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Reviews
Billy Elliot (2000)
Very cinematic. Often fantastic.
Here comes another charming film set in Northern England. Its dynamism almost sticking out of the screen, "Billy Elliot" reminded me that movies were once called "motion picture".
Julie Walters and Gary Lewis offer superb supporting performances as a somewhat brusque dance teacher and a curmudgeonly miner respectively, but the biggest accolade should be received by Jamie Bell, whose natural acting as well as elastic dancing really struck me.
Billy expresses pulses of his spirit - anger, sadness, pleasure and rupture - by dances rather than words. The more skillful he becomes in dancing, the more eloquently he does this, which at some time energetically collides with still lives such as concrete road and brick wall. The scene where Billy shows how much he loves ballet by dancing in front of his static father is just great.
Some have justifiably criticised the superficiality of the secondary subjects like Billy's sexual orientation and miner's strike. My impression is that, as for whether Billy is straight or gay, the director has sensitively dealt with his vacillating and indecisive mind of coming of age. With respect to the miner's strike, had the film been given too much emphasis on it and been depressingly politicised as was "Brassed Off", it would have gone into a wrong direction, marginalising the main theme, i.e. Billy's growth.
Yet "Billy Elliot" has some defects. While it possesses a lot of fine moments when picture and music are so beautifully integrated into cinematic quality (I particularly like the take where the image of rather nettled Billy brandishing long and chunky stick overlaps with Fred Astaire's "Top Hat"), there are also scenes so hackneyed that I almost sniggered, and the generally good music is sometimes obtrusive and over-sentimental. And if the redundant scenes had been cut and the script had allowed time for portlaying Billy boarding in London - where his character would necessarily crash with the value of the predominantly middle-class ballet institution - it might have possibly been more intriguing (but, alas, I realised it would take another film!).
Having said these flaws, I believe "Billy Elliot" is one of the most fantastic works done by the British film industry. Yes, as most people admit, the story line is conventional to say the least, but that's not the whole point. The quality images and the splendid performances certainly compensate for the lack of originality in the plot. Above all, "Billy Elliot" successfully depicts explosive and jubilant nature of adolescence, and should receive massive applause from the audiences of any generation.
Highly Recommended.
Subarashiki nichiyôbi (1947)
Often dull, Kurosawa in transition
Probably those who respect Kurosawa's samurai movies can hardly recognize this film as his. Far from these samurai plays it lacks dramatic tension. Easygoing atmosphere dominates the whole story (some shots are pleasant, for example, playing sandlot baseball or visiting a show room). Of course Kurosawa doesn't intend to make fairy tale. Hero and heroine are miserably poor, spot the undernourished child and resent the ticket scalpers. All are the reflections of the then Japanese society. None the less they don't effectively function and often make dull situations (especially the scene of the couples in their room). Near the end heroine cries out towards audiences watching this film but I couldn't catch the spurt of her emotion. Supposedly because Japan became by far economically richer and this film lost its conviction in present Japan. However, next to this movie Kurosawa made a breathtaking "Yoidore Tenshi", whose scene is also laid in late 1940's poor Japan. From this point "Subarashiki Nichiyobi" can be regarded as a Kurosawa's transitional film.
Otona no miru ehon - Umarete wa mita keredo (1932)
Lost Innocence
I reckon this film to be Ozu's best work, although he is well-known for his "Tokyo Story" (which is also magnificent). This is a satirical comedy about human relations. Ozu brilliantly contrasts children's world with adult one. The child actors make splendid performance, entirely different from the players who show wooden faces in the works of Ozu's later years. The children in this movie are innocent and casual. Ozu is often thought to be a serious artist but he is a gag man by nature. He scatters various gags over the film, tactfully handling the child actors. I really admire his comic sense. Yet the trenchant irony underlies the story. Two brothers are outraged by their father for his clownish and subservient actions in his office. However, they finally understand and accept the hierarchy in the adult world. In a way this is a story of their growth but at the same time it is very sad that they lose their innocence.
Oshidori utagassen (1939)
How lovely singing is!
In fact I hated musical. It's unnatural that actors should suddenly begin to sing, isn't it? I was really stupefied, however, when I saw this film for the first time. 69 minutes are filled with pleasure! I thought Japanese couldn't make musicals, for their behavior is utterly different from that of Western people. Should they be able to imitate Gene Kelly or Fred Astaire to the life it would make nothing but ugliness.
This musical is truly based on Japanese behavior. The actors don't dance ostentatiously nor do they make excessive smile. They are just natural. Actually their singing is unskilled but it doesn't undermine its excellence. It seems that they are sincerely happy to sing (Dick Mine's stupid lord, Takeshi Shimura's antique crazy, Chiezo Kataoka's easygoing hero... all are terrific). I don't know any other movie than this which makes me so happy. Seeing this musical we can realize how delightful singing is. Stunning Movie!