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Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi (2001)
Only The Youth Can Save Us
The best way to describe this movie is witty. It's a more subtle way of telling the youth they're the only ones of today who can put society back in a place that is moral and without greed or modern filth. From the beautiful images, to the characters' voices, to the message behind the entire movie, "Spirited Away" is a way of saying what many want to say about the only way to save tradition.
Before I go any further, I have to say when I started watching the movie I was unimpressed by the animation that had a sort of hazy look to it, and when the scene of Chihiro running through the flowers came, I was confused because the animation of the flowers looked so much better than most other scenes in the movie. Then it made perfect sense when I found out it was all hand-painted, which made the movie so much more respectable.
Aside from the beautiful paintings, the voices matched well with the characters. Chihiro is portrayed as bratty at first, because that is what she was supposed to be, and the parents' voices were sort of dumb and rude sounding, especially towards Chihiro. Anyone who can't even help his or her own daughter across the water deserves to be portrayed as ignorant and crude. I can't think of any decent person who wouldn't help even a stranger's kid across the rocks in the water. But after all, Miyazaki is saying that tradition has become lost in today's society, and only the youth can save it. The young may be ignorant, but we're still being educated, and because we haven't been set in our ways or stubborn for many years, we can still appreciate, and take in, what we're being taught. The longer you go on with ignorance, the harder it becomes to be liberated. This becomes Miyazaki's point when Chihiro goes through everything she went through, for her parents to still be ignorant in the end. Miyazaki's point is also that maybe the youth are the only ones who can save society from modern ignorance because we're the only ones who can deal with it properly. To become one with tradition, and really understand it, you can't fight with it, and you can't control it. The only thing you can do is go along with it, and learn, which is made apparent in the way Chihiro handles No-Face. However, what will always remain with Chihiro is her new sense of tradition and respect. The purple shining hair band (which I found to be the most witty symbol in the whole movie) lets you know that there is hope for the youth yet, because tradition is there to watch over, and teach those who want to be taught.
Although the hair band leaves you with an optimistic future, and hope for the youth to make things right, I don't know if I can recommend this for an American audience. To appreciate the movie, you have to separate what you like from the point the director is trying to make about tradition (which doesn't want water gods kissing humans, so you'll have to get over it). The spirit of the movie is very Taoist, and even Buddhist, so keep in mind that strict rules over who can do what in hierarchy is supposed to be negative, as well as being ignorant (like the parents), and forcing what you can't control.
Rashômon (1950)
The Light at the End of the Tunnel
So as an American audience you might tend to think "so, who did it?" which means we're missing the entire point of the story. It isn't about whom really did it; it's about the fact that you may never know. But what's more important than you never knowing is that a person can fix his or herself which is what you see at the end; a sort of light at the end of the tunnel effect.
Kurosawa is an excellent director. He was the first to point out the deception of human beings, through camera angles and verbal cues. I thought the actors were amazing. I thought he sort of showed that anyone, even those of court, may be deceptive, but he did so in a very respectful way. He had the poor man flicking off bugs and laughing like a crazy man, which I thought was hilarious because he was so unbelievably psychotic. He then showed us the very well put-together wife and samurai. Kurosawa then smacked everyone in the face by showing us even those of court can be deceptive, which is hard to take.
However at the end when he showed the woodcutter showing that he really wanted to change his ways and not be evil, Kurosawa gives us a taste of hope. The most interesting thing in the whole movie, though, is when we see the woodcutter walking away from his own ignorance, and the rain stops, but the monk is still stuck in the ignorance. I thought that was such a good way of showing that even if you're religious you may still have to find your own way. The monk didn't show him the way, the woodcutter found it on his own.
