music and film

209. Mari Iwamoto

2011-10-21T15:57:00.002-07:00

208. Ozu Film #28: Dragnet Girl (1933)

2011-10-05T12:14:00.008-07:00

*28. Hijosen no onna (Dragnet Girl) (4/27/33) (100 min.) [Silent B&W [buy it here]

The DVD requires a region-free player.
Like Days of Youth, there is no soundtrack -- try and imagine the music (and the benshi).
The Shochiku logo is similar to what we've seen on our first three available films: a bas-relief with the Imperial crest and the date (1933).
The background for the credits is a modern-looking painting which is dominated by dark crescent shapes surrounded by a connect-the-dots matrix.
The very first shot is a stunner: a high crane shot down on a large empty concrete space. Two men, each with a long camera-facing shadow, walk left to right, while another solitary figure walks away from the camera.
Cut; POV out a window with wooden slats hanging down. Notice the stunning composition here -- the right side of the window is open and two windows of the opposite building are perfectly framed between the wooden slats and the open window! (Ozu will repeat this shot near the end of the film.)
The pillow shots here are striking:

Cut; two grandfather clocks (one reads almost 3:40, the other around 3:47), swinging pendulums, time cards on far right;
Cut; time cards and hats hanging on rack.
Cut; a wall clock (showing 3:33).
Cut back to the hats; a white one falls;
Cut to ground level shot of the hat;
Cut and then pan left to right right behind a row of female typists.
Cut back to hats (including the empty peg where the white had once hung), panning left to right...
Cut back to the previous pan of the typists.

The pan stops and holds on a typewriter with no typist. She enters the frame and
Reverse cut to a medium shot of Tokiko (Kinuyo Tanaka), checking out her work.
Swinging office doors (WBK); Okazaki (Yasuo Nanjo), the president's son, looking over the mail, asks about his father and then has his assistant call in Tokiko. He gives her a ruby ring...
"What you do think that means?"
"If it means that, I'll give it back to you."
Transition shots; door ("Private"), clock (4:15), door, two clocks; resume pan of typewriters, now being covered.
Wastebaskets, overflowing.
High crane shot, people leaving building (long shadows facing camera)
Interior, looking out a translucent window with Gothic iron work ... Tokiko walking away; she stops.
Is looking at herself in a store window (shot with camera facing her directly).
Cut, Okazaki standing on corner. "Join me for some tea."
As they exit frame, Ozu holds on scene.
Two men enter frame; stop.
Cut to their POV: Okazaki and Tokiko standing, talking.
After Okazaki departs, Tokiko is walking with the two men, one on each side. It turns out they know each other. They have tabbed Okazaki as a "sucker" until she tells them that he's her boss's son and she does not want to get fired.
The men run away suddenly; she crosses the street.
We see why the men ran; a policeman enters the frame. He follows her (camera at feet).
Cut; more pillow shots: scale, rings;
Cut medium shot of boxers; Hiroshi (Kôji Mitsui) moves towards camera, skipping rope.
Jyoji (Joji Oka) scene. Tokiko arrives.
Cut to pan from behind bass, drums. Dance hall.
"Who's coming to attack us?"

Senko (Yoshio Takayama) approaches the strangers and does a little dance.

(We will see him do it again in a moment, and later, at the gym.)

As he will continue to do, Ozu elides the actual fight entirely. Note the sequence:

The strangers follow Senko into the back room. They face him, ready to do damage, until Jyoji appears.
Senko (dance) waves in the rest of the gang.
Jyoji tells them to "see to Tokiko."
The gang pauses, astonished that he will fight one against three.
Ozu pulls the camera back, as all four men begin to take off their coats.
In a cute bit of business, Senko reenters the room just as Jyoji is throwing his coat to him -- which Senko catches and then turns around and leaves.
Ozu holds on the tense moment, facing the men about to fight.
But ... surprise ... Ozu cuts to follow Senko out of the room and back to the rest of the group in the dance hall.

And then, in a fine bit of silent film construction: - a quick axial cut to a medium-close shot of the group, all heads turning together;
Cut to another group; girls rising from their chairs, and their heads all turning simultaneously;
Cut back to the first group; all heads turn twice;
Cut to a third group; people rising;
Senko runs towards camera which is placed right behind the drummer; motions for them to play;
Couples flood the dance floor;
Cut to a POV behind the bar, profiles of Tokiko, Senko and his girlfriend. Tokiko:

"Only a cannon could knock out my Jyoji."

He returns, framed through two girls on left and right. Senko is ready with his coat; he is cool and collected.

"Give some water to the three punks."

Cut to the beaten punks, trying to regain their wits;
ECU on three glasses of water on a tray, dice in the foreground;
Senko goes off to deliver the water; Jyoji and Tokiko dance. Girls with yo-yos pass in front.

Pillows: Tea pot pan; door opens to Jyoji, Senko, Tokiko and Kazuko (Sumiko Mizukubo), Hiroshi's sister.

Senko returns with Hiroshi who wants to join.
Visits sis at record shop. (Nipper, the RCA dog business) ... borrows money.
Hiroshi playing billiards. Chalk. Fight. Broken up. More billiards.
Comes home to an angry, disappointed Kazuko.
Gym, Hiroshi talking with Senko. Someone to see Jyoji. He goes outside and meets Kazuko. To Hiroshi: "You have a visitor."
"You'll never make it in this racket," then punches him.

207. Ozu Films #25-27 (1932-1933)

2011-10-05T12:03:00.007-07:00

25. Seishun no yume im aizuko (Where Now Are the Dreams of Youth) (10/13/32) (ca. 90 min.) [Silent B&W {acc. to Richie, Shochiku negative exists, but the film has never been commercially released -- clip of 4:31 here}]

The shooting of "I Was Born, But..." was interrupted when one of the children was hurt and this film was hastily prepared. Four boys have graduated college. Three of them eventually have to ask the fourth, the son of a company president, for jobs. He, in turn, gets one of their girls.

The clip features Saitô Tatsuo and has a clean, bright look to it.

26. Mata au hi made (Until the Day We Meet Again) (11/24/32) (ca. 110 min.) [Sound B&W NEP]

Ozu's first sound film; albeit music and effects only (no dialogue).

An atypical story, a romantic melodrama about a prostitute in love with a boy whose father dislikes her; it takes place during the night before the young man must leave for the army.

27. Tôkyô no onna (Woman of Tokyo) (2/9/33) (ca. 70 min.) [Sound (music/effects) B&W Existing Shochiku print but no commercial release; clip of beginning 7:52 here.]

A girl works hard to put her younger brother through school only to have him kill himself when he learns that she has financed his education by becoming a prostitute.

Filmed in eight days.
The clip shows two scenes: first the brother and sister at home; she gives him money for his school tuition. Next, she is at work, a typist. A policeman interviews her bosses -- who praise her work -- but seems to get suspicious when they tell him that she also works for a professor as a translator "till late at night." The clip ends.

206. Ozu Film #24: I Was Born, But... (1932)

2011-10-04T17:35:00.010-07:00

*24. Umarete wa mita keredo (I Was Born, But...) (6/3/32) (100 min.) [Silent B&W] [buy it here]

Through the eyes of two young boys (eight and ten), Ozu explores the loss of innocence as they gradually realize that their father is not the "boss" -- and since they can beat up the boss's son, they simply do not understand why their dad doesn't rule the roost, as well. They go on a hunger strike, but eventually realize that life seems to hold many cold and bitter truths.

Arguably, one of his best films from any period -- certainly, his greatest silent...

According to a Japanese friend, a fuller translation of the title might be something like:

"I Was Born, But ... why do I have to go through all this hardship?"
Shot between November '31 and April '32, but interrupted by the shooting of the previous film (#23). This partially accounts for the way the film turns dark towards the end -- Ozu's attitude toward it had changed...
Ozu: "I started to make a film about children and ended up with a film about grown-ups; while I had originally planned to make a fairly bright little story, it changed while I was working on it, and came out very dark. The company hadn't thought it would turn out this way. They were so unsure of it that they delayed its release for two months." [Richie, p. 215.]
The film went on to with the Kinema Jumpo First Prize for that year.
Donald Sosin again composes and plays one of the finest silent film scores I've ever heard.
The first Shochiku card resembles the one in "Tokyo Chorus" -- a bas-relief; a tall figure with a staff next to a lion with 1932 across its body.
The background for the credit cards is hilarious: a man is standing at the base of three leaves extending from a stalk. He has on funny round glasses and is naked, covering his privates with his left hand.
The first card reads: "A Picture Book for Grown-Ups."
Original story by "James Maki." This was a name they made up for Ozu.
In September of '31, five of Shochiku's big stars left to form their own company (including the soon-to-die Tokihiko Okada). Luckily, Ozu was able to retain Saitô Tatsuo, who is given the role of a lifetime here -- and he certainly delivers.
Likewise, the kids (Hideo Sugawara and Tomio Aoki), who carry the film for the duration. They are terrific!
Aoki was eight when he made this film -- his 14th IMDb entry! He died in 2004, age 80.

The script -- with surprisingly few title cards for so much activity -- is as tight as can be. Note the character introductions, done casually but with careful intent:

ECU on car tire stuck, spinning in the mud.
Truck driver, looking back.
Dad (Saitô Tatsuo) walks into frame; CU on him.
Spinning tire; back to Dad who is glancing up at something.
His two boys, standing in the back of the truck looking down.
Dad, tire and two-shot of Dad & truck driver who says something to Dad.
- With no title cards whatsoever, Ozu makes it simple to follow the progression -- Dad looks at the kids and says something; the kids get out and prepare to push from the back of the truck.
Ozu finally fills the frame with the truck, which we see is loaded with a family's possessions -- trunks, suitcases and a doghouse.
Dad is vigorously turning the front crank; the kids have moved away and are talking.
Excellent ECU of tires spinning, truck rocking, getting out of the mud.
Ozu holds on the muddy path of road after the truck leaves the frame. We see only the legs of the kids as they walk by.
Cut to a front two-shot of the kids.
The first intertitle:
- "You go on ahead. Tell your mother I went to see Mr. Iwasaki."
The kids get back in the truck and Dad exits frame -- as Ozu holds on the long narrow road, engirded by telephone poles.

It's all very subtle, but it's made clear that the father -- although he seems stern in his interactions with the kids at first (after all, they're in a tense situation) -- is in fact very gentle and loving with them. Conversely, we can see in the eyes of the older boy a kind of questioning of the father's behavior and decision-making. As I say, very subtle and observable only on repeat viewings.

We cut to we don't know where -- but Ozu has packed the foreground of this initial frame with all sorts of objects.
The truck pulls up in the background and we the older boy (Ryoichi) jumping out of the passenger-side seat and his younger brother (Keiji) from the back. Ryoichi moves towards the camera.
Gradually, Ozu puts it all together. The boys are talking to two young men who are putting away books. They are asking for their mother (Mitsuko Yoshikawa); they go off with her while Ozu remains with the young men. Two title cards reveal much. One man says to the other:
- "Mr. Yoshii stopped in to pay his respects to the boss."
- "That's why he's a manager, you could learn from him."
(i.e. the men work for Yoshii, who is visiting his boss, Iwasaki.)

A delivery boy, Kozou (Shoichi Kofujita), comes by and asks Keiji to "call somebody."

Keiji glances back into the house and then turns back to Kozou and makes a ridiculous face.
Kozou raises his right arm and makes a fist.
Staying on him, we watch as he unclenches, takes off his hat and bows.
Reverse cut and Mom is standing at the door with Keiji.

Compared to the two available films before this one, Ozu's use of humor is becoming much subtle.

Keiji and Kozou seem to develop a tentative friendship.
Cut to a large imposing house. Dad is bowing to Mrs. Iwasaki (Teruyo Hayami) and her young son, Taro (Seiichi Kato) as Iwasaki (Takeshi Sakamoto, the man who was fired for being too old in "Tokyo Chorus") saunters into the scene from his tennis game (so Westernized).
"He's always getting into mischief," Iwasaki remarks, pointing towards Taro as he leaves the scene.
Dad responds: "All young boys should have a little mischief in them" (Beautifully ironic on repeat viewings).

The gang bullies little Keiji, taking away both the bun in his mouth and a ring toy that Kozou had given him.

Notice the little kid with the sign. After he tries to take a bite from the bun, the kid next to him -- perhaps his older brother -- snatches it away. Ozu then gives us a CU on the sign which is not translated with a title card, but with a modern subtitle:
"Upset tummy. Please don't feed him anything."

We get our first close-up of the little ring toy, as its new owner (the bully) tries to figure it out. Ozu then cuts to Ryoichi, who is playing with his own little toy just as Keiji arrives home, crying.

The boys return to the gang and Ryoichi confronts the bully. The fight is interrupted when Dad walks by. He tells the boys they need to "get along" with the local kids.
Note the beautiful transition which separates the scenes: a lone telephone pole which comes into view as the camera tracks the three characters. As soon as they exit the frame -- cut -- the pillow shot: the top of the pole, with bits of frayed cloth attached to the wires, being whipped by the wind.
Cut from this to a POV behind a fence, watching Dad exercise his arms (while smoking a cigarette). Dad is perfectly framed between two pieces of laundry hanging on the line (an Ozu motif).
Observe the breakfast scene, a microcosmic look at the essence of Ozu. Everything is played out in an extremely naturalistic turn (watch Hideo Sugawara, in particular). Dad is getting ready for work, the kids are eating ... it is nothing but a slice of morning life in which nothing happens.
The kids, facing a potential beating if they go to school, play hookey and eat their lunch early (note how the kids are always putting the bento box on their heads!).
Note a very clever transition: the kids are at school, marching, bored -- cut -- a rightward pan (rare for Ozu, even then) on office workers, all yawning (i.e., bored marching leading to a future of yawning).
The brothers share a cigarette butt.
Kozou runs into the boys and forges a teacher's "E" (for "excellent") on Keiji's calligraphy homework. The subtitle infers that he wrote the letter backwards!
The gang calls out the brothers, who successfully defeat Taro and another boy. The bully is conspicuously absent from this fight.
0:36:56. Dad, who has found out about the bullying, walks the kids to school and pauses to make sure they actually go. At one point, the boys stop and turn around to see if their father is still watching (he is) and Sosin puts in this little cue that sounds exactly like someone saying, "UH-OH!" It's very clever.
Taro confronts Keiji, this time with the bully present. Keiji loses, but Kozou intervenes and sends the bully home, crying.
The brothers now point to Taro, and ask Kozou to "tell him off, too."
They learn a very adult lesson when Kozou declines, saying that the boss is a much better customer than their dad.
The brothers now "control" the rest of the hang. Given specific hand signals, any other boy must lie down on the ground at the leader's command. Taro did this, and now the brothers do it.
Ozu completely gives over this part of the film to the childrens' POV, as they compare the complicated hierarchy of both their own world and that of the adults.
1) The bully's father calls back Ryoichi's earlier line: "Who made my kid cry?" The kids run away. This father is obviously a lot like his son...
2) The next kid demonstrates teeth removal by offering his dad a piece of caramel. The kids shake their heads in wonderment and scurry off again.
3) They meet up with Iwasaki and Chichi (Dad) and Taro finally settles the argument, once and for all, speaking to the brothers:
"That's my Dad's car. So my Dad's more important than yours."
The brothers test their leadership by ordering Taro to the ground. He does so, reluctantly, but Dad sees this and bows to Taro in apology as he dusts him off, looking at his sons sternly.
Dad leaves and the brothers repeat their command. Again, Dad sees it, and this time takes the boys away with him.
Again, notice the fermata, the pause -- such an important pacing tool for Ozu -- as he keeps the camera back as Dad and the boys walk further down the road.
The famous home-movie scene follows. Ozu takes his time setting everything up.
The kids, in their Sunday-finest, have to pay Taro a sparrow's egg as the price of admission; the adults are gathered around to watch the film.
The first reel. Ozu's fondness for scatalogical humor on full display:
The zoo. A large male lion.
"It's like the lionon the toothpaste tube."
"Which end does the toothpaste come out of?"
Keiji answers: "The tail end."
Next, a zebra. Taro asks:
"Are they black stripes on white or the other way around?"
The second reel: Iwasaki is crossing the street to meet what look like two young geisha girls. Offscreen, Mrs. Iwasaki is shooting daggers at her husband, while he desperately tries to save face by running the reel at fast forward speed (Sosin provides an appropriate cue).
Before the start of the third reel, Chichi lights the boss's cigarette with appropriate deference. As the reel begins, it appears that the employees are all doing calisthenics, perhaps on the rooftop of the workplace building. (I believe it is still fairly common for Japanese employees to exercise with their colleagues at work.)
The brothers are thrilled to see Dad on the screen.
Chichi begins making funny faces for the camera. Without intertitles, Ozu undulates between Dad looking ridiculous on the screen with a two-shot of the brothers watching all this, as we see them becoming more and more disgusted, disappointed, and disallusioned.
Meanwhile, all the adults, including Chichi, are laughing, although he seems a little embarrassed.
Ozu never confirmed whether or not his 1959 film, Ohayô ("Good Morning") was a "remake" of this film -- but the one strong parallel that both sets of brothers must come to terms with is the apparent hypocrisy of the adults' behavior.
In this film, after watching their father kowtow to the boss and look ridiculous, they demand that he should be the boss instead of Taro's father. They don't understand.
In the '59 film, the kids are bewildered at the way adults use phrases like "Good Morning" and "have a nice day" instead of saying what they really mean.
They go on a short hunger strike, which leads Dad to attempt to explain the nature of things to them. Do they understand?

In the final scene, we see Taro lie down on the ground at the brothers' signal, but when he gets up, the three friends march off to school arm in arm. The bully appears with the ring toy, still unable to figure it out. Ryoichi quickly demonstrates how to do it, but the bully still cannot duplicate the trick.

The scene ends on a wide shot -- the early morning rush, kids running to school, a tram whizzing by in the background...

201. My Seven Favorite Compositions

2011-10-04T15:52:00.005-07:00

Links to my posts at The Best American Poetry blog on my seven favorite compositions:

202. Ozu Film #8: Days of Youth (1929)

2011-10-04T13:40:00.007-07:00

*8. Gakusei romansu: Wakaki hi (Days of Youth) (4/13/29) (103 min.) [Silent B&W] [buy it here]

The first surviving film and what a precious jewel it is! Here is a peek at the 25-year-old director who would eventually make so many great masterpieces. Not quite yet, however. Here, he seems to be content with cloning the type of pictures his mentor Okubo had been churning out -- mindless comedies with as much spark and spirit as Ozu could put into it. There are, however, many telltale signs; predictors of Ozu's unique way of thinking regarding the making of a commercial film.

Two college students room together and prepare for a ski trip following final exams. They both fall for the same girl, but she is not interested in either of them; she's about to become engaged to the ski instructor. On the train back to Tokyo they commiserate about lost love, then find out that they've flunked. The friends try to maintain a positive attitude and look forward to the future.

There is no recorded score for the film on this DVD. As you watch it, try to imagine the live music, and of course the benshi, who literally brought the film to life for the contemporary audience.
The Japanese title cards have excellent English translations.
The film opens with an awesome slow 180° pan showing the city of Tokyo. All of the usual Hollywood techniques from this era are on display throughout the film -- pans, fades, even a dissolving double-exposure at one point. The cutting is typical and the picture is filled with sight gags which were probably at least mildly amusing at the time.
All of this will disappear in Ozu's mature work. The camera will remain fixed at his famous "tatami-mat" level (supposedly at eye level while sitting on tatami -- but in reality, Ozu often brought the camera much lower -- just a few inches off the floor). Nearly without exception, he will use only the 50mm lens; no filmic punctuation whatsoever except the straight cut, and complete disregard of the 180° rule in favor of direct, straight-on shots of each character separated only by straight cuts. But in 1929, we can see the influence of American filmmakers, particularly Ernst Lubitsch.
After the first part of the opening pan, Ozu does a quick zoom-in (!) on the first title card -- "Near a University, Tokyo." The pan then continues past a soccer field and over the rooftops of houses. A cut and the pan resumes, closer to the structures. The camera finally comes to rest on a sign taped to the shoji -- "Room Upstairs to Rent."
The actors are terrific. Bin Watanabe (Yuki Ichirô) an imp of a college student lives in the upstairs room. His scam is waiting until a pretty girl answers the ad. After rejecting a man then a dowdy young woman, we meet Chieko (Junko Matsui) who agrees to take the room.
Ozu's sets show more and more details; here we see a poster on the wall for the hit Frank Borzage film "7th Heaven" [1927], which won the very first Best Director Academy Award.)
Out on the street, she runs into Shuichi Yamamoto (Saitô Tatsuo), a Harold Lloyd look-alike here. (In a few years, he will go on to play the father in Ozu's first big success, "I Was Born But...")

"Have you knitted the socks for me?" he asks her.

With this one title card, Ozu avoids a lengthy and completely unnecessary exposition. We now know that they are friends.
The film weaves gag after gag into the flimsy plot:
- Yamamoto props his left hand up against a pole; a sign attached reads "Wet Paint." The gag continues as he gets paint on his teacup and then his face, she laughs and Ozu fades to black.
The next day the rickshaw boy is busily loading Watanabe's stuff.
- This is where we see the beautiful dissolve/double-exposure that I mentioned above.

Watanabe quickly overcomeds Yamamoto's objections and becomes his roommate.

