Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Friday, March 19, 2010
Pix: Cosplay at @themanabar opening
The Mana Bar is a new bar with console video games and cocktails in Fortitude Valley. http://www.manabar.com.au
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Akira Kurosawa'a "The Hidden Fortress" - a few thoughts (SPOILERS)
So I have some very interesting friends who like to do intriguing
things, and one of them invited me over to a Japanese movie night last
night - she has a boxed set of Akira Kurosawa films. We decided to
watch The Hidden Fortress http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0051808 , a film
which popular lore says Star Wars Epidsode IV was based on. That seems a rather long bow, although I can see how the two
constantly bickering peasants were used as the basis for R2-D2 and
C-3PO. Maybe the Star Wars connection has been played up by marketers
to sell more copies. After a third of the way through, I'd stopped
looking for Star Wars parallels and was noticing things about the
social context of the film. The film was made in 1958, only 13 years after the defeat of Japan in
World War 2, which included the dropping of two atomic bombs, massive
destruction in Tokyo by conventional bombing raids and a humiliating
occupation by (mainly) US troops. The film tells the story of the
remnants of the top leadership of the Akizuki clan, defeated in the
wars of the Sengoku period http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sengoku_period
. The leadership - General Rokurota Makabe and Princess Yuki - is
trying to get a stash of gold to neutral territory so they can rebuild
the clan, while avoiding the Yamada clan, who defeated them in the
war. I think that any film made about military defeat in 1958 in Japan must
have some parallels to the WW2 defeat. This really stood out to me at
the end of the film. The General and the Princess have been captured
by the Yamada clan, and are awaiting execution. A senior Yamada
officer has come to identify them to make sure it is in fact them
(previously the Yamada thought they had executed the Princess, when in
fact it was the General's sister). The officer is a personal friend of
the General, and previously in the film they had fought a duel which
the General had won. The officer had been beaten so badly by his lord
for the shame of defeat that he now has a large scar in the middle of
his face. He angrily demands of the General to know why he had been
allowed to live with the shame of defeat in the duel. The Princess,
just as angrily, says that "even she" would not have treated the
officer that way. I think this must be a parallel, quite likely deliberate, with the
idea that Japan must overcome the shame of its defeat in WW2, and that
life is more precious than honour - which I imagine was still a
somewhat dangerous challenge to throw out against the traditional
Right in Japan, even after the destruction of the War. In the same scene, the General apologises to the Princess for failing
to get her safely to neutral territory. However she thanks him, saying
that she had seen more of the "beauty" and "ugliness" of people than
she ever would have if she had remained safe in her castle. I think
this might be a reference, intentional or not, to the fact that the
Japanese Emperor Hirohito was forced to renounce his claim to divinity
after the war. Like the Princess, the Emperor was forced to become
just one of the people, a mere symbol of the people and State, and not
a divine being. I also wonder if the Princess - a wilful, imperious woman - is meant
to be a contrast to the usual submissive figures of young women that
are often portrayed in Japanese culture. See, for instance, the
simpering actress/singers who appear on the judging panel of Iron
Chef, and compare them with the older woman who is a professional food
critic. If so it's a fairly weak example, as the Princess is said to have been
raised as a boy by her father the lord of the Akizuki clan, who had no
sons. This implies that she's an exception, and doesn't leave a lot of
room to make a broad social example. Anyway that's my quick thoughts on the movie. For opinions on lots of
other aspects of the movie, have a look at the comments at the
Internet Movie Database:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0051808/usercomments?start=0
things, and one of them invited me over to a Japanese movie night last
night - she has a boxed set of Akira Kurosawa films. We decided to
watch The Hidden Fortress http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0051808 , a film
which popular lore says Star Wars Epidsode IV was based on. That seems a rather long bow, although I can see how the two
constantly bickering peasants were used as the basis for R2-D2 and
C-3PO. Maybe the Star Wars connection has been played up by marketers
to sell more copies. After a third of the way through, I'd stopped
looking for Star Wars parallels and was noticing things about the
social context of the film. The film was made in 1958, only 13 years after the defeat of Japan in
World War 2, which included the dropping of two atomic bombs, massive
destruction in Tokyo by conventional bombing raids and a humiliating
occupation by (mainly) US troops. The film tells the story of the
remnants of the top leadership of the Akizuki clan, defeated in the
wars of the Sengoku period http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sengoku_period
. The leadership - General Rokurota Makabe and Princess Yuki - is
trying to get a stash of gold to neutral territory so they can rebuild
the clan, while avoiding the Yamada clan, who defeated them in the
war. I think that any film made about military defeat in 1958 in Japan must
have some parallels to the WW2 defeat. This really stood out to me at
the end of the film. The General and the Princess have been captured
by the Yamada clan, and are awaiting execution. A senior Yamada
officer has come to identify them to make sure it is in fact them
(previously the Yamada thought they had executed the Princess, when in
fact it was the General's sister). The officer is a personal friend of
the General, and previously in the film they had fought a duel which
the General had won. The officer had been beaten so badly by his lord
for the shame of defeat that he now has a large scar in the middle of
his face. He angrily demands of the General to know why he had been
allowed to live with the shame of defeat in the duel. The Princess,
just as angrily, says that "even she" would not have treated the
officer that way. I think this must be a parallel, quite likely deliberate, with the
idea that Japan must overcome the shame of its defeat in WW2, and that
life is more precious than honour - which I imagine was still a
somewhat dangerous challenge to throw out against the traditional
Right in Japan, even after the destruction of the War. In the same scene, the General apologises to the Princess for failing
to get her safely to neutral territory. However she thanks him, saying
that she had seen more of the "beauty" and "ugliness" of people than
she ever would have if she had remained safe in her castle. I think
this might be a reference, intentional or not, to the fact that the
Japanese Emperor Hirohito was forced to renounce his claim to divinity
after the war. Like the Princess, the Emperor was forced to become
just one of the people, a mere symbol of the people and State, and not
a divine being. I also wonder if the Princess - a wilful, imperious woman - is meant
to be a contrast to the usual submissive figures of young women that
are often portrayed in Japanese culture. See, for instance, the
simpering actress/singers who appear on the judging panel of Iron
Chef, and compare them with the older woman who is a professional food
critic. If so it's a fairly weak example, as the Princess is said to have been
raised as a boy by her father the lord of the Akizuki clan, who had no
sons. This implies that she's an exception, and doesn't leave a lot of
room to make a broad social example. Anyway that's my quick thoughts on the movie. For opinions on lots of
other aspects of the movie, have a look at the comments at the
Internet Movie Database:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0051808/usercomments?start=0
Friday, March 12, 2010
Thursday, March 11, 2010
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