Kitano at Toronto

[Alex.Zahlten at gmx.de]

I obviously agree on the carnevalesque nature of ZATOICHI- which is exactly
why I find it much more ambiguous than SHARA. However I don`t agree that it
presents a more radical vision than what Kawase offers in SHARA, actually I'm
not sure I would call what Kawase offers a "vision" at all; I find it too
bafflingly free-floating as a portrayal of a dreamed up Japan...   
When drawing comparisons between these two films, I find it above all
interesting how they depart from earlier stances of their directors (actually, it
occurs to me only now how strangely similar these two might be, regarding
their quite removed positions from the rest of the Japanese film industry, and
the way they are percieved overseas); and while these switches seem to be
traceable to more biographical/personal factors, I still wonder if there is
broader factor working into this as well...

Alex Zahlten




> SOME SPOILERS
> 
> >I think it`s also important to say how the tap dance sequence in ZATOICHI
> 
> >is
> >used, along with the other seqences in the film that use the rythmic
> >assemblage of "rural" sounds produced from hoes and stomping in mud: as a
> >celebration of a community spirit closely connected to the "earth"/land.
> 
> As I wrote about in my Daily Yomiuri review, I found the film to be a 
> somewhat concerted effort on Kitano's part to (re)associate himself with
> the 
> popular/folk/mass, bringing back the tapdancing of his Asakusa youth while
> 
> also having Zatoichi go out of his way to protect folk icons like the 
> farmer's totem. The narrative itself is partially centered on questions of
> 
> class and hierarchy and Zatoichi's final statement is precisely an 
> affirmation of the need to "be with the people."
> 
> I would say this is less a celebration of the earth or rural, than a 
> distinctly hybrid conception of the folk/masses (witness the blonde 
> Zatoichi!). As with his recent films, there are some disturbing aspects of
> 
> nationality here, but this is a more radical, if not carnivalesque vision,
> 
> which you don't really see in Kawase. Kawase, however, has been criticized
> 
> for being too concentrated on "tradition," which is why it is interesting 
> that the festival in Shara soju is a recent creation.
> 
> Aaron Gerow
> YNU
> 
> _________________________________________________________________
> MSN 8 with e-mail virus protection service: 2 months FREE* 
> http://join.msn.com/?page=features/virus
> 

-- 
alex at nipponconnection.de

COMPUTERBILD 15/03: Premium-e-mail-Dienste im Test
--------------------------------------------------
1. GMX TopMail - Platz 1 und Testsieger!
2. GMX ProMail - Platz 2 und Preis-Qualitätssieger!
3. Arcor - 4. web.de - 5. T-Online - 6. freenet.de - 7. daybyday - 8. e-Post