Film Festival

[Anonymous]

Film Review—Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter...and Spring (Bom yeoreum gaeul gyeoul geurigo bom)
Directed by Ki-duk Kim
In Korean with English subtitles
Rated R-- Teachers must be cautioned that the film includes two scenes of explicit sex with limited nudity. These can be skipped with no loss of story line.

Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter...and Spring is a beautiful Korean film that takes place on a very small monastery, floating in the middle of a lake. A solitary old Buddhist monk resides there, along with his protégé, a young boy. The years and seasons slowly pass as the boy grows and experiences moments of cruelty, love, pain, death and enlightenment.

While extremely beautiful, the film is probably too slow for most students to view in its entirety. However, many parts of this film could be used in the classroom to illustrate Buddhist customs and culture. The little monastery is beautifully adorned in carved wood and stone Buddhas; there is a “doorway” into the young boy’s room even though there are no walls. Another doorway also is found at the landing dock for the little boat that takes the residents and visitors back and forth to the little island. The monastery and landscapes are visually delightful as they pass from season to season. Teachable moments include the initial scenes of the film revolving around the young boy’s cruelty and subsequent lesson by his mentor; short scenes illustrating Buddhist prayer and practice; a sequence after the boy has grown to 30 and become a fugitive from the law, when the monk puts him to the task of carving out Buddhist scripture on the wooden decking of the monastery with the weapon used to commit the crime, his knife; and the scenes where the words “shut” are written on small pieces of cloth and used to seal the eyes, ears, and mouth, for both the young man in his time of internal pain and the old monk as he comes to the end of his life. Also noteworthy is the scene where the monk tells the young man who has now learned about love and passion, that “Lust awakens the desire to possess. And that awakens the intent to murder.”

[Anonymous]

The film I chose to review was an Japanese anime film entitled Appleseed. "Appleseed is an anime film, directed by Shinji Aramaki and originally released in Japan on May 17, 2004. It is based on the characters created by Masamune Shirow in the original Appleseed manga series that was published in 1985." - wikipedia

The musical soundtrack was also amazing and very accessible for Americans. "The film features an electronic, techno and trance theme, with the likes of Paul Oakenfold, Basement Jaxx, Boom Boom Satellites, Akufen, Carl Craig, T. Raumschmiere and Ryuichi Sakamoto. For a big fan of house and trance like myself the music was always upbeat and enjoyable." - Wikiepedia

I liked how the film used greek mythology. Many of the characters were named after greek gods like Hades, Athena, Nike and the city was named Olympus. I had originally watched the film casually and not thought twice about its intrinsic educational value but then I gave it a second look. The film focuses on issues of race and prejudice and the pain coexistence with a race that is different. The story takes place in a post apocalyptic world where humanity has fought a senseless war and basically destroyed most of the planet. The city of Olympus is built as a Utopia designed to preserve humanity and is run by a central computer named Gaia. What I found interesting was that instead of the computer and technology rising up against humanity, it was humans themselves who decide to destroy the human race.

Visually the film is compelling and draws you in but the story is relevant because it asks students to question the world that we live in how we can either destroy it or take care of it. It also raises questions as to the inherent nature of humanity.

[Anonymous]

I also chose to do an anime film mostly because one of our speakers and what he said about it. The Anime in question is Spirited Away written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. It was relased in early 2000's, 2003 I think in the U.S., and I have already seen it BUT after our lecture on japanese Pop Culture I never stopped to realize what themes and morals there were in the film! Let me begin with a very brief summary of this movie:

The story begins as our main heroine named Chihiro and her parents take a wrong turn down a dirt path while traveling to their new home in a diffwerent part of the city. It's interesting because her father drives an Audi with Quattro all wheel drive and gets a liitle over ambitious as he drives.. funny because it reminds me of me and that its a German Car. So they stop at the end of a road and discover a tunnel at the bottom of the path which leads them into an old abandoned theme park that is rotting away. While Chihiro and and her parents explore the place they come across a place full of restaurants filled with all different kinds of delicious foods. Chihiro's parents begin "pigging out" and assure Chihio that "Daddy's has all sorts of money to pay.". As Chihiro leaves her parents and starts exploring the place herself she comes upon a bridge only to be found by a boy named Haku. The boy then tells Chihiro that she must leave before nightfall. She then runs off to find her parents only to find them as pigs. Chihiro gets scared and runs off to the river only to find it full of water. Things really start to get weird when she runs off and eventually runs into Haku again who tells her what to do. Basically, he tells her that he will help her save her parents but the only way was for her to get a job in the bathhouse for the Gods and spirits of Japan! The story then goes on with her getting a job, working hard, and encountering all sorts of interesting characters!
HOW does this relate to School??? As an extra credit assignment, assign students to watch Spirited Away at home and try to relate the themes of the film with Shinto Beliefs talked about in the text book! For example, Relating the character "No Face" to a spirit that has been forgotten that no one prays to; River God is muddy and Filthy (Pollution/Environment), and how things in life relate to the spirit world!
I think this would make a great activity, as I have hinted to in other posts on this forum, I just didn't know how to put everything together! 😀 =:O 😛 🙁 :~ 😐