More gags. Watanabe spots an alarm clock (right next to a tin of Libby's California Asparagus) and hassles the sleeping Yamamoto with the usual alarm-clock gags until he wakes up. Watanabe quickly overcomes Yamamoto's token resistance and they are roommates.
Watanabe makes himself at home -- he picks up the Libby's California Asparagus and begins to plop the long stalks into his mouth."Someday your kindness will be repaid." Yamamoto snatches away the canned asapargus as the rickshaw boy arrives with the many bags.
Extremely naturalistic acting with very few title cards ... Chieko is sewing socks (a nice macguffin).
One of the cutest gags in the film: She is trying to ignore him and goes back to her reading. He toys with the little figurines on her desk, twisting one of them (a male) into a position with four-on-the-floor, back arched up high and bug-eyed face looking right at Chieko. She laughs slightly. He looks uncomfortable. He'll try something else. The next time she looks up from her book, he is tickling the figurine's behind with his fingers. She laughs a little longer this time. He breaks a figurine.
Finally, he sees the socks. "May I have these?" She nods in the negative, but Watanabe pushes on -- chutzpah on full display -- and tries them on. He stomps up and down like a delighted three-year-old, and breaks yet another figurine.
There is some extremely fast cutting here -- the first several cuts are about one second each. First an ECU on the broken figurine on the floor. Medium on Watanabe, looking from side to side. The pair of skis resting against the wall, which fall over. Back on Watanabe and then back on the ECU of the broken figurine.The cuts then lengthen just a bit -- on her, then him; a title card ("Do you ski?" he asks her) and then back to the original medium master shot (he is standing she is sitting).
Here we get a preview of some iconic images which run like a river through all the films of Ozu: telephone poles, factory smokestacks, a wind vane. The boys are looking at the objects trying to predict the weather. Watanabe: "It'll snow." Ozu will parallel this scene at the very end (a device used nearly continuously from here on).
Watanabe throws his textbook into the air and holds it open to the page where it randomly landed. "This will be on the exam," he tells Yamamoto, who believes him and writes it all down on his shirt cuff. Cut to bell, students pour out of building.
Notice the elision -- we see nothing of the actual taking of the exams, only the aftermath -- much like the weddings, etc. in the later films.
A student is caught cheating. Watanabe tries to visit Chieko, but she's already gone skiing. Yamamoto is on a streetcar, but lost his purse. Nice shot of POV from the streetcar, leaving Yamamoto behind. FTB.
Back home, Watanabe looks at his 7th Heaven poster and gets an idea. He gathers up some books and a trophy. Brief hesitation, and he returns the trophy to the shelf. As he descends the stairs, Ozu shoots a CU on his feet, which have stopped -- and he returns to get the trophy.
The big reveal is that "7th Heaven" is the name of a pawn shop. Now they have money. A shot of a magazine, "Skiing News." A train schedule. POV front train car, looking forward at the tracks and surrounding view -- coming out of a tunnel. "Two more lunch boxes were sold that night."
Watanabe writes possible exam scores on the dirty train window. He discovers the socks that Chieko has knitted for Yamamoto. Watanabe has a pipe. (From here on, almost all the students will be smoking pipes!)
They arrive at the ski resort (Taguchi). The remainder of the film -- before a short coda on the train -- takes place on the slopes.
The lettering on the back of Yamamoto's jacket reads: "Smack Front Only."
"How many more electric poles?" Yamamoto asks. Watanabe: "136 more." Some landscape pans, dissolves. An intertitle: "At the 130th electric pole." (Watanabe was pretty close!)
Yamamoto is not a good skier and is constantly falling down.
Watanabe is constantly knocking Chieko down.
Ozu inserts a wonderful sideways POV during one fall.
Indoors, Watanabe and Yamamoto huddle under blankets. Two other students enter (one of them is Chishu Ryu, the most important actor in Ozu's later films) and discuss exam grades.
Watch carefully as Watanabe tries to undo Yamamoto's ski bindings with the tip of his pole.
He then leaves him planted in the snow as he races to catch Chieko. Yamamoto repeatedly tries to get up.
Another wonderful tilted camera again, as he watches the people rushing by on a 90° tilt.
Lovely scene of making tea in the snow.
Note the lovely match-dissolve (watch the English lettering on the box of sugar cubes).
Watanabe surreptitiously gives one of Yamamoto's skis a push down the slope.
Note the naturalistic cutting -- Ozu allows Yamamoto (and the audience) a bit of time to realize his ski is gone. After Watanabe releases the ski, cut to a CU of the ski sliding down the slope. Cut to Watanabe, impish. Cut to Chieko and Yamamoto; he's handing her something to eat. Cut back to Watanabe, motioning and pointing towards the disappearing ski. Quick cut on Chieko and Yamamoto -- he looks at the ski -- cut back to the ski, quickly moving away. Cut back to Chieko and Yamamoto -- she is mildly amused; he starts to run after his ski. Watanabe is also laughing.
Finally, the ski stops, but just as he approachs it, it continues to move (very fake looking; bad early Chaplinesque).
The students drink, sing and dance. First Yamamoto, then Watanabe join in. "Dance to the rhythm of floor sound."
Nice little details: Beer bottles knocked over. Watanabe is fondling those socks.
[music]: "Stop crying. We'll meet again someday."
A nice transition of related smoke -- Watanabe puffs on his pipe; stokes the fire -- the camera moves up to show a tea kettle with steam rising and finally a cut to the steam pipes rising from "Hutte Arlberg."
The next day it is snowing heavily. The group of guys and Chieko are perfectly framed by two trees (early Ozu poetry!) ... Yamamoto and Watanabe have come to say goodbye. Watanabe leaves first and skis away easily.
Yamamoto, of course, falls immediately and then again (Ozu reuses the 90° tilted POV shot).
With the girl no longer between them, the boys are friends again. Watanabe takes Yamamoto's pack from him. The boys trudge away on their skis. FTB. Watanabe takes the fruit which Chieko gave them and puts them in one of the socks and drops it out the train window. Watanabe predicts a 40 on the exam, and writes the number on the window.

Suddenly, they see "Badger" (the professor) and eventually discover that the grade is 37, probably failing.

Badger: "You'd better study, too." They return to their seats. Watanabe writes a 37 on the window.
"In Tokyo, the west wind has blown steadily since morning." Again we see the telephone lines; smokestacks, etc. Yamamoto is looking out the window-- Watanabe motions for him to close it."Smile, I'll find you a better one." Watanabe makes a new sign. He seems to be explaining his "scam" to Yamamoto. Two friends talk. Exterior, on the sign.
Begin the same pan from the beginning (except in reverse -- left to right here). FTB. The End.

204. Ozu Film #22: Tokyo Chorus (1931)

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*22. Tokyo no gassho (Tokyo Chorus) (8/15/31) (91 min.) [Silent B&W] [buy it here]

Ozu's 22nd film -- but only the second film in chronological availability!

A serious comedy about a married salaried man who loses his job and must walk the streets in search o

f one. He has many misadventures, some of them painfully comic, before being saved by his old school comrades.

This excellent Eclipse release features a dazzling, period-correct, optional solo piano soundtrack score by Donald Sosin. The music enhances Ozu's film throughout every scene and makes watching it a much deeper and richer experience. Be sure to click the "Activate Score" icon...
The opening Shochiku logo is strange indeed. A stylized cityscape is bestraddled by a giant nude man in bas-relief, with the year (1931) superimposed.
Gags aplenty as Omura, a drill instructor/teacher (Saitô Tatsuo, again) deals with several dozen unruly students, including Shinji Okajima (Tokihiko Okada). [Okada died three years later, from tuberculosis.]
One of these gags involves Omura's habit of licking his pencil as he prepares to write down something (probably negative) in his little notebook ... after doing this many times, he begins chewing out Okajima, who helpfully takes the pencil from him, licks it, and hands it back to him, smiling throughout...
(This little "licking" motif will reappear in a future echo. qv)
A student arrives late. Much humor flows from this -- but this is another poignant future echo. qv
At 7:01, Sosin times his score so that a new march exactly matches the boys being marched out of the courtyard.
We can observe Ozu's habit of using a certain type of "pillow-shot" to effect transitions begin to develop here: after Okajima unsuccessfully tries to light a cigarette, he looks up -- cut -- a lovely shot of a large gate surrounded by trees, rustling in the wind ...
... cut -- title card ("Several years later..." -- "He's working for an insurance company") ...

Never in any kind of a rush, Ozu takes his time getting Okajima to the office. As he gets dressed, his son (Hideo Sugawara) and daughter (Hideko Takamine) are running around the house playing with a beach ball-shaped paper balloon. The son begs dad for a bicycle -- all his friends have one (and a few cuts later we see them zooming by on the road outside the house) ... now, a word about these kids:

Ozu used Sugawara several more times (he's terrific in all his work with Ozu!) ... he apparently gave up acting when he was twelve ...
Conversely, Takamine -- who plays the younger sister here, even though she was the same age as Sugawara (they were both seven while making this film) -- went on to have a long and distinguished career, and is generally considered one of the grande dames of Japanese actresses, although she would work with Ozu only more time -- in 1950's "The Munekata Sisters" qv
Ozu was a wonderful director of children. He somehow coaxed the same naturalistic acting that he demanded from the adults.
Throughout this picture, Ozu is more and more frequently placing the camera just a few inches off the floor -- at 12:54 we see an amazing example of this stylistic development:
- The husband is finally ready to go to work. He is walking towards the door and the wife is rising from her position in the other room, moving to him to say goodbye...
- Naturally, since they are standing, the camera only shows them from feet to mid-body -- a strange sight, as she brushes him off and he departs, she following ...
- The shot holds on the "mosquito-net" tent that covers the baby and then ...
- ... the kids enter the shot, framed perfectly!

A long, sweeping pan introduces us to the office. Okajima,

after sticking up for an older man who is fired, is himself fired (after a hilarious "fan-duel" with the boss ~ must see!). Also noteworthy during this office scene is:

A salaryman's worst nightmare: his bonus fell into the urinal.
Another employee peeks through the keyhole at the unfortunate man who is staring at the piss-soaked bills, trying to decide what to do! Classic!
Later, several cuts show him using a blotter to dry the bills out ...
At 25:26, he repeats the keyhole shot, as the gang peeks into the boss's office to watch.
Significantly, Okajima remains cheerful after he is fired.

The son has stopped his bicycle friends like a traffic cop. He pulls a pretty swift little trick where he is eating a slice of watermelon and gets one of the kids to dismount his bike in order to sit on it and play while its owner takes a bite of his watermelon.

Until the kid catches on and -- carefully wiping off the handlebars -- resumes sitting on his bike, while the Okajima kid grabs back his watermelon. Very cute scene.

"My dad's buying me a better one!" he yells to the departing crowd of kids.
In the next scene, he meets Dad on the road, who has only a ridiculous little scooter for him, which he continuously tries to promote as "just as good." There follows Tantrum #1.
Dad gets home and son follows. Tantrum #2 begins with him punching out a few panes of rice paper, continues with his jumping onto the floor with a loud thump.
#3 is a full-blown rage on display. The kids get a licking...

By this time, Mom (Emiko Yagumo -- spectacular throughout!) is consoling son. In a heartbreakingly realistic-looking scene, he cries to his mother:

"He didn't buy the bicycle he promised me."

Ozu is furious with the pace of expressions and movements he asks of Yagumo here -- first, she gives her husband a little look, and -- bending down to his level -- tries to calm and console her aggrieved son, as she says:

"Daddy was wrong. Now be a good boy and stop crying."
Dad: "What did I do wrong?"
"You shouldn't lie to children."

Following this exchange, he finally shows her his discharge papers -- he's been fired. As she recovers from this shock, she once again tries to get son to play with the scooter. Dad's still undressing; he looks tired (he had to wipe his brow several times while he spanked the boy -- it was hard work!) ... "

Poor kid. Let's buy him a bicycle."

The scene concludes with the kids playing with a paper airplane they've made out of dad's termination papers!

"Tokyo ... City of the unemployed." Okajima bumps into the man who was fired -- he is now handing out fliers for "Insurance Week" with a sandwich board draped over his frail old body. They sit and talk.

Wonderful "pillow shot" of some fountains simply to establish location.
An extremely strange bit of screenplay as the two men commiserate -- suddenly people are running; a man says a bear has broken out of its cage; the older man points as if to indicate that maybe they should go -- but Okajima says:
- "A bear getting out isn't going to change our lives."
The old man sits down again. People are walking calmly in the background; children are playing on the swings -- I guess it was a false alarm or something! [still, strange little episode to stick in there!]

Dad & son meet on the road again -- the kid has his new bike; tells dad his sister is sick from eating some bad cake; dad blames mom, sis has to be hospitalized...

The "pillow-shot" transition between home and hospital is quite lovely -- a stalk of sunflowers, blooming in front of some transmission wires.
In the hospital, son inspects the ice-bag which rests on sister's forehead -- he picks it up -- and finally, he licks it! [echo]
Very lovely scene as Dad and son prepare to go home with Mom and sis to follow. Son -- after giving Dad all his pocket possessions -- hops on Dad's back for a piggyback ride home.
The next few seconds gives Yagumo another chance to shine. Watch her expressions as she returns to her daughter and then realizes she needs to say goodbye to her husband and son at the window. It's a simple, yet wonderful scene.

Daughter recovers, family returns home.

At least in this neighborhood of 1931 Tokyo, people locked their doors. Okajima opens a lock to get into the house.
They are happy to be home. Dad seems ecstatic.
53:42. A justifiably famous "early-Ozu" scene: Dad is on the floor with the kids; Mom is in the other room with the baby. They exchange looks, and Dad and the kids start to play a game which looks similar to pattycake. Mom discovers her kimonos gone (Dad sold them to pay for the hospital bill.)
- "Miyoko is back with us thanks to your kimonos."
This seems like a cue for the son to run to Mom and bring her over to join in on the game. She does so.

This is good time to point out how Ozu used all the principal elements of filmmaking -- script, shooting and editing [sub-good-time-to-point-out-something: Richie's brilliant book is laid out along just those lines -- the actual filmography follows lengthy chapters on script, shooting and editing] to achieve results such as those coming up in the next few moments of this film:

SCRIPT: In this instance, there are no title cards, although the adults seem to speak to each other occasionally. What they say could not have been important. What the script probably said was something like:
- The family sits in a circle playing the game. The children are oblivious to any emotions other than fun and happiness, but the adults exchange stealthy glances of sadness and confusion as they become aware and profoundly affected, experiencing the reality and the beauty of life.
SHOOTING: There are just four camera positions: 1) a medium-shot of the four from behind and slightly to the left of son, and then (left to right) daughter, Mom and Dad; 2) a CU of the kids; 3) MCU of Dad w/ son on lower left; and 4) MCU of Mom w/daughter on lower left.
- The scene plays with the emotional responses of Mom and Dad in positions #3 and #4, above.
EDITING: There are 22 cuts in 1:48. Note the length of each cut and how it creates an overall rhythmic flow to the film. SU# indicates the camera setup, above. [#] is the length of the cut, in seconds:
- Cut 1/SU#1 [11]: As son and Mom walk back to complete the circle, son sits directly in front and slightly to the left of the camera, with his sister, Mom and Dad completing the circle, left to right. They join hands and begin to sing and play. Neutral faces.
- Cut 2/SU#2 [5] A close two-shot of the kids, smiling happy...
- Cut 3/SU#3 [3] MCU on Dad w/son on lower left; Dad's putting on a happy face;
- Cut 4/SU#4 [4] MCU on Mom w/daughter on lower left; Also trying to look happy. She looks up at her husband...
- Cut 5/SU#3 [3] Dad hesitates for a moment, looks at Mom;
- Cut 6/SU#4 [5] Mom, concerned.
- Cut 7/SU#3 [5] Dad, stiff.
- Cut 8/SU#4 [3] Mom, sad; her lips move for a moment;
- Cut 9/SU#3 [2] Dad, clapping mechanically;
- Cut 10/SU#4 [5] Mom, slowly bowing her head, but still clapping;
- Cut 11/SU#3 [5] Dad, now choking back emotion...
- Cut 12/SU#4 [3[ Mom, swallowing hard.
- Cut 13/SU#3 [3] Dad, steely-eyed, staring at his wife...
- Cut 14/SU#4 [4] Mom, missing several claps to wipe away tears;
- Cut 15/SU#3 [6] Dad, also missing, holding it all in. At the end of the cut, you can see he is looking at his children:
- Cut 16/SU#2 [4] The kids, absorbed in the movements and happy feeling...
- Cut 17/SU#3 [4] Dad, humble, thankful, on the verge of tears;
- Cut 18/SU#4 [3[ Mom, slowly looks up;
- Cut 19/SU#3 [8] Dad; Ozu letting his smile spread over his family -- a relatively long cut -- and he is speaking with great emotion;
- Cut 20/SU#4 [4] Mom, too, is happy now, at last.
- Cut 21/SU#2 [7] The beautiful children -- still happy, playful, in tune with the rhythm -- but do I see a glint of wonder and curiosity about their parents' behavior? Bottom line, they are happy.
- Cut 22/SU#1 [10] Long cut which fades out as the family plays together at peace.
  - SU#2 is used only three times -- cuts #2, 16 and 21. Note the powerful poetic effect of those three cuts!

That's what I call filmic poetry, I guess.

Immediately follows a dose of reality as Okajima is job hunting. His dropped cigarette butt is immediately picked up as found treasure by a needy man outside the Employment Office.

[Akira Kurosawa made a whole film based on a similar incident! It's called One Wonderful Sunday [1947 and that link will take you to my post I made on that film for this blog] ...

Here he runs into Omura, who offers him a job with his restaurant. This results in his having to carry heavy banners advertising the restaurant, while Omura, wearing the same type of sandwich-board that the fired old man wore, passes out leaflets.

His wife and kids see him when they are travelling back home on the streetcar. She is mortified and ashamed. He is calm and patient and willing to do whatever it takes.

Note that not until he tells her that the old man with him was his former teacher and that he is trying to get him a "real" job does she feel the least bit positive.
"Are you sure he will?" she asks, looking for certainty.
He takes his shirt off rather savagely and looks at her coldly for a moment. But then his glance softens and he says:
"A drowning man will clutch at straws."
As he undresses, his gaze leads him to some laundry hanging outside on a clothesline. This image will become a regular cast member in the later films, so reguarly does it appear in his films!
He mentions how he feels like he's getting older; she looks at him and follows his gaze out to the laundry. Suddenly they both become more cheerful. She offers to go with him to the restaurant the next day. She hangs up his clothes and readies his kimono and obi.
Title card: "Four or Five Days Later" We see many plates of rice and eventually Mom, who is preparing the bowls. Then Mrs. and then Mr. Omura, who is ladling the curry sauce onto the rice.
Okajima enters the kitchen. "We're ready. Come join us," he tells Omura.

Again, Ozu elides plenty. (He has "told" us four or five days have passed). But we're surprised to see a large group of men who we (hopefully) quickly realize are all the students from the old days.

We begin to grasp the extent of the poverty at the time when Omura -- a decent guy -- looks at the menu on his wall stating the price for the rice curry -- 15 sen. We see him mentally adding up the total for the group and then informing them -- regrettably -- that he'll "have to charge everybody." [Nobody seems to mind -- but the point is that every yen must have been so precious to earn and hopefully save!]

In any case, a telegram arrives -- Omura has in fact gotten Okajima a job -- teaching English at a girl's school some distance from Tokyo. The group toasts the good news and all join in and sing.

Both Okajima and Omura are overcome with emotion as the group sings of the good ol' days and Ozu FTB on this high note of hope and friendship and family.

205. Ozu Film #23: Spring Comes from the Ladies (1932)

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23. Haru wa gofujin kara (Spring Comes from the Ladies) (1/29/32) (ca. 94 min.) [Silent B&W NEP]

Another of Ozu's college comedies. Now, however, the university years have become a precarious golden age during which the real problems of the world are seldom understood and all security is false. In this film Ozu was discovering in the educational system, and in the world of childhood, the acute angle from which he could both view and evaluate the adult world.

203. Ozu Films #9-21 (1929-1931)

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9. Wasei kenka tomodachi (Fighting Friends) (7/5/29) (ca. 100 min. [?]) [Silent B&W NEP but 2:29 survives. See it here.]

Two truck drivers fall in love with the same girl.

The short clip begins with a title card "Evening." A man (Yuki Ichirô) enters into what is presumably his home and gives his (probably girlfriend?) a kimono which he bought secondhand. She is delighted and goes into the other room to try it on. (Prominent poster on the wall for either The Uninvited Guest [1923] or The Uninvited Guest [1924].)

A second man arrives (he looks scruffy; more like a truck driver than the other guy!) to the first man's obvious annoyance. The woman comes back into the room with her new/old kimono. A series of shots establishes the tension between the two men. They engage in some sort of eating contest (I can't really tell what's going on here. It appears that Man Two eats these little round things that are surprisingly hot; Man One also eats them (or does he? look carefully -- he may be performing a sleight-of-hand; can't tell) but the heat apparently doesn't bother him. Man Two finally takes a long drink of water from the fishbowl. Man One laughs heartily.

10. Daigaku wa detekereda (I Graduated, But...) (9/6/29) (ca. 100 min.) [Silent B&W NEP but 8:16 survives. See it here.]

Even with only eight minutes of film, it is plain to see that Ozu is evolving; moving beyond the 'nonsense-mono' of his previous pictures to a newer, more serious dynamic.

Takada Minoru goes for a job interview and turns down the offer of receptionist, thinking it's beneath him. However, when his mother arrives, along with his fiancee Machiko, he conceals his unemployment until the marriage. When Machiko discovers his situation, she has a fit. Later that evening, Takada patronises a bar and finds Machiko moonlighting there. He is furious with her but eventually he becomes aware of her sacrifice, and pleads with his interviewer for the job he rejected. Instead, he is told that the previous offer was a test, and he is given a better position.

Machiko is played by the amazing Kinuyo Tanaka, who would go on to become one of the most important actresses in Japanese film history. (Her turns in Mizoguchi's Ugestu and Sansho the Bailiff, for example, are unforgetable.)

The clip has a soundtrack of traditional Japanese music (if you enjoy this, try any of these beautiful Toru Takemitsu CD's! @ # $ % ^ ) ...

The same logo screen described above for Days of Youth (brick background) is the first image of the clip.
After Minoru leaves the interview, he tears up his resumé and the pieces fall at his feet. Ozu continues his penchant for showing us this angle at a dynamic, dramatic moment...
There are several places where you can see the flashes of a frame or two of the original Japanese title card.
Again, Ozu prominently displays a poster for a Hollywood film -- in this case, Speedy, starring Harold Lloyd.
A nice use of parallelism: Minoru is at a bar when he spots Machiko, who -- unbeknownst to him -- has been working there as a hostess/waitress. He sees her light a match for customer's cigarette. He is about to light up himself, but when another hostess offers him a light, he declines it and puts down the cigarette. Later, at home, she tries to help him light his cigarette, but he ignores her and she burns her finger.
My Japanese friend tells me that the difficult translations for these "but ..." titles might be something along these lines:
- I Graduated, But... = ... why is my life so unsuccessful now?
- I Flunked, But... = ... so many wonderful things are happening, it doesn't matter!
- I Was Born, But... = ... why do I have to go through all this hardship?

11. Kaishain seikatsu (The Life of an Office Worker) (10/25/29) (ca. 85 min.) [Silent B&W NEP]

A comedy (?) about a husband and wife who look forward to a year-end bonus, only to discover that, because of the general depression (the film was released on October 25, 1929), the husband has been fired. He looks for job, fails to find one, and is finally hired by several friends.

The term shomin-geki ("home drama") begins to appear in Ozu's filmography at this point. Perhaps he is being pigeon-holed here -- but regardless of how faithful he was or was not to the accepted norms of the genre is besides the point. Ozu had found his calling.

12. Tokkan kozô (A Straightforward Boy) (11/24/29) (ca. 57 min.) [Silent B&W NEP but 1:29 survives. See it here.]

A romp about a hapless crook who gets more than he's bargained for when he kidnaps a brat with an insatiable appetite for sweets. Unable to keep him under control, the kidnapper returns him to his father, who refuses to take him back. He tries to dump him on his playmates, but he incites them to demand toys and other goodies from him, making him run a mile.

Richie brilliantly sums up Ozu's maturation with seven filmic signposts, all signifying important elements of his developing style and keys to his ongoing journey in making brilliant, important films:

1. More interested in character than in comedy.
2. He had found his major theme: the Japanese family, either directly or in its extensions, the school and the office.
3. This led to an interest in society at large, though he always preferered to see this larger entity reflected in the smaller.
4. This led to the very particular shomin genre, ("home-life") the class that was most typically Japanese and at the same time formed the larger part of his audience.
5. Found in children a vehicle for his ideas, in particular for the kind of social satire he was now developing.
6. Gradually limited his technical means, giving up fades, dissolves, etc. and eventually creating a plain style that was superbly suited to his mundane subject matter.
7. At the same time, Ozu was a commercial director. His films were intended to make money while showing life as he saw it. For this reason he made many films we consider atypical of his work. It was later that he gained control and was able to make only the films he wanted to make (Richie, p. 208).

The short clip is tantalizing. We can only imagine how good the entire picture must have been.

It begins with Bunkichi (Saitô Tatsuo) sitting on a bench overlooking the city next to small boy, around ten years old. As a policeman looks on, the kid puts a butterfly net over Bunkichi's head and then peels off his fake moustache. Possibly for the benefit of the watching policeman, Bunkichi makes a game of it and sticks the moustache on the kid, who immediately takes it off and puts it back on the side of Bunkichi's face. He slaps the kid a few times, who then begins to cry. An intertitle looks like it might say something like, "ooh, that hurt; ooh, that hurt!" [the Japanese is repeated] ...
As he tries to console the boy, the imp again rips off his fake moustache. End of clip.
The 57-minute film was reportedly shot in three days.

