Worst of the Apples

500 Days of Summer

soirore — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 13:07:38 +0000

Quite an odious, bland, unoriginal film really but one whose message seems to be slightly different than the one intended.

It opens by naming a ‘bitch’ ex-girlfriend of the writer so its woman hating is established swiftly. Later comparisons between the ‘messing with Tom’s head for 18 months’ by Summer and Sid Vicious stabbing Nancy Spungen are too ridiculous to take seriously but somehow the film does. The lead character Tom is so self obsessed and entitled he believes that a woman not loving him ‘right’ is the same as murder.

The intention of the film seems to be (although its lack of direction makes this a generous leap) about finding a happy medium between cynicism and the type of romantic love perpetuated by songs, literature and film (oh the irony). But actually it serves rather well as an indictment of romance as a whole although not as effectively as In the Cut for example.

The fact that Tom is so unlikeable works against the films sexism and its dismissal of Summer’s synicism. Other people, blind-date Alison especially, tell Tom that he’s being unreasonable or a stalker. Other people are sensible. The conclusion we take from the film is that Tom was wrong and that relationships are about more than one person. I don’t think Tom, or the writer, understands that stories about couple relationships are less interesting if they don’t consider both parties.

There’s a great Flick-Off about this film on Bitch Flicks which deals with the lack of characterisation (or general point) to the film.

Films seen: 28 November to 4 December 2011

soirore — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 12:38:27 +0000

Snakes on a Plane, 2006
Not a deliberate viewing but it was on while we were having dinner and just had to see it through to the end. Very silly but I loved that it took itself seriously; not too many winks to the audience or anything.

500 Days of Summer, 2009
See the expanded review here.

Postcards from the Edge, 1990

D.O.A., 1950
Ace beginning but the rest of the film couldn’t match up to the concept. Nearly died of laughter at the notification that the luminous poison was real. Excellent use of sound throughout as well; the haunting jive tunes especially.

The Spy in Black, 1939
Amazing spy thriller, didn’t guess the twist until Captain Hart did. So much to commend think I’ll just have to recommend it to everyone I meet.

Magical Girlhoods in the Films of Studio Ghibli

soirore — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 15:16:25 +0000

This was written for Bitch Flicks’ Animated Children’s Films series.

“For the people who used to be ten years old, and the people who are going to be ten years old.”

–Director Hayao Miyazaki on Spirited Away

The films of Studio Ghibli provide their viewers with a rich variety of female characters from warrior princesses to love-struck adolescents, curious toddlers to powerful witches. These characters owe a great deal to the prototypes of European fairy tales and Japanese folklore and in many ways are traditional versions and depictions of femininities, but there’s an underlying sense of joy for feminist viewers in that these girls and women are active, subjective and thoroughly engaging. I’m focusing here on young girls in the lighter end of Ghibli’s production including sisters Mei and Satsuke in My Neighbour Totoro, Kiki in Kiki’s Delivery Service and Chihiro in Spirited Away.

Ghibli films tend to blend fantasy and reality so that magic and flight are acceptable parts of the worlds the characters inhabit. Girls especially tend to possess magic powers or particular appreciation of them and this is shown in an unexceptional manner. While Kiki raises some eyebrows in her new town, it’s because the townsfolk don’t see many witches, not because they don’t believe in their existence. Similarly, although Kiki is an outsider, there is a distinct lack of threat to her for being so. In Ghibli worlds girls are fully entitled to fly on broomsticks, as long as they don’t congest traffic, and 13 year olds are allowed to pursue their cultural practices of living alone. In My Neighbour Totoro when Mei tells Satsuke and their father about her encounter with Totoro, after initial disbelief they embrace the truth that there are friendly nature spirits in the area, even leading to father taking the girls to pay their respects to the forest’s deities.

This acceptance of magic is refreshing and marks a clear difference to American cartoons where ironic references are embedded in children’s fantasy to appeal to parents. In this way parents are encouraged to indulge, but secretly laugh at their children’s engagement with fantasy. There’s no knowing irony in Ghibli films, instead they are focussed on telling children’s stories for children and the lack of distinct boundaries between the magic and the mundane are part of this child-centred view. That the protagonists are predominantly female makes for a collection of films focussed on girls’ adventures and triumphs where girls’ experiences are trusted and valued.

Children, like women, are often depicted as having a close connection to the supernatural; that they can see things the rest of us cannot. Indeed Mei and Satsuke seem privileged more than anything to be invited to join the Totoros’ night-time nature ritual. Dancing and flying with creatures the rest of the world (the Ghibli world at least) would revere but aren’t lucky enough to encounter. Chihiro doesn’t have a natural affinity for magic but she’s gifted in the solving of magical problems like how to clean a dirty river spirit.

