JPT3391 Film + Media Blog

I think it’s easy to consider this thing a work of art. The animation is beautiful, the art direction is stunning, all of the character designs are incredibly inspired and imaginative, the music is wonderful, and the voice acting sells everything that’s happening on screen. When it comes to productions that work well to introduce people to the medium of anime, I think this is a solid option despite its extremely fantastical setting and premise. Everything here just works, and there’s really not much to criticize for what it sets out to achieve in my eyes. I think just about anyone could enjoy this film if they’re a bit more open minded to exploring different mediums and stories.

As for what’s going on in this film, there’s a lot. But I can still boil it down to a few sets of themes that stand out to me at least. An obvious one is supernaturalism, this tale is inspired by Japanese Shinto-Buddhist folklore, as showcased by the wide variety of spirits that Chihiro encounters, plenty of which I can pick out individually. The setting of the bathhouse is a pretty literal interpretation of solstice rituals, in which villagers would call forth various spirits and kami and invite them to their baths. Chihiro’s place in all of it is that of a child going through their rite of passage into adulthood. She’s somewhere between child and adult in this rather upsetting point in her life, and in this world of spirits she also stands outside of societal boundaries. The literal translation of the title reinforces this idea further, 千と千尋の神隠し (Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi) or “Sen and Chihiro’s Spiriting Away” where 神隠し (kamikakushi) can also be read as hidden (kakushi) by gods (kami). In this way, I can see Chihiro passing through this world of spirits while moving on from her status as a child in her old home, to a more grown individual who’s embraced her past and accepted moving to a new home.

Other themes I can notice more now are ones that seem to be more critical of modern aspects of society, such as consumerism and environmentalism. Greed is a major motivation and pitfall for many characters in this movie, with varying obsessions over gold and food. I feel like this greed is mostly rooted in westernism, with Yubaba having a distinctly western-inspired dress and having much of her furnishings in her room look very European compared to the much more traditional Japanese styled architecture and furnishings of her workers. I think this ties into the influence the west had over Japan during the Meiji restoration, where in the process of modernization and “catching up” with the rest of the world, much of the traditional Japanese culture at the time may have been overwritten. Yubaba’s act of literally taking Chihiro’s name from her and turning it into Sen (which is the Japanese character for one thousand) can also be looked at as a commentary on employers’ fixation on sheer value even when it comes to living beings. Chihiro’s parents also turn into literal consumerist pigs, which is incredibly subtle and took me many viewings to understand this incredibly nuanced metaphor. Haku himself also gets his name stolen from him, albeit in a somewhat different manner from Chihiro. He exists as a manifestation of what was once a river in the human world, but the river was destroyed and had apartments built over its place, causing him to lose his home and his sense of self and identity. A pretty blunt commentary on both consumerism and the destruction of nature through urban expansion, which continues to be a concern for many in Japan to this day.

As far as Japanese cinema goes, I feel that animation should probably viewed from a separate perspective when comparing it to other films. The production is intense in its own ways, dealing with an almost entirely different set of hurdles under a pretty distinct medium, so comparing Spirited Away with other works that we’ve watched should be an interesting experience. While other Miyazaki films still win out for me, this viewing reminded me of how absolutely solid this movie is. A strong story with a lot of good commentary and a superb audiovisual experience makes it clear why this is considered by many to be the best animated film of all time.

Can’t beat Howl though, love that guy.

I have no idea what to even say about this film. It was definitely a wild ride. Dr. Smith, why? Why did you pick this movie? 

Having read the Tale of Heike, I see the connections back to the war tragedy. The use of red and white leading back to this tale was a successful costume design choice. While all of the color symbolism is slammed in your face to where it is impossible not to notice, it did create a cohesive effect to the film and helped viewers keep track of who is who in the mess of a film.

As someone who hasn’t watched westerns, this film was just very absurd and bizarre and from what I’ve gathered from the class - even if you have watched westerns it still doesn’t make any sense. 

I’m already running out of things to say about this film… It honestly just seems like a drunk or high idea by both Tarantino and Miike. The choice to make the film in English almost made it more absurd. It definitely fits Tarantino’s genre, though I can say I am not as fond of this film as I am other films of his such as Pulp Fiction. 