13. Kekkongaku nyûmon (Marriage for Beginners) (1/5/30) (ca. 107 min.) [Silent B&W NEP]

Husband and wife tire of their mutual life.

14. Hogaraka ni ayume (Walk Cheerfully) (3/1/30) (ca. 100 min.) [Silent B&W {acc. to Richie,16mm finegrain master with Shochiku, but the film has never been commercially released to my knowledge -- clip of 2:57 here}]

A young delinquent eventually reforms.

Apparently everything about this film is extremely "Americanized."
The clip shows two different cars with two different sets of people travelling parallel to a train (which we also see). In one vehicle, a man picks up an old doll from the side of the road and then later throws it out the window. In the other vehicle, a man's hat goes out the window (twice).

15. Rakudai wa shitakeredo (I Flunked, But...) (4/11/30) (ca. 95 min.) [Silent B&W {as above acc. to Richie,16mm finegrain master with Shochiku, but the film has never been commercially released to my knowledge -- no clip}]

A motley crew of students face "exam hell". When not studying, they hang out at a local coffee shop and flirt with the pretty waitress. She seems to take a shine to one of them, Takahasi. Takahasi prepares for the exam by scribbling crib notes on his shirt. However, the landlady takes the shirt to the launderette and he flunks. His four best friends who live across from him, also fail, but his fellow lodgers all pass. Ironically, it's the graduates who leap from the frying pan to fire - job hunt hell. Takahasi and his friends enroll for another term at college and become cheerleaders.

Note the reuse of the crib notes on the shirt cuff (see Days of Youth, above).
Chishu Ryu apparently has an important role in this one. He soon became aware, according to Richie, that he was playing Ozu's alter-ego [p. 210].

16. Sono yo no tsuma (That Night's Wife) (7/6/30) (100 min.) [Silent B&W {film exists as per above; no commercial release.} Clip of 6:13 here]

A romantic melodrama: a father with a sick child turns robber and is caught.

The clip is astonishing! It begins with the man tending to his child, then cuts to a woman who is holding a man at gunpoint with two guns!
In this short scene, Ozu holds the tension high with quite a bit of cutting and a wide variety of shots, including several close-ups obviously intended to jar and ratchet up the suspense.
The prisoner looks at his pocket watch. It reads 1:50 (presumably A.M.). A FTB and up on a wall clock which reads 3:07. Long slow pans follow, finally revealing the husband working to soothe his sick child.
The wife is getting sleepy. A wonderful ECU on the man's hand, lightly tapping the chair; later the same on his shoes.
A poster on the wall has the names Sally O'Neil and Jack Egan. An IMDb paired-search reveals that they made two films together: Mad Hour (1928) and Broadway Scandals (1929).The poster probably is for the latter, since it pictures dancing flapper-girls in a chorus line ...
In a beautiful sequence, the camera slowly pans left past some hanging laundry (a future "pillow-shot" motif that will appear in nearly all of Ozu's later films!) and many other objects, the camera suddenly moves outside where we see a boy with a cart delivering milk (it is morning). As the boy and his cart leave the frame, the shot pretty much perfectly reverses itself -- the pan is now going to the right and when we finally land on woman, she is asleep. She awakes with a start and Ozu quickly reverses the shot to the show the man holding the two guns. She is frantic.
As the clip ends, she is trying to run away -- he is talking to her, and puts the guns into his pants pockets.

17.

Erogami no onryô (The Revengeful Spirit of Eros) (7/27/30) (ca. 41 min.) [Silent B&W NEP]

Typical Shochiku, atypical Ozu: a nonsense-comedy ghost-story picture made at the spa to which Ozu had been sent to recuperate. Ozu remembers nothing about the film.

18. Ashi

ni sawatta koun (Lost Luck) (10/3/30) (ca. 60 min.) [Silent B&W NEP]

A film about office workers and their insufficient salaries. Again, Ozu admitted that he could not remember a thing.

19. Ojosan (Young Miss) (12/12/30) (ca. 130 min.) [Silent B&W NEP]

A typical light comedy about a girl journalist, distinguished by Ozu's sense of humor and his respect for character. A big star-filled spectacular, it surprised the studio and possibly the director by winning Third Prize in the prestigious Kinema Jumpo polls for that year.

20. Shukujo to hige (The Lady and the Beard) (2/7/31) (97 min.) [Silent B&W {as above, existing print but no commercial release} -- no clip]

Another college comedy, about a bearded cheerleader and a young lady of good family. Eventually she tames him and he shaves. Finished in eight days.

A more detailed summary appears on the primary Ozu site:
Okajima, a college student with invincible kendo swordfighting skills, both vexes and amuses women with his conservative ways and his big, brushy beard which he carries with pride. One day, on his way to his friend Baron Yukimoto's party, he rescues the demure Hiroko from a brazen swindler, Satoko. He goes to Hiroko's company for a job interview and is rejected. Hiroko suggest that he shave off his beard and he at once lands a job, and attracts attention of both Yukimoto's sister and Satoko. But his heart is set on Hiroko, and despite some mix-up with Satoko, their faith in each other is unshaken.

21. Bijin aishu (Beauty's Sorrows) (5/29/31) (ca. 158 min.) [Silent B&W NEP]

Two young men, one serious, the other a playboy, meet the daughter of an eminent sculptor. The playboy marries the girl, whom they both love; the serious one gets the statue. Later, she dies and the husband wants the statue. The two men fight; they both die.

Richie: Some who remember seeing this film say it was not as bad as it sounds. Ozu, however, said that he wanted to make a nice, light picture, got too earnest about it, and it turned out slovenly.

201. Ozu Films #1-7 (1927-1929)

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How often have you heard someone refer to a film as being "poetic"?

Googling "poetic film" took me here. These posts were made over a period of 14 months (8/09 to 10/10) and mention about 50 films. Not one Ozu film was proposed.

Michael Radford's brilliant Il Postino was mentioned several times; an obvious choice because the movie is about an actual poet (Neruda). So were such "dreamy" films as Herzog's Nosferatu the Vampyre, Tarkovsky's The Mirror (just about all of Tarkovsky's films feature the poetry of his father,Arseny), Benigni's Life is Beautiful and Tarantino's Pulp Fiction.

All these so-called art films do in fact have either a dreamy, poetic quality about them or attempt to pretty much literally transform written poem to visual image (see most Tarkovsky, esp. Andrei Rublev)...

In these seven posts I will attempt to emphasize the particulars underlying my own personal assertion that the films of Yasujiro Ozu (1903-1963) are Poetry in Moving Images -- works of art which are eternal in their mental and psychological imprint upon the viewer -- which inspire one to decipher meaning, probe form, and react to the cosmic humor and tragedy on display. Of course, there is nothing else remotely like Ozu in the history of cinema (though many now copy him) -- this uniqueness alone requires close investigation.

I have a pretty massive DVD collection (2000+). When I buy DVDs, I have only one criterion: is this a film that I will want to watch more than once? When I re-watch an Ozu film, I feel like an old friend has dropped by. We'll talk about the same old stuff and enjoy each other's company and that's the plot!

A typical Ozu film has very little going on, plot-wise. But because the story is presented to us with such unassuming realism; familiar characterization, meticulous set design; rock-solid steady and invisible camera; and the acting so completely void of artifice, the end result is something startlingly transcendental. (It is said that Ozu treated his actors badly ... he made them do so many takes, some thought it cruel -- but it was his way of beating out the "performer" in the actor and obtaining something very "real").

If you've already seen some or all of Ozu's surviving films, I hope you'll enjoy re-watching them, perhaps grokking anew with some of my more unusual bullet-points in mind. If you are new to Ozu, I hope my writing makes you interested in seeing these masterpieces. Imagine how gratified I will feel if you become an Ozu-nut, like myself.

Yasujiro Ozu was born in Tokyo on December 12, 1903. His father was a fertilizer salesman. He and his brothers -- as was the custom in middle-class families at the time -- were sent to the countryside to be educated. Ozu was a rebellious, undisciplined student. He matriculated no further than middle school, preferring his twin passions of watching American films and drinking. He rarely saw his father between 1913 and 1923, but forged a potent relationship with his loving mother -- Ozu never married and lived with her until her death in 1962 at the age of 87. Ozu himself died just a year later -- the day before his 60th birthday, December 11, 1963. Carved on his tombstone is a single Japanese character -- mu -- the Zen nothingness that is everything.

(For more detailed biographies, go here, here and here.)

Ozu's uncle got him his first job in the film industry as an assistant cameraman, which basically involved schlepping heavy cameras from place to place. He worked his way up to become an assistant director to the both now and then obscure Tadamoto Okubo, who "specialized in a kind of comedy which was called 'nonsense-mono' -- a running series of gags held together by a slight story line, a succession of chuckles intended to make the time pass" [Richie, p. 200] (must reading for any serious fan). Ozu was quite satisfied with the position. He could drink to his heart's content (he was a heavy drinker, all his life) and had none of the responsibilities and worries that he quickly realized were the domain of the director.

Nevertheless, his friends urged him on and an incident (a waiter at the studio cafeteria insulted him) provoked him to overcome the inertia of his non-ambition. Besides, he had always loved film (almost all American -- at his job interview, he admitted to having seen only three Japanese films!) and probably felt the confidence to strike out on his own.

Ozu made 54 films, Thirty-seven survive in at least abbreviated form. Thirty-five are silent, 19 talkies, 48 are in B&W and six in color. Of the 37 surviving films, 26 are available on DVD -- most of them on the Criterion Collection or their budget label, Eclipse -- but some of the earlier films are available only from Asia, and require a region-free DVD player (which are quite affordable these days). Naturally, the quality of the Criterion releases is extraordinary.

I will discuss four existing films per post, except for the last two posts where I will cover the last six films -- the only ones that were shot in color.

Synopsis in red = No Existing Print [NEP]
Synopsis in blue = existing print or clip but no commercial release
Synopsis in black = film available for sale

1. Zange no yaiba (Blade of Penitence) (10/14/27) (ca. 70 min.) [Silent B&W No Existing Print NEP]

His first picture -- 53 more would follow! -- was an adaptation of an American film, "Kick-In," directed by George Fitzmaurice in 1922. Ozu had not actually seen the film, but had read about it in a film magazine. Mandatory military service came calling before he had wrapped the picture. A friend finished it up for him, and Ozu claims to have seen it only once.

2. Wakodo no yume (Dreams of Youth) (4/29/28) (ca. 50 min.) [Silent B&W NEP]

A comedy about college dorm life, based on American films Ozu had seen.

3. Nyobo funshitsu (Wife Lost) (6/16/28) (ca. 50 min.) [Silent B&W NEP]

Ozu disliked the script but made this light comedy about marital mix-ups into a film because he was ordered to.

4. Kabocha (Pumpkin) (8/31/28) (ca. 60 min.) [Silent B&W NEP]

Comedy about a young man and his mishaps with girls. Ozu states that he learned a great deal about continuity making this film.

5. Hikkoshi fufu (A Couple on the Move) (9/28/28) (ca. 60 min.) [Silent B&W NEP]

Comedy about a couple who cannot stand living in the same house and are continually moving. Ozu began to articulate his unique style with this picture. Unfortunately -- he says -- his final cut was badly reedited and far from his own personal vision.

6. Nikutaibi (Baby Beautiful) (12/1/28) (ca. 60 min.) [Silent B&W NEP]

Comedy about an unemployed husband who becomes his artist wife's model. When her paintings fail to win prizes, she becomes his model, and his paintings (because they are of a nude female) win all the first prizes. Ozu was happy with the result, and the critics and public took notice.

7. Takara no yama (Treasure Mountain) (2/22/29) (ca. 100 min.) [Silent B&W NEP]

Comedy/melodrama about the jealousy between a traditional young geisha and a modern schoolgirl. Ozu recalls not sleeping for five days because the studio wanted the film in a hurry.

200. Kurosawa posts

2011-09-15T11:33:00.002-07:00

Links to my posts at The Best American Poetry blog on 28 of Akira Kurosawa's 30 films:

199. March 2011 NYC trip

2011-03-07T10:51:00.005-07:00

It's been several decades since I've seen my closest friends from my Paris days (1971-72), David and Jamie ...

It's been a cool 40 years since I've seen two other friends from '72 Paris daze -- Peter and Andy!
Was this reunion overdue?

[GEICO commercial parody follows]:

[GEICO spokesman:] Is Muammar Gaddafi popular throughout Libya these days?

[Man in eastern Libya with a Gaddafi effigy and a sharp tribal knife, slicing off the head of the effigy: "I love you, Muammar! You are the greatest! You should rule for 40 more years, insha'Allah ..."]

*&)$^

Joannie made a huge sacrifice and left work at 3:00 on Thursday so we could be at the airport by 5:00 for our 7:00 flight -- Tucson to Phoenix to New York --

FRIDAY

We arrived at JFK at 5:30 AM. My original plan was to just taxi into town and see if On the Ave (77th & B'way -- a fine hotel!) would let us put our bags down and maybe get us into a room asap -- but we called and they said they couldn't check us in until noon ...

Tired. We decided to crash at a nearby hotel.

We were about to hail a cab when we were hailed -- "need a taxi?"

Sure. No meter. No nameplate. Just a black car and a dude who said $30. It's 5:30 in the morning. What the fuck. Who cares if we got ripped off for $10 or whatever...

We go to a Clarion nearby ... check in at 6; leave at 11.

$130 for much needed sleep. The value of money is equal to the value the person shelling out the cash places on the services or product.

I valued that short nap at exactly $130!

*&$^)*&#

Very nice cab ride to Manhattan. We check in and take another nap! ("Say man, you're gettin' old! Old! Gettin' Old!" -- Paul Simon from You're the One) ...

We're meeting David at an art gallery on 56th and 5th. Paintings related to the 50's New York School of Poetry, which is obviously near and dear to David's heart.

It was a small gallery but TONS of stuff to see (and watch -- film). From the moment David arrived, he started meeting people he knew and at one point, I observed as he met Frank O'Hara's niece! It was great to able to try and get a feel for what it was like back then through the eyes of probably the foremost scholar of the period!

I bought the exhibition book.

We lunched at Shanghai Joe's or Joe's Shanghai -- a place David said was famous for its dumplings. I ordered duck (which I love) and David explained how famous the place was for its duck. Isn't life wonderful? The duck was excellent, but I couldn't finish it all, full with fowl and general excitement ...

We said adieu.

The reunion is at Bar Breton all organized by Andy. One by one, dear old friends start to arrive -- enfin, 14 of us !

It was completely awesome to finally meet Margarit, Jamie's wife; and Diane, Andy's better half ...

It was a super fancy "taster" affair with little sushi wraps and scallops and all kinds of goodies constantly being put in front of you! Champagne and wine flowed freely, as did the conversation.

I spilled my glass of champagne and felt like an asshole.

Nothing mattered though because I was truly in heaven seeing and talking to all my buddies and their spouses (who -- like Joannie -- probably know more about me than I'd care to think about too carefully! :)-

The party went on til the wee hours and it was a complete blast.

Having had no previous plans for anything on Saturday, we were really excited when Andy said we were going to go to The Blue Note to hear Ron Carter and Billy Cobham!

SATURDAY

We had a FABULOUS breakfast at the slightly crowded "sit-down" section at Zabars -- which really brought back tons of memories, as I used to buy my pain chocolate there all the time!

We walked around a bit -- the weather was great, but a little windy and chilly. It was the humidity that freaked me out, mostly. I never feel that yucky and sticky here!

We decided to use the little black book that the hotel gives you with neighborhood restaurants. The first one we tried no longer existed and was under a different name.

We randomly picked a placed called Ocean Grill on Columbus Avenue and how lucky we were to find this place!

We were seated near the entrance, and it was a bit crowded, but I didn't get bumped as much as I thought I might. Girls, you'll get a kick out of this:

There was this strange party at the table next to us -- an elderly black woman -- Salvation Army/Jehovah's Witness-type (she left us a www as "homework"), a younger black woman, and this white lady and (presumably) her 6- or 7-year old kid -- who was sound asleep at their table as the ladies were preparing to leave.

As they try to wake the kid up, he starts to tantrum -- BIG-TIME!! It was a 15-minute process getting him from the table to a waiting cab (poor cabbie!) because none of the women attempted to pick him up (he was pretty small); instead they begged, cajoled, pleaded and fawned over him as the tantrum got worse and worse.

Of course, this being New York, everyone -- from the restaurant management to the customers -- were extremely amused at the entire spectacle!

Finally, we had some peace.

Joannie ordered a glazed fish (I forget what) and I ordered 10 oysters and a 2-1/2 pound lobster! The oysters were among the best I've ever had (they had 6 different varieties and after discussing the subtle differences ["this one is a bit brinier, but with just a touch of salty ocean followed by a smooth finish!"] {I wanted to try them all!} and I finished them in no time.

The lobster was sweet tender and melt-in-your-mouth Flashdance-scene-type of orgasmic experience!

No room for dessert. Coffee is wonderful.

Terrible time catching a cab on Columbus Ave. Too far a walk in the cold with the wheelchair...

*)&(*$&(*%

Finally, we get Mr. Asgurh (as I recall), a Pakastani (I asked).

Man, this guy definitely had a massive grudge against the world, New York City in particular -- and a very serious anger management problem! I've been in many cabs in my lifetime in NYC, but this guy was about the worst EVER! He honked and weaved his way down the West Side Highway and told us about how hard it is to make a living and everyone thinks cabbies are rich and yada repeat

Joannie had written down Blue Note and 3rd & 6th -- and I totally recall Andy saying 3rd Street and 6th Avenue -- but this clown took us to 3rd Avenue and Sixth Street, where -- of course -- there was no jazz club to be found. As we made our way to the right address, he warned us that we'd certainly be killed and left for dead if we tried to hail a cab after midnight in such a neighborhood, etc. etc. I gave Joannie a look and I think she got that this guy was pretty much a lunatic...

But I gave him a big tip and he suddenly raced to the trunk and helped Joannie with the wheelchair and started thanking me and his voice had a calm, much more mellow tone to it. Perhaps his next customer got slightly better treatment.

We were early (7:30; meeting Andy at 9:30; set starts at 10:30), so we walked around, looked at all the tattoo and S&M shops and moseyed back to 3rd & 6th.

A crowd was gathering and all kinds of interesting characters were being animated excited New Yorkers at a thang and suddenly the guy comes out and asks who has reservations?

I took a wild guess that Andy had made them, so I yelled out his name and the guy said, "six?" -- I nodded -- and he said we'd get in first with my wheelchair.

Andy, his gorgeous wife Diane, their son John and Peter show up. That's six.

We're ushered in to a table just to the left of the stage. Tight quarters. I took my pills (1-1/2 dose!) and prepared for the worst. [It wasn't that bad -- the music put me into a space where the occasional kick just made me fly a little higher!]

What music!

An unusual trio -- bass, drums and alto sax.

Billy Cobham (drums) -- one of the first drummers (before Bozzio, Erskine and Colaiuta) to extensively feature poly-rhythms in his playing (esp. soli) -- my favorite BC is when he was with Mahavishnu Orchestra in the early- to mid-70's. Some of the finest music ever created!

Ron Carter (bass) -- nothing more need be said. Certainly not the greatest technical bassist in history (Jaco? Buster Williams? Mingus? Eddie Gomez?) -- but he is definately the smoothest, coolest, hippest, musical man to ever touch the instrument. [Andy reminded me of when he played cello on a Dolphy cut -- not that well, either!] His sound and soli were (for me) some of the great highlights of the set.

Carter earned a bachelor of music degree from the Eastman School in Rochester and a master's degree in double bass from the Manhattan School of Music in New York City. He has also received two honorary doctorates, from the New England Conservatory of Music and the Manhattan School of Music, and was the 2002 recipient of the prestigious Hutchinson Award from the Eastman School at the University of Rochester.

Donald Harrison (alto). I wanted so much to like what he was doing. Andy agreed with me that part of the problem was the complete lack of any comping (no piano, guitar, vibes -- anything to fill in the middle!)

His soli never had the direction and compositional stature of Carter's (or Cobham's for that matter) -- he must use the hardest alto reed known to man -- because it was like 50% sound and 50% air!!

His solo on "God Bless the Child" was very cool -- but I had to hear all those gorgeous substitutions in my head -- they didn't exist!

Cobham's soli were really incredible. At times, he got into a ppppp kind of thing -- [the show was being recorded] -- you could not hear a pin drop {no one dropped one} and his tastiness in phrasing and building on foundling rhythms to create new dynamic strata was unbelievable.

One solo he used four sticks for awhile -- creating heavy African-like tribal sounds in 5 and 7 and 9 and then he just as suddenly went back to 2 sticks and started be-bopping like crazy.

My knowledge of Cobham is mostly from Mahavishnu -- so to hear him play "straight-ahead" was really really cool!!!

*&)$

We hung out on the sidewalk for at least 15 minutes and chatted with everybody. I hated to say goodbye. What a great way to spend our time together. Thank you Andy and Diane. Thank you Peter. (btw, it did have a nice beat and it would have been easy to dance to, don't you think?)

Andy helped us hail a cab (a normal human-type) and we delightfully crashed in our wonderful On the Ave (thank you, Jamie!!) soft bed.

SUNDAY

Brunch with David and Stacey at 12:30.

This time we timed it perfectly, getting to the apartment at 12:20.

I walk in and see bagels galore and -- ohmygawd -- SMOKED SALMON!!! [with pepper on it, maybe?]

David tells me that Stacey just got back from Cape Cod and had been smoking the fish herself all morning. (His sense of humor is a bit more -- er, dry -- than I remember it!?)

Delicious and ditto that for the coffee, which I mainlined.

Now, I knew way ahead of time that I was going to be listening to Frank Sinatra. In fact, I had specifically asked David months ago to show me what was so great about this guy!

(My love of the music from that period is confined to the Billie Holiday/Teddy Wilson Columbia stuff and perhaps the fact that I what standards I do know come from my years of playing with bands like Atmosphere, where we gigged with both originals and standards for many many nights at Gentle Ben's here in Tucson.)

But I never really got what was so special about the skinny dude with the tilted hat and the toothpick in his mouth ... [not to mention the fact that -- to our mothers -- he was like the Paul and John of their day!]

He played me some early stuff which left me sort of cold -- it was okay. But what I really wanted to hear was the stuff with Nelson Riddle -- whose work I first discovered via the two Linda Ronstadt albums she made with him. Those versions rival Billie, imho.

Now we're talkin' -- instead of syrupy strings (tremolo, of course! ) we have punching brass landing on the "and of 4" and other such cool things. Five saxes climbing up a harmonic vine -- only to have Frank finish it off with a beautiful glissando (I had never heard that before!) ... I really liked that.

Not quite ready to go order the complete FS at this point, however. Did enjoy the Riddle stuff.

Another surprise. David does paintings (on postcards -- a very cool medium). They are unusual -- completely different than what I would have expected based on his writing (who knows what that means?

He gave me one that I had said I particularly liked and even made a pencil mark on the back to show me which direction it needs to hang! I'm definitely getting it framed.

Also an Ashbery book (I only vaguely remember some poems D read me in Paris 40 years ago!) and several years worth of the anthologies which he edits.

