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YASUE-SAN
Reviews
Lost in Translation (2003)
Perfect Sympathy in Mysterious Tokyo
Two lonely Americans who feel isolated from their own partners meet and spend time in Tokyo. Lost in Translation (2003) is the story how they come to be in perfect sympathy with each other in a few special days as they try to plug up the holes in their hearts.
The film is directed by Sofia Coppola (The Virgin Suicides 1999), who once worked in Tokyo and decided to use the city as the setting for her film. LiT was given many awards and received acclaim from critics and viewers all across the world.
Some reviewers, however, have been critical of this movie because of what they claim is anti-Japanese racism. They say that Japanese in this movie are portrayed without dignity, as funny, ignorant and inferior to the American characters.
I agree with some of what they say. For example, some reviewer says that none of the Japanese characters were portrayed as being human or having any feelings. I think so, too. For example, Bob is surrounded by short and similar middle-aged Japanese men in an elevator. They seem to have no feeling. As this, Japanese are described as the movie's background. Undoubtedly, Japanese in this movie are so ridiculous that some Japanese might angry.
But Sofia Coppola didn't make the film to criticize Japan. In an interview at www.greg.org (August 31, 2003), she says about Japan, "I've never been in another place where I really felt like it's another planet." I think the most important thing for her was to put two American people in mysterious surroundings, someplace like Tokyo. The movie is about feelings of loneliness and sympathy. It has nothing to do with Japan.
In fact, I think Coppola loves Japan. During the end credits, you can hear the song by Happy-End, a Japanese band interested in the protection of Tokyo's old street scene. One of Japan's famous artists, Keigo Oyamada, introduced Happy-End's music to Coppola, who liked the song at once. I think she understood not only the song's good sound but also its meaning as well. The song is her way of paying respect to Tokyo and Japan.
LiT is surely a strange movie for Japanese, but it reminds us again of the mysterious attraction of Japan.
Suwingu gâruzu (2004)
Swing Girls are not perfect
Swing Girls is the story of ordinary high school girls sick and tired of their daily lives whose hearts are captured by jazz.
The girls start to play jazz quite by chance. Although they never played an instrument before and are not in the mood for jazz, as they practice they come to love the music and to become proficient on their instruments. The group nearly falls apart any number of times. But their common desire to play jazz is strong enough to keep them together and leads them to taking part in a concert at which their performance is a great success. They play in harmonious accord and know the joy of achievement.
Swing Girls is directed by Shinobu Yaguchi, best known for Water Boys, a similar movie based on a group of boys learning synchronized swimming. The concept is obviously the same - "efforts are rewarded." While some people might criticize this similarity, the theme is perhaps something close the director's heart and does not detract from the enjoyment of either movie.
Most of the actresses are newcomers and do a wonderful job portraying real students, particularly the lead actress, Jyuri Ueno. All of the music in this movie is said to have been played by the actresses themselves, and their Tohoku dialect is very convincing.
This movie, however, is not perfect.To begin with, there are few scenes in which we see the girls making efforts to do well. They change from beginners to skilled amateurs all too soon. Outside of the handful of main characters, the rest of the girls lack their own individuality, a problem that was also evident in Water Boys.
But, while the movie may not be perfect, it reminds us that we are not perfect either. In fact it celebrates imperfection and in the end may remind us our younger days. I think that's the reason why this movie has had such wide appeal.