Dersu Uzala

1975 story of friendship

Rating: 17/20

Plot: It's 1902, and Russian captain Vladimir Arseniev and some of his pals are dicking around in the Siberian wilderness. They find themselves discombobulated but luckily run into Yoda who helps them in their exploration and even saves Vladimir's life because Vladimir doesn't know how to make shelter with grass on his own. Eventually, Yoda and Vladimir, now BFF's, part ways only to meet again on another of Vladimir's outings later on.

Great story of friendship and survival told simply and gracefully by Master Kurosawa. Those Japanese fellows sure can photograph nature, and Kurosawa's got the eye to make the icy Siberian wasteland look simultaneously beautiful and treacherous. The characters are terrific, and their relationship wonderfully develops through the actions and expressions of the character rather than through unnecessary language. There's not as much action as you might expect from a movie calling itself a survival tale, but when there is action, like during the scene where Dersu and Vladimir have to collect grass to protect themselves from a harsh winter's night, the details are meticulous and the situations are tense. I really like those characters, especially wacky Dersu, and I was disappointed that the ending couldn't have been a little happier. I'm not typically the kind of guy who requires a happy ending, but these just aren't the type of characters who deserved the unhappy one. Although I love Kurosawa, this wasn't one of his movies that was on my radar, so I'm really glad Winter Rates recommended it.

Stray Dog

1949 Japanese cop movie

Rating: 17/20

Plot: Following shooting practice, a rookie cop named Murakami has his gun stolen on a crowded bus. Embarrassed, he goes on a hunt for the thief. He finds a mentor in a veteran cop named Sato, and together, they work on finding the culprit.

Kurosawa! I almost don't need to say anything else. This looks and feels like an ordinarily copper-chasing-a-bad-guy movie, noirish with some suspense, but it's got such well-defined characters that it becomes something a little deeper. I'm reminded of Slacker and the "Should Have Stayed at the Bus Station" character's ideas about choices people make and how drastically different things would be if opposite choices were made. That's sort of what this movie's about with Mifune's character not only looking for his gun but investigating exactly what his life could be like if he'd chosen a life of crime instead of life as a cop following his experiences in the war. It's interesting to me that as the audience finds out all about the bad guy, a character who isn't seen, you're really getting a glimpse at Mifune's character, a character you do see but who isn't characterized directly. I didn't really like the actual ending, but I did like what should have been the ending with a pair of characters lying in a field. There's also some nice footage showing post-war Japan and a lot of a Japanese baseball game. Good flick, and the inspiration for Rush Hour 4.

Ran

1985 Kurosawa samurai

Rating: 18/20 (Abbey: 1/20)

Plot: see King Lear. . .or, samurai try to survive in 16th century Japan after a nuclear holocaust. . .or, two of three sons (the two dumbasses) betray their father in an attempt to have the best picnic locations in all of Japan. They fight over robes and decide in the end to put a stop to the madness (the "chaos" in the title) like all real men put a stop to madness--an epic masturbation contest!

Surprise surprise! Another masterpiece from the greatest director who ever lived. I can't imagine the care and time taken to paint this epic. Such a striking use of color and both natural (i.e. rolling hills) and man-made (i.e. burning castles) imagery. The scene with the biggest chunk of violence completely captivated me, a scene with almost no sound, startling images (men holding their own severed arms, lots of blood and arrows), and no extraneous effects. It is a little disarming getting a glimpse into the director's old age worldviews and ideas about life, an apathetic God, lost humanity--ideas so depressing, cynical, almost hopeless. Absolutely stunning stuff.

Here's a still from the controversial "Masturbation Contest" scene:

And here I am with Abbey. She watched about an hour of this with me, asking me what the subtitles said when she couldn't catch all the words. When asked what she would rate it, she said she'd give it a 1 out of 20. I asked her why and she said, "I'd give it a one because it was stupid."