Bekah, we watched the You-Tube performances of the Sonatina and Toad March -- judging from their applause and big smiles, I think they really liked it!

We hated to say goodbye, but we had a plane to catch and David helped us hail a cab in the drizzling rain. David -- you are my closest and dearest male friend, and I can't wait until we meet again! Come visit us some dreary wintertime!

*$&^

The La Guardia to Philadelphia flight was a complete nightmare.

It was a tiny prop plane; first delayed; and then I had to walk through the pouring rain much further than I would have preferred to and climb the slippery steps to the Wright Brothers Special.

There were about 16 of us on the flight and it was a bumpy 20, 30 minutes.

We get to Philly and discover that our connection to Phoenix has already left.

Except it hadn't -- it too was delayed and we barely made it.

Actually got a few seconds sleep (in between studying for next week's Scrabble tournament in Dallas!) --

-- but when we got PHX, we discovered that the Tucson connection had already left and THAT WAS IT FOR THE NIGHT!!!

They already had a voucher printed up for the nearby Hilton, and our boarding passes for the 8:30 AM flight (today). Inconvenience, but a free night in a nice hotel...

Got home at around 9:30 and Joannie dashed off (late) for work!

It's so nice to be back in the nice weather (high 70's -- supposed to hit 80 by Wednesday!) -- I really do have a problem with the stifling gray angst of the continuous drizzle, not to mention the sticky humidity ...

BUT IT WAS WORTH IT ALL!

One of the best vacations of my life!

198. The Social Network

2011-02-25T09:13:00.005-07:00

Geez, I usually don't even watch the Oscars...

But I was so impressed by TSN, that I feel compelled to share my feelings about why I think David Fincher has created a timeless film -- a biopic posing as a popcorn movie posing as a Shakesperean drama ...

I must also state that I have not yet seen The King's Speech or Black Swan.

**

There is yet another component at work here -- I think if I had seen this in the theatre, it is quite possible I would have missed this first brilliant bit of dialogue between Mark and Erica. I watched it in on DVD -- and even though I got 94% of what they said -- I immediately rewound it and listened carefully to the entire conversation.

Which is:

Mark Zuckerberg: Did you know there are more people with genius IQs living in China than there are people of any kind living in the United States?

Erica Albright: That can't possibly be true.

Mark Zuckerberg: It is.

Erica Albright: What would account for that?

Mark Zuckerberg: Well first, an awful lot of people live in China. But, here's my question: how do you distinguish yourself in a population of people who all got 1600 on their SATs?

Erica Albright: I didn't know they take SATs in China.

Mark Zuckerberg: They don't. I wasn't talking about China anymore, I was talking about me.

I hope Fincher gets the recognition that he deserves. I thought all the actors were amazing and of course, Mr. Sorkin's script is what makes this thing just absolutely FLY!

Hope you see it if you haven't...

197. FRANK ZAPPA

2011-01-21T11:35:00.002-07:00

FRANK ZAPPA

Freak Out! (1966)
Absolutely Free (1967)
Lumpy Gravy (1967)
We're Only In It For The Money (1968)
Cruising With Ruben & The Jets (1968)
Uncle Meat (1969)
Mothermania (1969)
Hot Rats (1969)
Burnt Weeny Sandwich (1970)
Weasels Ripped My Flesh (1970)
Chunga's Revenge (1970)
Fillmore East, June 1971 (1971)
200 Motels (1971)
Just Another Band From L.A. (1972)
Waka/Jawaka (1972)
The Grand Wazoo (1972)
Over-Nite Sensation (1973)
Apostrophe (') (1974)
Roxy & Elsewhere (1974)
One Size Fits All (1975)
Bongo Fury (1975)
Zoot Allures (1976)
Zappa In New York (1978)
Studio Tan (1978)
Sleep Dirt (1979)
Sheik Yerbouti (1979)
Orchestral Favorites (1979)
Joe's Garage Act I (1979)
Joe's Garage Acts II & III (1979)
Joe's Garage, Acts I, II & III (1979)
Tinseltown Rebellion (1981)
Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar (1981)
Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar Some More (1981)
Return Of The Son Of Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar (1981)
You Are What You Is (1981)
Ship Arriving Too Late To Save A Drowning Witch (1982)
The Man From Utopia (1983)
Baby Snakes (1983)
London Symphony Orchestra, Vol. I (1983)
The Perfect Stranger (1984)
Them Or Us (1984)
Thing-Fish (1984)
Francesco Zappa (1984)
The Old Masters, Box One (1985)
Frank Zappa Meets The Mothers Of Prevention (1985)
Does Humor Belong In Music? (1986)
The Old Masters, Box Two (1986)
Jazz From Hell (1986)
London Symphony Orchestra, Vol. II (1987)
The Old Masters, Box Three (1987)
The Guitar World According To Frank Zappa (cassette) (1987)
Guitar (1988)
You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore, Vol. 1 (1988)
You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore, The Helsinki Tapes, Vol. 2 (1988)
Broadway The Hard Way (1988)
You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore, Vol. 3 (1989)
The Best Band You Never Heard In Your Life (1991)
You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore, Vol. 4 (1991)
Make A Jazz Noise Here (1991)
You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore, Vol. 5 (1992)
You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore, Vol. 6 (1992)
Playground Psychotics (1992)
Ahead Of Their Time (1993)
The Yellow Shark (1993)
Civilization Phaze III (1994)
Strictly Commercial (1995)
The Lost Episodes (1996)
Läther (1996)
Frank Zappa Plays The Music Of Frank Zappa: A Memorial Tribute (1996)
Have I Offended Someone? (1997)
Strictly Genteel (1997)
Mystery Disc (1998)
Cheap Thrills (1998)
EIHN (Everything Is Healing Nicely) (1999)
Son of Cheep Thrills (1999)
FZ:OZ (2002)
Halloween (2003)
Joe's Corsage (2004)
QuAUDIOPHILIAc (2004)
Joe's Domage (2004)
Joe's XMASage (2005)
Imaginary Diseases (2006)
Trance-Fusion (2006)
The MOFO Project/Object (fazedooh) (2CD) (2006)
The MOFO Project/Object (4 CD) (2006)
Buffalo (2007)
The Dub Room Special! (2007)
Wazoo (2007)
One Shot Deal (2008)
Joe's Menage (2008)
Lumpy Money (2009)

My February 3, 1999 interview with long-time FZ collaborator and genius graphic designer/artist Cal Schenkel can be found here.

196. STOCKHAUSEN'S advice on COMPOSING

2010-11-17T12:04:00.003-07:00

Stockhausen wrote this to accompany the DGG double-LP of HYMNEN (1967). Of all the "composition teachers" I have had -- including the great Nadia Boulanger -- I do not think I ever got advice this good:

Hide what you compose in that which you hear.

Cover what you hear.

Place something next to what you hear.

Place something far outside of what you hear.

Support what you hear.

Continue for a long time an event which you hear.

Transform an event until it is no longer recognisable.

Transform an event which you hear into the previous one which you composed.

Compose that which you expect next.

Compose often, but also listen for long periods of time to that which is already composed, without composing further.

Mix all instructions.

Gradually accelerate the stream of your intuition.

195. 2011 30-Stadium Baseball Tour

2010-10-13T13:29:00.004-07:00

Wow that was hard!

After many hours of looking at 30 different schedules, I've come up with a PRELIMINARY itinerary:

w/JOANNIE

Tu 6/7 Leave TUCSON

We 6/8 Travel

Th 6/9 lad @ COL

Fr 6/10 Travel

Sa 6/11 Travel

Su 6/12 Travel

Mo 6/13 laa @ SEA

Tu 6/14 Travel

We 6/15 Travel

Th 6/16 Travel

Fr 6/17 sf @ OAK

Sa 6/18 Relax in sf

Su 6/19 Relax in sf

Mo 6/20 Relax in sf

Tu 6/21 min @ SF

We 6/22 Travel

Th 6/23 Travel

Fr 6/24 laa @ LAD

Sa 6/25 Relax in la

Su 6/26 Relax in la

Mo 6/27 was @ LAA

Tu 6/28 kc @ SD

We 6/29 cle @ ARI

Th 6/30 TUC

Fr 7/1 TUC

Sa 7/2 TUC

Su 7/3 TUC

Mo 7/4 TUC (fireworks!)

Tu 7/5 TUC

We 7/6 TUC

Th 7/7 TUC

Fr 7/8 Travel

Sa 7/9 Travel

***

Hopefully Alan -- can you possibly plan to take off 7/10 to 7/25? Two weeks?

We would meet in Dallas on

Su 7/10 oak @ TEX

Mo 7/11 Travel

Tu 7/12 Hang in HOU

We 7/13 Hang in HOU

Th 7/14 Hang in HOU

Fr 7/15 pit @ HOU (!)

Sa 7/16 Travel

Su 7/17 Travel/Hang in MIA

Mo 7/18 Hang in MIA

Tu 7/19 sd @ FLA

We 7/20 Travel

Th 7/21 nyy @ TB

Fr 7/22 Travel

Sa 7/23 Hang in ATL

Su 7/24 Hang in ATL

Mo 7/25 pit @ ATL (!)

Alan stays in Atlanta (?)

Tu 7/26 Travel

We 7/27 Hang in PIT

Th 7/28 PIT

Fr 7/29 PIT

Sa 7/30 PIT

Su 7/31 PIT

Mo 8/1 chc @ PIT (I need to know how many tickets to buy!!)

Hopefully, Wes and Wendy now join me.

Tu 8/2 Travel

We 8/3 atl @ WAS

Th 8/4 Travel

Fr 8/5 tor @ BAL

(Wendy stays in BAL) (?)

Sa 8/6 Travel

Su 8/7 nyy @ BOS

Mo 8/8 sd @ NYM

Tu 8/9 laa @ NYY

We 8/10 Travel

Th 8/11 Travel

Fr 8/12 was @ PHI

Sa 8/13 Travel

Su 8/14 sd @ CIN

Mo 8/15 Travel back to PIT

Becky now joins me (?)

Tu 8/16 Travel

We 8/17 lad @ MIL

Th 8/18 Travel

Fr 8/19 stl @ CHC

Sa 8/20 tex @ CHW

Su 8/21 cle @ DET

Mo 8/22 sea @ CLE

Tu 8/23 Travel

We 8/24 kc @ TOR

Th 8/25 Travel back to PIT

Just THREE more stadiums to go!

I was hoping maybe Erica might be willing, if she could take a few days off:

Fr 8/26 Travel

Sa 8/27 Travel

Su 8/28 det @ MIN

Mo 8/29 Travel

Tu 8/30 Hang in STL

We 8/31 STL

Th 9/1 STL

Fr 9/2 cin @ STL

Sa 9/3 Travel

Su 9/4 cle @ KC

If not, I'll figure it all out somehow.

Please let me know what you think. I would like to start making ticket plans asap -- and this is all EIGHT MONTHS in the future, so I hope you can help me out!

I'll be seeing each team --

ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS - 1

ATLANTA BRAVES - 2

BALTIMORE ORIOLES - 1

BOSTON RED SOX - 1

CHICAGO CUBS - 2

CHICAGO WHITE SOX - 1

CINCINNATI REDS - 2

CLEVELAND INDIANS - 4

COLORADO ROCKIES - 1

DETROIT TIGERS - 2

FLORIDA MARLINS - 1

HOUSTON ASTROS - 1

KANSAS CITY ROYALS - 3

LA ANGELS - 4

LA DODGERS - 3

MILWAUKEE BREWERS - 1

MINNESOTA TWINS - 2

NEW YORK METS - 1

NEW YORK YANKEES - 3

OAKLAND ATHLETICS - 2

PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES - 1

PITTSBURGH PIRATES - 3

SAN DIEGO PADRES - 4

SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS - 2

SEATTLE MARINERS - 2

ST. LOUIS CARDINALS - 2

TAMPA BAY RAYS - 1

TEXAS RANGERS - 2

TORONTO BLUE JAYS - 2

WASHINGTON NATIONALS - 3

194. SOFIA COPPOLA

2010-09-14T09:05:00.009-07:00

How wonderful that she is finally being recognized for her amazing directorial talents!

I've been in love with SC since NEW YORK STORIES (1989), a three-director project (Allen, Coppola [daddy] and Scorsese)

ho speaks no English, sitting down to watch Animal House and then attempting to write a detailed review -- not just for his local Chinese audience -- but for the whole world!

So, consider now that I never review any film that I've seen less than ten times. With foreign f

193. Why I Can't Do Organized Religion

2010-09-13T22:53:00.004-07:00

I'm in a terrible mood for a variety of reasons and I haven't posted a real "blog-type" post on this thing in a LONG time!! This one won't be as technical as most of my others!

On our Southwest flights -- both to AND from -- Chicago this weekend, was a young woman who belongs to the local Reformed congregation which Joannie and I used to belong to.

Seeing her brought back a flood of memories.

You see, in the early 90's when Sarah and Rachel were very little, I attended shul practically EVERY Friday night and rarely missed Saturday morning services and the near weekly bar or bat mitzvahs and Torah study, of course.

This young lady was once 13 -- and her Bat Mitzvah was one of the most astonishing things I'd ever seen! (of course all 3 of my girls had pretty good ones, too!)

Anyways, it got me thinking about those old days of yore when I felt comfortable and at home in a synagogue.

At one point, we went through four or five rabbis in a two-year period -- and for a time, the Temple president sought out me and the girls to help lead services or Torah study or whatever.

We participated in virtually every facet of Temple life -- from doing community service to Torah study in the park to making latkes at Channukah.

It was a good time.

The sanctuary was (is) gorgeous -- and was a place where very private things happened vis-a-vis communing with ancestors, etc.

I became pretty fluent at Biblical Hebrew and wrote out my own Torah in 54 blue machberit notebooks in script.

It was a good time.

However, the temple was broke (probably from paying off all those expensive rabbis they hired then fired!) ...

so a rich guy paid off the mortgage and the PTB hired a BIG-BUDGET rabbi who rah-rahed the congregation and everyone was happy again.

*&%*

To this day, it is extremely difficult for me to analyze the whys and wherefores of what happened between me and this new rabbi.

Things started occuring which really freaked me out. In Torah study, I would bring up some tidbit from the Mo'am Lo'ez, for example -- and he would jump down my throat telling me how wrong it all was and how I didn't understand it, but would ignore me and go on to the next thing.

[It seemed that any mention of Orthodox source commentary stuck in his craw.]

(I *LOVE* the Mo'am Lo'ez, btw. Just finished re-reading it recently.)

One day I was excitedly trying to get him to help me understand some details in the long Jacob story in Genesis, concerning various minutiae like the diacritical marks above the word VA-YEESH-SHA-KAY-HOO (he "kissed" him)...

... I mentioned how there was an old tradition of reading the word as NA-SHACH (as opposed to NA-SHAK) which means "TO BITE" !! IOW, Esau "bit" Jacob.

The Rabbi seemed potently annoyed at me for such crazy heresy -- even though the comment is mentioned right there in the GLEANINGS section of Plaut.

(Yes, it also says that Ibn Ezra "roundly condemned" the tradition!)

Nevertheless, the diacritical marks are cool to look at in the Torah! Why are they there?

My favorite parashah is NOT the one from my Bar Mitzvah (altho that one's pretty cool -- TZADIK TZADIK TEERDOF!)

... it's the penultimate parashah -- HA-AZEE-NU (Deut. 32). The Song of Moses.

I spent many many months trying to soak up every bit of commentary and writing about this magnificent Hebrew poem. The Hebrew is SO powerful and filled with puns and double entendres...

The imagery is fantastic! The second verse mentions FOUR different kinds of rain!

The poem is laid out in the actual Torah in two columns, which read from right to left -- RIGHT-HAND column first and then the LEFT-HAND column.

We had a rabbi (not this current one) who actually read the ENTIRE thing from right to left ACROSS THE PARCHMENT, forgetting that the poem ran down the right side first and THEN the left side!!!

This was a RABBI, folks !! A graduate of Cincinnati!! And he couldn't figure out what he was reading?? I couldn't believe it.

*&$%)_*(&

tHE LAST STRAW

We were to get a new, kosher Torah. A VERY big deal!

One of the administrators of the Temple saw me one Shabbat and kindly asked me if I would be willing to accept the honor of drawing (tracing) a letter in the final page of the Torah - a real honor!!!

The day came and I was in my wheelchair on the bimah, waiting to hear what to do, when the Rabbi walked by and asked me what I was doing there?

He shooed me off the bimah which was apparently reserved for rich people who paid full dues.

This was the final straw because it had happened SO SO many times previously.

This was May of 2001. So it is nearly ten years since I've set foot in a shul.

I really miss it.

192. KUROSAWA 7: Yoidore tenshi (Drunken Angel) [1948]

2010-01-21T08:48:00.001-07:00

Here is the beginning of my post. And here is the rest of it.

191. KUROSAWA 6: Subarashiki nichiyobi (One Wonderful Sunday) [1947]

2010-01-21T08:45:00.001-07:00

Here is the beginning of my post. And here is the rest of it.

190. KUROSAWA 5: Waga seishun ni kuinashi (No Regrets for Our Youth) [1946]

2010-01-21T08:43:00.002-07:00

Here is the beginning of my post. And here is the rest of it.

189. KUROSAWA 4: Zoku sugata sanshiro (Judo Saga II) [1945]

2010-01-21T08:42:00.002-07:00

Zoku sugata sanshiro (Judo Saga II) [1945]

This is Kurosawa's fourth film!

There are a few very cool moments! There are some interesting shots. A few of the characters are memorable. It is a sequel.

But it was made during the last year of the war -- a time when defeat was finally acknowledged (if not completely openly); when a filmmaker considered himself lucky to be able to make a film at all (and after all, how do you say no to guys like that?); when said filmmaker considered himself lucky to have a small lighting rig which his man had cobbled together from shoelaces...

Kurosawa claims that he was not very enthusiastic about making the sequel, and it definitely shows.

Most AK fans consider this to be his worst film. Go see it!

It is 1887, five years later. Sanshiro (Susumu Fujita) is back from his travels. He witnesses a brutal American sailor (Osman Yusef, a Turk) beating up a young rickshaw boy, Daisuburo (Ko Ishida). As in the original, someone gets thrown into the river. In Sugata I, the villain was the westernized Gennosuke Higaki (Ryunosuke Tsukigata); in II the evil is combined into Gennosuke's two younger brothers, Teshin (played by Tsukigata) and the crazy, Noh-influenced Genzaburo (Akitake Kôno). After winning the big fight at the end, Genzaburo tries to kill Sugata with an axe, but Sugata smiles in his sleep and Genzaburo and his brother suddenly see the light. Sugata smiles even more broadly...

For a detailed, frame-by-frame analysis of this film, click here.

This is funny because Sugata said the same thing about judo in the first film!

Until just a few weeks ago, the only available version of this film featured subtitles which were created in Hong Kong by Chinese who apparently were not well acquainted with either the Japanese or the English language!

But help is on the way (I am told). This link takes you to the new AK 100 box, which (I am told) contains a brand new translation of this film and the others with similar problems. If you make it to the Film Forum on Monday, you should also see a new, readable translation.

Other than that,

The boxing matches are beautifully edited ~ you feel like you're getting a glimpse of what he would achieve in later years. Kurosawa's editing was always a major factor in what made his films so great and so captivating...
A nice dramatic moment: Sugata is trying to get away from the horrible boxing match; he lingers by the door as he watches (the Sugata theme is playing) -- finally he opens the doors, turns to face the camera, and slams them shut, with the music crashing on a chord as the doors slam shut...
The scene where Yano enters the room where Sugata has been drinking (against rules) and kicks the sake bottle around is precious! Great editing/timing...
Daisuburo (the rickshaw boy) wants to learn judo. At his lesson with Sugata he is thrown no less than 14 times.
He faces the camera and bows. As he rises from his bow, another image of the boy enters the room (it is the same boy), as the first boy dissolves and the second repeats the action. The third dissolves as before, and bows as before. However, one can begin to detect very slight differences in each version of the boy. By this third version, he seems a bit more cocky in his walk, a bit more confident in his bows! The fourth version of the boy walks in much slower, tugs at his kimono belt, and sits. He picks up something in front of him and tosses it to his right; something else to his left; and then faces the camera. He bows. Very beautiful sequence...
The scene with the priest (Kokuten Kôdô) and Sugata is wonderful: Sugata can't sleep; the priest says he'll stay up and think with him. Sugata starts to talk, but the priest interrupts, shouting: "don't make noise." Sugata is still. "You must look at those who tackle you -- until he disappears. Understand?" Close on Sugata. He is staring straight ahead, trying achieve satori. The "Sugata" theme begins. POV behind the two, a fire burning. A gorgeous dissolve has Sugata (and the fire) disappearing from their former positions, and dissolving into Sugata prone on the floor. The priest never changes. The music tells us it is morning (trilling flute) and we change angles to a prone, sleeping Sugata, shot from above, his arms outstretched as he sleeps...his eyes open; his head turns. He sits up with a start. "I still can't do that," he says, bowing his head quickly. He turns to look at the priest. He stares. He moves closer. Cut to opposite angle, Sugata on the left staring at the sleeping priest on the right, in profile. The priest moves his mouth, as if to indicate he had always been awake. Sugata smiles -- perhaps because he is relieved the priest did not attain satori when he could not; or perhaps because he is amused by what he knows is a deception on the part of the priest; or both; or neither ... but it's a cute scene in an otherwise dreadful film ...
The final fight scene would have been beautiful if Kurosawa had had any decent film stock and/or lighting equipment. As it is, it looks like a play of shadows...
There are no wipes in this film.

188. KUROSAWA 3: Tora no o wo fumu otokotachi (The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail) [1945]

2010-01-21T08:41:00.003-07:00

Here is the beginning of my post. And here is the rest of it.

187. KUROSAWA 2: Ichiban utsukushiku (The Most Beautiful) [1944]

2010-01-21T08:40:00.001-07:00

Here is the beginning of my post. And here is the rest of it.

186. KUROSAWA 1: Sugata sanshiro (Judo Saga) [1943]

2010-01-21T07:59:00.019-07:00

Sugata sanshiro (Judo Saga) [1943]

This is Kurosawa's first film!

With world war raging around him, and the Japanese censors making the choice of material nearly impossible, Kurosawa read a book, convinced his bosses at Toho to purchase the rights, begged for the chance to direct his first feature film and against all odds made a hit!

The year is 1882. Sugata sanshiro (Susumu Fujita) witnesses a fight between two rival judo sects and makes himself a disciple of the winner, Yano (Denjirô Ôkôchi). However, he fails to understand his sensei's teachings and, like an obstinate baby, throws himself into the dojo's pond and spends the night shivering, clinging to a wooden stake. Seeing the lotus blossom at dawn, he "awakens" and asks Yano's forgiveness. He then faces a series of tests and judo matches culminating in the "ultimate showdown."

Before we begin, please understand that there existed a very definite difference between a print of a film coming out of Hollywood in 1943, as opposed to a film coming out of Japan!

There are severe lighting problems throughout -- although you lucky folks who will see this at the Film Forum will get a much better view than us poor slobs who have to sit through the old VHS (only very recently did this release find its way to DVD via this 25-film Criterion set).

In addition, the Japanese censors made cuts (necessitating intertitles) before the film's premiere -- and two years later, the Occupation authorities banned the film due to its depiction of feudalism. It was not seen again until 1952 and is obviously missing chunks of storyline, mostly concerning the two women in Sugata's life!

