I loved Pan's Labyrinth. Wonderful film. I have it on Blu-ray.


Go to any forums populated by cinephiles, knowledgeable movie watchers, film scholars, and so on, and you'll discover soon enough the threads that discuss the essential directors, the essential film canons, and so on. Among those lists are the essential Asian directors and Asian film canons. Oldboy will generally be mentioned here and there in those discussions, with some claiming its greatness, and others saying its overrated. Nonetheless, there's no way I could not be aware of it. I have it on Blu-ray, but I have not yet seen it. I do intend to watch it, and I'm looking forward to it.

But in and amongst those discussions and those lists of essential films and directors, you will always, always, always find discussion, praise, admiration and critical acclaim (and the occasional dissenters) for the following Asian directors:

- Yasujiro Ozu
- Kenji Mizoguchi
- Edward Yang
- Akira Kurosawa
- Wong Kar-Wai
- Mikio Naruse
- Hou Hsai Hsein
- Nagasi Oshima

And a few others. I could easily add ten or twenty more. For the most part, these directors are not just directors. They are what are known as auteurs. An auteur is always a director, but a director isn't necessarily an auteur. An auteur has a unique style, a unique voice, which is instantly recognizable, not unlike how a Van Gogh painting is instantly recognizable as being painted by Van Gogh.

As I said, their films are essential viewing. To put it bluntly, to not watch them would be either because one simply is unaware of these directors or their works, or is voluntarily choosing to ignore their works, at their own expense.

I'm not some guy mentioning some set of obscure films that some tiny, minor fraction of the population would ever enjoy. What I am is some guy pointing people to a film canon that is universally acknowledge by film critics, scholars, directors and in general, cinephiles, to be be the best of the best, the cream of the crop, etc.

But true enjoyment of these films sometimes takes a little work. They are masterpieces in their own ways, but sometimes they don't give up their treasures in a single viewing. As an example, Ozu films are often double or triple themed, with the dominant theme residing behind another them running counter to the dominant theme. Furthermore, his film grammar is truly unique, and might seem simplistic and quaint, and yet it is beautiful in its subtlety. It takes time to appreciate him, and then something wonderful happens. Wong Kar-Wai films also give out exactly what you put into them. Your average Hollywood movie goer simply is not going to grasp Wong Kar-Wai's 2046 on the first viewing.

More to come...

I really need to add that one to my list over in this thread: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=246542.0

Patty cake: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3iFhLdWjqc

Okay, so I was checking out videos on YouTube, and I stumbled onto a video which interviews Kubrick during the premiere of 2001: A Space Odyssey.

And then, on a whim, I started reading the comments. Funny. What I witnessed were people arguing about who was the greatest director, or what was the greatest film. People were arguing Yasujiro Ozu vs. Orson Welles vs. Stanley Kubrick vs. Godard. Kenji Mizoguchi was mentioned. Somebody had the nerve to mention Christopher Nolan. The Godfather was mentioned. 

Interview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdKHuyhhyuM

Holy crap!

How could I have neglected to include this scene? He looks at the bone, ponders it. The music begins to play. He picks it up...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2iiPpcwfCA

Some pretty good choices I think, within the framework of Hollywood. I will confess some deficiency myself in exploring films from Europe and Russia, which I hope to rectify. But I recently started exploring the canon of films from East Asia, and it has changed my outlook drastically. Mid 20th century Japanese melodrama is a great place to start, along with the Japanese New Wave of the '60s. Modern cinema from Hong Kong, Taiwan and the mainland are another.

Obviously, you haven't yet seen Sansho the Bailiff.

Best way to start is to start reading blogs and reviews which mention the following directors: Kenji Mizoguchi, Edward Yang, Mikio Naruse, Yasujiro Ozu, Hiroshi Teshigahara, Masahiro Shinoda, Shohei Immamura, Hou Hsiao-Hsien, Akira Kurosawa, Keisuke Kinoshita, Wong Kar-Wai, Chen Kaige, Stanley Kwan, and others.

In retrospect, I feel as though my life's cinematic experience prior to discovering the films of the above listed was, to say the least, narrow, and missing out on some great beauty.

Apparently, I am the only person in these forums aware of these films. It's kind of like you keep telling people about a gourmet paradise just around that corner, and they keep not seeing the corner while they fight over whether to patronize McDonald's or Burger King.

It depends on who you ask. It's not really related to IMDB. If you're referring to the link I posted, IMDB was just reporting the results of the Sight & Sound poll, which is presented by the British Film Institute, and is generally considered to be one of the most important film polls out there, polling only critics and directors. If you poll the public, then you only get recent films, and a couple cult classics from the '70s, typically.