Ben Ten was a fun little twist, though I do think it odd that if she was this powerful, why didn’t she do anything to save her daughter-in-law as she was dying for 30 minutes. Overall, I felt this film handled women terribly. While Ben Ten is shown to be a “cool heroine,” it only seems to appear that way so that Tarantino can get a few more scenes and so that everyone can end up dead. I felt like all the women shown in the film came from some old man’s sexist pipedream. It was weird and honestly kind of demeaning - definitely a film that makes me hate depictions of women written by men in media even more. 

One thing that I like to use to decide whether something is putting female character’s in is the “Hawkeye Initiative,” that came to use in comics for showing when art of female characters were overly sexualized. Essentially, artists replace the female character with Hawkeye and see the pose, clothes, and connotations of the final image are being used to over sexualize women. Here’s an example with Mary Jane: 

In regards to Sukiyaki Western Django, I’d like everyone to imagine all of the character’s genders as swapped. Now reconsider all the scenes of violence and rape against the women in the film and all the ways that the portrayal of the female characters as passive beings going along with such violence ultimately hurts women. I think if all these scenes were done to men that the audience would react even more grossed out, which is a shame that these gendered differences still exist in film media portrayals. However, I was quite happy that it seemed those who watched the film in class with everyone also found these scenes terrible and audibly reacted as such, which gives me hope that these issues will be solved in the future.

Initial Reaction

I have got to say that watching a relatively slow-paced film that’s both heart-warming and heart-wrenching was a good change of pace from the horror and avant-garde films we’ve been watching recently. Prior to watching this film, Sweet Bean (あん), I was completely unaware of how those with leprosy were and still are facing discrimination in Japan and in the rest of the world. While this social issue is the focus of the film, I think Kawase did a spectacular job of incorporating different generations and bringing them (young, middle-aged, and elderly) all together with one commonality they shared: dorayaki.  

*Going off on a tangent: This film reminded me of the YouTube channel “Grandma’s Recipes” that features Japanese grandmas’ recipes and their life stories. If you haven’t watched it before, here’s a link to the most popular video (ENG SUB) on their channel with 8.5 million views: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGqFFcAaTn8.

Social Commentary

Leprosy and How It’s Misunderstood

Before I delve into my analysis of leprosy and this film, I will briefly talk about the misconceptions that people hold around those with leprosy. To begin with, leprosy is a chronic but curable, infectious disease that is caused by a slow-growing bacteria which can affect the nerve, skin, eyes, and lining of the nose (CDC, 2017).

To bust some myths surrounding leprosy:

You cannot get leprosy from a casual contact like:

- Shaking hands or hugging

- Sitting next to each other on the bus

- Sitting together at a meal

Also, leprosy is NOT passed on from a mother to her unborn baby during pregnancy and is also not spread through sexual contact.

In most cases, prolonged contact with someone with untreated leprosy over many months is needed to contract the disease. Doctors think that contraction occurs through airborne droplets (coughing, sneezing) in which someone with active leprosy passes it on to a healthy person who breathes it in, but the cause is not clear yet. Even then, contracting leprosy is HIGHLY UNLIKELY, because MORE THAN 95% OF ALL PEOPLE HAVE A NATURAL IMMUNITY.

Now, taking all this into consideration and assuming that the film is set in 2015, we can better understand Tokue’s pain of being labeled an “untouchable” by Japanese society in which an overwhelming majority have an unwarranted fear of those with leprosy.  

From the start of the film, it is obvious that Tokue desires to be part of larger society – not an outsider. Such can be seen from her not caring about Doraharu, the dorayaki shop’s, low wage. Rather than being hung up on the salary which matters most to many when taking a job, she cares more about being able to interact with people and being viewed as “normal” for once. The difference in what she places importance on and what people that are part of larger society place importance on show how many of us take what we view as “normal” for granted.