Despite so many genius ways of portraying an idea, there are still some things that may drive an American audience crazy, such as the very long camera shots that follow the characters, but to get the point of the movie you'll just have to get over it. To find out what Kurosawa is really saying you have to look at it through a non-American perspective. You have to get over the long camera shots following the people, the screaming baby the monk can't hold it the right way, the very weird eyebrows on the women, and the fact that you want to know who committed the crime. So the only people I would not recommend this to those who cannot get past this, but if you can it's worth watching.
Gomgashtei dar Aragh (2002)
Lacking Everything But Dullness
The one thing the director did a good job at was displaying the enormousness of the area they had to cover. The many shots from the bottom of the mountains looking up display how minute they really are. However, the only thing that kept me awake during the movie was its bits of comedy. The bluntness of the father was funny, as well as the brother, who appeared to be a Middle-Eastern Napoleon Dynamite. It was also amusing how even if you're starving, you get the hookah passed to you, although I'm sure that is a cultural thing that is more serious than Americans tend to view it.
Although the comedy was the only thing that kept me awake when watching the movie, I found it to be a little offensive. Sadaam Hussein made Iraq a Hell, and the director, who obviously doesn't like Sadaam either, unintentionally makes the severity of the whole situation less serious. What was occurring during that time shouldn't be taken lightly, and it wasn't good for the overall view of Sadaam in Iraq to have people joking as much as he had them doing. You wouldn't want to see a movie about the Holocaust that had jokes in it if you want to experience the true seriousness of the entire event, so why the director didn't display the full gravity of the situation is what I don't understand.
So the reason I say the only thing that saved the movie was its bits of comedy was because the pathetic attempt to show the true seriousness of the movie failed. The director doesn't show Hanareh's face after they gassed her. The American wants to see her face, but for good reason. Everyone else sees her face, and they realize how serious it is, but we don't experience that seriousness first hand, which is hard for an American who expects to feel and see the seriousness in something like that, rather than seeing it. The only reason the director would choose not to show her face is because ex-husband didn't know, but we did, so I feel it should have been shown, because although it was probably disturbing, it was a real situation, and you can't take away what's disturbing in real life.
I wouldn't recommend this film for anyone who is an American. I think as an American you'll be disappointed with its lack of ability to connect to the viewer the way you are used to. The only people who might be able to watch it are the people who already understand what it was like to go through something like the people in the movie went through, because you won't have to be shown or told the seriousness, you'll already know.
Bacheha-Ye aseman (1997)
Excellent Perspective on God
Children of Heaven is an extremely symbolic movie. The exact purpose of the movie is not exactly clear until the final shot of Ali's battered feet in a sweet pond of innocent fish. It is not until then that the tenderness and irony in the movie regarding God come clear.
During the entire movie, the parents come off as having the typical "if God wills it, it will happen" attitude that really means "I'm too lazy to do anything about my pathetic life", at least in this case. Ali and Zahra are two young kids who physically and mentally drain themselves over a pair of shoes they've lost, and it's ridiculous they even have to worry about that. It's not ridiculous because I'm just a spoiled American lucky enough to never have worried about it, it's ridiculous because their parents wait until the rent is far past overdue to try to do anything about it. It isn't until then that the father finally goes into town to make ends meet. However this amazing father is sure not to do it alone, he has to bring is child along too.
The parents, or at least the father, is no doubt a loser, but the children are quite the opposite. There's something wrong if your 9-year-old son is better with talking to a person than you are, and in the case of going into town to get money, this is how it is. Ali certainly wins your heart over every time you see his little face getting teary-eyed because all he wants to do is win his sisters shoes back. You can clearly see that although he believes in God, he pours his heart out into that final race just to right his wrong. However, because if God wants it to happen a certain way, it will happen that way, he didn't get those shoes in that race that second, but he did get them.
Some may view the Dad getting shoes for the little girl in the final scene as a sign that it really is in God's control. However, I believe that it is indeed in God's control; however the extent of how fast the needy are willing to try is the key. God helps those who help themselves. Although it seemed like a long time, Ali's wish got answered fast in comparison to Ali's father's wish of God helping them out of their rough time. It should also be noted that it wasn't until after Ali's father went into town to really help his family out that God helped the man. It is indeed in God's hands, however that is no excuse to sit back and do nothing when things aren't going the way you want. The display of this belief makes the movie truly respectable.
