http://www.dvdtimes.org/content.php?contentid=57904Accompanied by some must-have extras this is a disc worth hunting down immediately.
Looks like another fantastic disc! Well done, Masters of Cinema!
http://www.dvdtimes.org/content.php?contentid=57904Accompanied by some must-have extras this is a disc worth hunting down immediately.
First of all, I just want to say that MoC did an excellent job with this DVD and the booklet that came with it. (I haven't read acquarello's essay yet). Glancing through the booklet, I'd say that if I had anything to complain about, it would be one of the pictures. I wish that particular picture were not in the booklet. By seeing that particular picture prior to seeing the film, I was well awere of what was to come.Steven H wrote: What bothers me is that we're brought into this world as if it's a quaint, documentary like, character piece, set in reality (though in this regard it would seem *all* of neo-realism would fall under my general complaint). The pathos of the child falling ill struck me as highly problematic. Is this why we're shown the Island to begin with, to watch this family deal with a crisis? If so, why does the film seemingly position itself as a "normal day in the life" when it actually follows the same narrative structure any other film would? Is it going *that* far out of it's way to manipulate?
Part of what made it interesting for me was how involved I became during the first half hour or so, following the morning ritual of watering plants, etc. It wasn't until the forced drama that I completely disassociated with the film emotionally. Maybe this sentimentality was decided on by the director in an effort to help the film turn a (much needed) profit. It's also probably the reason the film was relatively successful, financially.artfilmfan wrote:Surprisingly, I was not moved, "shaken or stirred" by this film.
Steven,It wasn't until the forced drama that I completely disassociated with the film emotionally. Maybe this sentimentality was decided on by the director in an effort to help the film turn a (much needed) profit. It's also probably the reason the film was relatively successful, financially
Can I pass this hot potato on to Steven H ? He's the first to bring up politics.shirobamba wrote: ... where do you see a left-leaning agenda? That would indicate a reading of the film as a social critique. But there's no sign of critique in Shindo's semi-documetarian style; in the contrary, he aesthetisizes and poetisizes the hard lifes of the island-family. No trace of social critique, as far as I can see.)
Through my eyes I saw a highly choreographed dramatization of "a day in the life of", most evidenced by the repeated showings of the wife's struggle to carry the water up the hill/island. This is the part that is least convincing to me.The film doesn't only document a day in the life of…, as Richie seems to indicate, ...
Exhibit A: "... the shallow, meaningless, modern life, ..."The film heavily sympathizes with that life based on eternal, mythical truths, as it contrasts it with the shallow, meaningless, modern life, symbolized by the idiotic TV programm the boys watch through a shop window, during a visit in a nearby town. (A premonition of MTV&Co.)
Exhibit B: The poor toils the land, the rich collects the harvest.And there are traces of the worldly mirror of this eternal world-order: feudalism, to be seen, as well, in the person of the rich land-owner, to whom the family delivers their harvest.
Every film ever made can be seen as manipulative if you choose to see it that way.Steven H wrote: But the questions that were raised within me, and instead of making me wonder (ambiguity as profundity), it made me suspicious. These things didn't sit well with me, and I'd like to hear what others have to say about them.
Is this entirely true?peerpee wrote:This "feature" was supposed to be removed from the DVD because of licensing issues. Only the first pressing has it hidden away, and the second pressing now removes it altogether.
I have watched it yesterday for the first time, and first of all I must agree that the DVD is absolutely wonderful, one of the most filmic images I ever saw on the tube (and I'm also happy that my copy, ordered from play.com, also DID contain the easter egg, GREAT!).Steven H wrote: Even without speech, it struck me as somewhat sentimental and manipulative. Instead of a film about people *living* we're shown people living out Shindo's example of people living, in order to make a political point.
I'm not sure if this is anything at all to do with the 'left-leaning' comment earlier, but for the first half-hour of the film it seemed to me that the whole thing might easily have turned into a paean to communism (thankfully there's much more to it in the end); the beauty of the images and the wonderful rhythm in the hard graft of the summer phase were indeed very romantic.Tommaso wrote:The film indeed reminds me of a very westernized vision of seemingly hard, but at heart 'romantic' simple life.