It’s interesting to see that the other main characters, Sentaro and Wakana, are also social misfits. Though, they are to a lesser degree than Tokue. We learn that Sentaro started working at Doraharu (dorayaki + haru), because he was indebted to the shop’s owner after having gone to prison for trying to stop a brawl in a pub and having disabled the person fighting. Similarly, Wakana comes to Doraharu out of necessity to escape her family situation in which her single mother is never there for her. The interweaving of these three stories – Tokue, Sentaro, Wakana – is captivating, because it shows how three different generations overcome their given circumstance through interacting with each other. Specifically, Tokue represents the wisdom that comes with old age as she believes that everything in life has meaning; Sentaro represents how those in their middle-age have had to come to terms with reality and lost their naiveness and optimism of when they were young; Wakana represents the youthfulness of not yet being able to see the dark aspects of society and being able to try anything head-on. Their generational gap along with their different stories makes this film relatable to anyone watching, regardless of their nationality and ethnicity.    

That being said, this film also shows how the collectivist mindset, most often associated with Eastern cultures, can be damaging. This can be observed in a number of scenes when we see how Japanese society fears people with leprosy, even though there is little reason to do so. Such scenes that immediately come to mind are: 1.) Sentaro’s manager sanitizing her hands after coming to talk to him about removing Tokue due to her history of leprosy, 2.) No one coming to buy dorayaki from the shop when rumors go around that Tokue has leprosy, and 3.) People with leprosy having to live in a secluded area on the outskirts of society. Another scene that was shown a lot throughout the course of the film was Tokue listening to the voices of the inanimate (azuki beans, trees, etc.) and animals. All of these scenes show the danger in taking things at face-value and not questioning society’s (unspoken) rules for the “greater good.” Tokue is the antagonist to such customs since she tunes in to those that do not have voices. The final scene also reinforces this value of withholding judgement and listening to all perspectives with Sentaro and Wakana being able to forge a happier life, after finding what makes them happy - not what society deems necessary to be happy. Fortunately, in doing so, their “spring” (haru) finally comes.

Bonus:

If you want to see real dorayaki craftsmanship, watch the linked YouTube video from timestamp 6:25-8:00: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wljx_KuN8u0.

Well… that was scary. I thought it would be worse but it was still quite scary…

I don’t really want to look up photos of this movie and accidentally run into frightening screencaps, so no pictures in this blog post. However, because I wasn’t looking at the scary things, I was instead focusing on the use of numbers in the film which ended up being quite interesting. 

Numbers:

B4

Let’s start off with the first number in the film: B4. Honestly, this number has two interpretations - one in English and one in Japanese. In English, the hidden meaning is quite clear: B4 = Before. Yet, it isn’t until the end of the movie that the viewer realizes that this is a hint into where the body is since it is found under the building labeled B4. The Japanese meaning takes a bit of thought but, I believe it could be a play on the number “24″. In Japan 24, is considered an unlucky number because it sounds like “two deaths” (ni-shi). 4 will come up a lot in this film since it is the most unlucky number since it sounds like “death.”

54-4226

Breaking the numbers into parts, 54 is the first combo in this sequence. While this is technically a stretch, this could be a multilingual joke on “go die” with 5 = go and 4 = shi. 

42 is actually a restricted number in japan since it sounds like “to die” and is never used as the last numbers on a license plate (note that these numbers appear in the middle to make it plausible)

26 is an interesting last number combo to appear since 26 in numerology is typically associated with doomsday. This is because 2+6=8 and 8 is thought to be the number of disaster. 

7:01 (some time after seven)

The main protagonist’s time of watching the film and predicted time of death is tied to the number 7 for the number days of the week, which are also the days she has left.

77-3265

After sitting on Swallowtail Butterfly for a week or so, I still have mixed feelings about it. While I did enjoy my overall watching experience and was entertained by the film, I also felt like there was a lot going on at all times and the movie felt disjointed from itself at multiple parts. I felt like the plot as a whole was enjoyable and not too complicated, there were a few parts that felt like they were from a different genre or movie entirely, or that felt so insignificant in the moment that I forgot about them until much later when they were relevant again. 

One thing I really liked about this film was the use of the multiple languages. It sort of surprised me when the film opened with English dialogue, and then throughout the film there was the use of Japanese, English, and Mandarin. It opened up the film to a lot of topics about race, ethnicity, and even class based off of what languages an individual knew.

