The beauty of a sharpened blade
Jul. 1st, 2004 12:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fan_eluneWatched quite a few films recently, let's start small and build: first, Kill Bill Vol. 1. It was... okay. I didn't enjoy it as much as Pulp Fiction. Will be watching Vol. 2 soon enough. It was pure Tarantino though, and Lucy Liu is as yummy as ever. I rather appreciate the reality of Tarantino's fights, especially the first one with - was it Vernita Green? The place was a wreck afterwards. However, the big battle before she faced off Oren almost... bored me. There's only so much severing of limbs you can take before you grow unbelievably bored.
Then, Shrek 2. It was fun, really. I particularly enjoyed Puss and Charming - Antonio Banderas and Rupert Everet. The fairy godmother, by the ever so funny Jennifer Sanders - now I wanna watch some more Ab Fab. Hadn't even recognised John Cleese though. And I absolutely adored the last thing that happened to Charming. It's too bad they seemed to underuse him after the first scenes - the "Medieval Meal" part was hilarious. As for Puss, he was great from beginning to end. And now I wanna see Princess Bride again. I need to get my hands on a DVD of that film.
And finally, Princess Mononoke. No, I had never seen it. I was absolutely blown away. There was such an atmosphere to it, from the very start. (And, incidentally, pro-dubbed-versions people don't know what they miss. Seeing it in Japanese is the only way to go.) I was completely taken in. The first image Ashitaka gets of San is so very powerful. The whole film is so very powerful! Their love is almost tangible, and yet it remains something tame to an extent, something shy - why do we rely so much on touches to show love, in our Western world? It's so much more. The conflicts in the movie are absolutely astonishing in their shades of grey, and Ashitaka's determination to find a way, the thickness of emotions, the complexity of every relationship and every character... I think I fell in love with that movie. I never thought I'd say that about an anime, which shows how biased I was. And yet, it took me in and blew me away. I'm in awe.
Then, Shrek 2. It was fun, really. I particularly enjoyed Puss and Charming - Antonio Banderas and Rupert Everet. The fairy godmother, by the ever so funny Jennifer Sanders - now I wanna watch some more Ab Fab. Hadn't even recognised John Cleese though. And I absolutely adored the last thing that happened to Charming. It's too bad they seemed to underuse him after the first scenes - the "Medieval Meal" part was hilarious. As for Puss, he was great from beginning to end. And now I wanna see Princess Bride again. I need to get my hands on a DVD of that film.
And finally, Princess Mononoke. No, I had never seen it. I was absolutely blown away. There was such an atmosphere to it, from the very start. (And, incidentally, pro-dubbed-versions people don't know what they miss. Seeing it in Japanese is the only way to go.) I was completely taken in. The first image Ashitaka gets of San is so very powerful. The whole film is so very powerful! Their love is almost tangible, and yet it remains something tame to an extent, something shy - why do we rely so much on touches to show love, in our Western world? It's so much more. The conflicts in the movie are absolutely astonishing in their shades of grey, and Ashitaka's determination to find a way, the thickness of emotions, the complexity of every relationship and every character... I think I fell in love with that movie. I never thought I'd say that about an anime, which shows how biased I was. And yet, it took me in and blew me away. I'm in awe.
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Date: 2004-07-01 04:53 am (UTC)And I'm so glad you loved Mononoke Hime. I love since the very first time I saw it, when it was first released in theatre here. It's actually the film I saw the most in a theatre, I think. (Which isn't that many times, maybe 3, but I don't usually watch twice a film. Whichever film it is, even a great one.)
What did you think of the kodamas? I was so fond of them. Still am.
So far it's my favorite Miyazaki movie. There's others I really loved, but this one is the one that'll stay with me.
And kudos to Joe Hisaishi, who produced amazing musics as ever. No wonder he's both Mizazaki's and Kitano's favorite composer.
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Date: 2004-07-01 05:30 am (UTC)Hmm....
Date: 2004-07-01 07:02 am (UTC)I too often go "argh!" when re-reading one of my comments and discovering a typo, a grammar error or whatever. Like, that "I love" thing. My first sentence was fine, but then I edited it to change it slightly, and the verb didn't make it safe.... ;-)
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Date: 2004-07-01 04:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-07-02 08:16 am (UTC)Jo's a big fan of the kodamas. I like them alright, but not like she does. I'm completely into the music though - rushed to the Fnac to buy it, that's saying something.
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Date: 2004-07-02 08:17 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-07-02 12:33 pm (UTC)Have you seen some other Miyazaki movies?
Or some Kitano ones, for that matter? I know that when I saw Dolls I did actually recognize it was the same composer (which tells much. Well, at least for those who know I'm somehow music-impaired. ;-) ).
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Date: 2004-07-05 09:02 pm (UTC)Sen to Chihiro no kamikakuchi/Spirited Away/Le voyage de Chihiro. Such a beautiful movie about dreams, childhood, kindness, life.
It doesn't have the same kind of... "direct impact" that Mononoke can have but still it's a movie who goes directly to your heart and soul... no less.
It's my favorite Myazaki movie, an inch ahead of Mononoke Hime.
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Date: 2004-07-06 09:16 am (UTC)