The Gods Must Be Crazy (1980)
Pretty Good
Overall, I like the movie, especially for a slightly older film. The movie was technically racist. However, despite the racism, the movie expressed it through many different views, and equally, seeming to make the racism in it okay simply because it was well rounded as if the director did it intentionally for satire. The comedy in the film also made the racism in the movie less serious, and rightfully so if the viewer is well informed.
This film has its good points, and bad points, just like any other. However, I feel it's good points outweighed its bad points by far. The movie was technically racist. The director displayed the !Kung people as completely clueless, stupid, and unaware of the world around them. The white male was clueless and stupid as well, except he was aware of the world around him, which is worse. The woman was portrayed as the stereotypical female, that had to be catered to by males, but thought it was funny because she wasn't stupid and clueless but realized the stupidity of the males around her. It was also no surprise that the white main female character, white main male character, and lovable innocent !Kung character (Xi) ended up being the heroes. Everything about just about every character was in some way racist or stereotypical, but the director clearly pointed these things out, which made it hilarious.
As a person in the "modern" world that wakes up at eight zero zero, I was not offended by the commentary. As a person who knows a little about Africa, I was not offended by the !Kung people being innocent and stupid simply because the director over did it so much so that a person almost cannot possibly think this is true of the world today. The only bizarre thing about the movie was the National Geographic style voice-over. However, I actually liked this simply because I hate subtitles because it gives me less time to notice the scene and actions of the characters.
I recommend this movie for people with a sense of humor that actually do know about Africa. Having taking the Survey of World Literature course explicitly discussing Africa for 10 weeks, you learn a lot about it, so I knew when the director was being expressing stereotypes made towards Africa when I saw it. Those who are unaware of what really goes on in Africa will only let their ignorance be reinforced by false ideas. People who are aware of Africa and see the stereotypes, but have no sense of humor, will be easily angered. This is definitely a movie where a person needs to approach it with a laid-back attitude and those who don't will be told by those who do to "lighten up".
Twist à Popenguine (1994)
Nice story, poor structure
Overall, I thought this movie had a nice theme. The way the director displayed the various types of people in the Wolof village was excellent. He had the older Wolof people seeming wise in their traditional-looking costume and tone of voice. He had the "Kings" who were of western (American) influence as the sort of rebel group, however harmless and sort of stupid, which I found funny. They were so stuck on looking and admiring people like Jimi Hendrix that they didn't know much about anything, even the American innovative rock which seemed to be their purpose.
Then you have the regular students and the Ins who were somewhere in the middle, however in a different way. They seemed to be half traditional Wolof and half French influence due to their teacher. I thought it was interesting how the director portrayed the views on the teacher. He was well-liked and always wore a white suit (as if he was a good, pure man), despite his rude and ironic breakdown in the restaurant. The director's main point seemed to be to show people of non-African (or even African culture) exactly how it was that they were able to be colonized, and just how much of it went on.
Despite the good story of the film, there was a lot that went wrong, too. What went wrong was unfortunate because it seemed to be all things that should NOT have been a problem in film for that time. The same scene being shot in plain day and then pure darkness was not only confusing at first, but extremely annoying. I also found the Foley annoying, because it was noticeable. When you view a movie, you shouldn't NOTICE that a slapping sound is weird or unrealistic sounding, and it was in this movie. The music in the background, such as "Sitting on the Dock of the Bay" seemed out of place considering it wasn't even played when showing the only American-influenced group of people.
So although the movie had the right idea but poor structure, I would recommend the movie for older people that are not African. When I say older I mean mature enough to recognize culture differences, and I say non African because I think the director was aiming more towards SHOWING colonization to others.