Another thing I really enjoyed about this film was the overall message about chasing ones dreams too carelessly having the ability to hurt yourself and those closest to you. We see the group manage to get out of the slums by literally printing their own money, which gives them just about unlimited buying power. They move into the city and buy a club, and shortly after that, Glico gains traction as a singer and eventually gets signed to a label. At the same time, the label arranges to have Fei Hong deported as to not interfere with Glico’s stardom. All of this disrupts the group greatly, causing the band to leave, and eventually Fei Hong dies in prison. 

The thing about this film that I’m not sure how I feel about is the weird feeling that it changes genre occasionally. The scenes in the slums feel so different from the scene where they find the tape in the body, which feels way different to the scenes with the Ranki and his henchmen murdering other crime lords. I won’t say I hated it or it took me out of the film too much, but it did feel weird. 

Hana-bi was such an interesting film to watch. The cinematography was beautiful. The pace of the film was purposefully and artistically slow, but the plot was so intense with everything happening that the film didn't actually feel slow.

I'm a bit uncertain of how to analyze this film in the context of Japanese society, because it really felt like a film that examined the philosophy of life that is universal to anyone around the world. While Nishi was the main character, Horibe was constantly juxtaposed after scenes of Nishi, encouraging the audience to see comparisons between them. While Nishi went out on an adventure with his wife, Horibe was bound at home because of his paralysis. Horibe's adventures were presented through the ideas and feelings being expressed in his art.

I interpreted the flower faces Horibe came up with in his mind as the emptiness of the beauty he used to have in his life. His paralysis along with his wife and child leaving him has left depressed and empty as he said he's never known anything other than work. He thinks about them and having family but flowers are placed in the faces because they are no longer there in his life.

Fireworks to me seem like a beautiful grand explosion that is mesmerizing for a few seconds and disappears like nothing has ever been there before. I feel that Nishi chasing after adventures with his wife before she died was his way of setting a firework. Whereas Horibe's art is painting that is much more long-lasting, although it is not necessarily bringing him joy.

I also noticed that Nishi's wife never spoke until the end. It seems like she had really retreated from the world because of her illness and especially because of her child's death. Horibe mentioned at the beginning that she didn't say a word when he visited her at the hospital. However, I didn't realize that she wasn't speaking even to Nishi until close to the end. I liked that we got to know her through her games and places Nishi took her, because the silence allowed us to observe her and not focus on thinking about her illness or the fact that she is dying.

Through voiceover, Go’s protagonist, Sugihara, introduces the film as his love story and frequently reminds us of this in the beginning as we are getting caught up to speed about what has been happening in his life thus far. However, though there is a focus on love, I would argue that it’s not the main point of this film. Classified as a drama/coming of age film, Go primarily focuses on Sugihara’s struggles with being Korean in Japan. We learn that his upbringing up until he entered high school was much different than his peers. He attended Korean schools growing up and would often misbehave and cause trouble. He is chased by the police a couple of times with his friends and engages in fights. His dad taught him how to box from an early age, so he never lets anyone get the best of him. Though he is never able to win against his dad and gets beat up by him an alarming number of times throughout the movie. Sugihara gets along with his parents despite them both being pretty physical – I think that it was intended to showcase their tough love quite literally. Once in high school he struggles with feeling like an outcast but soon meets his love interest, Sakurai, at a friend’s party. They ditch the party and hit it off that night just talking alone together and gradually develop feelings for each other after meeting several times after. Sugihara continues to grapple with his identity and the fact that he hasn’t told Sakurai that he’s Korean yet, but in the end he tells her and she accepts him after half a year of not speaking.

Sugihara’s closest friend, who is also Korean, is tragically killed in the subway in the latter half of the movie. After his funeral, Sakurai comforts him and offers to spend the night with him. The transitional scenes of the pair going off together were very artfully done. They stand and travel together in silence, really emphasizing the loss that was just experienced. Feeling he needs to tell her as they begin to get intimate, Sugihara confesses he is Korean. Sakurai doesn’t take it very well and justifies her thoughts by saying her father told her to never be with anyone Korean or Chinese. This highlighting the discrimination and how deep rooted and systemic racism towards these groups are.

