Films, Books and Music

I am crazy about them, I must confess, crazy about all of them. I cannot think of a world without these antonishing people who left wonderful gifts for us (for me at least). Come to think of them, all are Japanese! Now, this doesn’t mean I am also crazy about Japanese girls *grin*…

Um, Japanese filmmakers, writers, singers, I am a real sucker for these…talking of films and songs, I am more into the black and white and that drooling music era. Now you can well guess my age! Books also almost fall on the same category.

OK! Kenji Mizoguchi! Mizoguchi’s films are well known for their championing of women. His films have an aesthetic that is reminiscent of Japanese art. I saw Life of O’Haru, Ugetsu, Osaka Elegy, A Geisha)

Ah! Akira Kurosawa! A filmmaker known for his fast paced action and Samurai films. Who haven’t heard of Seven Samurai? I watched Seven Samurai, Rashomon, Throne of Blood, The Hidden Fortress, Yojimbo, Sanjuro, High and Low, Red Beard, Dersu Uzala, The Stray Dog, Ran, Madadayo.

Oh! Ozu Yasujiro! Known for his sad, simple story of generational conflict. Ozu chose a persistent approach towards film and its limits, liberating himself from the ambiguity of outlines, dampness and shadows. Ozu preferred dry sunlight conditions (as opposed to Mizoguchi’s fog, or Kurosawa’s rain); its sole purpose being to “approach the dazzle of midsummer sunlight”. I watched Late Spring, Early Summer, Tokyo Story, Early Spring, End of Summer

Um, I do watch ‘modern’ movies too…say for example, The Village Album and Always: Sunset in the Third Street.

Books! Japanese Novels! Haruki Murakami! Read all his novels and loved them all. I like Kenzaburo Oe (The Silent Cry), Kobo Abe (Woman in the Dunes, The Face of Another), Yukio Mishima (Spring Snow, The Temple of the Golden Pavilion, The Sound of Waves) and I have yet to read books by Yasunari Kawabata.

Japanese Songs? I listen to a few of them. I like Rimi Natsukawa (especially Nada Sou Sou), Tokyo Ethmusica, Toru Takemitsu and I listen to a collection of somewhat old Japanese songs the titles and artists of which I fail to know since my Japanese is as good as my Arabic or Hebrew. Who was it that sang Subaru?

So, what about Japanese girls? I have never seen one! Seriously…besides the ones on the silver screen. LOL. Um, talking of girls, um, what is her name, the one in Nada Sou Sou – Tears for you? Damn! She’s cute!

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