It's all over for December. The regular end of the month film festival enjoyed capacity crowds (2), and the celebration went on until well after 10 pm. At about that time it began to snow again, though when we awoke this morning it was raining, and the snow had already vanished. Last night was also full moon party time. Deb baked a totally awesome chocolate cake, and I lit a totally awesome fire, and we had a totally awesome time. The cake is still awesome today, but the fire is quite done.
Last week I chose a film about Mishima, a controversial Japanese writer and public figure if there ever was one. That film, directed by Paul Schrader, included parts from three of his novels. In addition, Criterion is also showing two feature films (Japanese, and both in wide screen b & w), based on novels of Mishima. First came Conflagration, from 1958, and directed by Kon Ichikawa, based on the novel The Golden Temple. Essentially, the beautiful temple is being used as a money making tourist attraction by the monks who care for it. A stuttering young monk falls in love with the temple, and eventually causes its destruction. The film opens at the police station, where the monk has been apprehended and charged with destroying a national treasure. The rest of the story is told in flashback. This story was also used in Schrader's later film.
Next up was a 1967 Japanese New Wave film directed by Koreyoshi Kurahara called Thirst For Love, based on the Mishima novel of the same title. The story concerns a widowed woman still living with her father-in-law, becoming his mistress. However, she craves the attention and the body of an underage gardener and handyman, eventually destroying herself in the attempt to win him over to her. She is a seriously warped female, one of the top five I have ever seen in film! Her scheming and her sexual desires go way off the chart into mighty strange territory, making for fascinating viewing. The photography is outstanding.
For the third film, in keeping with the Japanese theme (but not, alas, Mishima), we watched Zatoichi's Pilgrimage, from 1966. The film began in a promising way, as the blind swordsman sets off on a pilgrimage of 88 temples, to atone for all the killing he has done. However, early on in the pilgrimage the usual story pops back up like a bad penny. Village and beautiful girl need his help to thwart the bad boss who wants to take over the farming valley for his own profit. And the body count is as high as ever. Poor Zatoichi will have to spend his entire life on this pilgrimage, to no avail. An average potboiler for the series, with not much new added.
Mapman Mike
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