[Anonymous]

Red Cliff by John Woo

The film Red Cliff directed by John Woo is a two part Chinese epic based on a series of famous battles that take place during the end of the Han Dynasty, particularly the Battle of Red Cliff, which paved the way for what has often been referred to as the period of the Three Kingdoms (Wei, Shu, Wu). Although there is a more recent, condensed Western release of the film, I chose to review the original, yet less romanticized, Asian version because of its historical accuracy and close attention to detail. The film is too long to show in its entirety, but a few selected scenes would greatly benefit students of Advanced Placement World History courses since it is always difficult to get a sense of the cultures that existed during this time period. Students are often asked to compare the Rome and Han empires and they are always more familiar and comfortable with the Roman Empire. Selected scenes from this film would help students better understand the historical context of China during this period and thus afford more fruitful comparisons.

The epic begins with the army, headed by Cao Cao of the Eastern Han Dynasty on a mission to destroy the southern warlords Sun Quan and Liu Bei whom have formed an alliance against Cao Cao’s army, which is advancing towards the area known as Red Cliff. What impressed me most with this first part of the epic, was the cunning of Liu Bei’s chief advisor Zhunge Liang, who relies on a combination of Confucian philosophy and science to out strategize Cao Cao’s army. Without giving too much away, the trap set called the “Eight Trigrams Formation”, which involved the allied forces forming a maze-like structure with their shields that resembled a tortoise’s shell was brilliant. It reminded me a lot of ancient Greek warfare, particularly the Spartans’ Phalanx formation. Both structures required extremely disciplined soldiers and planning. The film also does an excellent job giving insight into Chinese philosophy, which can also be contrasted with Greek philosophy. The Mandate of Heaven surfaces throughout the film and appears to ultimately lead to the collapse of the Eastern Han Dynasty. For once Cao Cao becomes corrupt, he loses all sense of morality and virtue, and with this, his mandate of heaven. Like justice for the Greeks, virtue appears to be at the heart of Chinese philosophy.

In the second part of the epic, the Battle of Red Cliff still hasn’t taken place but it’s worth waiting for. Two warfare strategies used that would be good to show students are the germ warfare scene at the beginning of part two and the use of the crossbow during the final battle sequence. Although familiar with later methods of germ warfare, the spread of small pox to native Americas for example, I was surprised to see typhoid fever victims being used to spread the plague to the enemy. This would make an excellent primary source analysis if this technique if it was actually used by the Chinese.

Overall, the film offers a lot of symbolism, insights into Chinese culture and philosophy, and demonstrates the wealth of technology that existed in East Asia at this time. I highly recommend selecting a few scenes to show to students, with parent permission of course, as there are some excellent comparisons that can be drawn.
8)

[clay dube]

This is a very interesting film. Caroline and others may be interested in the Asia Pacific Arts 2004 video interview with director Kim Ki-duk (there's a transcription as well):
http://www.asiaarts.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=9820

You may find this excerpt interesting:
"Most importantly, I do not make films to serve the audience. I don’t try to entice viewers to watch, understand, or even like my films. That is not my purpose. Many filmmakers try to satisfy and please viewers but that’s not my job."

Asia Pacific Arts is moving to USC next month, but searching for Kim Ki-duk: Love it or leave it will bring to it.

[Anonymous]

So I see that this movie has been reviewed several times. Some of the reviewers include a great summary of the story. Several describe the historic conditions surrounding the rise of Genghis Kahn. In a couple of cases I read that the movie was exceptionally violent and it was not captivating. IN reference to the value of this movie in the classrooms, first the film, unless shown to a mature group of students with parental consent for a specific educational objective, should not be shown in its entirety, but with specific selections to highlight relevant cultural aspects of both the Mongolians and Chinese during this period on history. Though the movie seems to have some fictional qualities, it still allows students to get an impression of the beliefs, living conditions, cultural practices, and personal characteristics and these two ethnically diverse groups. Second, there are many scenes that are age appropriate that I feel would surely grab the students attention given the right context; as you view this film pay special attention to the score, scenery, tonal and physical expressions of the characters, and the props- these scenes generally convey at least one of the following insights- social structure, nature of relationships, value and perspective of nature, political practices, etc.

