Thanks To All + Explanation
J.sharp
j.sharp
Tue Sep 4 04:44:07 EDT 2007
"Nothomb, while an artistic genius, who has written many brilliant books, it
seems as if she may tend to be quite abrasive, and it's possible that her
interpretation and construction of the world around her may reflect some of
that."
I'd be interested in hearing some opinions from French readers about that. I
read her first novel, Hygi?ne de l'assassin, and wasnt overly impressed. It
was about a journalist, if I recall, sent to interview a famous author, who
is morbidly overweight (the book spends a lot of time detailing his
grotesque eating habits), and discovering the whole foundation of his
writing career is rooted in some childhood trauma that I don't remember. The
whole tone of the book was rather sneering and misnathopic, like Stupeurs et
Temblements, and as a whole, I couldnt see much to get excited about. She's
certainly no Sartre, or even a Houellebecq for that matter, but maybe I lost
something from reading it in French - rather amazed to see these have been
translated into English though.
Jasper
--
Midnight Eye: The Latest and Best in Japanese Cinema
www.midnighteye.com
===
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--------- Original Message --------
From: KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu
To: KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu <KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu>
Subject: Re: Thanks To All + Explanation
Date: 03/09/07 18:13
>
> Since my original plan seems to have gotten recirculated, I thought this
might be a good occasion to add a few updates, after having made the
presentation recently.
>
> 1) Early in Lost in Translation, Charlotte visits a Buddhist temple in
Tokyo. Then she calls an American friend, and is upset because she was not
able to get any feeling about the service, or about ikebana. (In fact, in
Sofia Coppola's original shooting script, there was more about the temple,
then about ikebana, then after that came the phone call, so audiences may
wonder why Charlotte is suddenly so upset--especially since she attends the
ikebana session after the call in the final film.) Anyway, in Lost in
Translation, they just get to the outskirts of Buddhism, and then take a
step back.
>
> 2) After these scenes from Lost in Translation, I switched to
Enlightenment Guaranteed, a bit before Uwe and Gustav go to the Zen temple.
The rest of the film is all about day-to-day life in the temple.
>
> 3) There's a shorter (and more fun) Japanese TV drama series called
Manhattan Diaries, which I used instead of the grittier Moyuru Toki. It's
about three young women from Japan who come to live and work in Manhattan.
There are no subtitles, but it's fairly easy to explain the scenes as they
go along. This film is far friendlier to American culture than Hazard or
Moyuru Toki--though there are some scenes showing organized crime,
discrimination, and violence. At the end, one of the three decides to stay
in Manhattan long-term. An American character tells her then that he and she
are both authentic New Yorkers, and being American is something else.
>
> 4) I had second thoughts about Fear and Trembling, based on the book by
Amelie Nothomb, which I shared with the students. Nothomb was indeed a young
child in Japan, but after that she went on with her Belgian diplomat parents
to Beijing, age seven, then after a couple of years they moved to New
York--it's hard to be sure exactly how well grounded she really is in either
Japanese or Chinese culture or language. She has written another book, Le
sabotage amoureux, about how she and other West European kids passed their
time picking on other kids--East German kids. She shows little sympathy for
or interest in the Chinese in this book. This book is also being made into a
film in France, right now. Nothomb, while an artistic genius, who has
written many brilliant books, it seems as if she may tend to be quite
abrasive, and it's possible that her interpretation and construction of the
world around her may reflect some of that. I want to see the second movie
and read more of her boo
> ks to find out more definitively.
>
> 5) One other thing is that Dorrie's Enlightenment Guaranteed has
references to the Wim Wenders film Notebook on Cities and Clothes (1989),
which was partly set in Japan, and is about the Japanese fashion designer
Yamamoto Yohji. A German-speaking Serbian woman in Tokyo, played by Anica
Dobra, is there to somehow become one of Yamamoto's students. Also Dorrie
switches back and forth from a "candid" hand-held digital to one
run more professionally--the way Wenders switched back and forth from a
video camera to a conventional one in his film. Also Dorrie has made another
film, Der Fischer und seine Frau, which is also partly set in Japan.
>
> There was a roomful of students, maybe 30-35, and they seemed very
interested in going on to learn more on their own after the session, about
Japan, and recent Japanese, German, and French films in general.Michael
McCaskey
> Georgetown Univ.
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: drainer at mpinet.net
> Date: Monday, September 3, 2007 2:33 pm
> Subject: Re: Thanks To All + Explanation
>
> > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Michael
McCaskey" <mccaskem at georgetown.edu>
> > To: <KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu>
> > Sent: Saturday, June 23, 2007 1:59 PM
> > Subject: Thanks To All + Explanation
> > > > Thank you very much Bill Tyler also--I just pasted your
> information in a > separate file. (I put material from others in
separate files so > I'll > remember to give proper credit if I use the
information in > handouts or a > course web site).
> > > The reason I was looking for information is that I need to give
a > presentation, as part of a program for Georgetown's incoming >
Freshman Class > the end of August. The previous two years I dealt with
recent > American > remakes of Japanese films. This time I'm going to
try to compare > Western > impressions of Japan and vice versa using
four films (my spiel > blurb > follows):
> > > > 1) Lost in Translation (2003)?a successful award-winning
film > about > Americans trying to adapt to life in Tokyo, directed
and with a > script by > Sofia Coppola. This film is partly based on
experiences Coppola > herself had, > while residing in Japan a decade
earlier. Coppola regards the film > as having > three main characters
? the Scarlett Johansson and Bill Murray > characters, > and the
people of Tokyo. Outside their Americanized hotel, and > even at times
> inside it as well, the American characters find themselves totally >
engaged > with Tokyoites, and Murray?s character is at a particular >
disadvantage due > to the language factor. While this film retains some
traditional > attitudes, > it offers many new perspectives on
expatriate life in Tokyo.
