Film Review

[Rob_Hugo@PortNW]

On Sunday, Feb. 4th, I went to see a showing of the Japanese film, "Fudeko & the Angel's Piano" at the James Armstrong Theatre in Torrance. The film originally premiered in Japan in 2006 (see my earlier posting on Cultural Events) and was brought over by a woman (Mikko Haggot Henson) whose hopes were to share this film with the American public. It was well worth my time, moving me deeply enough to write to Mikko to thank her for her efforts. The two-hour film revealed the attitude toward mentally retarded and mentally challenged children in Japan in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Fudeko's first-born daughter was such a child and Fudeko's own experiences led her to start a school for orphans and mentally challenged children. The shame and dispair over having such children led many Japanese women to kill their children before taking their own lives. Even Fudeko had entertained this thought before her husband vehemently scolded her for the thought. The negative societal attitudes about the value of such children led to 20 students at her school dying of malnutrition during WW2 when food was scarce and villagers refused to share food with the children. It was a heartbreaking movie but Fudeko's determination and sacrifice was tremendously inspiring. Fudeko's husband traveled to the United States to study about schools for the mentally challenged and used his knowledge to build a similar school in Japan. I went with my girlfriend to see the film. My girlfriend is a school psychologist for Torrance USD. She told me that even in the United States, it wasn't until 1973 (if I remember correctly) when physically and mentally challenged students had the protection of legislation for their rights in education. In the film, the roles of the children at the school were portrayed by children with developmental disabilities at an actual school, providing a realistic and charming aspect to the movie. If you ever have the opportunity to see the film, I highly recommend it. And take some tissue.

[Anonymous]

The movie The Road Home starting Zhang Ziyi and Sun Honglei is a movie adaptation of the book Rememberance.

It is a story about Luo Yusheng’s, parent’s love affair in the days of arranged marriages. The subplot is a man, Luo, who returns to his home village from the city to bury his father after his sudden death. The wife grieves for her husband’s passing and desires a traditional burial that involves carrying the coffin on foot. As the father was away traveling when he died, carrying the coffin back to his home village during the dead of winter is a huge undertaking.

Luo ultimately carries out his mother’s wishes but has to pay men to carry the coffin back to town. The father had been a teacher in the town for 40 years and unexpectedly many former students who are now men turn up to carry the coffin out of respect for their dead school teacher.

This film clearly shows the struggle that young people face in honoring their elders and traditions while living in modern day China. It shows how different the philosophies of old and new are, and the viewer has sympathy for Luo who is facing this struggle. The viewer believes that Luo did the right thing in carrying out his mother’s wishes and respecting tradition yet realizes that Luo will be returning to the city, leaving his mother alone in the small village.

[Anonymous]

The Saltmen of Tibet is a documentary film by Ulrike Koch. This beautiful film shows the extreme conditions of living in Tibet and carrying out ancient traditions and day to day rituals of this nomadic people.

The movie follows a small group of men who take a small heard of yaks on a three month long journey to a semi-dried lake where salt forms. The trip is long and arduous for the men and the animals. Along the way the men meet other Tibetans and must perform rituals to Buddhist gods, lesser gods and spirits. Once at the lake they must shovel, dry and bag the salt, perform additional ceremonies and begin their journey back to their home encampment.

The film clearly shows the extreme conditions in which these people still live and how their religion takes a central role in their daily lives. Their way of life is unimaginable for westerners like myself and makes one realize that although it appears simple at a glance, Tibetan lifestyle is amazingly complex and has a depth that an outsider may not be able to fully appreciate. It clearly shows the purity of language, people and tradition that is facing extinction.

[Anonymous]

An old but informative video is "Marco Polo, Journey to the East" by A&E, 1995. This video details Polo's journey to Asia and time spent in China during the Yuan dynasty. This is one of the few videos that I have that describes the Yuan Dynasty.

[Anonymous]

A video that is always popular with the students is A&E's "Genghis Khan". Students are always fascinated with the Mongols and already seem to know Genghis' name and the stereotypical description of the Mongols. The video is a great summary of Genghis' life and how he made the Mongol empire the powerful, but shortlived empire it became.

[Anonymous]

I recently saw The Fast & the Furious; Tokyo Drift! Ha! It was recommended to me by my 15 year old son who said that it portrayed a sub-culture in present-day Tokyo. Fairly intense movie, with as you can imagine, alot of car racing. It did show a small cramped Tokyo apartment, a typical school, nightclub scenes, teen hangouts and the subway system. So I guess you could cut these parts to show to the students what life is like in Tokyo today. Of course what is fun about this movie is all the street racing and stunts, however I don't believe this film was very realistic. Cool cars though!

[Anonymous]

National Geographic Video, "Living Treasures of Japan: a tribute to the artists who preserve the richness and beauty of ancient Japanese traditions." 1995. 59 min.

