The Criterion Collection came to the rescue of "Yi Yi" in 2007, vastly improving on what by all accounts was a botched 2001 release by Fox Lorber video. Now, the cineaste label is back with a Blu-ray version of "Yi Yi," Taiwanese filmmaker Edward Yang's wonderful movie about childhood and family. The domestic epic is built around three … [Read more...]
‘A Woman, a Gun and a Noodle Shop’
Brimming with color, noise and slapstick, Zhang Yimou's "A Woman, a Gun and a Noodle Shop" plays the yang to "Blood Simple's" yin. The Coen Brothers' "Blood Simple" (1984) was a dark affair, full of shadows and pinpoint light, its noir imagery seared into memory by key scenes of nightmare-inducing violence. A curious choice of remake material … [Read more...]
‘Throne of Blood’: Of madness and ‘Macbeth’
Shakespearean hearts of darkness pump the lifeblood into "Throne of Blood," one of Akira Kurosawa's greatest films. Loosely based on "Macbeth," the movie is a blood-soaked tragedy set in feudal Japan of the 16th century. "Throne of Blood" is widely regarded as one of the most successful film adaptations of a Bard play. Kurosawa dares to edit … [Read more...]
‘Kagemusha’: Kurosawa’s shadow world
Akira Kurosawa's suicide attempt was almost a decade behind him. He hadn't made a film in almost five years, and Japan's major studios had rejected his latest project, an epic tale of warlords clashing in the 16th century. "I thought another script of mine would vanish into the void," the aging director recalled years later. This time, … [Read more...]
‘Spirited Away’: Miyazaki meets Disney
The union of showbiz superpower Disney and Japanese animation master Hayao Miyazaki would seem a case of strange bedfellows. The Walt Disney Co., the mass producer of children's entertainment. Miyazaki, the painstaking auteur behind "Princess Mononoke." Disney, the house of happy endings and familiar themes. Miyazaki, the creator of films … [Read more...]
