[quote]Cortes wrote:
[quote]Big Kahuna wrote:
[quote]Cortes wrote:
[quote]spar4tee wrote:
[quote]Gambit_Lost wrote:
[quote]farmerson12 wrote:
What are some laws in Japan that would make Americans or any Westerners for that matter, say “wtf”?[/quote]
You can pretty much drink anywhere: in the park, on the train, walking home from the train station. And people do.
The laws regarding multi-national marriage child abduction are WTF type stuff (like when a Japanese woman marries a Canadian and then “steals” the kids and moves back to Japan)
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I remember hearing about that. I’ve also seen stories where parents just flat out abandon the kids. I saw a movie based on that. It was really good. I wish I could remember what it’s called.[/quote]
It’s called Dare Mo Shiranai, or Nobody Knows. I hate that movie with every iota of my being. The only movie I possibly hate more than that one is Event Horizon, and it’s a tough call.
Is it technically good? Yeah.
But watching such a disgusting story with absolutely no redemptive elements, that just leaves the viewer with nothing but sadness and despair and pointlessness and emptiness, is just beyond my ability. [/quote]
This intrigues me, you not a fan of tragic pessimism in film? I’m always drawn to pessimistic elements, I think I even prefer meaningful tragedies over happy endings, even if the happy ending comes about respectably. I enjoy the idea of the children’s courage, and their resilience in the face of inevitable struggle. For all it’s pessimism, I like that there’s a glimmer of hope in the children and their intent to continue onwards despite the blows they’ve been dealt. Something about it seems incredibly authentic for all it’s woes and heartaches, I appreciate that a lot.
May sound strange that I’ve just said I’m drawn to the pessimism and described my appreciation for the optimism, I guess silver linings are what do me in.
Also, with you on Event Horizon. But there’s something special about Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2 for me. I’m sure off the top of my head there are ones I loathe more, possibly Showgirls, but I saw Superbabies again recently and I want to punch whoever decided to direct that square in the eyes.[/quote]
No, I don’t appreciate the French Existentialist JP Sartre/Francis Bacon school of filmmaking. I don’t mind a meaningful tragedy, I just did not find any sort of meaning, none, within this film.
They killed the little girl. The cutest, sweetest one. Then buried her in a field. Fuck that sort of pessimism and fuck the spoilers I’m throwing around. I wish someone had warned me before I watched it.
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I like it as an expression of the ability that young children have to fight against terrible circumstances and the potential of adults to be on the opposite end of the spectrum regardless of the moral cost and losing the remains of their humanity for the sake of an easy way out. It’s a very, very tough film to sit through and it would tear any respectable person to shreds thinking about the events and repercussions of the mother’s actions (really felt like punching her character in the temple throughout, even before she got out of dodge), but I thought that I gathered some sense of respect for the moral compass of children that we all too often forget to credit them with. The young girl scenes are real grim, but I really think I enjoy their inclusion looking back on it all. I can deal with overbearing pessimistic notions for the strong insight into the mentality of a child in such a situation, along with the things they do and don’t yet understand, and how that may mould the path they take onwards in an effort to help each other. Been a very long while since I’ve seen it, may watch it again in the morning to freshen up, I wonder if it will get any easier the second time around.
While I know I’ll regret mentioning this, which I very much am now, the director has made a new family drama that won the Jury Prize at Cannes. It was the one I told you about a couple days ago upon your return, Like Father, Like Son. I’ll check up on it when it’s released to the public, to report back on how it compares and whether it’s anywhere near as emotionally tormenting, I hope you wouldn’t dismiss it based on Nobody Knows though. I don’t expect that you would, but still.