Mei, Satsuke, Kiki and Chihiro all work within the magical world as part of their quest narratives. Mei and Satsuke are dealing with the illness and potential death of their mother and a move to a new home. Kiki has moved away from her parents according to witch culture and Chihiro seeks the return of her parents from the spiritual realm where she’s been trapped and they’ve been turned into pigs.

In all three stories there’s also the seeking of identity for the girls, especially and most literally for Chihiro for she has her very name stolen by a witch. In their quests for self-hood and identity all four characters go through similar trials and experiences: the absence of parental influence, the access to magical powers, the physical manifestations of anxieties such as the dust bunnies that feature in both My Neighbour Totoro and Spirited Away.

The absence of parents is a common way to allow independence to young females from fairy tales to Jane Austen and unlike for orphaned boys in fiction it can also represent a removal of patriarchal influence in general. It’s not just that these girls don’t have parents guiding them or checking up on them; they are also free to create their own rules of engagement with the world.

One way that all four girls find meaning and self is through work. Satsuke in school and house work, Mei despite being very young does gardening, Kiki sets up her delivery service and Chihiro works in the bath house. All of them do a lot of cleaning. There’s an interesting mix of public and private here and certainly the suggestion that domestic labour can be especially rewarding (for example Kiki’s paid work can provide anxieties and problems). But is the culturally feminine nature of this work an issue? In Chihiro’s case cleaning is linked to subservience and being a captive to the domestic but for the others (and eventually for her) it’s a tool of empowerment and liberation. Does such labour inevitably have negative associations of female drudgery?

Another way that selfhood and identity is achieved by these girls is by flight. Most obviously for Kiki where her broomstick is literally the means of earning a living and saving a friend’s life but also in how Totoro and Cat Bus fly Mei and Satsuke away from their worries and later to their mother. Chihiro’s flight is more anxious, as her encounters with magic are generally, but still serves to move her closer to self discovery by being the time she gives Haku his name so leading her to the rediscovery of her own.

Work as empowerment isn’t the only moral message in these films, with ecological messages also being played out. In My Neighbour Totoro there’s the idyllic agricultural setting as well as the Totoros and other spirits of the forest. In Spirited Away rivers like Haku’s have been filled in because of the greed of humans. The messages of conservation, respect of nature (and blaming of humans as nature’s destroyers) are not as forcefully applied as in, for example, Princess Mononoke but neither are they subtle. While this preaching could be tiresome in other films, because of their earnestness and how the protagonists are fully on message it’s actually pleasant. Although nurturing the planet back to health is presented as an ungendered activity the films together can be viewed as showing the next generation of empowered young women actively making progress and solutions to the problems inflicted on the world by older generations. This also applies economically where Kiki and Chihiro’s enterprising labours lead to success for both. Chihiro especially is placed at the beginning of the film in the context of a Japan after economic downturn and reckless financial behaviour by her elders (as reported by her father) damaging Japan as a whole and its youth implicitly.

Not everybody believes that Ghibli heroines represent empowered femininities. I’ve been rather selective in the choice of films to cover but even if I’d widened the selection I stand by my view. Ponyo for example wasn’t included as its heroine isn’t really a girl but although it’s a variation on the disempowering The Little Mermaid the core message is rather different. Ponyo accepts a loss of powers because they were never entirely hers and the sea’s power remains with the feminine; Ponyo’s sea-goddess mother.

There’s been significant note of the glimpses of knickers we get in Ghibli films like when Kiki is flying and generally when there’s any rough and tumble. There’s merit in the argument that this could be voyeuristic representations of young girls but it can also be seen as further expressing their freedom and activity. These girls don’t worry about skirts riding up because they totally lack vanity and are preoccupied with altogether more important missions. We’re not given alluring peeps at nubile bodies but girls in action which female bodies so rarely are; that gaze is usually reserved for male bodies. If female passivity is alluring then the kinetic energy of these girls places them beyond that.

What’s pleasurable about these films from a feminist perspective is their alliance with joyful, engaged and active girlhoods. These girls don’t wait for princes and don’t focus on their appearances but determinedly pursue their missions, however difficult.

Films seen: 14 to 27 November 2011

soirore — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 12:56:53 +0000

A film fortnight this time as last week I didn’t watch any films at all. I’ll be handing in my cinephile membership card…

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, 1966
Amazing. Will write a full review at a later point because there’s so much in the film.

