— odishon —

“A true masterpiece if ever there was one,” says Quentin Tarantino as he’s pointing out Takashi Miike’s Audition. FilmMunch agrees!

Recently I mocked the Horror/Romance genre when reviewing Rec3. I would like to withdraw that mockery, because the genre has a leader, that is worthy of praise, Audition. Watching this film made me feel frightened and uneasy, in the best of ways. At the conclusion of the film, I couldn’t help but smile, but have a feeling of shock at the same time.

The story is madness. The story telling techniques are genius. In particular I recall one of the most shocking and at the same time frightening scenes I’ve ever witnessed. Mark Cousins, in his Story of Film documentary had ruined this moment for me, because he also praises this scene in one of the episodes. I knew it was coming, and even though I had this knowledge, it still came with such impactful force, that I jumped, literally! I won’t ruin it for you, because here at FilmMunch, we do not approve of spoilers, just trust that if you enjoy a good scary movie, this is the one to watch.

The actress Eihi Shiina gives her all in this role. There is a blankness to her method, making her high points more explosive! Subtleties to her approach give us a sense of uneasiness. A sense that something bad is going to happen.

To illustrate how intense and possibly disturbing this film is, when it was played in a number of Film Festivals, some people literally walked out, and in one instance someone even needed medical attention. What makes this film so wild is that we see a female that has gone rogue, but there is an enjoyment to her sadism, and this is what is truly frightening. How is is possible for anyone to find delight in cruelty!?

If ever I had a criticism for this film, it would be the pacing. The film is just shy of a 2 hour runtime, and the first half of the film takes a while to move and develop, but at the same time I understand now why the director chose this. He was building something up, a moment of shock and horror. So give the film time. If you’re a fright night enthusiast, this is for you!

Ôdishon available for purchase here.

TRIVIA COOKIE: Richard Gray, Australian bron director has taken on the project of remaking this film. I must admit that I am not necessarily excited by this, but I will try and remain optimistic. At the very least it will hopefully expose the original to people who haven’t heard about it yet.

— ran —

****NOMINATED FOR 4 OSCARS****

Put simply, Ran is a cinematic masterpiece. This is a truly epic film! Akira Kurosawa is a directing genius!

Akira Kurosawa trained as a painter, and the story goes that all his story-boards are completed as full paintings, and it can be said that his films do indeed look like paintings, scene after scene, the camera placement is perfect and artistic. Ran received 4 Oscar Nominations in the Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration and Best Costume Design, of which it won only 1, Best Costume Design. So it goes with out saying that the costumes for this film are exquisite.

The story for this film is truly grand, and Shakespearian in scope. With a budget of $12 Million it was the most expensive Japanese film for it’s time. Trust no other than Akira Kurosawa to deliver! It’s a story about family feud, rebellion and uprising. There are many layers of depth to this film, philosophically and religiously. The character of warlord Hidetora is most intriguing, and his character’s development is a joyous pain to watch. With out spoiling it, this film is tragic and although aesthetically it is pleasing to watch, the story that ensues before our eyes is truly sad.

Another key character is Lady Kaede, and her onscreen presence is strong. Watching her character unfold is like watching a caterpillar morph into a butterfly, but in reverse. It’s these interesting characters and crazy story-line that make Ran so watchable. Then add a haunting score by Turo Takemitsu, you’re in for a sumptuous feast of film-making purity.

There are battle stages and sequences that would make Peter Jackson proud, and one specific scene is pure gore-beauty that I’m sure has inspired many film-makers, and that would make Quentin Tarantino applaud.

I must confess that this is by far not my favourite Akira film. It’s hard to beat some of his early work, like the ever so present in popular culture, Seven Samurai, or his slow but powerful Yojimbo. But Ran is a demonstration of how talented Akira really was, even decades on from his Seven Samurai masterpiece. It is no wander that Akira received an Honorary Award at the Oscars in 1990.

Ran is Japanese film-making at it’s best. Be prepared for an epic journey, so be rested and eager to Munch on this Akira gem.

Ran (StudioCanal Collection) [Blu-ray]

TRIVIA COOKIES:  Akira’s wife of 39 years passed during the production of Ran, he halted the shooting for 1 day, to mourn her passing, and then continued with the project. I think that his emotion is carried onto this film canvas, you can’t help but feel deep emotion when the story is coming to an end.

The costumes that numbered in the several hundreds took about two years to make, since they were all created by hand.

Akira Kurosawa was 76 years old when he directed Ran.

— gojira —

Cups of sweat had to be poured out of the original Godzilla suit. The performer inside the now iconic and famous suit was Haruo Nakajima. The design team wanted to make this the most realistic looking suit ever, and they forgot that an actual person was going to have to be able to walk around in this thing they were building. Turns out that the first suit would weigh about 200 pounds or just over 90 killos, thats insane! Thankfully enough it was cut back to a more ‘accommodating’ size.

Godzilla’s roar was created by rubbing a coarse resin coated leather glove up and gown the strings of a double bass, and then reverberated, once the sound had been recorded. His footsteps were the sounds of a kettle drum beaten by a knotted rope. What amazes me is the vision that the Toho company had to have to even make this work. Japan was not known for making special effects movies, and many mocked the idea behind Godzilla. The Toho company nearly went bankrupt because not only were they producing, what would become the most expensive japanese film ever, but they also had another legendary film going too, Seven Samurai.

When you first see Godzilla appear, mixed with the electric score, and his thunderous roar it is truly a sight to behold, this is a still, but it does not do justice to this amazing cinematic masterpiece moment!

The Toho company vision, as well as Director’s Ishiro Honda did pay off! Godzilla was an instant success and it would be the birth of the biggest movie franchise ever, even by hollywood standards! While I’m on the subject of franchises, the recent Gareth Edwards Godzilla movie, has re-ignited talk that the Toho company is going to make a new Godzilla comeback movie! Thats exciting! It will be the 29th Toho company produced Godzilla film. Back to Gojira, it was nominated for Best Picture at the Japanese Academy Awards, along with Seven Samurai, but the latter took the ultimate prize. Having said that, Gojira was the only Godzilla movie to ever be nominated for Best Picture, it did win Best Visual Effect, though.

On his 50th birthday, Godzilla became permanently etched as a part of Hollywood, with his very own Hollywood Plaque! Here Here!

The story of the original Gojira is very inspiring, because it demonstrated that if we have a vision, against all odds, if we really want it to become reality, it can be done. I hope that Gojira can inspire you to, and if you’re keen, there are, as I mentioned earlier, 28 different Godzilla movies, take your pick!

TRIVIA COOKIE: Legend has it that Director Ishiro Honda and cast member Eiji Tsuburaya were at the observation deck on one of Tokyo’s skyscrapers discussing the path of Godzilla’s destruction, when some people over heard the discussion and become concerned. The authorities detained them and questioned them.