A lot of you (I hope) will simply be curious to see what AK's very first effort was all about ~ but the truth is -- this is a very good film on its own merits (other than the technical deficiencies) and is fun to watch, even 67 years later!

A few tidbits that always come to mind when I watch this unique debut:

Kurosawa was a painter before he became a filmmaker. I still gasp at the way he "paints" the very first scene in his very first film: the credits are shown against a black background. Under a background of sky with three points (left, center and right) barely visible at the bottom of the frame, a subtitle: "1882." These points are actually the very tops of buildings and after four seconds, the camera pans downward and stops at street level. We now see the structures in their entirety, on either side of the street which divides them. The camera faces the structure in the center. Basically, he drew three simple vertical lines (left, center and right) and a gentle vertical pan down these lines to set the scene.
I count at least 24 people in this first scene and their movements are "drawn" onto the film quite beautifully. Before the camera even reaches the bottom of its pan, we see a man in a cap exiting the frame on the left. Two men are walking slowly on the left, coming towards the camera. A rickshaw boy pulls a well-dressed lady in front of the two men. A two-horse carriage sets an entirely different tempo on the right side of the screen. A one-horse vehicle now appears and the children who had been playing at the back of the left side of the frame now scatter towards the camera.
Seiichi Suzuki's score comes to a halt. The camera begins a slow, methodical pan to the left, down an alley, showing close architectural details -- two women working, and finally coming to rest on some older children (two of them have babies on their backs), who we have heard singing since this shot began.
My blog post goes into quite a bit of detail concerning the wipe.
In order to drive Yano's rickshaw, Sugata tosses his getas (clogs) away."There is a Japanese phrase, 'geta o azukeru,' which literally means to hand over the wooden clogs but has the figurative meaning of putting oneself in the hands of others. Perhaps this was in Kurosawa's mind when he constructed the sequence which follows. Sugata, having put himself in the hands of the judo teacher, and made himself barefoot to do so, pulls the rickshaw off down the road" [Richie, p. 21].
Kurosawa sure knew how to pull a particular type of expression out of his actors: "While on location for Sanshiro Sugata Kurosawa discovered Fujita had been sleeping with a local woman. When Kurosawa learned of the tryst, he used Fujita's embarrassed expression for the scene where Sanshiro is scolded by Yano. Fujita, even into his seventies, was fairly notorious as a ladies' man" [Galbraith, pp. 42-43]).
Richie does an excellent job of helping us keep things straight. One intertitle reads: "Sanshiro is still young. The girl's denunciation shocks him. Yano trains him in the moonlight. Sanshiro is like a spiritless dummy. But as he is thrown by the instructor, he regains his courage and understands. Yano has taught him what life is. Sanshiro is strong-minded, once again." Richie: "(This girl is, of course, different from the temple-girl [Sayo] though the story obviously parallels these two daughters. Since all existing prints of Sugata are mutilated and sections of the original negative are missing, she disappears after an aborted attempt on Sugata's life. The negative was only reconstructed in 1952 and this also accounts for the lavish use of titles in existing prints. The later editors decided to explain everything while they had the chance and many of the major sequences are separated by needless continuity titles telling us that so many months have passed or that such and such has happened.)" [p. 23]
There are eight wipes in this film; four horizontal (2/2) and four vertical (all top to bottom). Notice the beautiful effect as the vertical wipes accentuate the downward movement of Sugata as he descends the steps!

185. KUROSAWA flm reviews, Part II

2010-01-21T07:49:00.013-07:00

Click on Film/KUROSAWA1 to see my "frame-by-frame" analyses of the first ten films.

The following links will take you to my most recent reviews (January 2010) for my friend David Lehman's blog, The Best American Poetry:

Sugata sanshiro (Judo Saga) [1943]
Ichiban utsukushiku (The Most Beautiful) [1944]
Tora no o wo fumu otokotachi (The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail) [1945]
Zoku sugata sanshiro (Judo Saga II) [1945]
Waga seishun ni kuinashi (No Regrets for Our Youth) [1946]
Subarashiki nichiyobi (One Wonderful Sunday) [1947]
Yoidore tenshi (Drunken Angel) [1948]
Shizukanaru ketto (The Quiet Duel) [1949]
Nora inu (Stray Dog) [1949]
Shubun (Scandal) [1950]
Rashomon (In the Woods) [1950]
Hakuchi (The Idiot) [1951]
Ikiru (To Live) [1952]
Shichinin no samurai (The Seven Samurai) [1954]
Ikimono no kiroku (I Live in Fear/Record of a Living Being) [1955]
Kumonosu jo (Throne of Blood) [1957]
Donzoko (The Lower Depths) [1957]
Kakushi toride no san akunin (The Hidden Fortress) [1958]
Warui yatsu hodo yoku nemuru (The Bad Sleep Well) [1960]
Yojimbo (The Bodyguard) [1961]
Tsubaki Sanjûro [1962]
Tengoku to jigoku (High and Low) [1963]
Akahige (Red Beard) [1965]
Dodesukaden [1970]
Dersu Uzala [1975]
Kagemusha (The Double/Shadow Warrior) [1980]
Ran (Chaos) [1985]
Yume (Akira Kurosawa's Dreams) [1990]
Hachigatsu no kyoshikyoku (Rhapsody in August) [1991]
Madadayo (Not Yet) [1993]

184. LEWIS SAUL: Fantasia for String Orchestra (octet version) (2005) (5:43)

2009-07-27T13:02:00.003-07:00

Fantasia for String Orchestra (octet version) (2005) (5:43)

A low-rez audio of eight fantastic musicians on the final day of the Atlantic Music Festival in Maine playing my Fantasia for String Orchestra. Although more than eight players are needed, they covered it well, and with just a few rehearsals nailed the darned thing.

Ari Streisfeld, violin I
Yo Yo Fan, violin I
Sheridan Seyfriend, violin II
Rachel Saul, violin III
Dan McCarthy, viola I
Evren Bilgenoglu, viola II
Jonah Kim, cello I
Dan Mumm, cello II

Thank you eight wonderful musicians -- and to the violin III lady -- I LOVE YOU, girl!

183. Star Trek XI

2009-05-08T12:06:00.007-07:00

I loved it!
But I'm also pissed off at J.J. Abrams.

This is weird.

WARNING ~~~ SPOILERS AHEAD:

Remember Tuvok on Star Trek: Voyager?

He doesn't exist. (Unless a highly unlikely event occurred and his parents were saved and are among the 10,000 or so Vulcan survivors!)

Not to mention Tuvix!

Jump ahead (backwards) to Admiral Soval in Star Trek: Enterprise. Likewise. Not to mention T'Pol!!!! Oh I miss her already! See what I mean, this is weird?

In fact, if statistical probability means anything at all in the "real world" of Star Trek, it is -- regrettably, perhaps -- highly unlikely that any Vulcan we meet (other than Spock and his father) exists in this 45-year-old established timeline!

The entire original Star Trek timeline has been obliterated with a gigantic FUCK YOU by Mr. Abrams to the "hard-core" ST fans! Do you suppose Abrams even knows who Ensign Vorik is (was)? Poor B'Elanna Torres! She'll never know what she missed! (will she punch someone else out since he won't be there?)

Questions, questions, questions...

I suppose we should wait till the next one to see how he handles this "reboot."

And seriously -- I did LOVE the movie, despite the consternation at throwing 45 years of Star Trek history out the window.

I guess we can borrow the phrase used in Galaxy Quest now --

Let's check out the HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS!

182. My Star Trek Countdown Widget

2009-03-02T09:10:00.002-07:00

... when I put it up there were something like 400 days left.

Well, technically, that's not true ~ at the time (January 2008), the release date was still set for Xmas 2008. So the counter didn't actually read 400 days left, but in fact -- that's how long a wait it was!!

Today it says 66 14 45 58

I AM SO PSYCHED.

Star Trek XI

180. An old post from AFFZ

2009-02-13T07:41:00.006-07:00

The following posting is from AFFZ (alt.fan.frank.zappa) in 2002. It concerns a nanosecond of FZ's breath at a certain point in a certain track on his last major release before his death, CIVILIZATION PHAZE III.

Yeah, that's how crazy we Zappa fanatics are! (Actually, we're much crazier, really.)

So here's Scott's post from 2002:

***

This reminds me of my personal favorite tiny little FZ moment.

At 1:20 into "This is all wrong," just after Michael Rappaport says "Hey, yo man ... I don't like all this waterfall action" you can hear Frank laughing quietly through his nose. The first time I heard this, on December 17th, 1994, I remember this sound conjuring an image of Frank in my head. The image starts at the great man's honker. Gradually the camera pulls out and you see Frank's face with a big grin on it. Further out you see him standing in UMRK around the big Bossendorfer. He's smiling because this is what he lives for. For Frank, appreciating that one random non-sequitor from Michael Rappaport is what living was all about. Frank collected all these random moments of moving air. Then he rearranged them temporally for his own amusement (and ours, as a side-effect).

This one act of Nasal Retention symbolizes the whole project/
object for me. It has added poignancy because this was near the end of Frank's life. His joy in the studio is was what kept him going in those years. If we could ask Frank, I bet he would attach as much significance to that brief exhalation of breath, causing the hair in his nostrils (the spherical constant?) to vibrate just ever so slightly, as he would give to the score of Sinister Footwear.

Or maybe not.

-- Scott "Call Any Vegetable" Morrison

***

179. Film Review #13: FUKASAKU: Yakuza Papers (1973-74)

2009-02-10T14:55:00.011-07:00

A review [coming soon!] of the above four films. The Yakuza Papers is the American title given to the collection of four films which Kinji Fukasaku made between 1973 and 1974, which form the pentalogy. They are:

178. Happy Birthday TO MY BROTHER (2009) + Cute Links Jinx

2009-02-10T13:10:00.003-07:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR ALAN HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU
....

177. Does it really pour when it rains?

2009-02-10T09:23:00.003-07:00

The following all rained down upon my household within a 48-hour period last week.

I was watching the seven-hour Russian version of War and Peace. All the guns were silent for the moment; Pierre was searching for his soul; Natasha was pining; all was right in the world of Tolstoy, which happened to also be my world at the moment (great filmmaking) ... Suddenly I heard a loud crashing crunching sound at my patio door window. I got up and pulled back the curtains which cover the window and was shocked to see that the entire window was cracked to bits -- and an ARROW was lying on the concrete ground! Now I was really freaked out. Was someone shooting at me? With a bow and arrow? What the ... I got up the nerve to go outside and walk around a little to check it out. I noticed some people movement in the house behind me ... and a few minutes later, this elderly gentlemen is in the alley between our homes looking for something. I asked him if he had "lost" something. He gave me a funny look. I motioned for him to follow me up my property to the concrete slab which is our patio and pointed to the arrow. He was in shock. He explained how he had been shooting arrows at a target in his backyard with a bamboo bow, and that the arrow somehow deflected off the target, went over his wall and crashed into my window. The geometry seemed impossible -- but there it was. Turns out he's a real nice guy -- took complete responsibility -- and without dealing with any insurance companies, he took it upon himself to find a new door and put it in by himself.
Both sources of water in the kitchen (regular and filtered) started leaking. We had soggy, moldy wood slowly disintegrating under the pipes and although we had to pay the plumbing bills, insurance has covered all the work to replace the wood and flooring. But we've had plumbers, carpenters, floorers and insurance adjusters running around our house for the past few weeks.
During all this, I had some sort of really bad bronchial condition and a really bad cough. Just starting to feel better now after a course of Z-pack antibiots.
Listening to the new Frank Zappa release: LUMPY MONEY -- 3 cds! NP: Track 25 on Disc 3 -- the basic (no vocals) tracks for Who Needs the Peace Corps? How cool is that!@

Life is pretty good. In other words, it could always be worse. Ian Underwood should have had a HUGE career. But maybe he's happier this way.

176. Allegro non Troppo trailer

2009-02-09T09:29:00.003-07:00

Allegro non Troppo from Paolo Valietti on Vimeo.

175. LEWIS SAUL: Pantoum, Symphonic Tone Poem (1967) (6:06)

2009-02-07T09:40:00.008-07:00

Pantoum, Symphonic Tone Poem

Written at age 15 (1967); this performance is from 1970 when I was a senior at the Interlochen Arts Academy (age 17) ...

174. Film Review #12: LEE: Se, jie (Lust, Caution) (2007)

2009-01-27T13:02:00.039-07:00

A detailed analysis of the above film. SE, JIE (LUST, CAUTION)

***

Language: Mandarin
Anamorphic Widescreen 1:85:1
159 Minutes

***

Although I've been carefully studying (and enjoying) Asian films for more than ten years now, I still feel like a Chinese person who speaks no English, sitting down to watch Animal House and then attempting to write a detailed review -- not just for his local Chinese audience -- but for the whole world!

So, consider now that I never review any film that I've seen less than ten times. With foreign films, these repeated viewings allow me to stop focusing on the subtitles, and, having more or less memorized the dialogue, I am then free to watch the entire screen. Despite the language barrier, I usually feel pretty confident that I now have a strong grasp on the film and -- in this case -- how the great Ang Lee pulled it all off!

I have every film he's ever made (except Chosen, a six-minute film which is apparently not to be found for purchase {let me know if I am wrong about that, someone!})...

They're all terrific:

Tui shou (Pushing Hands) (1992), a beautiful family drama with a grandpa who does Tai-Chi and a Jewish daughter-in-law who attempts to bridge the cultural gap;
Xi yan (The Wedding Banquet) (1993), probably my favorite gay-themed film of all time;
Yin shi nan nu (Eat Drink Man Woman) (1994), possibly the finest food movie of all time;
Sense and Sensibility (1995), his first English-language film, and a beautifully realized literary treasure;
The Ice Storm (1997), recently rereleased on the prestigious Criterion label;
Ride with the Devil (1999), a greatly underappreciated Civil War mini-epic with a fine performance by Jewel;
Wo hu cang long (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) (2000), which grandly kicked off a nice plethora of good Chinese-made martial arts films from China's other two great directors: Yimou Zhang, with Ying xiong (Hero) (2002); Shi mian mai fu (House of Flying Daggers) (2004); and Man cheng jin dai huang jin jia (Curse of the Golden Flower) (2006), and Kaige Chen, with Wu ji (The Promise) (2005); Ang followed that up with an attempt at a Hollywood success:
Hulk (2003); and then a rather more successful attempt with:
Brokeback Mountain (2005).Which brings us to
Se, jie (Lust, Caution).

Lee has created a very complex film which neither shoehorns neatly into any particular filmic genre (it is certainly not a conventional thriller -- in the end, the good guy loses; the bad guy wins), nor does the film deliver its somewhat controversial media-spun splash of raw, primal sexuality with anything other than the complete honesty (and therefore, non-controversial -- and certainly non-gratuitous) that truthful filmmaking and storytelling demand, and of which Ang Lee would be incapable of producing otherwise.

It is certainly no fault of Ang Lee's that this film was more or less advertised as a "must-see" for the sex scenes alone -- when in fact, it is the riveting, bloody, violent scene which precedes the first sex scene that is the cornerstone of Se, jie. I cannot get that scene out of my mind!

Alexandre Desplat's score over the opening credits is a perfect mood-setter, vibraphones like tiny gongs -- and after the final credit (very short, just the production companies followed by the film title, beautifully haunting in deep jet black and red lines), we find Lee -- like Iñárritu in Babel, (and other filmmakers with varying degrees of success), beginning the film with an iconic image which will reoccur throughout this 159-minute epic -- and not necessarily in chronological order!

The languid, droopy face of a German Shepherd. We will meet this dog -- or his relatives -- throughout various sections of the film; but this exact particular image reoccurs at a later point.

The introduction is crisp and informative. The dog's handler looks around nervously. A soldier with a rifle paces an upper balcony, as the subtitle appears:

"JAPANESE OCCUPIED SHANGHAI, 1942"

Other soldiers are peering through binoculars; four Chinese men stand in a circle, smoking, subtitle:

"RESIDENTIAL COMPOUND OF THE CHINESE COLLABORATIONIST GOVERNMENT"

Cut to a servant carrying four bowls of soup on a tray, coming up the stairs, as we hear voices from a nearby room.

In a beautiful camera movement, as the girl nears the top of the staircase, the camera pushes in on the tray with the four bowls of soup. It stays close on the tray as the young girl passes it to an older female servant, who -- camera now behind this older woman -- prepares to put the tray down on a table next to four women playing mahjong.

Thus the scene is set. We listen to the wives of those brutal Chinese puppets, pattering on as they play with those beautiful, shiny tiles and Lee treats us to a carefully prepared mix of the clicking and clinking and shuffling going on ... of course, one of the woman -- "Mak Tai Tai" -- is really Wong Chia Chi (the gorgeous Wei Tang)...

Scene Two introduces to Mr. Yee (the great Tony Leung Chiu Wai), as he walks up to a sinister black jail door with his underling, discussing a prisoner who is about to be handed over to the Japanese (Yee: "They didn't say dead or alive. Give him a quick one").

Are we supposed -- perhaps -- to feel a droplet of sympathy for this murderous collaborationist because he is nice enough to put a fellow Chinese "out of his mercy" before handing him over to the Japanese, who likely would have tortured him much more thoroughly?

In any case, Leung is fantastic. Even Manohla Dargis -- who didn't care for this film nearly as much as I do! -- admitted that Leung really knows how to use his eyes (sort of without really "using" them, you know?) to convey this kind of creepiness...

As Yee leaves the complex, we see a German Shepherd again. We follow Yee's car as it delivers him to his home -- which he enters quickly -- rock star-style -- after his bodyguard gives him the okay...

At this point, it becomes obvious that something is up between Mak Tai Tai and Mr. Yee, as he kibitzes the mahjong game ... she excuses herself abruptly (Mrs. Yee is annoyed) and is off somewhere, in a car provided by Mrs. Yee.

Lee -- with some stunning location work -- shows us 1942 Shanghai as it really must have been! Long lines for food and wide boulevards, nearly completely devoid of automobiles (gasoline was too expensive).

As Mak Tai Tai arrives and sends the car away, Lee treats us to our first moment of cinematic trickery designed to put us even deeper into this spy thriller mood -- a series of quick whip-pans, as Mak looks around for her accomplices. (Do we see any?)

She steps inside a fancy, Western restaurant/café. Is she meeting someone? She sits down, alone. Orders coffee. In English. Asks to use the phone. In English.

Dials phone. We hear it ringing.

She puts her hand on the buttons, disconnecting. A flash of a look from the waiter behind the bar!

"That's odd. Did I dial wrong?" (in Chinese). The waiter smiles. She smiles.

She re-dials, and begins a strange conversation, which sounds like spy code...

Only at the very end of the conversation do we meet the man on the other end -- Kuang Yu Min (Lee-Hom Wang). Kuang turns towards a group of six men and women and says, "It's now." All six prepare guns (one guy gets a knife)...

Back to Mak, sipping her coffee. Lee achieves great tension with shots like this close-up on the coffee cup, her red lipstick smeared across the rim of the cup, like a bloody warning. She puts on perfume.

A sudden, quite disconcerting, POV shift: The camera is now outside the café looking in at Mak, the pedestrians passing by reflected in the window...

A gorgeous fade-dissolve to a line of blue-uniformed soldiers, marching along with the Nationalist Chinese flag. Refugees trudge by in the opposite direction ... a few seconds pass before the subtitle appears:

"FOUR YEARS EARLIER"

(or 1938).

Amongst the throngs of the people we find Wong Chia Chi -- for "Mak Tai Tai" does not yet exist -- and we see that she has made friends with Lai Shu Jin (Chih-ying Chu). We learn some important details about Wong Chia Chi's life (her father is in England, with her brother, but was unable to send for her after war broke out and the mother died).

We are in Hong Kong. Wong and Lai are apparently in school together. Kuang Yu Min appears and recruits the two women for his theatre company. Lai has done Ibsen, but Kuang has something more "revolutionary" in mind ...

After crying while watching the movie "Intermezzo," the scene shifts abruptly to the performance of the play. The curtain opens and Wong Chia Chi is sitting at a table, knitting in silence.

Still silent, Lee allows the camera to pan over the audience in the theatre and carefully puts in a few random coughs, as well as a beautiful little bit of flaring, with a wonderful little prism of color which spreads over part of the audience. Still not a word -- but wonderful work with both the sound design and the camera lighting ...

This is the "China Will Not Fall" section. Wong Chia Chi is a good little actress (this was Wei Tang's very first film, and high praise indeed for her understanding the meta- of scenes like this and capturing the flavor and subtleties of play-acting while play-acting! She is very very good!) and when she cries out "China Will Not Fall," the audience is deeply moved and stands and chants.

The troupe is overjoyed at their success, of course, and celebrate. Later, Kuang tells the rest of the troupe how he had just run into Tsao (Kar Lok Chin), an old friend of his brother's, who was now working for Yee. He convinces the rest of the troupe that it is only good and logical that they take the opportunity of trying to assassinate Yee -- much more effective resistance than mere theatre, Kuang firmly suggests ...

All are in except Wong and it is worth noting the interplay between the quick cutting -- from Lai Shu Jin to Wong to Kuang, who grimly pronounces that he's "not forcing anyone to join."

Of course Wong is in, too. Perhaps she was the only one who truly realized how ridiculous the whole plot would turn out to be ...

In the next scene, Kuang and Liang Jun Sheng (Yue-Lin Ko) are wining and dining Tsao. Kuang asks him if he could help to get him a job with the collaborationists. Tsao says he will try.

Lee advances the plot. The six amateur resistance fighters move into a large dormitory-type residence and plan to have Wong Chia Chi and Auyang Ling Wen (Johnson Yuen) become the fictional Mak Tai Tai and her husband, the rich businessman, Mr. Mak ...

The "play" begins. The principals arrive at Yee's well-guarded home and Tsao and Mr. and Mrs. Yee exit the gate and greet their new "friends" -- the Maks and Mak's cousin from Tsao's old hometown, Kuang. Mrs. Yee -- Yee Tai Tai (Joan Chen) gets into the backseat of the car next to the Maks, and they go shopping.

(The next scene is a wonderful example of why Lee -- or, for that matter, any filmmaker who is somehow able to work outside of the Hollywood studio system -- is not going to fret about the running time of his film.)

The gang is analyzing their first contact with the enemy and discussing how to proceed. After Kuang notes that Yee Tai Tai has taken a liking to Wong, she excuses herself to go to bed ...

Lai Shu Jin comes to her room; the women smoke and make small talk. Nothing important is said -- but Lee lets his camera roam across the women's faces and both actresses give us plenty to chew on. For example, Wei Tang projects a perfect mixture of anxiety, detached coolness, a slight nervousness -- but yet, we get the feeling in this short, unspoken few seconds of cinema that Lai Shu Jin -- if no one else -- understands the horror of what is about to befall her dear friend, Wong ...

More mahj. Talk about unsettling events; a new government; a dinner party the next evening perhaps for the highest officials.

Yee Tai Tai wins by throwing down the "red tile." According to Wikipedia:

"The red tile ('中'榜, zhōngbǎng) means you pass the examination and thus will be appointed a government official."

Another post-mortem back at the dorm -- Lee spices up the plot development by moving the group to the beach, injecting a touch of humor:

Kuang and Auyang are shooting at bottles. The sound of ten gunfire shots. The tenth shot hits one of the bottles.

Auyang: "One bottle assassinated."

Several atmospheric scenes later (it is raining heavily), Yee joins three of the mahj ladies for a game where, among other things, he obtains Mak Tai Tai's phone number! Mak Tai Tai -- a predictably consistent loser at the game -- wins her only game of mahjong during the film when Mr. Yee is one of the four players.

