Boy: An emotional tale, based on a true story, of a mistreated boy; exploited by his father and step-mother; wanting to escape but, when it comes to it, naturally afraid of being alone and unsure how to survive. Always returning, and eventually even trying to protect, the home and family he knows.
I really liked/enjoyed this film, I think Oshima made a great decision in portraying this crime in film format because it works very well. Besides the acting and the storytelling which were both excellent, I wished to comment on the techniques I noticed Oshima used.
The use of colour in the cinematography was interesting, I noticed that some scenes were lit all in one colour, kind of saturated (there was a blue and a warm red that were used for instance) and then it switched back to scenes with natural rich mixed colouring. I think this might be to reflect the emotions of the boy at the time, though I'm not too sure. I really liked the way Oshima played with sound in this film, some scenes, usually dramatic, (an example being the scene where the ambulances come for the girl who crashed, and died, in the car) had no sound (or very minimal sound like the sound of wind or instrumentals) Often these types of scenes rely a lot on use of sound to make it even more dramatic, so to go against this was very captivating and made them more powerful in a way. Like Nameless said in his intro, Oshima liked to go against the grain and you can certainly see it in this film. And he didn't stop experimenting there, because even towards the end of the film, when boy is destroying a mountain of snow, he explores slow motion which I thought worked great too.
Oshima knew better than most that what makes a great director is his worthwhile use of both form and content to make a complete film, and Boy is an example of that, stylistically it is full of his tricks (although way toned down in comparison to his more avant-garde stuff) which for the most part are there to de-sentimentalise and de-trivialise a poignant story (e.g. the fact the boy is often filmed from a distance or framed on the sides of the shot, the slow-motion, the breaking of sound, etc as Raf mentioned, all these never allow the story to get into typical melodramatic territory), and content-wise it is rich in itself, merging both Oshima's concerns for the social misfits of a post-war Japan whose values worried him with his political commentary (the flag of Japan is represented in the background many times, most notably in the almost theatrical scene where the father attacks the stepmother, and most symbolically with the shot of the boot/the dead girl's blood on the snow + the fact the family complete a tour of Japan during the film, are all there to remind us this is a national allegory from Oshima)..... On top of that it works also as a portrait of a child's isolation and retreat into fantasy, and of completely dysfunctional family unit where the hypocrite father has a victim complex and the stepmother knows no other way to reach out to the boy than bribing him with watches and baseball caps (this was Oshima's subversive attack on the myth of the Japanese family unit being the core of traditional, conservative, homely values).
My personal favourite of Hitchcock's. Satisfies your 'thriller' needs brilliantly, but also makes you uncomfortable sometimes, witnessing this bored man watching the most intimate, painful parts of people's lives. You wince with him when he feels shame. Without his boredom, his curiosity a murderer would have carried on with his life, free; but still, you can't leave this film without feeling a little... dirty? :o/
Quintessential Hitchcock and it shows why he was so popular with both audiences and critics equally, we have a suspenseful plot told in a brilliant visual way, and then we also have so many deep themes, about voyeurism, about cinema itself, about how to engage with the outside world, about the conflict between doing or watching, about the different roles of man and woman (both in Stewart & Kelly, but also in the characters of Burr & his wife whose lives we learn of indirectly but still make us think), about an urban community living together and yet being totally isolated in their individual blocks (key part to this theme is the speech by the lady whose dog gets strangled), and I am sure many others that escape me at the moment... All in all a great film and incidentally, as this was the first time I saw this in a few years, I noticed last night just what a huge influence this film was for Haneke's "Code Unknown "(2000), specifically for the character of the war-photographer George, himself a voyeur with a similar attitude to the world as Stewart, and in many of the themes, quite an unexpected connection but it's very clearly there and Haneke is a big Hitchcock fan... and again that goes back to what I first said, because how many directors can we say have so strongly influenced the likes of Haneke on one side, and yet also Spielberg or De Palma on the other?
I really liked Babette's Feast, it was just full of everything, more so than others though was theme/point of self sacrifice. How many people would do what Babette did with that money? And spend it on others? Bring joy to others, that's what she loved to do. The settings and interiors etc were beautiful, as well as the acting which was soft and delicate.
