Last Bill Translation

[Jean Pierre Kellams]

Hello All,

First post etiquette: I graduated this semester with a B.A. in East
Asian Languages and Literatures from University of Florida. Any faults
in my ideas are purely my own and not a reflection of my education. I
signed up for this list because I like film, Japan, and learning from
others smarter and more informed than myself. Hopefully I will be able
to contribute something useful while learning from others on this list. 

The following are my opinions of the three films in question. 

Kill Bill is exactly what it should have been - a great throwback to
slaughterhouse exploitation films. I enjoyed it a lot. I also noticed
quite a bit of Miike's influence (he was on set during Japanese filming)
in some of the representations of violence (namely gore effects quite
like that of Koroshiya Ichi).  

I also liked Last Samurai; however, the ending bothered me on two
levels. 1) It was a bit too tidy and clean for me. I understand it is a
historical drama and not a recreation of actual events, but it just
seemed to tie everything up a bit too cleanly. 2) The death of Katsumoto
was not done very well. I think he should have had a second in
committing seppuku. 3) Edward Zwick played up the aware and makoto a bit
too much. The shot of the cherry blossoms just seemed cliché to me. I
know I am nitpicking...

Finally, Lost in Translation. As a preface, I am a big fan of Virgin
Suicides, as I am also a fan of Bill Murray. That being said, Lost in
Translation is my best picture of 2003. I know the arguments against it
from a Japan studies perspective (namely, does it treat Japan properly),
but I think it does a great job of capturing the somewhat neurotic
nature of youth culture in Japanese cities. I think the script was well
done, it was sublime and always made the right decisions when things
could have gone another way. I am one of the people who is glad he
doesn’t know what Murray said to Scarlett Johansson in front of
Yodobashi Camera. It seemed like a film about friends, for friends. (if
that makes any sense)

As for why these three films are floating around all at once, I would
venture to say it was just a side-effect of gross national cool. The
more Japanese culture gets absorbed and engrained in the US, the more US
cultural products will reflect this influence.

If I think of anything else, or if anyone wants me to expound on my
points, I will be happy to post again. Sometimes something obvious to me
is completely unobvious to someone else. 

"Common sense is not always common." (especially when it is mine :-))

Jean Pierre Kellams 

> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu 
> [mailto:owner-KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu] On Behalf 
> Of Made in DNA
> Sent: Monday, December 22, 2003 6:19 PM
> To: KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu
> Subject: Re: Last Bill Translation
> 
> 
> Hello Everyone,
> 
> This will be my first post to this fine list, so I just wanted to say 
> hello first. I'm an American living and working here in Japan. I love 
> Japanese cinema; the more fringe and indies, the better. I 
> love a good 
> B-grade flick as much as anything a master director can produce. 
> Sometimes even more so.
> 
> As for your question, while I loved Kill Bill, and I realize it was a 
> homage to 60s and 70s films, I think they could have done the wire 
> effects better. Too me they seemed overplayed to the point that they 
> were just bad. The film was good though, good story, I look 
> forward to 
> seeing the second installment.
> 
> Last Samurai though is something my expat friends and I have avoided 
> here. The trailers are just flat out embarrassing. I can't 
> tell you what 
> it is exactly, it just something instinctive that I'm sure a few 
> Japanese people might feel if say Tadanobu Asano did a serious cowboy 
> Western with Clint Eastwood. I'll wait for this to come out 
> on rental so 
> I can watch it alone, in the dark, with the volume really low 
> and no one 
> else around. More than a few of us feel this way, and it's usually 
> expats who have been here quite a while (over five years or more).
> 
> I haven't seen Lost in Translation, but I considered it as an 
> American 
> friend of mine who lived here for 3 years highly recommended 
> it saying 
> that it was really good. Unfortunately, the trailers really haven't 
> floated my boat, and I'm wondering, what, really is the point 
> of having 
> it set in Japan? The Hello Kitty Factor?
> 
> Just a few thoughts. I realize (after reading quite a few of 
> the posts 
> here) that I'm not quite as fluent in my Japanese movies as 
> many here, 
> but I am eager to hear what others have to say as well. Good 
> choice of 
> subjects. Thanks for taking the time to read this.
> 
> Best regards,
> Made in DNA
>