tv/beetle-queen-conquers-tokyo-a-bug-s-life/</a></div><div><br></div><div>I was trying to get the director out here for something we were putting together on eco-criticism, and had a short e-"conversation" with her about this and about Lafcadio Hearn. Reading the descriptions, his essay, "Insect Musicians," sprang strongly to mind; apparently it was indeed in the mix. Mind you, I haven't seen the film, so I can't say anything about algorithms of influence/patterns, but Hearn really talks up insects in such a way that students I've read the essay with feel inclined to talk about "nature." "IM" is a pretty modern view of nature, and a real jeremiad-like one--"we" have messed it, and it's still valued in Japan, so look out!, before the end of days, while are still no contradictions between capitalism & nature in Japan, like there are in the "west."</div><div><br><div><div>On Jun 11, 2010, at 1:53 PM, Frances Loden wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><blockquote type="cite">Jessica Oreck's debut documentary, <i>Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo</i>, is opening in the San Francisco Bay Area soon and I saw it on DVD screener. As a wide-eyed film "about" Japan, it has its share of essentializing and typical images of trains, pedestrian crosswalks, neon and guys with pompadours in Yoyogi Park in addition to its main focus on the Japanese hobby of keeping crickets and beetles and its connection to bonsai, haiku, cherry blossoms and <i>mono no aware</i>. <div> <br></div><div>Can you point me to any reviews of the film from Japan, whether in English or Japanese? </div><div><br></div><div>Thanks a lot,</div><div><br></div><div>Frako Loden</div><div>Berkeley, CA</div></blockquote></div><br></div></body></html>