Set in the 19th Century in Jutland, a dark and windy coastal village in Denmark, we follow the lives of two sisters; the daughters of the former pastor, dedicated to continuing his work in leading the religious sect he founded. Despite living a puritanical spartan existence they are not without admirers, and later in life it is through one of these (spurned) gentlemen that Babette comes into their lives. A refugee from the war in Paris, she becomes their housekeeper. After a good many years of cooking boiled fish for the frugal pair; having won some 10000 francs on the lottery, she asks the sisters if she may cook them a 'real French meal' in celebration of their fathers birthday. They agree, with some trepidation which turns into fear of devine retribution when they begin to realise the sumptious delicacies that their unsophisticated palates are to be treated to. The 'flock' decide that they will not acknowledge the food or drink that passes their lips, believing that they must abstain from the pleasure that they will surely be granted in heaven...
From her arrival, Babette's presence begins to colour the village, bringing a gradual warmth to the austere community, lightening the lives of the sisters. The 'feast' is a culmination of this, which has an almost cathartic effect on all who attend, fight it as they may. She gently teaches them.. expression, artistry. A charming and beautiful tale, wonderfully told.
Loved the way film showed us how it's hard to break free from the things that are painful in our lives if they give us any sense of security. Even when we get hurt over and over again it's hard to leave and change things. It seems change and the unknown are scary even if they promise something better. Young age of the main character in the film emphasize it even more. The fact this film is based on a true story makes it very hard to comprehend that such behaviour towards people, and particularly family members, are even possible.
Rear Window
Great film. Seen it so many times like most of Hitchcock's films. Somehow I don't know what to say about it. Too familiar I guess. If this even makes sense to anybody :)
Babette's Feast
Good film with some breathtaking parts but some decisions by main characters in the film remained unclear to me so it made me search for some sense in it throughout the film which kept me from getting engrossed by it.
Boy:
ReplyDeleteAn emotional tale, based on a true story, of a mistreated boy; exploited by his father and step-mother; wanting to escape but, when it comes to it, naturally afraid of being alone and unsure how to survive. Always returning, and eventually even trying to protect, the home and family he knows.
I feel very sad.
I really liked/enjoyed this film, I think Oshima made a great decision in portraying this crime in film format because it works very well. Besides the acting and the storytelling which were both excellent, I wished to comment on the techniques I noticed Oshima used.
ReplyDeleteThe use of colour in the cinematography was interesting, I noticed that some scenes were lit all in one colour, kind of saturated (there was a blue and a warm red that were used for instance) and then it switched back to scenes with natural rich mixed colouring. I think this might be to reflect the emotions of the boy at the time, though I'm not too sure. I really liked the way Oshima played with sound in this film, some scenes, usually dramatic, (an example being the scene where the ambulances come for the girl who crashed, and died, in the car) had no sound (or very minimal sound like the sound of wind or instrumentals) Often these types of scenes rely a lot on use of sound to make it even more dramatic, so to go against this was very captivating and made them more powerful in a way. Like Nameless said in his intro, Oshima liked to go against the grain and you can certainly see it in this film. And he didn't stop experimenting there, because even towards the end of the film, when boy is destroying a mountain of snow, he explores slow motion which I thought worked great too.
Oshima knew better than most that what makes a great director is his worthwhile use of both form and content to make a complete film, and Boy is an example of that, stylistically it is full of his tricks (although way toned down in comparison to his more avant-garde stuff) which for the most part are there to de-sentimentalise and de-trivialise a poignant story (e.g. the fact the boy is often filmed from a distance or framed on the sides of the shot, the slow-motion, the breaking of sound, etc as Raf mentioned, all these never allow the story to get into typical melodramatic territory), and content-wise it is rich in itself, merging both Oshima's concerns for the social misfits of a post-war Japan whose values worried him with his political commentary (the flag of Japan is represented in the background many times, most notably in the almost theatrical scene where the father attacks the stepmother, and most symbolically with the shot of the boot/the dead girl's blood on the snow + the fact the family complete a tour of Japan during the film, are all there to remind us this is a national allegory from Oshima).....
