Tony Takitani by Jun Ichikawa

Category: Non-English

Japanese director Jun Ichikawa picks up a short story by Haruki Murakami and beautifully executes it. In fact I have to say I am very surprised at the talent and more importantly the simplicity of the director. The film follows the story of Tony Takitani who gets his name thanks to a very eccentric father.

The alienation of an individual here begins right at the name, hitting out at the fact that we're well defined in some cultures it is a start, a progression if you may like to a complete breakdown of an individual. After he grows up he gets married to a lady younger than him by 15 years and eventually she passes away. He does however try to replace her void with almost no success.

The movie doesn't go anywhere but tells a story of a lifetime, it's got less dialogue and a very unique way of moving onto the next scene - using a side scroll pattern as if the story is unfolding for the first time on camera as well. The performances are top notch to say the least, there's a gentle creation and execution of the film. Watch out for the commentary which isn't actually any individuals voice in the film, rather it's everyones voice and no ones in particular.

Recommendation level: 4/5 - Yeah, it's really that good, I should have seen this a while back!

Dolls by Takeshi Kitano

Category: Non-English

Such a huge departure from watching Bergman last week, this is all so colorful! Exploring emotions has always been a forte of sorts of Asian cinema. Japanese director - Takeshi Kitano in one of his rare instances explores humanity and the feelings involved in it. Known for his Yakuza style films Kitano's effort is greatly helped by Katsumi Yanagishima, who might not be the best cinematographer around but he manages to lift this film considerably.

Dolls sets the mood for the film with a performance puppet theatre or Bunraku as it's also known as. With that in mind we explore the lives of 3 couples - The first are torn apart by the boys parents and somehow are the common thread throughout the film. The second couple features a Yakuza boss who is shown to be quite ruthless until he realizes his time is at end and he wants to make peace with the girl he left years back. The final one follows the love of an avid fan for a Japanese Pop singer, who after getting disfigured retreats from the spotlight. The fan in response refuses to see the world...

The movie doesn't really end and as usual as it is with films today the movie ends on a very obscure note with no definite ending. The costumes are something which have been the talk of the film. The couple who are "bound" to each other do a lot of costume changing and that symbolism is really too obvious. He could have made such a massive impact had he really analysed his own close ups, really that's depressing - Kitano has a real winner if he had worked on his camera angles irony being that in some situations the cinematography stands out.

Recommendation level: 3/5 - It's a good effort but once again nothing spectacular! If you want to claim Asian Cinema brownie points to impress people this is one for the fakers of World Cinema. Still, it has some moments and some of its concepts click.

Godzilla by Ishirō Honda

Category: Non-English

Don't let the cover fool you, this is a much better movie than that tacky image for a banner. Honda's Godzilla was originally made in 1954, it used a lot of nifty effects has left a massive impact on the world of Creature Features. But that's not all it also created the stereotypical characters we have all grown up on.

The movie is about Godzilla (duh!) who has awakened from its slumber due to H-bomb tests carried out in the ocean. The creature seems to hail from the Jurassic period and is irradiated. Characters include the scientist who doesn't want Godzilla killed but studied, there's also the noble scientist who doesn't want his Oxygen Destroyer (?) used for malevolent purposes and in between all of this is a love story thrown in for good measure. Will Godzilla be stopped? How much damage can this beast inflict? These questions and a bit more are answered by the end of the film.

Recommendation level: 3/5. The movie is fun it had me checking the total duration quite a few times. The sub-titles on my copy (from Palador) seemed to suck a little, quite likely making me miss some cool dialogues. Oh yeah there's also a typo in there somewhere. For it's pure vintage value and history-making, culture impacting antagonist it gets a 3. You can pick this baby up at any Crossword/Landmark store.