> > > 2) Fear and Trembling (2003)?a French film about a Belgian woman
> starting a > job in a Japanese corporation in Tokyo, starring Sylvie
Testud, > plus an > all-Japanese cast. The film is based on a book by
Am?lie Nothomb, > a Belgian > novelist who grew up in Japan and worked
in such a corporation. > Nothomb?s > book won the French Academy
Prize, and the film won the Cesar > Award for best > picture. Testud,
who is multilingual and has recorded readings of > Japanese > Buddhist
texts in France, portrays a character well acquainted > with Japanese
> language and culture, who has to overcome unexpected cultural >
misunderstandings with her female supervisor and other coworkers. >
Virtually > all the cast members except Testud are established Japanese
film > actors.
> > 3) Enlightenment Guaranteed (2000, re-release 2003, 2007)?a German
> film > about two inept middle-aged men who decide to live in a Zen
> monastery in > Japan. The director and screenplay writer was Doris
D?rrie, a > German > novelist and American-trained film director with
a deep interest > in Asian > religions. This film recently attracted
new attention due to > D?rrie?s > growing reputation, and the later
success of Lost in Translation. > Like > Coppola?s characters, the two
Germans start out in a foreign-style > Tokyo > hotel, but quickly lose
all their money. After an attempt to live > as > panhandlers, they
become waiters in a German-style Tokyo beer > hall. Finally > arriving
at the remote unheated monastery in mid-winter, they must > carry out
> unexpected full days of physical labor, as part of their >
meditation course. > Used to being losers in their own culture, they
unexpectedly > discover a new > path to success. Filmed in an actual
monastery with a full cast of > Zen > monks, who were impressed by
D?rrie?s sinc
> > erity and enthusiasm, and by her actors? hard work.
> > > 4) The Excellent Company (2006)?a Japanese film set in Southern
> California, > about a real-life tragicomic hero, simply trying to
make his > company's Ramen > Cup of Noodles No. 1 in L.A. Directed by
the award-winning Hosono > Tatsuoki, > noted for his crime films, and
based on a story by Takasugi Ryo, > known in > Japan for his
?business-focused novels? (keizai shosetsu). The > Japanese >
characters are conventional company management employees in > California
and > Tokyo, while the American characters are ramen plant workers, >
materials > suppliers, or people connected with rival US companies. Nakai
> Ki?ichi, a > leading film star, plays the California plant manager,
and > Samantha Healy, > an Australian film and TV actress, plays the
role of his Japanese-
> > speaking > American interpreter. Conventional cultural patterns
create > challenges for > both of them, which can only be resolved in
very unconventional ways.
> > > > I'm not completely satisfied with Moyuru toki/The Excellent
> Company, for > this purpose, because it is framed in a pretty
confrontational > way. So I was > looking for something more subtle,
and you've all helped me a lot.
> > > I figured Lost in Translation just had to be there because of
its > prominence.
> > > I found that the French film seems not to be well-known in
Japan--
> > I did find > several different online blogs and journals by young
women in > Japan who > rented a copy by chance, liked it, and thought
it was a pretty > good > representation of some things they had to
deal with in the > workplace > themselves.
> > > I?ve liked the Dorrie film since I first saw it several years
ago, > via > European DVD--but there was no logical way of fitting it
in a > course?but in > this comparison framework it works, I think.
It's on US DVD, has > just been > re-released in Germany on DVD in
2007, and was recently shown at a > major > Buddhist Conference in SE
Asia (Dorrie has recently finished a > documentary > film: Wie man
sein Leben kocht/How to Cook Your Life (2007), about > an > activist
San Francisco Buddhist Guru, Edward Espe Brown, who > writes >
best-selling vegetarian cookbooks).
> > > Some other good German films with a Japan focus are Tokyo-Ga
> (1985) and > Notebook on Cities and Clothes (1989), both by Wim
Wenders, but > they're too > old and specialized for my purposes.
> > > Sylvie Testud, who is from an Italian immigrant family in
France, > has also > acted in German films, playing regular German
roles, most notably > in > Jenseits der Stille/Beyond Silence (1996),
directed and written by > Caroline > Link. Testud is a co-star in what
is hopefully a great new French > movie > about Edith Piaf, titled La
M?me/The Brat (2007)--I have an order > in for the > 2-disk DVD
edition from France, to come out soon. There are > several more >
French movies based on Am?lie Nothomb's novels, but Nothomb is > perhaps
> better known in Japan as a writer than is the Fear & Trembling
film.
> > > I wanted to find a Japanese film set in the US that worked
better > in > comparison with these other three than Moyuru toki, and
you all > have helped > me a lot.
> > > Please feel free to criticize my plan if you wish, point out
> errors, and > make suggestions, which I will appreciate very much.
> > > Thanks Again To Everyone,
> > > Michael McCaskey
> > Georgetown Univ.
> >
>
>
>
>
>
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