A tense scene immediately follows as Auyang is dancing wildly with Lai Shu Jin (preparing for the possible need to dance as Mr. Mak [?]) when the telephone rings. As the group sits stunned, Huang Lei (Ying-hsien Kao) finally lifts the needle from the phonograph.

There are two important things to notice here:

You can (barely) hear Wong's voice before the music stops; and
The last cut of the scene is on Kuang. Note the clock above his head: 11:50 (presumably, P.M.) -- thus, we can put it all together: the group stunned at hearing the telephone ring at that hour and Yee's later questioning Wong about whether or not she was alone when he called (he obviously heard the music) ...

... which happens in the next scene as Yee and Wong share a cozy dinner together.

We get a glimpse of what a brilliant interrogator Yee must be: after some innocent chatter about mahjong, Yee fixes his black eyes on Wong, his voice even, steady -- never overmodulated -- and he says:

"I hope I didn't interrupt anything when I called today."

You can see Wong squirm for just an instant. Her lie is magnificent, however: she repeats a little tidbit that she had heard from one the wives at the mahjong table about her husband being away, and how his relatives were all "looking in" on her!

If Yee had desired to do so, I am sure he could have continued his questioning: "Why were your husband's relatives playing such loud dance music at midnight?" Wong finally ends her prevarication with a sexy come-on:

"Your call gave me the perfect excuse to leave." Yee inspects her coldly, carefully covering his mouth with his hand.

"Is that right?"

(It is at this very moment that I -- personally -- am convinced that Yee knows that Wong is not who she seems to be) ...

The conversation continues, seemingly so innocuous.

Yee: "You've been so kind to us. We know so few people here."
Wong: "Oh please. Such trivial things."
Yee: "But if you pay attention ..." (and here, Lee pushes in close) "... nothing is trivial."

A chill ripples down my spine.

Some wonderful ECU's here -- like the lipstick on the glass (jolting us backwards to the scene at the café where the lipstick is on the coffee cup).

Yee is so frightening here because he is subtly interrogating Wong with his eyes. She asks why the restaurant is so empty and he tells her it is because the food is so bad.

Lee keeps the camera on Wong as we watch her reaction -- such a crazy thing for the most powerful Chinese man in the city to say!

She plays her expression into one of embarrassment -- but is Yee too clever for her? Does he detect the falsity?

He shoots questions at her -- she parries -- he returns the serve ... she flings him a bold stroke as he questions her about Mr. Mak:

"If you're so interested in Little Mak, I'll bring him along next time!"

The dialogue here includes several lines which -- in my opinion -- are crucial towards approaching an understanding of the ending of the film:

A cut is emphasized by a distinct change in the piano music in the background. A candle is being lit by another.

Yee: "The people I deal with are high officials ..." (cut to Wong) " ... talking about important matters of state ... the destiny of our nation." (cut to Yee) " ... But no matter what words come out of their mouths ... I see only one thing in their eyes." (cut to Wong):

Wong: "What?"

Yee: "Fear. But you -- you seem different. You're not afraid, are you?"
Wong: "How about you?"
Yee: "You're smart. But no so smart at mahjong."
Wong: "You're right. I always lose. Except when I play with you."

Long silence, as Yee begins to light a cigarette. Wong seems to be eyeing the smoke longingly. At Yee's home, one of the wives had previously commented that Wong didn't smoke (although we haven't yet seen the scene which shows us this!), so Yee doesn't offer one to her here -- until this moment, as he sees that there is yet another "secret" he does not know about her! He gives her the cigarette and lights it. She exhales nervously ...

Lust. Caution.

The previous scene brings up the lust dynamic quite a bit -- but the dialogue about fear vividly shows us that this amateur assassin is anything but cautious! And he knows it!

The next shot is a stunning "bird's-eye" view of a car, barely visible by its headlights, snaking its way along a deserted road -- a full moon in the distance.

Inside the car, we find Yee, driving Wong home. At the dorm, the others go berserk as they see Yee's car pull up, quickly preparing themselves with guns and knives.

Lee really ratchets up the suspense in this scene, as Yee seems about to come inside with Wong.

But he does not. Wong needs a drink!

Another humorous moment -- Auyang asks whether Yee has "tried anything yet." Liang responds: "Mr. Mak is jealous!"

But it's deadly serious stuff, deep down, as we can infer from a sharp glance of Kuang's after this remark ...

Liang is the only man in the group with sexual experience, so he is chosen to "initiate" Wong, so that when the time comes, she will be able to "perform" with Yee ...

As they keep practicing -- she's on top now -- he remarks:

"I think you're getting the hang of it."
Wong: "Shut up."

Cut to: Wong is lying in bed; birds quietly chirping. Suddenly, she pulls back the covers (she is naked) and strides towards the window. She pulls back the curtains and we see a group of reddish flowers through the geometrically interesting window panes -- she is standing in such a way as to bring the entire composition into such an ethereal, angelic focus. We can barely see her face reflected in the window.

By the way, I guarantee that the previous 24 seconds of film would -- without any doubt -- be cut out of this film, had it been Hollywood-produced.

Cut to a shot of a mirror, reflecting Wong's image as she does her eyebrows. Kuang tells her that dinner is ready, but she is not hungry. Suddenly the phone rings. She rushes out to answer it. It is Yee Tai Tai! The Yee's are moving back to Shanghai immediately and Wong cannot even get Mrs. Yee to agree to a meal at the airport.

The violent scene which follows is perhaps one of the most gut-wrenching depictions of a brutal murder I have ever seen on screen. It is certainly unique -- I have never seen anything quite like it. It deserves a cut-by-cut description here, because this is where Lee is absolutely at his best. The horror is visceral and real (I dare you to say you didn't squirm, even a little!) and -- when all is said and done -- brings the entire film into the sharp focus; the first hour has been somewhat obscured by hazy scenes of bewilderment and uncertainty.

The group is packing (for Shanghai). Everyone is busy helping out, except for Wong who sits at the table. Finally, she decides to pitch in, by going out on the balcony for a smoke!

At this exact moment, the music comes to a stop. Kurosawa did this in 1948 with Yoidore tenshi (Drunken Angel) at a similar moment.

Through the windowpanes we can see Lai Shu Jin folding clothes behind her and -- look carefully! -- someone has entered through the open doorway, creeping in and looking around ...

Cut to a trunk packed with newspaper-wrapped kitchenware. The lid closes and Huang picks it up. He is in the foreground, with Kuang and Auyang in the background. We hear Tsao's voice:

"I hope I'm not disturbing anyone." Cut to Tsao. "Huang, I see you're a mover now, not a driver."

Cut to Lai Shu Jin, looking distraught, with Wong in the background on the balcony, still unaware of what's going on.

Two-shot: Kuang and Auyang.

Kuang: "Tsao, what are you doing here?" Switch POV to a three-shot -- camera now behind Kuang and Auyang with Tsao on the right. He holds his jacket in his left hand; his right hand is in his pocket. Huang still holds the chest he had lifted.

Tsao: "I thought I'd give my regards to Mr. and Mrs. Mak ... and all the cute little Mak children." Cut to Tsao in a frontal shot -- we see that Liang is standing just outside the doorway. Lee is giving us all the necessary filmic geometry here. Cut back to the original two-shot:

Kuang: "What do you want?"

Three-shot. Tsao starts to move forward as he speaks.

"I had my suspicions from the start ..." Here, Lee cuts back to Kuang and Auyang. Huang has joined them on the right, making it a three-shot, and is holding the chest. Tsao continues speaking:

" ... but I kept silent until I could see what your game was ..." Cut to close, upper-body shot of Tsao, as he points at Auyang:

" ... So Mr. Mak goes to Lingnan University?" (I suspect that that's what the Chinese characters on his t-shirt say!?) ... cut to previous three-shot:

Kuang: "Tsao -- don't do anything stupid!" Cut back to the three-shot of Tsao, Lai and Wong, who has now turned around and sees Tsao. He sees her and then turns his head back towards the camera. Reverse POV (through the windowpanes, from Wong's POV!) and we see he is now staring at Liang, still outside the doorway ...

Over Kuang's shoulder, Tsao, right hand still in his pocket, nervously moves his left hand while he speaks:

"Then how's this? Yee's going to Shanghai without me ... so it's time to join the good guys. I know a lot more than you do ..." POV change to Wong's: " ... Your superiors would find me quite valuable ..." Wong moves towards the window, her face reflected ...

Cut to three-shot of the guys.

Kuang: "How much do you want?"
Tsao: "For you, at least ten taels of gold ..." Cut to Wong, still outside: " ... and that's not counting Mak Tai Tai ..." (several quick cuts) "... Mr. Yee would pay a premium for her."

Cut to Kuang. We see his face swell up in anger. He bends down and grabs a knife and Lee cuts to a three-shot with Tsao barely in frame as Kuang screams:

"You're asking for it!" Very quick cuts to Tsao, who pulls out a gun, then POV of Wong through the windowpanes, her shocked face still reflected:

Tsao: "You're something else ..." Cut to Tsao, over Kuang's shoulder: " ... I had no idea you were a spy for the resistance. Why didn't you help me instead of using me?" Reverse angle cut, back to Tsao and reverse again, very quickly.

"After all, we're from the same town."

And thus, the conversation is over.

Hand-held takes over and the cuts come lightning-quick:

It is Huang who first reacts. He throws himself -- still holding the packed chest -- at Tsao, who pulls the trigger on the gun which has been deflected by Huang's move.

We are now in a wide shot which shows the gun being deflected and Wong on the balcony, just in the frame at left. Kuang in frame, then Tsao, all struggling wildly ... the camera pulls back ... then pushes back in ... pauses to capture Lai Shu Jin, crying ... the guys are all hitting out at Tsao and finally push him against the window, which breaks up all around Wong, as she reacts in horror. Kuang is trying to attack Tsao with a knife, but Tsao is successfully fighting him (and the others) off.

Cut to Lai -- she now has the gun and is pointing it at Tsao and advancing ... cut to Kuang, holding the knife ... the camera lingers on his expression of hatred ... Tsao looks at him in horror ... Kuang plunges the knife into his chest, but seems to hit a rib; the knife is deflected. Kuang now deliberately pushes the knife into Tsao's stomach. The cuts are fast and furious. Wong looks like she's going to throw up.

Everyone backs away as we are treated to the sight of the knife in the belly, blood trickling all around. (extremely realistic!) Cut to Tsao's face, unbelieving ...

Camera pulls back for a four-shot -- Kuang (standing), Huang (on the floor), Tsao (on the chair, his hand on the knife which sticks out of his stomach), and Liang (standing). Kuang screams at Tsao, pointing:

"You work for a traitor. You should know what's coming!" Cut to Lai, still holding the gun, her mouth wide open in disbelief.

In one swift motion, his lips trembling, Tsao leaps from the chair, pulls the knife out of his stomach and attacks Kuang, who fights him off.

Huang grabs the knife and stabs him at least three times in the chest. Auyung also gets a few thrusts of the knife in. Finally, Tsao collapses to the floor.

Throughout the above, the screams, moans and half-gurgles of terror from the group of six are absolutely terrifying -- done with a sharp realism that has to be experienced to be believed!

Breathing heavily, Tsao rises and heads for the doorway. Now it is Liang's turn (only the women never inflict a blow). He stabs him in the back a few times. Particularly poignant is the way Liang falls to the floor, completely freaked out by what he has done, after the last stab.

Tsao then collapses (again) and falls down the stairs.

"He's still alive." That from Lai, sobbing, in a shot which looks up the stairs at her, Wong, Kuang and Auyang.

Kuang descends the steps and breaks his neck. Tsao's last look of bitter pain, some back and forth between Kuang (stoic) and Wong (nauseous) ...

Wong descends, stepping over the body, and leaves. The camera remains on Kuang, however, as he breathes heavily. The music resumes**, and the camera follows Wong as she leaves the compound and runs down the street as we

FADE TO BLACK

1:10:41 ... that's right, the movie's just about half way over!!!

A little break here to do some analysis:

Listen to the way Lee incorporates sound design, music and image here to maximum advantage:

Begin with Kuang, breathing heavily (above) ... the music (**) starts ... Wong's footsteps = then an accelerando (faster) of footsteps as she runs down the street, which play over the rumbling bass introduction.

As her footsteps fade away, the visual image also fades away to complete blackness and the heartstringtugging music begins as we open on a shot of a tower bathed in a tan-orange-black glow of a full setting sun, which then changes to a bird's-eye shot of a bridge over a river. Japanese soldiers are crossing in trucks. Subtitle:

SHANGHAI
THREE YEARS LATER

So let's see if I've got this right: We started off in '42, went back four years to '38 and now three ahead to '41 (or perhaps '42 if we account for the time that accounts for the '38 section) ...

The filmic rhythm continues without dialogue.

Dead Chinese on the streets. (note: blond prostitutes)
Japanese soldiers walk by a long line of people in line for grain. Wong is in the line. She looks haggard, tired and hungry.
Red Cross removing dead bodies.

We follow Wong as she makes it back to her aunt's apartment, puts away the grain ration she brought back, and grabs a few books (plays) and heads off to school. The aunt explain why she feels she owes this much to the girl after having sold her father's house that he had left her.

Next scene: Japanese class. Interesting two words she learns: "You" and "Me" !

Next is a trip to the movies to see Penny Serenade.

Music playing.

Cary Grant (Roger): "New tune, isn't it?"
Irene Dunne (Julie): "I beg your pardon?"
Roger: "It's a new tune."
Julie: "I just didn't hear you. Yes, it just came in."
Roger: "It would be nice to dance to."

The Japanese censors then cut into the film with some newsreel propoganda. People are pissed, and begin leaving the theatre, en masse ...

Wordlessly, Lee shows us Lai, as she spots Wong leaving the theatre; Wong leaving her apartment and -- startled -- looking at someone -- who Lee shows us to be ...

Kuang.

He now explains to Wong how the "real" resistance took care of the Hong Kong mess and smuggled them all out to safety ... and goes on to speak of "unfinished business," meaning Yee, of course. His eyes burrow in on Wong, as he seems to be taking her temperature.

In the next scene, Wong is wending her way through a crowded alley where she meets Kuang and the two of them are ushered into a back room where they meet "Old Wu."

Lee creatively allows this necessary exposition to play out in several parts. As Old Wu narrates the difficult task they have planned for her (including the first order of business: he gives her a "suicide pill," and instructs her in its use), a montage develops, and we sense that time is passing. The director emphasizes this when we see that Wu is wearing different clothing than at the start of the scene ...

She leaves her aunt. Wu is making final preparations. Wong asks him to deliver a letter for her father. As she is changing back into Mak Tai Tai, Wu and Kuang discuss the situation, and -- after reading it -- Wu burns the letter.

Cut; a curtain is pushed aside. Subliminally, I was half-expected Mak Tai Tai to walk out -- but it is Yee!

He is at home and hears the ladies chatting and playing mahjong, and is about to enter his study when he suddenly freezes in his tracks as he hears Wong's voice:

"I should have looked you up sooner, but I've been so busy with Little Mak's business." Yee turns around and makes small talk with the wives and leaves. Yee Tai Tai makes the remark about Mak Tai Tai not smoking in this scene.

But Mak has brought Mrs. Yee some Palmers, which Yee says even she can't get on the black market!

Wong goes up to her room (she is staying with the Yees now!) to fetch the Palmers, meeting Mr. Yee's Big Bad Assistant on the way up (he is going down the steps to fetch something himself) ...

(Of course), Mr. Yee is soon in Wong's room.

This scene is another example of the tremendous EYE-play between the two fantastic leads. So much is being said without words here -- which, of course, makes for a marvelous bit of filmmaking because it so passionately pushes the viewer into the cinematic reality and forces us to participate in the filmic exercise of trying to understand what is being "said."

ECU on Wong as she is taking the carton of cigarettes out of her suitcase. The out-of-focus shadow of someone in the doorway; she turns her head as Yee comes into focus. She smiles at him modestly.

He leans against the door frame.

"This room is modest, but ... it's safer here."

Wong: "I don't want to bother you or Yee Tai Tai."
Yee: "She likes having a mahjong partner here. And I'm hardly home anyway."

Close on Wong as Mak Tai Tai. She seems to be putting on a show of great suppressed affection for Yee here:

"Always so busy. You've lost weight."

Check out Yee's expression here. He seems to be trying to decide if she is sincere or not. He moves in a few steps. On her: coy, nervous ... him: "You have also changed."

Wong takes her time. "It's been three years. The war is still not over. For us both to be here, still alive, is enough." Yee blinks a few times, perhaps still uncertain.

The camera pulls back for a medium shot:

"I've brought a few things. Cigarettes for Yee Tai Tai. I'm afraid I have no gift for you."

Yee: "Your presence itself is a gift." He leaves.

Cut to a massive crowd scene! Wong and Kuang meet on a bus to discuss plans. The gist of this scene is that "Mak Tai Tai" needs more money because she keeps losing at mahjong!

Next is breakfast at the Yee house. Yee Tai Tai is going to play mahjong with Liao Tai Tai and her mother, but has generously given Mak Tai Tai the day off to go to the movies.

Mak Tai Tai is driven by a driver who looks exactly like Tsao to me! But Tsao was killed three years ago, so how is that possible? We see him again when he hands her the piece of paper with "2B" written on it." [If anyone can explain this to me, I'd be delighted...]

So, Sex Scene #1. Instead of the Majestic Theatre, Mak Tai Tai has been driven to Apartment #2B for a rendezvous with Yee. The interpersonal dynamic between the two leads is resolutely stamped into this initial scene of "foreplay":

She attempts to "take control" by beginning a striptease -- but Yee rises angrily and slaps her and throws her against a door and has rough sex with her -- which Lee shows us graphically. Once again, if two people are having sex, there isn't usually much dialogue which is advancing the plot.

But in this case, that is not true. Yee has taken control and is intent on demonstrating this control to the ultimate extent. Let's take a guess at what each character must be thinking here -- and what the other character must be thinking about the other!

Yee.

He is certainly thinking to himself -- if this girl objects to this treatment, she can easily say so (for all her squealing, it seems obvious that she's going to hang in there ...) -- and perhaps try to storm out of the room to escape him.

This would prove to Yee that she was not a resistance fighter sent to kill him -- because she had "quit" her mission at that point.

However, I think his suspicions are raised by her acquiescence to his punishing approach, and from now on he is on the lookout for slip-ups!

Wong.

Perhaps she thought of the above scenario where she would escape and perhaps divert suspicion -- but the thought of screwing up the assignment urged her on and she accepted the brutal treatment. Perhaps his savagery even made her own hopes for his elimination real and immediate.

At one point, she looks up at him with "loving" eyes. For a split second, Yee seems to look back at her with some tenderness -- but his expression quickly changes and he continues pushing her into the bed as he bangs her from behind ...

Post-coital; he is getting dressed; she is lying on the bed. He throws her coat at her and leaves. She looks almost asleep. Finally, a quick smile of some sort plays across her face -- begging for interpretation! Mine: she is happy to suffer so that the plan will be fulfilled.

The wives are listening to some beautiful Chinese music. Yee walks in and actually sits down and joins them for a few moments. The upshot of this scene: Wong (Mak Tai Tai) mentions that she'll be going back to Hong Kong in a few days ... Yee looks pissed -- again, all about control ...

Another seemingly innocuous scene: Wong is looking around for the Yee's; she runs into the maid who tells her that Mrs. Yee is still asleep and that Mr. Yee has gone to Nanjing. She asks the maid, " ... for how long?" The maid responds coolly, "I couldn't say."

In the next scene, we see Yee Tai Tai leaving the house to visit one of her mahjong partners, who has sprained her ankle. The minute she is gone, Mr. Yee shows up and the second sex scene begins. Although Wong (Mak Tai Tai) makes a point of telling Yee that she "hates" him, they make love, with a great deal less violence than before.

Suddenly, a cut! It is the German Shepherd -- the exact repetition of the first image of the film. A quick look at the scene from a wider angle, and then Lee cuts back to the lovemaking ...

The only hint of Yee's prior aggressiveness is when he pushes Wong's head back down to the pillow on the several occasions when she tries to lift it to embrace him. He asserts a physical control, without the actual violence of the first time ...

The couple seem to orgasm in unison, wrapped up together like a human pretzel. It is a gorgeous scene -- and perhaps the one moment in the entire film when both Yee and Wong are completely and unabashedly their real selves! The only hint of the spy game they are playing comes at the very end of the scene when Wong asks him to get her an apartment.

The expression on Yee's face is hard to read -- but he is definitely back to thinking in terms of "caution."

In the next scene, Wong enters a movie theatre -- this time it is a Chinese film! Kuang is there. The two carry on a long conversation, where Wong expresses her anxiety about getting it all over with, and where Kuang clearly expresses his feelings for her (he won't let her get hurt, he tells her). Possibly, we can see that she cares for him, as well ...

Cut to the wives playing mahjong; gossiping. Cut to Wong, in bed. Rack focus on clock -- it is 4:00 A.M. She hears a noise and goes downstairs to investigate. She opens a door and we see Yee by the fireplace, burning papers. "Close the door," he tells her.

As if the tension needed to be heightened, Lee -- with the benefit of really great acting by Leung and Wei -- cranks it up a notch or two ...

The scene is worth transcribing in order to see how this is done:

After closing the door, Lee trades POV's, as she eyes the photographs and plaques on the walls of his study and he continues to burn his papers.

Yee and Wong now get down to some serious theatre. Each is intent on his or her agenda.

Wong: "I've been waiting up for you."
Yee, throwing something in the fire and standing up: "Then you must be very tired ... I am." He walks over to his desk.
Wong: "Yee Tai Tai said you were in Nanjing."
Yee: "Don't believe everything you hear. I've just been busy. We busted a resistance cell. Got twelve agents." POV shift to over-the-shoulder of Yee on Wong, in this darkened room ... I had to interrogate them personally." He is lighting a cigarette. Reverse POV: " ... One by one."

As he lights the cigarette, the POV shifts again -- as we hear the click of his lighter, Wong, her hands crossed and folded over, holding her coat (it must be cold in the house at this hour) must be wondering if her friends -- or she, herself -- have been busted, and he is toying with her at this point.

POV shift. Yee: "Oh, I forget. You're not interested in my work, are you? (POV shift, now on Wong. She is trying to maintain a blank expression.) " ... it's boring." Back on Yee:

"You're so careful never to ask about it." He inhales, waiting for a response.

On her: "It's your business. Just as you don't ask about my business. All I do is sit here waiting for you."

On Yee, as Wong continues: "Maybe you're seeing someone else." On her: "I can't sleep. If this goes on any longer, you'll get tired of me."

She has played her role as best she could. Not it is his turn! He leans forward:

"So that's what you've been thinking these past few days?"
Wong: "And losing money at mahjong. Losing all my hard-earned money as a runner ... I should go upstairs."
Yee: "Get some sleep." He moves towards her and speaks directly into her ear: "Let me take you someplace special tomorrow."

She moves away and starts to leave. The camera frames Yee's face in close-up:

"And don't ever come into this room again."

As innocuous as the above scene may seem, it does what it is supposed to do -- make us even more anxious!

Cut to a street scene (all such scenes in this film add such a rich realism to the story ... Lee is masterful in his use of these bookend-tapestries.

Wong has been waiting in Yee's car for two hours. He's been busy interrogating resistance prisoners. In the car, he begins some sexual play with Wong as he tells her the details of the horrible torture, etc.