Sugihara leaves and encounters a police officer on his way home. At first their interaction is harmless, but he gets scared he is being suspected so knocks him out deciding to stay until he wakes up instead of running. This encounter really highlights how Sugihara’s attitude is changing. They have a good talk when the officer comes to, reflecting on race. I think it was one of the best parts of the film. Overall, I really enjoyed Go and wasn’t expecting it to emphasize issues of racism in Japan.

Food is such an important aspect of culture; it is a source of pride, a way to connect to people, and needed for survival. Tampopo reminds the audience how food is related to many aspects of our lives. It is simply inescapable. Food is also a defining quality of culture. In my family, holidays are celebrated through a feast. No matter what holiday, even Thanksgiving, we make dumplings. It is a way for my small family to spend time with each other, since we are all so busy usually.

I read a short summary of the movie beforehand, and it was referred to as “ramen western,” in reference to the Spaghetti Western genre. Though not about the American West, Goro still wears a cowboy hat, even in the bath. Tampopo faces her own battles as well. As she prepares the ramen near the end of the movie, the soundtrack utilizes timpani (I think), which is often utilized when showing battle preparations. An example I’m sure many people can recall is Evangelion’s “Decisive Battle.” Additionally, near the end Goro coolly walks away, like a cowboy. The way all the collaborators are recruited also reminded me of Seven Samurai. We have the leader, Goro, who is like Shimada. Similar to Shimada, Goro also uses personal connections to find people to help Tampopo, who is analogous to the village the samurai were protecting. There are also some coincidental happenings that led people to join the team. For example, Shimada witnesses a skilled swordsman who happened to be involved in a fight in the town they were at. He eventually recruits this samurai. In Tampopo, the group happens to save a rich man from choking, which allows them to recruit Shohei.

I also liked how the fourth wall was broken at the beginning of the film. It definitely scared me a little, since I was not expecting the character to address me directly, and then ask me what I was eating, especially since I was having dinner at the time. I also like how this character mentions a final film, which gets its payoff after he is shot several times. Just like in the beginning, this character hands off his hat to his lover and reminds her that he doesn’t want his final show to be interrupted with crying. I wonder if he knew about his impending death, and that’s why he mentions his own death, since he seems to know that he is in a film.

In addition to the main storyline about Tampopo, we see several unrelated scenes that involve food. I think these scenes convey how universal of a subject it is. We see food etiquette from foreign countries, in familial love, and in sex. These subjects don’t seem related at all on a surface level, but this film shows that they are by conveying how food is used in everything.

The table was probably the most important element of this film. Throughout the film, we see the family deliberately sitting in such a manner that they cannot see each other - living in ignorance of one another. This directly contrasts the other family we see in the film - the older brother’s crush’s family. The girl’s family sits at a square table where everyone is visible at all times. There is a comedic scene where the older brother hides a present behind his back at this table and immediately people notice - you can’t hide things when you are actually being seen. The main family’s refusal to acknowledge one another in any meaningful way shows the core of their issues with one another.

It isn’t until the end of the film when the tutor flips the table, that the family comes face to face with one another for the first time. At first, it appears that no major change is evident. But then we see that the brothers have become closer since they have fallen asleep in the same room. This not only shows the brothers growing closer together, but they are also defying the expectations that they should be hard at work studying. Instead they are doing what they clearly need to do: sleeping. Likewise the mother has also stopped ignoring her surroundings as we notices the helicopter sounds from outside. Then, the mother decides to actually do what she wants to do and not what her husband or society says she should do as a “good housewife” and dimply falls asleep. 

In order to make the family actually interact with each other, the tutor uses overly close contact physical touch to get into their spaces - forcing them to take notice. I noticed that this effect worked both for the family members on screen as well as for our viewing class. Everyone was very uncomfortable - but that was the point. 

One thing that particularly stuck out to me was the disconnect between the mother and father. He was so cold and constantly shut down everything she had to say or any wants she even minutely expressed. I also found it frustrating how much both parents desperately wanted to shrug off their parental duties and give them to someone else - in this case the tutor.