First, The Tale of Genji, another fix for my obsession with Japanese culture, art, etc. I'm not all that far along, and I'm having some trouble with names, etc., but I can say that I am amazed by the aestheticism of Heian culture--apparently all things are done in this world for artistic effect, and responses are usually hyperbolic (weeping, fainting, etc).
Next, Mario Vargas Llosa's The War of the End of the World, a novel that shows up more clearly than any other his interest in apocalyptic/utopian strains of thought (an idea quite clear in his latest, The Way to Paradise). I wish my paperback copy had as cool a cover as this one; mine looks like some 1970's adventure film. Reading about Brazil right after being immersed in Borges' Argentina is a little disorienting, but I enjoy the epic scope of this novel.
Also, and the Buzzard will be glad to know I've finally gotten to it, I'm watching the second half of Kurosawa's Seven Samurai tonight after choir practice. So far, I'm pretty sure I'd go into battle following Kambei Shimada (played by Takashi Shimura). I know that Toshiro Mifune is usually seen as the big dog in Kurosawa's films, but I'm not thrilled with his character. . . yet. I preferred him in Red Beard and in Yojimbo. But like I said, I still have half the film to go.
2 comments:
Yes, Mifune is more of a sympathetic character in The Seven Samurai, and his character serves more as social commentary on the Japanese nostalgia for a samurai past.
Glad to see you are watching it!
Another of my favorite Kurosawa films stars Takashi Shimura: Ikiru (To Live). In it he plays an old sarariman with a terminal illness who finds a way to reinvigorate his last days. Amazing stuff.
Yeah, I have Ikiru on the list to watch, along with Sanjuro.
But did I get to finish the film last night? Nooooo! We didn't get home from choir practice until it was too late. Maybe tonight.
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