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Reviews
Kaidan (1964)
one of the greatest films ever made
Japan conjures up a myriad of directorial masters; Kurosawa, Miike etc, but Koboyashi's "Kwaidan" surpasses them all for the sublime impact of its imagery & symbolism. Maybe Rashomon gets close for framing & narrative, but Kwaidan is a wonderful visual spectacle to behold.
As all the reviews tell you - its a ghost story told in 4 acts/chapters. Each has it own warnings, moral mazes, mistakes & consequences, but its the mood of the 2nd part's "The Woman in the Snow" that first drew me into this world of strange & disturbingly nuanced tales. Things that the viewer may be privy to are not revealed to the characters. So this is how it pulls you in, through a ghostly form of empathy which other directors would have aborted into pantomime. 1 surreal example includes the eyes in the sky, as the two men wander in a snow storm......for me one of the most memorable sequences in cinematic history. It made a huge impression on me when first viewed and i try not to watch it too often in case its gets ruined, its that good.
Its a long flick overall, but like all good things - oh so worth it. Just wait for the naval battle and the riot of colour in certain Samurai/warrior sequences. Equally, it turns the mood down low to soft & subtle creepiness when it has to, which is when and where it works best.
I can not recommend this film highly enough for its seductive tales of nightmares & psychological trauma. And i have to include "mad props" for the opening sequence of ink droplets falling into water in slo-mo....a feature in stock photography now, but in the hands of Koboyashi it is transformed into a semi-religious moment of timelessness. Mint, as they say oop north and makes a mockery of so much of the trash that is produced today.
more than 10/10
Small Time (1996)
Nottingham's lost master-piece, or should that be Sneinton's
A triumph of heart over money, laughs and tragedy, dreams & the significance of always having £10 in yer pocket.
If you treat it as a play, you'll get far more from the experience of the characters, themes, settings & riotous humour, the latter of which is always beautifully timed.
Mr Meadows went on to much bigger things, but it crystallizes here as a bunch of Notts, sorry Sneinton, chancers and dancers flirt with something like Sillitoe meets Cassavetes meets Chris Morris.
Anyone who complains about the daft wigs is clearly missing the point of how well this story is told. I first watched it off Mansfield Rd on tape and its anarchy was a contagious sign of the times for the city and its reputation for gun crime & organized professional networks. Small Time gives 2 fingers up to it all, its very very funny and thats why i love it. It still hints at what was to come with later productions but this is completely raw, silly, sad,,,,,just like life. Gerrit daaaan yer duck.
9.99999/10
The Ecstasy of Wilko Johnson (2015)
an incredibly moving and articulate insight into Cancer
Genius.
Firstly, having lived with relatives who have suffered various forms of this disease, both now & in the past, i found this documentary on Dr Feelgood's main guitar mentalist, Wilko Johnson, both cathartic, heart-breaking but above all inspirational & transcendental in the best traditions of poets like Blake et al.
Wilko might look like a lunatic, but underneath the Canvey Island local rough n tumble exterior lies a soul of truly visionary proportions. His ability to express his journey (an appalling word to use i know but.....), along with Temple's outstanding visual sense, has provided the world with one of the most immersive, harrowing but ultimately inspiring pieces of documentary film-making i've ever seen.
The heart of the film both addresses & captures the otherworldly loneliness Wilko experiences after his initial diagnosis, something a family member empathized with greatly. His ability to reference & pinpoint some of the most profound works in English literature, combined with his "Berserker" approach to proper r&b, underpinned by Temple's editing in of excerpts from Tarkovsky's "Stalker" etc, provide a truly epic tale of our place in the unfolding realms we call reality, life & the universe.
As a past aficionado of lsd-induced explorations, my only regret with the film was learning that Wilko was an ex English lit teacher - if only my own teachers had had half the attitude and balls of this man, i'd have read far far more of the extensive works he cites throughout the doc before experiencing them through chance.
What a bloke and what a tale. Immense film making.
11/10