Linda Linda Linda

Nobuhiro Yamashita's Linda Linda Linda (2005) migh seem like your run-of-the-mill feel-good film when you read the plot description: a group of girls decide to perform as a band in the school festival, but they have to face a lot of obstacles before the gig.

The film uses a lot of cliched tropes in its storytelling, but they are used in the best possible way - which makes them rather refreshing. The great build-up and an even better climax prove the narrative's power: it has been a long time since I've been so pumped up for the ending. The characters are properly developed (even the occasional lack of it is there for a reason) and genuinely interesting. This is a film that upgrades the term "feel-good" to "feel-great".

Yamashita's form is something you would not see used with a story as simple and unassuming as in this film: it is calmly paced with long takes, slow camera drives and absolutely gorgeous compositions. The instrumental music is a nice touch on top of the film - and naturally, The Blue Hearts covers performed by the fictional band are awesome. I never believed Doona Bae could sing that well in Japanese. The entire cast is great, but Doona really surprised me this time (even though I was a fan of hers even before the film) - her performance dominates the film in a good way.

Linda Linda Linda is flawless under its own restrictions, but I have to add a little bit of realism to my review: it's not a cinematic masterpiece thoroughly. However, I do admire the film greatly.

Score: 9 out of 10

The Last Emperor

Bernardo Bertolucci's Oscar-winning The Last Emperor (1987) tells the story of the final Emperor of China, Pu Yi. He became an Emperor already at the age of 4 and due to the changing world he had to give his title away.

Narratively the film isn't anything special when compared to the other biographical films - which is probably only for the better. While it provides interesting observations on how the Chinese value were changed and it is a proper depiction of Chinese history, the film never becomes anything truly memorable.

At least the film's form is fascinating: beautiful camera drives, fascinating compositions and the entire production is executed on a spectacular scale. However, the English dialogue and stiff acting distracted me a lot - it was hard to get used to them.

In the end, The Last Emperor is a film that could have been better, but it is quite good in its present shape too.

Score: 8 out of 10

Still Walking

Still Walking (2008) proves that the director Hirokazu Koreeda is the most fascinating Japanese filmmaker working today along with the infamous Sion Sono. Still Walking is an almost Ozu-like family drama which depicts a day in the life of a Japanese family when the grownup kids come and meet their parents with their own children to commemorate their dead sibling.

The film explores the contemporary family dynamics thoroughly - there's a LOT going on in the film. The dense narrative provides observations on generation gap (e.g. the values of grandparents are constantly put next to the modern ones), pride (e.g. the grandfather still acts like a doctor even though he's retired; the son doesn't want to reveal his occupational problems) and grief (e.g. the grandparents can't let go of their dead heir) among other themes. The characters are complex and fascinating - new layers are revealed gradually throughout the film. The conflicts within the family are handled in a restrained way which makes the film even more interesting.

Even though Koreeda's form reminds one of Ozu in the film with its static camera and similar framing, the film's editing patterns are vastly different. Most of the time there's a lot more cutting in Still Walking than in any of Ozu's films (there are a few longer takes as well). That way Koreeda makes the film his own so that it won't become "only" a tribute to Ozu. The form is very intimate and a bit minimal.

Still Walking is a wonderful, poignant film. I became so immersed into its world that I felt like I was a member of the lovely, dysfunctional family. There is something so poetic and lovable about each of the characters - they are so wounded and flawed even though they don't seem like that at first. 

Score: 10 out of 10

Departures

Yôjirô Takita's Departures (2008) won the Oscar award for the Best Foreign Language Film. In the film, a cellist is forced to become an "encoffinist", the person who prepares the dead for funerals. The film is a lot of things at the same time: a social observation on social stigmas related to occupation, a story of finding solace and dignity in the most unlikely place, and it is also about dealing with death and troubled relationships.

The film succeeds in being all of these things at the same time - although I did have one problem with the screenplay: the film was emotionally uneven at first because the comedy and drama didn't really mix together well. However, the film's last 30 minutes don't have this problem at all.

Formally the film is solid - even a bit fascinating in a few scenes. It works really well all the way from music (loved the cello) to editing (the montage after the first hour was brilliant). The form isn't spectacular enough to make the film a masterpiece - which is a shame because it has all the ingredients for that.

Departures deserves its Oscar because it is a very good film - sadly it doesn't manage to go beyond that. 

Score: 8 out of 10

The Elephant Man

David Lynch's The Elephant Man (1980) is easily one of the most conventional films the director has ever made. Surrealism is almost non-existent and storytelling is rather simple. The flick is based on the true story of a badly deformed man who lived during the 1800's. It is a tale of discrimination and dignity. The film handled its themes properly enough to be satisfying. However, I found some of the characters to be a bit lacking. Even though the main character was well developed, sometimes I couldn't tell whether John Hurt's performance was brilliant or terribly over-the-top.

Lynch's form is very good: the black and white photography was beautiful and menacing and the editing was marvellous.  However, the musical score put me off on a few occasions by being way too dramatic.

Ultimately, The Elephant Man works well in all aspects even though it had its own flaws and it didn't impress me in any special way.

Score: 7 out of 10

Logorama

Logorama (2009) is an animated short film created by Francois Alaux and Herve de Crecy. I'm not going to review it because that would be ... futile in its own way. You can watch it online for free and you need to know only three things in advance: it features thousands of famous logos, it is nominated for an Oscar this year and it's AWESOME.

Score: 9 out of 10

Dolls

Takeshi Kitano's Dolls (2002) follows three different stories that have one theme in common - love. There is the story of a couple wandering in surreal landscapes after they face an emotionally drastic challenge in their lives. Another story focuses on an old yakuza boss who suddenly remembers a girlfriend he had decades ago. The third story tells about a famous pop idol and her obsessed fan who goes to great lengths to stay in touch with her.

Kitano has all the ingredients for a great film. The storylines begin in a promising way, but fall flat sooner or later. The first storyline is overlong and redundant, the second storyline is somewhat decent, but the ending is simply too abrupt and completely irrational. The third story ends up being quite decent and fascinating - I wish it would have been extended into a full feature film. Kitano gives us hardly anything tangible in the film - it's simply too vague. All of the characters are detached from the real world by love, but nothing is made out of that. Kitano seems to have run out of ideas for his "artsy film" - especially the terrible ending proves that. Dolls tells you how not to end a film. Even though I hate the glaring flaws of the content, it has a few redeeming qualities - such as the fascinating characters and observation on love (even if it's too distant).

Kitano's form is challenging because the film runs at such a slow and dreamy pace that it can easily make one fall asleep. However, it is fitting for the film. The delicious cinematography kept me interested throughout the film and the poignant musical score was a nice touch on top of the nice visuals.

Ultimately, Dolls is an intriguing film which is sadly flawed and at times frustrating.

Score: 6 out of 10