Deep End, 1970
This was a really ace, fascinating film. I bought a documentary DVD with some shorts from BFI Flipside (I think I was terribly restrained buying only that on a visit to the BFI store) and am going to look more into the collection as a whole. If Deep End is anything to go by I should have dozens more films to add to the list. I may be writing more about this later…

Films seen: 7 to 13 November 2011

soirore — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 14:02:57 +0000

Feeling poorly this week. Usually this would mean watching more films but TV made my eyes ache. There’s nothing worse than being off work and unable to watch DVDs.

After the Thin Man, 1936

Helvetica, 2007
Was rather disappointed with this film as I’m really passionate about fonts and typefaces and thought it would teach me something. Actually I learnt very little.
It was very much from a designer’s point of view rather than historical/ cultural and several of the interviewees added nothing at all. Worse were the clips showing Helvetica’s myriad uses in signage and advertising around the world. This could have been done well but just looked bland and the choices were uninspired. Should have been a shorter TV programme with only 2/3 of the interviewees and some more critical discussion rather than the fanboy silliness that tainted it at times.

Films seen: 31 October to 6 November 2011

soirore — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 19:40:09 +0000

Ponyo, 2009

Kiki’s Delivery Service, 1989

X-Men Origins: Wolverine, 2009

Chloe, 2009

Films seen: 17 to 30 October 2011

soirore — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 10:19:27 +0000

Cleaner, 2007
Note to casting director; if you’re making a thriller with a ‘twist’ try to ensure that you don’t cast someone obvious as the baddie.

DiG!, 2004
Interesting look as an alien world. Was stupidly distracted by Gilmore Girls and Veronica Mars connections though.

Farewell My Lovely, 1945
Like watching a classic noir version of The Big Lebowski. Seriously though this was ace and it’s a tragedy that these films are only shown on TV at 2 in the morning or aftenoon when nobody will see them. Thank goodness for PlayTV.

Films seen: 10 to 16 October 2011

soirore — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 12:37:04 +0000

L’Aventura, 1960

Michael Clayton, 2007

The Manchurian Candidate, 2004

Also watched the first season of Breaking Bad, 2008

Films seen: 19 September to 9 October 2011

soirore — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 11:33:52 +0000

Been a bit slack with blogging recently but I’ve not had the time to watch many films so it hardly matters.

Reel History of Britain (TV)
I watched several episodes of this over three weeks. While the content was ace the programmes themselves were ridiculously full of padding and repetition making at least a third of each show a waste of everyone’s time.

Calendar Girls, 2003

The Story of British Pathe (TV)

Horizon: The Secret World of Pain (TV)
Fascinating documentary.

The Brain: A secret History (TV)

She’s the Man, 2006
Quite charming version of Twelfth Night.

The Lovely Bones, 2009
Utter bobbins! I read the book and although I wasn’t a huge fan of its sentimentality I found some aspects quite interesting. This film only dwelled upon the less interesting aspects. By focusing on Susie’s dad (the dullest character) it moved away from what I found important in the book; Lindsey’s reactions and investigation, and Ruth’s activities bringing women victims of violence together. The acting was good I guess but who cares when the film was unwatchably rubbish.

Dan in Real Life, 2007
This got bad reviews but although it was idealised and predictable I found the performances and wit engaging enough to make it enjoyable.

A Town Called Panic, 2009
Not as funny as it should have been although it did have its moments.

The Page Turner, 2006
This was exactly what I expected. You always know where you are with these bourgois French dramas and that’s ace sometimes (as with this film).

The Pawnbroker, 1965
This was mentioned in Scenes from a Revolution which I’m reading at the moment and coincidentally was recorded off TV the other week. It’s one of those films that is just quality and you can tell pretty soon after beginning it. Powerful.

Would have been interesting to have seen this as part of my older film project as it was very ‘of its time’.

Empire Records, 1995
Another film whose time is easily identifiable. Found myself saddened/ amused and distracted by where the actors have ended up. It’s a film full of artistic slackers and yet several of the actors have gone on to law enforcement parts (in The Mentalist, Without a Trace and various CSIs). They’re all working for The Man now…

Films seen: 12 to 18 September

soirore — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 11:50:47 +0000

Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi
I haven’t put dates for these films as I watched the new Blu-Ray versions which are so altered in some parts that they are more like remakes than the originals in a new format. Anyhow; very attractive but the art work on the case is abysmal.

Following, 1998
Liked the beginning best when it was all about invading other people’s lives and learning about them. It turned into a pretty good thriller but lots its uniqueness.

The Private Lives of Pippa Lee, 2009
Excellent film.