Classic Japanese Cinema Discussion Thread
Aug 20, 2018 0:34:15 GMT
manfromplanetx and Aj_June like this
Post by morrisondylanfan on Aug 20, 2018 0:34:15 GMT
Hi all,one of the things I enjoy most is looking at the credits of a famous director,and finding that it all started with a movie almost completely forgotten about.
In 1991,I suspect that the main news in Japanese cinema of the year was Richard Gere following Pretty Woman by working with Akira Kurosawa on Rhapsody in August. Yet,in the underground "V-Boom" (straight to video) market,someone was taking their first directing steps.
Red Hunter: Prelude to Kill (1991) 8
My first Miike film: His directing debut.
With the only subtitles around being ones which feature some lines of dialogue not translated,Takashi Miike shows remarkable skill for a first time director by visually expressing what could have been lost in translation, as Miike & cinematographer Shigeru Komatsubara use neon lights and thick smoke (backed by Tomio Terada dark synch score) to give the baddies a rogue edge,and helicopter sounds to link conversations Saeko has with her partner,with their time serving on the front line.Sending the squad in to fight Saeko within minutes of the flick kicking off, the screenplay by Shinjirô Ishihama and Tatsuo Eguchi hits a slick battle of wits,with the opening 30 minutes being an explosive home invasion, and the escape from the house setting off a race against time Thriller for Saeko to keep Ricki safe.
Going into (English speaking) flashbacks, the writers do very well at digging into the background of where Saeko gained her skills, which gives the twist ending a real thump. Sadly only doing one film after this, (1996’s Gakko ga abunai! ) Yoshie Kashiwabara is very good as Saeko,with Kashiwabara pulling off the cool leather clad action chick,and the compassionate care towards Ricki. Working on cheap & cheerful straight to video/”V-Boom” era, Miike displays an attention-grabbing level of ambition,with the action scenes brimming with scatter-gun panning shots over the line of bullets. Hinting at what was to come, Miike wonderfully sketches out future visual motifs with blood splatter on the camera in moments of extreme violence and cut backs to a peculiar, almost S&M scene in a hospital bed,showing in this prelude the future of Miike.
The full film with Eng Subs:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjWeIL2rIfI&t=947s
In 1991,I suspect that the main news in Japanese cinema of the year was Richard Gere following Pretty Woman by working with Akira Kurosawa on Rhapsody in August. Yet,in the underground "V-Boom" (straight to video) market,someone was taking their first directing steps.
Red Hunter: Prelude to Kill (1991) 8
My first Miike film: His directing debut.
With the only subtitles around being ones which feature some lines of dialogue not translated,Takashi Miike shows remarkable skill for a first time director by visually expressing what could have been lost in translation, as Miike & cinematographer Shigeru Komatsubara use neon lights and thick smoke (backed by Tomio Terada dark synch score) to give the baddies a rogue edge,and helicopter sounds to link conversations Saeko has with her partner,with their time serving on the front line.Sending the squad in to fight Saeko within minutes of the flick kicking off, the screenplay by Shinjirô Ishihama and Tatsuo Eguchi hits a slick battle of wits,with the opening 30 minutes being an explosive home invasion, and the escape from the house setting off a race against time Thriller for Saeko to keep Ricki safe.
Going into (English speaking) flashbacks, the writers do very well at digging into the background of where Saeko gained her skills, which gives the twist ending a real thump. Sadly only doing one film after this, (1996’s Gakko ga abunai! ) Yoshie Kashiwabara is very good as Saeko,with Kashiwabara pulling off the cool leather clad action chick,and the compassionate care towards Ricki. Working on cheap & cheerful straight to video/”V-Boom” era, Miike displays an attention-grabbing level of ambition,with the action scenes brimming with scatter-gun panning shots over the line of bullets. Hinting at what was to come, Miike wonderfully sketches out future visual motifs with blood splatter on the camera in moments of extreme violence and cut backs to a peculiar, almost S&M scene in a hospital bed,showing in this prelude the future of Miike.
The full film with Eng Subs:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjWeIL2rIfI&t=947s