Went way over my head - someone explain this film to me please?
SERIOUS ANSWERS ONLY PLEASE
SERIOUS ANSWERS ONLY PLEASE
Right I guess I should answer as I chose this as my Seijun Suzuki selction for the directors cup. Firstly I think it is a film one is either going to go what the F*** or what the f*** I love this. It’s impossible to make complete sense of this film like it is impossible to make sense of that really weird dream you had last night. The film is ravishing to look at and has some of the best set design I’ve seen in a film. I’m not sure how familiar you are with Seijun Suzuki but many of his films are non-linear bizarre curios and he’s the kind of filmmaker you just have to put your faith in and hang on for the ride. Anyway I guess your going to get to see more of him when he bashes Gilliam’s arse!! One side note when watching the film I saw certain comparisons to Synechdoche New York. They both have this non-linear almost malliable texture. The characters in Kageroza seem to switch and change bewteen acting and reality, and I did start to wonder whether Kaufmann had seen this film as there is a definite similarity in the ambiguity of its characters.
This was my 11th Suzuki. But along with Pistol Opera and Zigeunerweisen this was a bit too much for me. This is easily the most incomprehensible of the lot to me. Heres what ratings I gave to them:
- Branded to Kill (1967) B+
- Elegy to Violence (1966) B+
- Gate of Flesh (1964) B
- Story of a Prostitute (1965) B
- Tokyo Drifter (1966) B
- Fighting Delinquents (1960) B-
- Pistol Opera (2001) B-
- Zigeunerweisen (1980) B-
- Flower and the Angry Waves, The (1964) C+
- Princess Raccoon (2005) C+
- Heat-Haze Theater (1981) C
Zigeunerwiesen is a favorite film of mine, and I really liked Kagero-za too, but I only saw it once many years ago so I’ll have to put off further discussion of my perspective on it until I rewatch the film this week. I’ve been wanting to see it again for a while so I’m happy it was chosen for the cup as it gives me a reason to watch it.
Although obviously I wrote my first post like a child to get a MUBI pun in, I am truly interested in anyone’s insight into the meaning of the film or specific scenes. It’s dream-like and non-linear, it’s well staged and play-like, of course I noticed that, but it’s gotta to be more than that, right? Cheers. :)
I just wondered if anyone who has seen Heat Haze recently for the director’s cup had any fresh ideas:)
Cyclo, I haven’t finished it yet, but this movie has cost you some of the goodwill you built up with me with your Ashes pick.
Maybe Heat Haze can end well.
i just watched it! but i need to walk away from it in time first….my head’s just filled with delicious colours and noises at the minute – was that a mooli dance? and hundreds of small adorable children. loved the kiddie theatre. could someone explain why he had to die at the end? i mean i know finding out about the awesome depths and troubles women have is mindblowing, but death-inducing? :) …need to digest….
Beats me :)
Jon K
So there’s this guy right, and this woman, and there’s another women and sometimes they look the same and theres another man whos more scruffy than the first one but he looks like him and once there was an even scruffier man and someone did a dance and then did a wee in his bowl and theres this guy who has a suit and glasses and a gun and hes all like yeah lets shoot something and once he dressed up like a woman but with a moustache and the woman he dressed up like is in a boat but shes dead and you can look in statues and see naughty things and you can steal peoples souls but its just a game and once the lady squeezed some cherries on herself and you could see her MUBI.