Japanese versions...(5/12)

Located a very nice music tower at the Shinjuku area last month and it was a 6-storey artform-like building compiling of CDs of different kinds and versions. The Shinjuju Disc Union was opened in 2001 and I was amused by its systematic classifications of CDs, especially its soundtrack department and the collection of its 60's albums and bootlegs...

Very certainly, I got a selection of highly value-for-money soundtracks of composers like Michel Legrand, Francis Lai and Ennio Morricone into my return suitcase. Among of the new collectables, I added the latest release from Rhino of The Doors' live at Boston in 1970. Psychedelically irritating...wake up, Morrison!

post-blogging note...embracing the winter breeze can partly be accomplished by the coma condition dosed into the rhythm of the world of moving images. This December I simply put myself into the drawer of the cinematic music projected by michel legrand, francis lai & ennio morricone. You sense the age of a year...

Films x 3...(11/8)

A few films I watched recently...

1. Tournage dans un jardin anglais
The film is directed by Michael Winterbottom and featured Steve Coogan & Rob Brydon. Playing the story of Tristram Shandy in a crazy manner, the film is an exceptionally inspiring comedy. It is DIY and it applies reasonably nice cliché to create a humorous story of story telling or a comedian's film of filmmaking. Steve Coogan plays Tristram Shandy, and he is quite an impressive actor in the film. Crossing in between the modern times and the 17th century of England, there is a strong element of the Godard-style filmology. The film works on the historical story and at the same time it turns from time to time the perspective of the audience by bringing into the narrative character. Soon Tristram and Steve merge in the film to become a very consolidated and dimensional character. This is unexpected. The part of filming the crew to film the film reminds me some scenes in Mike Figgis's Hotel. I am not particularly fond of comedy but this is quite an out-of-the-box one.

2. Szomorú Vasárnap
The film was on the screen last year in Hong Kong, but actually it is a film produced in 1999. Expected to be a classic piece, the film was beautifully made. It romantically offers the introversion and density of the Hungarian, and in the story, Budapest was such a gloomy sleeper lying beside the Danube. I like the four main characters in the film, and they played very well. Stefano Dionisi acted as the tragic pianist & composer Rezső Seress, and his piece called for touching sensation. As the skeleton of the film, the melody perfectly fitted into the mourning mood. It is delightful to have the story edited in an accurate manner in the film, and indeed, it can be easy to fall into the trap of exaggeration about this suicide song. Not certain whether this is a realistic reflection about the culture of Hungary, but a very suppressive sentiment of the nation was depicted in the film. Unlike Poland or Czecho, Hungary appeared since World War II to the communist era to be a very subtle tribe, and in the film, people chose to sink into the tune rather than rebel. Hans, played by Ben Becker, was an outstanding character in the film. Without judging the standpoint of the storywriter or the director, the German general simply vitalised the human character of ambivalent judgment in pursuing the sense of value and the desire of power & wealth. Erika Marozsan played the diva and undoubtedly she captured the essence of the wildness & naive of innocence. The scene when she sang under the fear and threat was heart breaking. Out of the four, Laszlo, however, is my favorite character in the film. Joachim Krol fitted into a convincing role of the Jewish businessman, and his firm and charismatic way to manage crisis and love was perfect. The role is a powerful channel for the storyteller to express the glorious romanticism and dignity of the Jewish during the World War. The story is classic but the only flaw of some loose management of story development and logic of reasoning leaves the only scar to my interpretation of the gloomy Sunday.

3. Cars
A 2006 Pixar representative, and without much expectation, I found the animation quite a pleasant work. Having an arrogant Lightning McQueen as the star of the year, the story began with an abnormal means of narrative. The animation put impressive effort in the character image design and the rendering of wheel motions and speeding act on the tracks were perfectly designed and drawn. Not much lengthy denotation or ethics education, the work is neat and proper. Surely the scenery in the film was stunning!! A good pick of the summer holiday.

Il y a du soliel sur la France...(17/6)

This is the ending of the film "Tout va bien" by Jean-Luc Godard and Jean-Pierre Gorin in 1972...Watching the work, there is a strong feeling of passion about the film movement in the early 70's, the sharpness of nouvelle vague and how Godard and Gorin put together the impact of socialism, the incidences of 1968 in France or in Czechoslovakia, the idea of anarchy, consumerism, chaotism or the basic question about human and the society. The first 30 minutes of the film was dramatic and spoon-feedful. The shooting angle was excellent and the colours were pop and chic. Of course, having Jane Fonda as a cast was marvellous, but I appreciate a lot the act of numerous characters in the film including Vittorio Capprioli, Jean Pignol etc. Like other Godard's film, I guess this is already a film with quite a storyline inserted with humour and inspiration. The climax of the film would be the montage in Carrefour, and I see how Radiohead and Jake Scott would be inspired with their Fake Plastic Tree afterwards. All in all, this is something we queue and we should think about. The monosexuality I perceived from the film, a he or a she, you or me, perhaps you and us, this is something I share much with the directors. Oui, en tout cas, tout va b!en, meme s'il ne fait pas mieux.