This cuts right into the third -- and final -- sex scene. Once again, Yee is never brutal with her -- and they get into sorts of different positions. At one point, Yee seems to become that "little boy" that all men eventually morph into when they make love with women who have some kind of "power" over them!

The key moment in this scene occurs after a short fade ... Wong is on top, and suddenly the camera moves from a position right behind what looks to be Yee's gun, hanging next to the bed.

Wong looks at it -- while she continues to hump away -- but, check it out! -- Yee seems to have seen her looking at it -- and then she seems to notice that he had noticed her looking at it and then ...

She shoves a pillow over his head!

Definitely the most erotic and passionate of the three sex scenes, they finish and lie peacefully together ... but suddenly Wong starts to sob heavily.

Cut to the peaceful river. The camera cranes up to a rooftop-view and holds for a few seconds.

Cut to an interior. Kuang, Wong and Old Wu, in an extremely intense, drawn-out scene:

Wu and his superiors are impressed with Wong. Kuang suggests they make their play soon, but Wu shoots him down -- the resistance has suffered setbacks and Wu wants to proceed cautiously. Wong explodes in an anguished explanation of her relationship with Yee (she insinuates that he beats her until she bleeds and he feels "alive" -- something we only saw in the first sex scene. Perhaps Lee felt a need to pull back the actual depiction of this continuing violence, in order that Yee might not become too cartoonish a monster!) -- and after Wu storms out, Kuang leaves, shooting Wong a look a real pity and sadness ...

The same bridge we saw from the last time shift ... but now it is nighttime, and we are focused on a car going in the opposite direction from the trucks of Japanese troops ...

Again, her driver sure looks like Tsao to me (see above) ... papers are checked, and they enter the "Japanese district." A few neon signs; two geishas walking behind Wong, who enters an inn. We see Japanese soldiers dancing with Chinese women (Wong notes this) and as Wong and the madam of the inn make their way up the stairs to meet Yee, she is accosted by a drunk Japanese Colonel Nakamura, who tries to take her. In the confusion, another soldier -- a Colonel Sato -- is knocked down, and the inn madam has her hands full getting a geisha to give Sato some attention, as well as explaining that Wong is a "customer," not an employee! The entire scene is given an air of craziness and unrealness as Lee's camera comes to rest on an elderly Japanese woman playing the shamisen, her expression completely blank and oblivious to all the noise and confusion which surrounds her ...

Finally, she arrives in a large room, empty except for Yee, and we begin the denouement of this film. Whatever Yee may suspect of Wong, he is honest with her about the fact that it is "all over" for both the Japanese and the Chinese collaborators like himself! There is a brief moment of "solidarity" as they both agree on how much they hate the Japanese music in the background ("They sing like they're crying. Like dogs howling for their dead masters.")

She asks him to let her sing for him. She begins to dance and sing in a lovely, pure sweet voice (Wei Tang's own?):

"From the end of the earth
To the farthest sea
I search and search for my heart's companion
A young girl sings
While he accompanies her
Your heart is my heart
Your heart is my heart
Looking north from my mountain nest
My tears fall and wet my blouse
Missing him, I will not rest
Only love that last through hard times is true
Only love that last through hard times is true
In life, who does not
Cherish the springtime of youth?
A young girl to her man is like thread to its needle
Ah, my beautiful man
We're like a threaded needle, never to be separated
We're like a threaded needle, never to be separated."

Yee is moved to tears and applauds. There is much to guess about here regarding his true feelings. Does he already know she is a spy, and thus cries for her fate -- or is he truly won over by her now, and is crying because -- as he said -- it is "all over"?

As he drops her off at home (he still has "work" to do!), he gives her an envelope and instructs her to deliver it to a Khalid Saeed Uddin (the great Bollywood actor, Anupam Kher).

Of course, first Wu and Kuang open the sealed envelope, which contains only Yee's business card. the reseal it and she prepares to deliver it, despite their nervousness ...

On their way out, Kuang finally confesses his love and kisses her. When she asks him why he didn't do that three years ago, Kuang has no response. There love is so doomed and seems to have always been so ...

Cut to another gorgeous street scene -- Wong arriving at the jewelers. A quick look around and she sees the other five members of her group, in various positions around the street. She must assume that it is on!

She gives Anupam Kher the envelope and soon he is showing her three beautiful jewels, which Yee is paying to have set into a ring for her (" ... your friend -- he said you were quite particular. In fact he was afraid to make a choice himself") ...

She stares silently (dumbfounded? too nervous to speak?) at the three jewels. He asks if he can measure her finger. She remains silent. I suppose he interprets this to mean she is not satisfied with the jewels he has shown her, and so he pulls out the coup de grace -- a large, pink-white diamond.

"Six carats," the Hindu states, in English.
"Quail egg," Wong replies, in Chinese.

Cut. A black telephone rings. But only once. (sound familiar?)

It begins ringing again. Kuang picks it up.

This is the exact conversation that we witnessed over two hours ago, but this time it is from Kuang's POV. Eventually, we see that the five others, and Old Wu are listening to Kuang's conversation. It is an exact reverse of the earlier scene, which cut to Kuang at the very end of the phone call -- here it cuts to Wong!

We see the same exact cuts from earlier (lipstick on coffee cup, putting on perfume), but then we go into new, unseen territory:

She hears and sees a black car pull up across the street (not difficult with cars being so rare) and leaves the café. In the car, Yee explains he is late, but as they pass the jewelry store, she suggests they see if the ring is ready ... Yee has the car turn around and they stop across the street from the store.

Yee leaves his driver and bodyguard in the car. As they cross the street, Wong looks around frantically (two whip-pans and a quick upward camera movement) and Lee suddenly moves into slow motion ... Yee is staring straight ahead, tempered steel ...

As they reach the curb, Lee gradually moves back into regular speed, as they enter the shop and man stationed outside the door gives the couple a look ...

POV inside the shop as they enter. Lee pulls off a nice axial cut here, as he pushes on Yee: "Are you all right?"
Wong: "I'm fine."

Two men are standing in front of a jewelry case. Wong notices them, as does Yee. After the clerk tells them to go up the stairs, Yee moves first and as Wong follows, she gives the two men a look ...

The couple are seated to look at the "masterpiece" just as we cut back downstairs to the two men leaving the store, which Wong notices from the window above ...

As the jeweler hands her the red box which contains the ring, the only sound we hear for the next few moments is the tick-tick of the clock, as Lee cuts back and forth between the players, until finally Wong turns to Yee and says:

"Do you like the diamond I picked?"
Yee: "The diamond itself is of no interest to me. I just want to see it on your hand."

And so, Wong Chia Chi shoves this monstrosity (from a monster!) onto the middle finger of her left hand.

Jeweler: "Congratulations, miss." (in English) ... she begins to remove the ring.
Yee: "Keep it on."

Wong seems conflicted. "I wouldn't want to wear it on the street." Yee moves in closer, and the camera moves closer on Yee.

"Please. You're with me."

And now begins the crucial final moments (appropriately, a new music cue starts here) -- when every glance, every gesture has some kind of meaning -- and Lee is begging us to participate in the experience and draw our own conclusions. I will draw mine, as follows:

Yee holds her newly-adorned left hand and strokes it tenderly. Wong has a funny look on her face, as if she has been confused, and things are becoming clear ...

Lee moves close on Yee -- a really stunning portrait (2:20:15) -- and truly, Tony Leung conveys a look of a true, and deep love in Yee's heart at this moment. There is no subterfuge, no game-playing, no clever interrogation!

He simply looks like a man in love with a woman.

Back on Wong for several seconds. Definitely, she is imagining that maybe he really does love her. What are her duties? To her friends? To the resistance? To her self, her own soul? His soul? Does he deserve to die?

Lee has painted a vivid portrait of Wong Chia Chi to this point. Does not the above seem true to the character? And -- after all -- she is an amateur, as far as resistance activities are concerned. She's already witnessed the horror of the first "assassination."

Back on Yee. He looks upon Wong with soulful, truthful eyes. I see no deceit. I think he completely believes that she is innocent at this point -- or perhaps she may be guilty of something -- but that this love is too important to interfere with whatever that may be!

Again, I think you can ascertain this from the look in Tony Leung's eyes, alone!

Back to Wong. There is a sound; perhaps a door being shut. The words which come out are part of a simple exhalation of breath -- she is speaking as her brain (emotional section) is sending the signal to her larynx -- and the amazing words emerge from her mouth like a puff of smoke:

"Go, now."

Cut to him. It was just a little breath of air with some soft sound. He didn't hear what she said.

"Hmm?"

This time the words are audible:

"Go, now."

Yee's eyes quickly change from love to confusion to abject terror! He seems to keep his wits about him as he bounds down the stairs, checks for danger -- dashes out the door, knocks down anyone in his way and screams:

"The door!"

They open it -- he dives in (!) -- and the car speeds off.

She leaves the jewelers and wanders around the street trying to find a bicycle-taxi. Finally, she flags one down and directs him to Ferguson Road.

"Going home?"
"Yes."

As he pedals through the streets, the man looks positively ecstatic -- perhaps because he recognizes that he has picked up a rich person and will make a good tip -- as contrasted with the tragic expression on Wong's face ...

Eventually, they reach a roadblock. She removes the suicide pill from her coat and holds it in her hand. She flashes back to the moment at the theatre when she and her friends had decided to become resistance fighters ...

Cut to Yee. His assistant comes in (they are in his study) and we learn that everyone except Old Wu has been captured. Yee is furious that his assistant (and others) suspected Wong, but kept it from Yee because of his "involvement." The assistant has assumed that Yee would want to question Wong, but he does not. His "involvement" -- including any feelings of any kind -- is over.

He quickly condemns the group to death and closes the file. The assistant hands him the "quail egg."

"It's not mine," he intones. The assistant puts it on the desk. Lee frames the ring as it jiggles back and forth on the desk, its reflection shining on the desk.

The execution scene is brief and no killing is shown. The final shot is of the group, kneeling at the edge of the quarry, as the camera cranes over them into the blackness ...

Cut to Yee. Home after another hard day at the office. The sound of the wives playing mahjong. The women are talking about where to go for dinner.

Yee opens the door to Mak Tai Tai's old room. He slowly walks over and sits down on the bed. Yee Tai Tai appears at the door.

"What's going on? Your assistant and two men from the ministry came by and took away her things ... and some things from your study."

Only a small retangle of light frames Yee's face now.

"Say nothing. If anyone asks, Mak Tai Tai had an emergency and went back to Hong Kong."

"What happened?"

The camera is now behind Yee in this darkened room, but Lee has placed a mirror where we get a perfect look at his features.

"Go downstairs. Keep playing."

Yee's shadow plays against the white bedsheet. Then it disappears and the camera holds on the wrinkled sheet for a moment as we

FADE TO BLACK

End credits

***

Extras:

Tiles of Deception, Lurid Affections: Discover how Ang Lee's passion fueled every step of this erotic thriller -- from recreating the period to directing the talented cast.

Worthwhile; informative and interesting!

173. Hey, I just realized the anniversary!

2009-01-26T12:22:00.005-07:00

THIRTY-NINE ( 39 ) years ago today

on January 26, 1970 ...

... I inhaled smoke not from a tobacco product for the first time! The person who turned me on is the son of a very famous American personage -- I'm jus' sayin' -- and I love him very much.

Not just for simply introducing us -- but for opening up my mind in so many other ways, as well.

Years later, he tried to hook up with my (then) wife ...

172. And also plus as well as ...

2009-01-26T12:20:00.002-07:00

I had one short lesson with the great and still-kicking and writing tremendous music, the great ELLIOTT CARTER:

171. And Vincent Persichetti ...

2009-01-26T12:18:00.001-07:00

... also just ONE lesson!

170. It's Been Awhile ...

2009-01-26T12:11:00.004-07:00

but I'm still here...

I really want to thank you folks who have ordered (mostly scores) stuff by through-clicking through my links -- I made $37.59 for past 6 months, which is GREATLY appreciated!!!

I hope to get back to work on posting more esoterica in the very near future...

Meanwhile, here's a picture of Luciano Berio, my teacher at Juilliard in 1970 (one lesson -- I was nearly killed by a drunk driver after 14 days and never returned to Juilliard):

169. AKIRA KUROSAWA: Rashomon (1950)

2008-05-08T05:58:00.003-07:00

The quote which captions Chapter Eight of Galbraith's masterpiece (entitled "Gate to the World") is certainly worth sharing here. I never saw the episode, but I think it's wonderful:

"MARGE SIMPSON (Trying to get her husband to see a subtitled film): C'mon, Homer, you liked Rashomon . . .
HOMER SIMPSON: That's not the way I remember it!" [SG, p. 127].

168. AFFZ CD: GRAHAM CONNAH'S JETTISON SLINKLY: Sparkly (4:39)

2008-04-21T08:39:00.013-07:00

Sparkly (4:39)

A true jewel from the AFFZ CDs!

First off, Mr. Connah is such a gifted composer. Check out all the themes and countersubjects and little interjections of previous material at just the right time!

This tune just never stops grooving. There is quite a bit of room for improvisation. For example, Rob Sudduth plays a beautiful short eight-bar solo after the initial written-out section; a short return to a previous theme; Alex Candelaria follows with a probing guitar solo.

Eventually, Mr. Connah himself plays a funky synth solo. Noel Jewkes on flute is particularly impressive. Connah puts a cool little background behind the end of his solo.

If your musical tastes are anything like mine, listening to this will literally compel you to seek out more Connah music. [I ended up playing all of JETTISON SLINKY: Dank Side of the Morn after writing this!]

167. The Tokyo String Quartet Live in Tucson

2008-04-03T11:28:00.018-07:00

It's a sad fact that I don't get out much these days to crowded events, because my back completely freaks out if someone so much as bumps into my wheelchair...

But when I heard that the Tokyo String Quartet was in town and was doing 131, my heart went pitter-patter and the three of us scored some tickets to this Arizona Friends of Chamber Music offering, which quickly sold out (we saw several empty seats -- but not many).

I downed my meds and prepared to be bumped. Bonk. Big green apples landing on my head.

Incidentally, the above link to "131" will take you to what I consider to be the finest recording, not only of this particular quartet, but of the entire cycle, by the Amadeus Quartet in the early 60's.

For years, I had to satisfy myself with my cherished 10-LP box, which I reverently managed to keep click-and-pop free for all these years.

But now the PTB have made me repurchase it on CDs. And you kids (and grown ups) who've never owned a turntable can now avail yourselves of this incredible set...

I say this all to set the stage for my manic passion for Opus 131. To miss a local live performance of this greatest masterpiece would be unthinkable. So off we went to the Leo Rich Hall at the Tucson Convention Center...

The program:

HAYDN: String Quartet in F Major, Opus 50, No. 5 ("Der Traum")
WEBERN: String Quartet, Opus 28
WEBERN: Rondo (1906)
BEETHOVEN: String Quartet in C-sharp Minor, Opus 131

[The link to the Haydn is a budget Naxos recording. The Kodály Quartet is well up to the task. The Webern links take you to the recent Complete Works, Boulez conducting the orchestral stuff. The set is a joy filled with quality performances, recorded beautifully -- well worth the price.]

From the opening notes of the Haydn, the boys were in the groove. This quartet is full of Beethoven-ish playfulness (where do you think LvB got it from?) and the TQ made the music come alive, providing a silky texture when called for -- at other times, fusing their four voices into one intense musical thought.

The poco adagio, for example. The sweetness never became too sugary, and they held back just enough to leave an ethereal impression.

I could quibble with a bit of inappropriate Romantic inclinations at times in the finale -- but all in all, it was wonderful.

**

I was completely psyched for Opus 28 and I was not disappointed!

They attacked this difficult music aggressively and confidently. Every pizz was in place and, again, they made a wonderful unison sound -- this was delicate musical communication, and they pulled it off flawlessly.

The Rondo (1906) is an early work which has several very melodic moments -- including a very clear statement of what would later turn up as Bernstein's "There's a place for us..." (at about the 5:00 minute mark). Having prepared them ahead of time, Joannie and Rebecca got a kick out of that.

**

Intermission and more bumping. Having noticed that there would be plenty of light for me to score-read, I studied my 131 score in excited anticipation. [by the way, you can't beat the price for this Dover edition of the complete quartets!]

The start of the second half of the program seemed to be delayed. Finally, they came out and began.

I admit to disappointment at their choice of tempo. I might have been able to live with this very fast Adagio ma non troppo e molto espressivo if they had achieved the level of in-the-moment intensity that the Amadeus project at a true Adagio.

Yes -- ma non troppo (not too much) -- but in this case, it felt like quarter note after quarter note with little emotional involvement.

I have no definite information about this -- but my guess is the initial delay might have been due to some kind of problem with Martin Beaver's E string. When we arrived hereI definitely got the feeling that something was wrong -- this delicate duet sounded just slightly out of tune.

I don't know what happened here:but they weren't together, and I heard none of the subtleties of the cresc. and dim.

Things immediately got better. The second movement was delightful, moving along with spirited energy.

However, in the transitional third movement, Mr. Beaver's E string betrayed him again in this lovely run:Not only that, but the all important movement to the new dominant (E Major going to A Major) was shaky and unconvincing.

The long Theme and Variations (fourth movement) was pretty fine. I liked the march, and the famous "weird trill" section.

The Allegretto (open-string double-stop section) was too fast and had zero intensity (see Amadeus for the way I hear Beethoven's thinking).

The 9/4 section had some more problems, intonation and otherwise.

The big ornamented theme restatement (2nd and viola) was splendid.

The fifth movement was pretty excellent. My only quibble is that the sul ponticello marvel was not quite as pronounced as it might have been. Again, I think Amadeus nails this idea better than any quartet I've ever heard.

In 131 performances, what will happen by the time we arrive at Movement Seven is predetermined by the quartet's ability to stay focused on the myriad sweeping emotional arcs which have challenged them heretofore.

This is the "March to Death" -- but of course, it's not so simple. Life is sweet and wonderful, and the soaring, passionate second theme sets off the march with burning sweetness -- bittersweet, sorrowful, nostalgic -- even stubborn.

Forgive the genre switch:

"Please don't cry/
We're designed to die..." [WILCO: "On and On and On" from Sky Blue Sky]

That's how I feel about this movement.

And I'm sorry to say that the Tokyo lost it at the crucial moment:The march -- persistent and threatening -- is suddenly interrupted by the non ligato pp section.

Played correctly, the perfectly executed dim. to pp should just start a cascade of shivers down your spine. They failed.

They brought it all home and, overall, I'd say it was a pretty good performance (despite my nit-picking above!).

Although the Haydn was the epitome of quartet playing, in the Beethoven I felt that they weren't quite as connected.

In particular, I thought that Beaver and Ikeda did not blend their tone and timbre well. (It's possible that this was a result of problems that Beaver was experiencing, I don't know.)

Isomura, the violist, had a fine tone -- but my violist daughter agreed with me that at times he could have been more assertive.

Greensmith, the cellist, seemed the most intense of the four.

Concert experience: way above average!

166. AFFZ CD: GEIR CORNELIUSSEN: Orangutan Man Meets Frankenstein (5:36)

2008-03-28T12:49:00.011-07:00

Orangutan Man Meets Frankenstein (5:36)

Makes me miss the old days at affz. Geir, wherever you are -- crank it up to eleven...

165. My Great-Grandfather's Obit (1921)

2008-03-28T07:14:00.013-07:00

Isaac had Harry who had Sam who had me.

Wow.

164. AFFZ CD: ANTAL ADRIAANSE: In Isolation/Getrommel (4:23)

2008-03-24T18:19:00.012-07:00

In Isolation/Getrommel (4:23)

Wow! This is simply splendid music. Great writing, great playing, and -- like Zappa -- truly surprising!

Check it out!

163. DARK HOPKINS: Nightscope (2:48)

2008-03-24T18:18:00.004-07:00

Nightscope (2:48)

DARKness...

162. MASATOSHI SADAKANE: Into The Sky (3:18)

2008-03-24T18:16:00.004-07:00

Into The Sky (3:18)

More beautiful Masa music...

161. LEWIS SAUL: Toadmarch (6:22)

2008-03-24T18:11:00.008-07:00

Toadmarch (6:22)

At the very end of Horizontal Wipe you can hear the 9/4 theme which was originally this little ditty which I wrote in Paris in 1971.

A very early MIDI experiment (1990), we combined two different sources (without a mixer handy!) into one mix. Tons of noisy hiss, but folks seem to like the creative energy here, so here it is, blemishes included ...

160. JOHN GUMMERE: Sandario (3:25)

2008-03-24T18:08:00.007-07:00

Sandario (3:25)

Picture yourself on Sandario Road
Just west of the Tucson Mountains
It's 3:45 A.M.

The stars...

159. AFFZ CD: MICHAEL P. DAWSON: Crepuscule With Biffy (1:52)

2008-03-13T12:34:00.007-07:00

Crepuscule With Biffy (1:52)

And a fine crepuscule, indeed...

Or perhaps Biffy was referring to this.

158. AFFZ CD: NINJA: Ronin (6:21)

2008-03-08T12:53:00.006-07:00

Ronin (6:21)

157. AFFZ CD: BILL LEACH/TOMLAND: Think About It Over A Joint (5:22)

2008-03-06T01:42:00.006-07:00

Think About It Over A Joint (5:22)

Excellent advice...

156. RON MOSES: Ned (4:38)

2008-03-03T14:50:00.005-07:00

I can't believe it's been 109 posts since I've put up some Ron Moses music.

Abundant Chromatic Shifting with Mary Tyler Moore on Saxophone...[see Ron, someone reads your liner notes!]

Ned (4:38)

155. JOHN GUMMERE: Cibola (2:08)

2008-03-03T12:08:00.006-07:00

I met John over 30 years ago. He taught me how to do MIDI (and I'm definitely a Computerese Challenged Person...), we played in a few bands together, and he was always a real good friend. [see here and here.]

It's possible I influenced him a little -- getting him to see that you can "rock out" in meters other than 4/4!

This one's in seven. You can hear John's love of Brazilian music in some of the comping, and the seven flows along beautifully throughout. It's a short and sweet piece of ear candy. I hope you enjoy it.

Cibola (2:08)

154. Joe Zawinul RIP

2008-03-02T09:26:00.008-07:00

I am a huge fan of Jozy and Weather Report and Jozy's post-Weather Report stuff (The Zawinul Syndicate).

Therefore, it was a shock to learn that he passed away last September and I somehow completely missed it!

Joe Zawinul was an amazing musician. He left behind a body of work that will continue to thrill big-eared musicians for centuries.

RIP, Jozy.

153. RAMON MUNIZ

2008-02-29T19:01:00.011-07:00

Ramon Muniz is one talented Brazilian! I discovered his fantastic Zappa artwork, and he also sent me a few of his MIDIs. Check it all out...

UNTITLED MIDI (2:35)

152. DARK HOPKINS: Badland (4:47)

2008-02-29T18:57:00.003-07:00

Badland (4:47)

151. LEWIS SAUL: White Grapefruit Only (1:14)

2008-02-29T18:46:00.007-07:00

(1999/Alesis) (Track 8 on CD)

White Grapefruit Only (1:14)

150. AFFZ CD: MICHAEL GULA: Orchestral Rock (4:51)

2008-02-29T18:41:00.007-07:00

Orchestral Rock (4:51)

Michael, you are awesome!

This is wonderful, exciting music.