Sergei Bodrov- Mongol Movie Trailer

[Anonymous]

This is a movie that has been playing all summer on Showtime. It is about two warlords who fight for control of Japan in the 16th Century. Both Samurai had killed relatives to obtain their positions, thus establishing their reputations as being the two most powerful lords. Kagetora - tempered by wisdom fought to protect his people and Takeda who was driven by ambition and a desire to rule Japan. In the opening it states the two men so evenly matched, their battles were destined to become legend, both in Heaven and on Earth. I thought it was a very good movie. Although there are many battle scenes, they are not to bloody. It does a great job depicting the strategies of war, and also shows the armor of the time period. I think it would be ok to show it in a class, however, it is with subtitles, and I'm not sure how that would go over in the classroom. As an art teacher, I loved the scenery, in fact, many of the scenes were like Japanese artwork. Subjects such as the rolling waves of the sea, Mt. Fuji, and the rolling hills with deep valleys that are depicted in so much Japanese artwork. Overall the movie did a fine job conveying the time period and the historical aspects of war, the Samurai, and Japanese honor.

[clay dube]

Nov. 18, 2009 -- Rebels of the Neon God
Film by Tsai Ming-liang of Taiwan
http://china.usc.edu/ShowEvent.aspx?EventID=1200

Dec. 1, 2009 -- Dream Weavers
Film by Gu Jin of China
http://china.usc.edu/ShowEvent.aspx?EventID=1215

Everyone is welcome at both screenings. Tsai Ming-liang and Gu Jin will take questions following their films. Please note that space will be tight for the 12/1 screening.

Remind friends and colleagues that they can get a weekly list of China-related events from us by subscribing to our Talking Points newsletter at http://china.usc.edu/subscribe.aspx

[Anonymous]

Anyone here a fan of Akira Kurosawa’s films? my two favorites are:

Yojimbo : The story of a ronin (masterless samurai), who arrives in a small town where competing crime lords make their money from gambling.

The Seven Samurai: The story of a village of farmers that hire seven ronin to combat bandits who will return after the harvest to steal their crops.
And of course, you can’t mention Kurosawa without naming his most famous leading man: Toshirō Mifune. I really enjoyed how he played those leading parts of a loner with an understated heroism and courage. Mifune at times portrayed the anti-samurai, noble but without pretentions, one who put others above his own ambitions.

It is of no wonder that Mifune and Kurosawa influence so many western films including: Clint Eastwood’s cowboy films and George Lukas’ Star Wars.

Kurosawa’s films would be great in the classroom exploring the many themes they contain: self-sacrifice, duty, honor, the rebel, and even the underdog. You could also compare Shakespeare’s originals to Kurosawa’s versions, many interesting topics to choose.Kursoawa’s films are classics.

Does anyone wish to post their favorites Kurosawa films and state why.

[Anonymous]

You are totally right the film is filled with many inaccuracies, but it would be a great way to study how technology changes a society. The film depicts (not in a total historically accurate way) the devastation the Samurai faced against a military with modern weapons. The introduction of modern firearms, threaten the traditional way of life for the warrior class in Japan. The Samurai faced their greatest threat, now any unskilled recruit with a little as 6 weeks of training, could inflict terrible causalities on a group of warriors who took a lifetime to master their superb swordsmanship.

This theme could also be could be found during the Boxer Rebellion, when martial arts believed that they could, through training, diet, martial arts, and prayer, defeat the superior armed foreign forces in China during the “Century of Humiliation”

It is interesting to note that some historians have written that during the World War II, the Japanese army believed that courage and superiority alone would helped them defeat the Allies who had superior weapon technology.

In his Book: TECHNOPOLY: The Surrender of Culture to Technology: , Neil Postmen states that technology is always a Faustian bargain: Technology giveth and technology taketh away, and not always in equal measure. A new technology sometimes creates more than it destroys. Sometimes, it destroys more than it creates. But it is never one-sided.

A lesson could be incorporated that could ask students to investigate how a new technology has replaced old traditions and symbols, and what are the advantages and disadvantages for that technology. Questions could include: The destruction of ancient artifacts during the Cultural Revolution, The Rise and Fall of the Samurai, The Sword vs the Guns; etc...

