For our company’s Japan-themed Christmas party, I thought I should borrow ideas from Japanese cinema. Then I realized I didn’t know much about it. My knowledge had been limited to the master Kurosawa, animation genius Miyazaki, and a few of action director Kitano’s, and Oshima’s. Plus the scariest movie since The Exorcist -- Ringu; and Oscar best foreign film winner, Departures (2008), which I didn’t really like (interesting subject, but manipulative).
But the few Japanese images in my memory bank remain deep and wild. Japanese films are most original, and do not follow continental standards in any genre, even sex. The saddest film ever made was a Japanese cartoon (Graveyard of the Fireflies). There’s little dependence on other cultures because theirs alone is a rich and unique source of material. Here are some images that I could not make costumes of –
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Rashomon (1950) by Akira Kurosawa
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| Ikiru (1952) by Kurosawa |
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| Kagemusha (1980) by Kurosawa |
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| Ran (1985) by Kurosawa |
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| Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (1983) by Nagisa Oshima |
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| In the Realm of the Senses (1976) by Nagisa Oshima |
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| Ringu (1998) by Hideo Nakata |
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| Graveyard of the Fireflies (1988) by Isao Takahata |
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| Princess Mononoke (1997) by Hayao Miyazaki |
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Spirited Away (2001) by Hayao Miyazaki
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| Howls Moving Castle (2005) by Hayao Miyazaki |
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| Zaotichi (2003) by Takeshi Kitano |
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| Departures (2008) by Yojiro Takita |
I wish I could see more films from Japan. By the way, I came as a cherry tree. It's got as much visual impact, but heavier.
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