ReplyDeleteOn top of that it works also as a portrait of a child's isolation and retreat into fantasy, and of completely dysfunctional family unit where the hypocrite father has a victim complex and the stepmother knows no other way to reach out to the boy than bribing him with watches and baseball caps (this was Oshima's subversive attack on the myth of the Japanese family unit being the core of traditional, conservative, homely values).
Rear Window:
ReplyDeleteMy personal favourite of Hitchcock's. Satisfies your 'thriller' needs brilliantly, but also makes you uncomfortable sometimes, witnessing this bored man watching the most intimate, painful parts of people's lives. You wince with him when he feels shame. Without his boredom, his curiosity a murderer would have carried on with his life, free; but still, you can't leave this film without feeling a little... dirty? :o/
Quintessential Hitchcock and it shows why he was so popular with both audiences and critics equally, we have a suspenseful plot told in a brilliant visual way, and then we also have so many deep themes, about voyeurism, about cinema itself, about how to engage with the outside world, about the conflict between doing or watching, about the different roles of man and woman (both in Stewart & Kelly, but also in the characters of Burr & his wife whose lives we learn of indirectly but still make us think), about an urban community living together and yet being totally isolated in their individual blocks (key part to this theme is the speech by the lady whose dog gets strangled), and I am sure many others that escape me at the moment... All in all a great film and incidentally, as this was the first time I saw this in a few years, I noticed last night just what a huge influence this film was for Haneke's "Code Unknown "(2000), specifically for the character of the war-photographer George, himself a voyeur with a similar attitude to the world as Stewart, and in many of the themes, quite an unexpected connection but it's very clearly there and Haneke is a big Hitchcock fan... and again that goes back to what I first said, because how many directors can we say have so strongly influenced the likes of Haneke on one side, and yet also Spielberg or De Palma on the other?
ReplyDeleteI really liked Babette's Feast, it was just full of everything, more so than others though was theme/point of self sacrifice. How many people would do what Babette did with that money? And spend it on others? Bring joy to others, that's what she loved to do. The settings and interiors etc were beautiful, as well as the acting which was soft and delicate.
ReplyDeleteBabette's Feast:
ReplyDeleteSet in the 19th Century in Jutland, a dark and windy coastal village in Denmark, we follow the lives of two sisters; the daughters of the former pastor, dedicated to continuing his work in leading the religious sect he founded. Despite living a puritanical spartan existence they are not without admirers, and later in life it is through one of these (spurned) gentlemen that Babette comes into their lives. A refugee from the war in Paris, she becomes their housekeeper.
After a good many years of cooking boiled fish for the frugal pair; having won some 10000 francs on the lottery, she asks the sisters if she may cook them a 'real French meal' in celebration of their fathers birthday. They agree, with some trepidation which turns into fear of devine retribution when they begin to realise the sumptious delicacies that their unsophisticated palates are to be treated to. The 'flock' decide that they will not acknowledge the food or drink that passes their lips, believing that they must abstain from the pleasure that they will surely be granted in heaven...
From her arrival, Babette's presence begins to colour the village, bringing a gradual warmth to the austere community, lightening the lives of the sisters. The 'feast' is a culmination of this, which has an almost cathartic effect on all who attend, fight it as they may. She gently teaches them.. expression, artistry.
A charming and beautiful tale, wonderfully told.
Shonen
ReplyDeleteLoved the way film showed us how it's hard to break free from the things that are painful in our lives if they give us any sense of security. Even when we get hurt over and over again it's hard to leave and change things. It seems change and the unknown are scary even if they promise something better. Young age of the main character in the film emphasize it even more. The fact this film is based on a true story makes it very hard to comprehend that such behaviour towards people, and particularly family members, are even possible.
Rear Window
Great film. Seen it so many times like most of Hitchcock's films. Somehow I don't know what to say about it. Too familiar I guess. If this even makes sense to anybody :)
Babette's Feast
Good film with some breathtaking parts but some decisions by main characters in the film remained unclear to me so it made me search for some sense in it throughout the film which kept me from getting engrossed by it.