[Anonymous]

I have seen a few post concerning the Samurai. Here is a film that sees the samurai in another light.
Although this film due to its subject matter probably couldn’t be shown in class, it is never less an interesting film about the samurai, depicting a world that is filled with contradictions and dispels a few stereotypes. The story offers another view into the brutal and macho world of the Samurai.
The film centers on the tension that the young and handsome samurai, Kanō Sōzaburō causes for the men of an elite police force that is in charge with protecting the Shogun. Some of the men fall in love with Kanō and he manipulates them for his own ambition; the film seems to question the zen concept of perfection or that beauty is always good.

Apart from other era samurai films, director Nagisa Oshima explores sexuality and humanity in these characters in ways I have never seen before. I was unaware of the shudō tradition or how homosexuality is viewed in China or Japan. I know that the film maybe controversial, but in this day and age, there might be questions that some of our students may have especially at the high school level.

[Anonymous]

Everything is a Mystery: Four Films by Bong Joon-ho

December 11-12 | Bing Theater

LACMA is proud to host the first-ever Los Angeles retrospective of Korea's purveyor of the lyrical blockbuster, Bong Joon-ho. In the course of just four features—his third film, The Host, remains the highest-grossing Korean film of all time—Bong has established himself as a masterful manipulator of genre tropes who maintains a jaundiced eye and a penchant for slapstick absurdity. From rom-com (Barking Dogs Never Bite) to CGI creature feature (The Host) with two procedurals along the way, Bong skewers authority while depicting the webs of intrigue that gum up the mechanisms of modern life. His characters are ruthless detectives who end up down one rabbit hole or another.

Note: Bong will be on hand for a preview screening of his latest film, Mother, this year's foreign-language Oscar submission from South Korea.

Tickets: $7 members; $10 non-members
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ALSO:
Hear a Talk | Conversations on the Culture of Korean Buddhism

December 12 | 2 pm | Bing Theater

Venerable Hyon Gak, an American-born Buddhist monk, joins curator Hyonjeong Kim Han in conversation about the use of icons in Korean Buddhism. Following the conversation, Hyon Gak will sign copies of the book Wanting Enlightenment Is a Big Mistake: Teachings of Zen Master Seung Sahn.
[Edit by="kramirez on Dec 2, 4:13:04 PM"][/Edit]

[Anonymous]

Over the years, I have seen many Asian movies, especially made by Chinese film makers. The one that stands out to me the most is “Raise the Red Lantern.” I was introduced to this film when I was a sophomore in college, in my world literature class. It has a grim ending for the main female character becoming insane… but I have a different interpretation of the ending. Perhaps she is not truly insane, but pretending to be, out of defiance. Being “insane” she now has the advantage of mobility of roaming around the big house freely, she now can say the things she wants to say “insanely” without any consequences, and best of all, she now has the freedom to be left alone without conforming herself to the “rules” of the concubines.

[Anonymous]

This weeks seminar concerning the cinema of Korea lead me to explore a few Korean films. Here is my review of:

Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War (2004) South Korean war film directed by Kang Je-gyu. The movie relates the Korean War through the experiences of two brothers. The film depicts the horrors and brutalities of war and how personal relationships can transcend all political and ideological boundaries.

It was also interesting to see the Korean War from another perspective (besides the American one) that conveyed the suffering and the many sacrifices South Koreans endured as a result of the war. It was truly eerie not to see American soldiers in the film and only hear about them through background events.

Although the film could be somewhat melodramatic at times, and filled with some highly improbable incidents, such as the two brothers finding each other in the midst of a serious battle, it was a well made film. I rate this movie with many of the other classic movies about war; such as Saving Private Ryan, Letters from Iwo Jima, and Full Metal Jacket.

I was unfamilar with Korean cinema, our workshop on Saturday has open my curiosity to explore more films from this intriguing country.

[Anonymous]

JSA was another film that I just viewed and really enjoyed. I found the movie’s story compelling, suggesting that humanity can still flourish despite the most hostile conditions. The film provides complex characters who try to form friendships despite the years of mistrust between the two Koreas. There are several themes that could be discussed in a classroom; Friendship vs. Patriotism; questioning loyalties to country, family, friends or ideologies; or whether laws can or should be broken when they are in conflict with one’s conscious; i.e. protecting and hiding jews during the anti-semitic laws of Nazi Germany.

The film reminded me of an event that occurred in real life. A Christmas truce was unofficial declared in 1914 during World War I. German soldiers won over their British opponents by lobbing chocolate cakes at them instead of hand grenades. What followed (according to written historical accounts) was a bout of unprecedented fraternization between enemy forces that has never been repeated on an equivalent scale: German soldiers bearing candles, chunks of cake and cigars met British soldiers carrying cigarettes and Christmas pudding in no-man's land and for short time celebrated Christmas.

[Author]

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