This week the Bloor is showing a handful of Kurosawas to mark his anniversary, and one was The Hidden Fortress this afternoon when, mirabile dictu, I did *not* have a shift. I had a ticket for it at the AGO and was annoyed at missing the big screen experience. But now I got to see the film where I first saw it, 25 years ago about this time, in another universe when I'd just discovered Japan as something other than film, ironically enough. Things have changed since then, alas. My eyes are worse than they were and my contacts no longer address the problem; the subtitles are half-illegible white on white anyway, and the Japanese is male-grunt incomprehensible. So I was a bit sad to start with, wondering why I'd been so delighted with the thing back in '85... and then, and then, the old Kurosawa magic crept back. I can't say how or why, but I have that full-fed sensation Kurosawa's historicals always gave me; however much I wonder at the historicity of them all (surely it's romantic history, since Kurosawa was such a romantic), however much I wonder why this princess doesn't talk like any NHK Taiga drama princesses (where did that harsh shriek come from?), still and all, Kurosawa convinces on his own terms, always. A pity I'll have to see him on the small screen from now on, but my own fault, basically.
Shades of the past
This week the Bloor is showing a handful of Kurosawas to mark his anniversary, and one was The Hidden Fortress this afternoon when, mirabile dictu, I did *not* have a shift. I had a ticket for it at the AGO and was annoyed at missing the big screen experience. But now I got to see the film where I first saw it, 25 years ago about this time, in another universe when I'd just discovered Japan as something other than film, ironically enough. Things have changed since then, alas. My eyes are worse than they were and my contacts no longer address the problem; the subtitles are half-illegible white on white anyway, and the Japanese is male-grunt incomprehensible. So I was a bit sad to start with, wondering why I'd been so delighted with the thing back in '85... and then, and then, the old Kurosawa magic crept back. I can't say how or why, but I have that full-fed sensation Kurosawa's historicals always gave me; however much I wonder at the historicity of them all (surely it's romantic history, since Kurosawa was such a romantic), however much I wonder why this princess doesn't talk like any NHK Taiga drama princesses (where did that harsh shriek come from?), still and all, Kurosawa convinces on his own terms, always. A pity I'll have to see him on the small screen from now on, but my own fault, basically.
-
Not with a bang but a gurgle
I've already forgotten what 2018 was like. Look at my journal to refresh me. 2018 was snow in April, then rain and hurricane winds, that brought down…
-
Betwixtmas
As that inspired Guardian columnist calls it. Evidently I'm not the only one who has come unstuck in time, unable to keep days straight and losing a…
-
Holidays
The dead days are earning their name, aided by rain and a return of the norovirus that required me to cancel two appointments today, both of which I…
- Post a new comment
- 2 comments
- Post a new comment
- 2 comments
