Ju Dou
Well I watched the first of eleven movies in my Asian film class. It was directed by Zhang Yimou in 1990. It takes place in 1920s China. The owner of a dye shop buys a wife who he beats and tries to beget an heir with. He has taken in a “nephew” who he adopts. This nephew falls in love with the wife, Ju Dou, same as the name of the film. She also falls in love with him. They eventually have a child together. The uncle is infertile so of course it’s not his. Eventually, the uncle becomes paralyzed and they keep him around to torture him. This and thier son is their downfall. The boy is one of the creepiest kids in film I’ve seen. He would suddenly just be standing their watching his parents together. Not to mention that he killed two people in the movie, but you’ll have to watch to see who.
There is a lot of symbolism in the film and allusions. It was as much a work of art as a show. The setting fit pefectly with the actions of the characters and vice versa. This film was said to be banned in China for its sensual nature. It could also be utter disrepect for authority which is supposed to take presidence over one’s desires which was definitely not the case in this movie.
I liked the movie. I kind of wished I knew Chinese sometimes because the translations made me wonder if that’s what they were really saying. Sometimes things came across as funny in English like the use of the phrase “it’s a fat boy” instead of just “it’s a boy.” And what’s the significance of “fat boy”? Also the child’s outfit in which he could not move and the mother’s words “why won’t he laugh yet?”. Was the outfit supposed to be funny or did I just perceive it that way because I don’t know about Chinese baby clothing in the ’20s. There’s a lot to dwell on in this movie like the treatment of women, tradition, and Chinese society.
Kagehime
Craziness of Japan on American TV
Lately the US has been showing more and more of Japanese TV and converting for Americans. This summer there was I survived a Japanese Game show which was very much like Big Brother, only in Japan and having less focus on personal drama. Ninja Warrior and another show like were also popular during the summer . The Japanese Game Show involved Americans competing on a fake Japanese game show in Japan. Coming soon will be a show called Hole in the Wall in which contestants jump through boards with holes in it. (Look Like Japanese TV to me).
Well New York goes to Hollywood had a Japan segment in which the viewer gets to see behind the scenes of Japanese tv and its not pretty. It was funny in a rather sad way. It was so wrong. I couldn’t have dealt with that especially to people who didn’t deserve it. That woman didn’t deserve to be hit or that man choked. The director was seriously out of control. The video unfortuately shows an example of the superior having utter control over the people beneath him and no one wants to or can complain. It’s a rather big problem in Japan although it does happen everywhere.
Let’s see how popular Japanizing American shows gets. Japanese gameshow are always outrageous and fun to watch. Hai Majide!
Kagehime
How I survived a Japanese Game Show
School begins and Movie watching
Well my first full week of classes begins and my work schedule begins the day after labor day. Sadly its my first time getting labor day off. I’ve worked every labor day since I’ve started work because the department in the library I used to work for was open that day because it was public service. Now that that department closed I’m working in a department that closes that day.
So I managed to watch Indiana Jones 4 and most of Iron Man the night before class. Indiana Jones was kind of weird (thankful not as much as the temple of doom) but still…What kind of ending was that? And Iron Man seems good but I had to leave early because can’t stay out all night on a school night. And we were outside on a cold wet blanket…and well everyone else I was in wanted to go…so I’ll have to watch it some other time.
Well I’m off to bed now. Good Night
Kagehime
