The whole 50 episodes of Anne of Green Gables are on YouTube. This IS one of the very best works of Isao Takahata. Simply magical and magnificent.
My pleasure! I realized that there are two sets of Anne on YouTube. The channel with the better set also uploads Heidi which is another great masterpiece of Takahata.
Kon Ishikawa's Matatabi / (The Wanderers) Hideo Gosha's 226 or 4 Days of Snow and Blood ****************
I received the Criterion Zatoichi box set this week -- for free. It is in near-mint condition, but had clearly been out to a customer before. Someone has, carefully, opened the shrinkwrap and peeled it back to access the contents -- probably to rip the discs. There are no fingerprints anywhere, though. The discs and book are in perfect condition. I called Amazon Customer Service and told them I am prepared to keep the item, if they offer me a partial refund. The guy went away for a few minutes. When he came back, he said he would refund the full order price of £90.30, and that I was free to keep the item. Wasn't expecting that at all!
Speaking of Kurosawa's films, as I watch I am often struck by the thought that you can't get any further east than Japan, but many of his films are more "western" than what was coming out of Hollywood (where you can't get any further west).
It's by no means a new idea that Kurosawa pandered to Western tastes. Right or wrong, it's an accusation that has been levelled at him for decades, by both Western and Eastern film critics. Personally, I like Kurosawa, but there are at least four Japanese directors whose work I prefer. It's all a matter of how deep you care to delve.
Over the years, this thread has become more of a general discussion of Japanese cinema. That's how I like to approach it, anyway. Everyone has something to contribute, and I, for one, still have much to learn. Stay with us!
Damn, I didn't even look at the tag lines to see how long ago this thread started, I just kind've skimmed through it.
Well, there was sort of a back and forth there. Kurosawa was inspired by Westerns, particularly John Ford and Anthony Mann, taking it in a darker direction which in turn inspired the darker grittier Westerns of the 1960s.
I understand Studio Ghibli dragged Myazaki kicking and screaming, back to work on "just onnnnne moorrrrrre...?" After their successful Red Turtle that got an Oscar nom, I wouldn't count out the little Totorodio That Could... Also across town at Toho, we recently saw an anime called, My Name Is...; and yeah, there's some teens in it, and blushing school girls, but no manga-faced characters...and the plot is not teen-oriented. Que it up in your Netflix.
I'm holding off on any Criterion purchases until next month's Barnes & Noble sale, but it occurred to me that this will be the fifth copy of the film that I've bought. The other four: - Criterion laserdisc - Criterion DVD - Eureka/MoC DVD - Eureka/MoC Blu-ray At least the new Criterion Blu is supposed to be a significant upgrade over the preceding releases. I normally don't eagerly jump onto the upgrade bandwagon for most films, but for Mizoguchi I'll make an exception.
I would like to recommend a book on Akira Kurosawa, 'All the Emperor's Men' that tells us how he lost his struggle against the film making system in Hollywood. https://www.amazon.com/dp/155783850X
I watched the new Criterion Ugetsu last night, and it certainly looks lovely. Better contrast than the MoC, for sure. I am another for whom any Mizoguchi upgrade is hard to resist. The only one I haven't bitten on is the Criterion BD of Sansho the Bailiff. I have the MoC, but, for some reason, always hesitate to pull the trigger on the Criterion.