Our high school's Japanese language teacher asked me to present a cultural lesson to her Japanese 4 students. I decided to focus on the classical Kabuki theater. I had the students view the National Geographic video called "Living Treasures of Japan" before I visited them. The video focuses on the Japanese government's recognition of the artists and performers in Japan who have the knowledge and skills of the country's cultural arts which will be lost unless the artists and performers pass them on to the next generation. Included are the arts: Bunraku (puppet theater); ceramics/pottery; papermaking; koto (instrument); katana (swordmaking); silkweaving; Kabuki (Japanese classical drama) and a metalwork foundry (making a giant bell). It's well done, though at 59 minutes, can be broken up in two sessions for students who can't sit that long. The technique for each art is shown as well as the artist performing.
When I met with the Japanese class students, I reviewed with them the short clip from the video, just on the Kabuki theater. We didn't watch the entire segment. I just wanted to refresh their memories on what they saw about the actor and acting (fast-forwarded through some sections). Then I presented a PowerPoint that I created on the Kabuki theater, sharing details of what was mentioned on each slide. I brought along my dance wig and they were pretty awed by that. I also brought some dance props and had them identify the school that I belong to from a slide that had all the Kabuki actors' family crests. I had them watch short video clips of an interesting feature of Kabuki dance called the "hikinuki" or quick on-stage costume change. My son found some excellent examples of a famous Kabuki dancer on You Tube, so that was also included. I showed them a clip of the kind of classical dancing I do (wearing my wig and get-up!). After that, I showed them a simple cotton kimono called a yukata. One of the girls volunteered to be dressed, so I showed them how the kimono is worn. As the last part of my lesson, I taught the class a very popular folk dance called "Tanko Bushi," or the Coal Miner's Dance, which is always performed at local Japanese festivals such as Nisei Week (August in Little Tokyo) and all summer Buddhist church Obon festivals (July and August in Japanese community centers/Buddhist churches).
I think it went well. The teacher was pleased and the students seemed interested. I'm hoping that if they ever see the Tanko Bushi folk dance being performed at a local festival, that they will feel comfortable enough to join in and dance!

[Anonymous]

Movie Review

For anyone who has not watched the film memoires of a Geisha, I was froced to watch it and after 10 minutes could not turn away. THe fils dipects a side of China that of intrest to all, it dipects the life of Geisha or high class call girl who is only high class if she does not sleep around. THe class system and value of tradition is amazing. As a histroy teacher it is hard to use the film in my classroom but i can use the information and lessons in the video to teach my class China life and the power of political change within one of the most complex and history packet country in the world.

[clay dube]

Hi Folks,
Please remember to post your film reviews and reviews of web resources in the Asia in My Classroom forum -- look for the film festival thread. Please be sure to put your film's title in the subject line. This helps people quickly scan the posts. (When you hit reply, the subject line is automatically RE: .... -- you can delete this and type in your own title.)

[Anonymous]

This weekend I watched the film "The curse of the Golden lotus" It did a great job of painting China and the forbidden palace. It gives an in dept look at the warrior class and rulers of China. I cannot show the film to my class due to the violence. Sorry.

[Anonymous]

I will come to your room and get the film on Marco polo it sounds interesting and will be relavent to my instruction on imperialism. thanks you for the help! Another post on the film will follow after i watch the film.

[Anonymous]

Thank you Miranda for including the documentary, China From the Inside, at the last seminar. I would like to purchase it for Palos Verdes Intermediate. It brought back many fond memories of our trip to China last spring.
Jewell Lee Toombs

[Anonymous]

Hello,
I'm reading this book and had no idea it was also made into movie. You can read about it here:
http://www.calendarlive.com/movies/chocano/cl-et-balzac26aug26,0,616328.story

I'm finding the story of the book not that interesting, but the enlightening part is the 're-education' of young intellectuals during Maoist China. I didn't fully realize what that meant, but to read about someone's semi-biographical account illustrates how a boy is taken out of a city, a school, his family, and sent to the country to learn the ways of farming. Re-education is apparently simplifying one's life and disregarding anything 'cultural' one had learned. Books are outlawed and the conditions of life are below basic. Worse, I suppose, is not knowing if you'll ever leave.

[Anonymous]

After patiently waiting for the DVD release, I finally saw Lust Caution by Ang Lee. I am one of many Ang Lee fans but I missed the movie when it was in the theater last year. Ang Lee tells another compelling story--this one set in WWII era Shanghai. I loved the "look" and there was a lot of tension to propel the plot. Of course the NC 17 rating and sex scenes will never allow it to be shown in my high school classroom but the idea of college students getting involved in the resistance is interesting. This concept could be explored in the classroom especially in connection with current student political involvement (a large Obama club exists at Palos Verdes Peninsula High School).
I'd recommend Lust Caution for mature viewers.

[Anonymous]

Trav's Travels in China is a wonderful 20-minute kids' video about the different regions of China. It goes into the history, geography, clothing, foods, architecture, famous structures, and economy of each region. I found it appropriate for my third graders as it fit in with our curriculum, including studying economics and why communities grow and change. For example when they highlight the western region they talk about the harsh terrain and climate, droughts, and short growing season as being contributors to there being a smaller population there than in other areas. There is also a section on Tibet and Buddism which would fit in with recent news events. This is a great film for the elementary level, however I was only able to see it because a friend had a copy. I couldn't find it on Netflix, but I did find it for sale at amazon http://www.amazon.com/Travs-Travels-China-Geography-Kids/dp/1563456362 but there was only one available.

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