I've only watched The Godfather once. I'll probably watch it again some day. In the meantime, I'll watch nearly every Yasujiro Ozu film many times over, I'll be a glutton for any Mikio Naruse film I can get my hands on, every Edward Yang film I can get my hand on, just about any Coen Brothers film, any Wong Kar-Wai film, and I'm developing an interest in Ingmar Bergman. That's not to say I don't enjoy a good Marvel film or recent thriller.

Now, you keep hearing me mention Yasujiro Ozu. You won't understand why until you give him a shot. Watch two or three of his films, and something transcendental happens. Seeing as he has two films in the top twenty on the worldwide Sight & Sound poll, something must be going on there.

Buy this package - you'll be happy you did. It will be half off at Barnes & Noble next week: http://www.criterion.com/boxsets/427-eclipse-series-3-late-ozu

Note: it includes five films. Numbers 2 through 5 are some of my favorites of all time. The first one is okay.

As quoted above, about ten posts back I mentioned the scene with the 5.6.7.8's. Here's a video where Quentin Tarantino explains how and why he put them in the film: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ffsz8TRbKj8

Number 22 in fact. Coming in below two Yasujiro Ozu films, one Stanley Kubrick film, one Akira Kuosawa film, and one Andrei Tarkovsky film, among others, And very nearly immediately following it are one more Akira Kurosawa film, a Wong Kar-Wai film, and two more Andrei Tarkovsky films. That's if you listen to the critics.

http://www.imdb.com/list/6KlogkcUZ8c/

If you listen to the directors, The Godfather came in at number 7. Still behind one Yasujiro Ozu film and one Stanley Kubrick film.

http://explore.bfi.org.uk/sightandsoundpolls/2012/directors/

Excellent! In 1791, we needed a properly working militia, obviously.

Now, please, sir, demonstrate to us how the proliferation of 300 million guns among the populace via a gun supporter's interpretation of The Second Amendment translates to a properly working militia. Switzerland, the U.S. is not. And let it be noted, that in Switzerland, the militia is well regulated by 21st century standards, meaning, regulated, and regulated tightly, by the government.

The point of the second amendment is very clear if you read it. In 1791, in the absence of a military, there was a necessity for A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, - and thus - the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

And in fact, in relation to the above post, the entire film is online currently via YouTube. Just watch the beginning, if nothing else. As I said, it is one of the most beautiful and profound films you will ever see, with themes that are universal. It will move and affect you in several ways. Directed by Edward Yang, one of two directors pretty much responsible for the Taiwan New Wave which began in the '80s. I have it on Blu-ray, and that would be the preferred way to watch it.

It is a masterpiece. It is Yi Yi: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COXySK50ZR4

This ordinarily wouldn't be the first scene I'd choose from this film (which is very powerful and profound as films go), but it's about the only one I can find online, and it is indeed a good scene.

It starts out with a sort of mis-en-scene style (almost reminiscent of Ozu), but then proceeds to the performance given by the woman playing the wife. Since many of Yang's films star people who have never acted before, I can't really name the actors and actresses. Nonetheless, their performances are extraordinary.

I don't really want to describe the context here, but suffice to say, the husband has come home and discovered that his wife is essentially having a breakdown.

This film is without a doubt one of the greatest films ever made, and the Sight & Sound poll has it in the top 100 (of all films ever made).

The clip is a little dark to begin with, but then lightens up: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JzS1wqS7KY

Now I know what scene you're talking about. Great scene!

The late Roger Ebert called Pale Flower one of the great films - he gave it four stars, as he did The Godfather. See his review: http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-pale-flower-1964

Mariko Kaga's lovely face and eyes are, well lovely, in that film. You should really explore all the clips I've provided. I posted 23 clips so far. They aren't all the same, so you can't judge the set by watching one.

See the Pale Flower trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOOr4nuWFqU

I've already seen it. It is a great movie. Have you watched any of the clips I posted?

Links to clips help. There's quite a few scenes I could mention, but I can't find the clip online. That's why I haven't posted too many. But the ones I have been posting are still way up there in their beauty/goodness/awesomeness, etc.

In this classic squid ink black noir, to the sound of the opera music, he ascends the stairs to commit the deed, knowing that Saiko is up there to witness it. Ah, how sublime it is, and yet how awful, as we see the inevitable self destruction of both him and her...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8S4-Ge4zGI

If you do a thorough analysis of the following scene, there's a lot more symbolism and foretelling going on then you might first pick up on. It has a lot to do with the lyrics of the Blue Oyster Cult song. It's not just the symbolism of the lyrics in the beginning, nor the perfect timing of the attack matched with a single line in the song, but also the song's rhythmic repetition of its title as a foretelling of what is to come next.

Simply amazing photography combine with editing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VL7EBxHSxU

Switzerland absolutely does not have free gun laws. Read up on it.