149. FRANK ZAPPA: Love Of My Life (3:16)

2008-02-29T11:34:00.011-07:00

From Cruising With Ruben & The Jets (1968)

Love Of My Life (MIDI by LS) (3:16)

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148. FRANK ZAPPA: Cruising With Ruben & The Jets

2008-02-22T16:02:00.019-07:00

A detailed analysis of the above work.

Cruising With Ruben & The Jets (1968)

CD: Rykodisc RCD 10505
LP: CDR of original vinyl

Although we seem to be a distinct minority, unlike the re-recording of the bass and drum tracks for We're Only In It For The Money, the new tracks in this release don't bother us as much. In fact, the newly recorded acoustic bass in "Cheap Thrills" (Jay Anderson) is gorgeous! Perfectly mixed, it does not stick out sort-thumb like, as does most of the We're Only In It For The Money re-recorded material.

An amazing zigzag wanderer from the master of all possible styles! In this milieu -- perhaps the one which meant the most to FZ, nostalgia-wise -- the doo-wop of the 50's is transformed into something new in the same manner in which FZ reworked the traditional pop song in Freak Out!

It is fun and enjoyable music. If it seemed like a slight let-down after the astonishing We're Only In It For The Money, it is likely due to the unfamiliarity of doo-wop to many of FZ's fans at the time.

1. Cheap Thrills (2:37)
2. Love Of My Life (3:07)
3. How Could I Be Such A Fool (3:33)
4. Deseri (2:07)
5. I'm Not Satisfied (4:07)
6. Jelly Roll Gum Drop (2:23)
7. Anything (3:04)
8. Later That Night (2:58)
9. You Didn't Try To Call Me (3:57)
10. Fountain Of Love (3:22)
11. "No. No. No." (2:14)
12. Anyway The Wind Blows (3:01)
13. Stuff Up The Cracks (4:37)

147. FRANK ZAPPA: The Chrome-Plated Megaphone Of Destiny

2008-02-22T15:55:00.011-07:00

A detailed analysis of the above Frank Zappa composition, including notated musical examples.

The Chrome-Plated Megaphone Of Destiny

LYRICS

Other Official Versions:

None

This is a MASTERPIECE!

A short breakdown of what takes place:

A hissing sound and a lower and slower electronic effect starts us off.
The final "chord" appears here first, panned between channels! What does this sound like to you? To our "ever-alert for Musical CC" ears, it sounds like a PIANO WITH ITS DAMPER PEDAL DEPRESSED and the resulting resonance from an unheard note-event (just like we discussed in "Who Are The Brain Police?" from Freak Out! -- and which, of course, is a major "theme" of both Lumpy Gravy and Civilization Phaze III.
The rhythm of the panning creates a "musique concrète" ("mc" from now on) accelerando leading to
Piano music, which eventually covers the bottom, middle and top of the keyboard all at once and a chord is suspended in air until
A typical nasty FZ downbeat composed of found sounds ... followed by a mix of orchestral music and "mc" -- lots of percussion and possibly an alto flute -- the "mc" sounds assert themselves in the mix as orchestral music fades lightly into the background.
At 2:35 a voice is heard, faintly but distinctly...
At 2:48 a gorgeous woodwind choir strettos (that means each instrument follows immediately after another instrument) into a strange chord. A contrabassoon splats out some low notes -- more "mc" and then
3:16. Sped up laughing and coughing. Once again, FZ achieves the perfect effect with the "tone" of the laughing to completely integrate the music into the "programme" (Kafka)! oh abatray
At 3:41, a change in the "mc" background texture occurs as the vocal laughs become more like laugh-moans. The oh abatray line is repeated three more times at various speeds...
4:23. The voices drop out and a short quiet "mc" section. Then at
4:37 begins the beautiful "Harry Partch" section. Very nice Partch-like timbres. Can you say Just Intonation?
5:29 a few quick interesting "mc" sounds and then
5:35 the "chord"

146. FRANK ZAPPA: Mother People

2008-02-22T15:46:00.014-07:00

A detailed analysis of the above Frank Zappa composition, including notated musical examples.

Mother People

LYRICS

Other Official Versions:

Mothermania (1969)

What time is that in, man? a very FAQ! So, man, here's the answer:

TEMPO 1

Bars 1-3: 3/4
Bars 4-5: 3/16
Bar 6: 3/8
Bar 7: 3/4
Bars 8-9: 3/16
Bar 10: 3/8
Bars 11-14: 3/4
Bars 15-16: 3/16
Bar 17: 3/8
Bar 18: 3/4
Bars 19-20: 3/16
Bar 21: 3/8
Bar 22: 3/4

TEMPO 2

Bar 23: 6/8
Bars 24-25: 9/8
Bar 26: 12/8
Bar 27: 7/8
Bar 28: 12/8

TEMPO 3

Bars 29-30: 7/8
Bars 31-32: 4/4

TEMPO 2

Bar 33: 12/8
Bar 34: 7/8
Bar 35: 12/8

TEMPO 3

Bars 36-37: 7/8
Bars 38-39: 4/4

TEMPO 1

Bars 40-42: 3/4
Bars 43-44: 3/16
Bar 45: 3/8
Bar 46: 3/4
Bars 47-48: 3/16
Bar 49: 3/8
Bars 50-53: 3/4
Bars 54-55: 3/16
Bar 56: 3/8
Bar 57: 3/4
Bars 58-59: 3/16
Bar 60: 3/8
Bar 61: 3/4

TEMPO 2

Bar 62: 6/8
Bars 63-64: 9/8
Bar 65: 12/8
Bar 66: 5/8

Notes:

Bars 23 and 59 start with two JCB 1/8th-notes.
Bars 31 and 38 are subdivided (3-3-2).
Bar 63 has a short fermata on the fifth beat.

1:40

A shorter section of turntable arm-dragging than before, but extremely effective is followed by a beautiful orchestral excerpt.

First we hear a plaintive English Horn accompanied by low strings; a clarinet adds a tender lick (which will be re-used in Lumpy Gravy!)

2:02

A gorgeous, very typical, FZ phrase follows in Mandolin and Bells and then

Another double bar!

Let me take a minute

Tempo 3 above

Segue to

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145. FRANK ZAPPA: What's The Ugliest Part Of Your Body? (reprise)

2008-02-22T15:36:00.006-07:00

A detailed analysis of the above Frank Zappa composition.

What's The Ugliest Part Of Your Body? (reprise)

LYRICS

Other Official Versions:

FZ:OZ (2002)

A true Reprise! More effective panning during another great vocal "sound portrait" at the end. Snorks, do it again do it again, and a beautiful 16-note "musique concrète" figure

segue us to

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144. FRANK ZAPPA: Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance

2008-02-22T15:30:00.007-07:00

A detailed analysis of the above Frank Zappa composition.

Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance

LYRICS

Other Official Versions:

Lumpy Gravy (1967)
You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore, Vol. 6 (1992)
Lost Episodes (1996)
FZ:OZ (2002)
Joe's Corsage (2004)

Here's some "stuff that's better for you in the long run!"

The chords:

In G Major:

ii / iii / ii / iii / iv⁷ / I / vi / ii / V / I / vi /

Second verse with delightful stereo dee-da-li-da-lee's

Third verse full-blown and

segue to

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143. FRANK ZAPPA: Lonely Little Girl

2008-02-22T15:19:00.010-07:00

A detailed analysis of the above Frank Zappa composition.

Lonely Little Girl

LYRICS

Other Official Versions:

FZ:OZ (2002)

Another great composition!

If the CD is on pitch, this is in the key of A-Flat!

After a beautiful little I-v intro, the I-v carries over into the first six bars of the verse, then

(the) things they say

a beautiful little sequence of ii-V-iii-VI (Bbm-Eb7-Cm-F)

(to) understand

G Minor!

world for them is too unreal

Ab Major Sharp Eleven! And we weave our way back to G Minor when suddenly we hear

all your children are

some familiar music

... a minor third higher here, and with different effects and a beautiful "Indian sitar-type" ending.

Some musical burps segue us into

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142. FRANK ZAPPA: The Idiot Bastard Son

2008-02-22T15:13:00.009-07:00

A detailed analysis of the above Frank Zappa composition.

The Idiot Bastard Son

LYRICS

Other Official Versions:

Mothermania (1969)
You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore, Vol. 2 (1988)

Another brilliant 3/4 melody!

The Idiot Boy! (snorks)

Yet another screech-to-a-halt double bar. Beautifully composed vocal "sound portrait." From the very first sound -- sort of a roooeenntt sound -- on the second half of the third beat to the final anyway -- we feel an implicit musical tempo and the panning between channels suggests its own rhythm, as well!

covered in green

Very musical snork here. Note how bare the orchestration is! Guitar and voices suspended in air until

warming his pew...

which segues to

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141. FRANK ZAPPA: Let's Make The Water Turn Black

2008-02-22T15:02:00.014-07:00

A detailed analysis of the above Frank Zappa composition, including notated musical examples.

Let's Make The Water Turn Black

LYRICS

Other Official Versions:

You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore, Vol. 1 (1988)
Make A Jazz Noise Here (1991)
Ahead Of Their Time (1993)

One of FZ's most covered composition...

More cool piano arpeggios start us off...

The CD is a whole step lower than the LP! (C Major on the CD; D Major on the LP!)

We'll give this to you in C Major, from the CD:

Now be-lieve me when I tell you...it's a-

I-iii^6/4-vi-(vi)-ii-iii-IV-V
C-Em/B-am-(am)-F-G-am-G

bout some little people...neighbors didn't know

I-iii^6/4-vi-(vi)-bVII-III-bVI-V
C-G/B-am-(am)-Bb-Eb-Ab-G

Once again, a beautiful turnaround in the last four bars above -- using half-steps to insinuate new keys, yet he goes right back to C here...

Next verse -- however,

feeding all the boys at Ed's Cafe

Everything's the same as the above until the Bb chord. Then another fine modulation -- he descends to A Major from the Bb which then goes to D, (bVII-VI-II in C) -- and turns II into the pivot chord -- now a V of G...going to

Whizzing and pasting

G Major. Notice how he gets back to C Major, with a very dramatic modulation at

Kenny's little creatures on display

Wait till the fire turns green

IV-V-vi. Then for the final chord, just like all those dudes with wigs did in the Baroque Era (if it ain't Baroque, don't fix it), he goes to Major! We hear A Major for only the second time on the last note of the piece! Constant ear surprises, both obvious and subtle, are a major tool in FZ's compositional palette.

Another nice electronic transition to

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140. FRANK ZAPPA: Nasal Retentive Calliope Music

2008-02-22T14:51:00.008-07:00

A detailed analysis of the above Frank Zappa composition.

Nasal Retentive Calliope Music

LYRICS

Other Official Versions:

None

The opening "notes" of this electronic salvo are very much like the opening notes of Arel's music (see "Are You Hung Up?" for details). Much of the rest is in the "spirit" of Arel's music, until

SURF MUSIC! From "Heavies" by The Rotations ... FZ and Paul Buff, around 1964 -- nicely integrated here by FZ ...

Once again the trademark sudden double-bar into ...

The most brilliant sound we ever heard on a record in 1968! The sound of a tonearm being dragged, skipped and dropped over a record for about seven seconds -- amazing! We used to listen to this over and over again when we were 16 years old! For once, the CD version is mixed better.

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139. FRANK ZAPPA: Hot Poop

2008-02-22T14:48:00.006-07:00

A detailed analysis of the above Frank Zappa composition.

Hot Poop

LYRICS

Other Official Versions:

None

Frank whispers back at his engineer, taking a swipe at his profession (turning knobs).

The censored verse seems more powerful on the CD...

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138. FRANK ZAPPA: Flower Punk

2008-02-22T14:44:00.011-07:00

A detailed analysis of the above Frank Zappa composition.

Flower Punk

LYRICS

Other Official Versions:

None

Another amazing time signature! This one's really interesting: Four bars of 7/8 (2-2-3) followed by four bars of 5/8 (2-3). That's the form for whole composition until right after

I'm going to the shrink so he can help me be a nervous wreck

Wild Thing; Leave My Nose Alone, Please

FZ's rap about what to buy is pretty funny. The whole rap is much clearer on the CD!

Is the song over?

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137. FRANK ZAPPA: Absolutely Free

2008-02-22T14:37:00.008-07:00

A detailed analysis of the above Frank Zappa composition.

Absolutely Free

LYRICS

Other Official Versions:

None

Crashing piano chords in a slow rubato 3/4...Arthur's playing, though alien to the original spirit, is actually rather beautiful here where he just plays sustained tones...

Velvet valleys

Right after this lyric there is a great sweeping electronic sound missing from the '85 remix.

Only if you want to be

Four bars of 7/8 then back to 3/4

Segue to

Next track

136. FRANK ZAPPA: What's The Ugliest Part Of Your Body?

2008-02-22T14:29:00.013-07:00

A detailed analysis of the above Frank Zappa composition, including notated musical examples.

What's The Ugliest Part Of Your Body?

LYRICS

Other Official Versions:

FZ:OZ (2002)

Eight lovely bars of 12/8 in G, just like Uncle Frankie teaches you how to play on "Excerpt From The Uncle Frankie Show" from Mystery Disc -- then

7/8! This is the first chronological example of an entire section in this meter. There is nothing too tricky here, as far as the subdivision of the seven (that'll come later!) -- just 2-2-3 -- but very very effective because of the way FZ sings the melody. Notice all the suspended chords!

Amazing writing! The A Minor chord (victims of systems and gray despair of your) is one of those completely brilliantly effective moments among the many brilliantly effective moments we discuss in these pages??? Why does it seem so heart-wrenching?

The lyric, once again, plays right into the musical system -- perfectly integrated. The reason the chord sounds "tender" -- if we may be permitted that word in these circumstances -- is because it's the first time we've heard it! The I-vi-IV-V 12/8 section established G Major and then for this 7/8 section, he starts off on the subdominant (C), moves to E-sus and then finally to the ii of G -- A Minor! The E-sus chord is also very effective.

And finally, one last note about the "replacement" bass and drums in this particular 7/8 section. The original playing was simple yet so effective, we feel, due to the beautiful complexity of the above-notated vocal part! Arthur and Chad embellish this quite a bit -- Arthur plays it with almost a funky kind of a feel, and Chad plays 1/8th-notes on the 1st, 3rd, and 5th beat of each measure.

Where did Annie go

What a beautiful effect on the original with the massive delay. Frank eliminated any trace of it on the '85 version.

Next track

135. FRANK ZAPPA: Harry, You're A Beast

2008-02-22T14:09:00.012-07:00

A detailed analysis of the above Frank Zappa composition.

Harry, You're A Beast

LYRICS

Other Official Versions:

You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore, Vol. 1 (1988)
Make A Jazz Noise Here (1991)
Ahead Of Their Time (1993)
Mystery Disc (1998)

The first ten seconds of this composition were the first ten seconds of Frank Zappa's music that we ever heard, in 1968! We were at a friend's house, listening to Stockhausen and Dvorak when the guy's brother called us into his room -- hey, you've gotta hear this!

The "clean" piano arpeggios immediately grabbed our attention -- what kind of "pop" music was this? Put that needle back, again! We heard the unique harmonic intro -- vi/ii/IV/V/I in the Key of A -- and Ian's "classical" rubato treatment on the dominant chord, and we became hooked for life at that moment (tho we didn't know it yet!

The '85 remix destroyed this precious moment in our nostalgic memory banks (the arpeggios are far back in the mix -- Arthur is mixed way too loud. It is fortunate we have the restored version just for these four bars of music!

The '85 bass part here is horribly sore-thumb material, in our opinion.

You paint your head

These tight vocal harmonies are much more effective on the original. The '85 bass part is ponderous.

That's you American Womanhood

Snorks and celesta. The '85 remix's nice "breathing" ambiance works against this section. The snorks and celesta are right up front in the original -- the '85 remix sounds weak and pallid.

Madge I want your body

And another perfect example the 80's drum and bass sound being so out of place. The original 16th-notes are crisp and clear.

Segue to

Next track

134. FRANK ZAPPA: Bow Tie Daddy

2008-02-22T14:05:00.012-07:00

A detailed analysis of the above Frank Zappa composition.

Bow Tie Daddy

LYRICS

Other Official Versions:

None

Four 16th-notes and a 1/4-note -- 2 pick-up beats into this short little 4/4 Vaudeville number...

It might be possible to detect a whiff of parody of some particular Lennon & McCartney number at various points in WOIIFTM -- but perhaps never as obvious as this one ("When I'm Sixty-Four").

Arthur's big fat notes at the end again sound out of place.

Next track

133. FRANK ZAPPA: Telephone Conversation

2008-02-22T13:53:00.016-07:00

A detailed analysis of the above Frank Zappa composition.

Telephone Conversation

LYRICS

Other Official Versions:

None

On the
Arthur's bass rings through until the third ring! You can hear a clock ticking in the background. Note the following musical picture, defined by the rhythmic pattern of the voices:

Your father called me up this afternoon

Just a sec...

Which segues into

Next track

132. FRANK ZAPPA: Mom & Dad

2008-02-22T13:31:00.022-07:00

A detailed analysis of the above Frank Zappa composition.

Mom & Dad

LYRICS

Other Official Versions:

Playground Psychotics (1992)

The first two bars are DRASTICALLY different on the '85 version because of Arthur's very prominent sound including two very out-of-place glissandi. Just our opinion. The sound of his bass just doesn't blend with the rest of the mix. Other than the glissandi, he changes a note in Bar 4. Wonder why FZ felt that this was necessary?

Unless new miraculous technology "rescued" these lost bass parts, we are amazed that this was ever considered a problem. We understand Bob Stone, one of FZ's engineers, says that FZ simply "didn't like the performance." Hmm. We think Roy's part, simply judging by these first six transcribed bars, sounds just fine! We stand by our assertion that this was a rare FZ mistake!

Much better mix!

The brilliant Patrick Neve pointed out this recorder part in Bar 1 and elsewhere which is on the LP ONLY!

Chad is also intrusive in places. His tom flams after

it's such a drag to have to love a plastic mom and dad

would be real fine for the 80's, but sound quite out of place here.

Now, here's a fantastic example of the vast difference in the two versions:

Mama mama your child was killed

Contains a beautiful electric piano or clavinet lick right after the first mama totally absent from the LP.

This chilling lyric is made much less effective by the "big room" sound of LP.

Many many other differences abound, including the segue. On the

Art's bass rings all the way through to the

Next track

131. FRANK ZAPPA: Concentration Moon

2008-02-22T13:26:00.014-07:00

A detailed analysis of the above Frank Zappa composition.

Concentration Moon?

LYRICS

Other Official Versions:

Playground Psychotics (1992)

Another great 3/4 melody. Hear the piano which sounds like a xylophone?

Hair growing out every hole in me

4/4. Whispering ... JCB again and back to 3/4...

Hair growing out every hole in me

4/4. Segue to

Next track

130. FRANK ZAPPA: Who Needs The Peace Corps?

2008-02-22T13:15:00.016-07:00

A detailed analysis of the above Frank Zappa composition.

Who Needs The Peace Corps?

LYRICS

Other Official Versions:

The Best Band You Never Heard In Your Life (1991)

Jimmy Carl and Roy

Chad and Arthur

First I'll buy some beads

The sax solo does not appear on the

I will sleep -- I will -- I will go to a house -- that's what I will do

Notice now FZ sort of forgets what he's saying and then makes the most out of it! Notice how Mike Keneally imitates this whole line perfectly in the TBBYNHIYL version!

Next track

129. FRANK ZAPPA: Are You Hung Up?

2008-02-22T11:34:00.024-07:00

A detailed analysis of the above Frank Zappa composition, including notated musical examples.

Are You Hung Up?

LYRICS

Other Official Versions:

None

The musical background is immediately more complex than anything on the previous two releases. The post-production tape manipulation and complex editing far surpasses even the most adventurous example to be found in either Freak Out! or Absolutely Free.

Let the LP/CD comparison begin: We will always show the CD first, because that was the "original" recording, and compare it to the LP, the 1985 re-mix.

0:00 to 0:10

The voices (uh, uh) and electronic sounds are mixed up front. The electronic sounds are very distorted.

The mix is noticeably more "big room." It breathes. The electronic sounds are much clearer.

0:11 to 0:25

We believe (although we have no documentary or biographical proof of this, other than the one mention of Bülent Arel in the The Freak Out Contributors List) that FZ was heavily influenced around this time by certain composers of electronic music, particularly certain specific compositions that appeared on a Columbia LP, issued in the mid-60's we believe entitled Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center (Columbia MS 6566).

If you are familiar with the works on this LP, or can get your hands on a copy, you may find it interesting to note some similarities which we will now proceed to discuss:

The first work in question is "Leiyla And The Poet" by Halim El-Dabh.

0:20 to 0:25 (approximately) -- the male voice says, are you strung (up?) and the female voice says something unintelligible. Shortly before this point, the electronic background is VERY strongly reminiscent of El-Dabh's work, at about the 0:15 mark in "Leiyla." (the similarity is in the quick four-note echo-motif which in El-Dabh's case is expressed in manipulated vocals; FZ does it with unique electronic sounds). [The Arel "quote" in "Nasal Retentive Calliope Music" is more obvious!]

0:26

Effective whispering (about ERASING tapes? Is this not the dictionary definition of irony?) leads to this interesting transition:

followed by a great oooo-raaaa-oooo-roooooooo

and JCB introducing himself. Then

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128. FRANK ZAPPA: We're Only In It For The Money (1968)

2008-02-22T10:40:00.028-07:00

A detailed analysis of the above work.

We're Only In It For The Money (1968)

CD: Rykodisc RCD 10503
LP: The Old Masters, Box 1(Barking Pumpkin BPR-7777-3)

The first true masterpiece. Five stars. Everything about this release rings completely true.

That is to say, everything about the "original" release ... the disastrous idea to record new bass and drum tracks became a reality in the mid-80's when FZ dragged Arthur Barrow (bass) and Chad Wackerman (drums) into the UMRK studio to re-record the original tracks, FZ apparently proclaiming that the old ones either a) sucked, b) were inaudible, or c) were eaten by snakes. In any case, the result can be heard on the The Old Masters, Box 1 LP. Our praise is confined to the "original" LP version, which is the CD. Got that boys and girls?

FZ takes a MAJOR leap into greatness and -- yes -- immortality with this third release! A parody of The Beatles' SGT. PEPPERS LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND, it travels a road so much wider and longer than simple caricature, because the MUSICAL MATERIALS available to FZ from his ever-increasingly resourceful mind-palette were so varied and complex.

In Freak Out! and Absolutely Free, we discussed how the "pop song" was routinely mutated into something completely different -- goofy "doo-wop" vocals, out-of-tune falsettos, forced Tin Pan Alley, and occasionally tinged with a jazz discharge of some sort ("American Drinks And Goes Home" from Absolutely Free, for example).

This release leaves much of that stuff behind in favor of a new target for his satire -- the new "rock" dynamic -- sometimes musically tickling John and Paul's writing style -- sometimes just displaying his musical contempt (or semi-affection -- it's such a thin line, isn't it?) for the rock "style" in general. In any case, the ultimate comparison between the two releases can be summed up by the final chord of each release:

Paul asked his orchestra to create a chromatically-ascending crescendo and then smashed an E Major chord on the piano and let it ring...

Frank, on the other hand, wrote a masterful, carefully orchestrated, fully written out work ("The Chrome Plated Megaphone Of Destiny") -- chilling music absent any program whatsoever! He provided a program, however, and one that perfectly matches the music for its sheer terror (Kafka) -- and after all is said and done...

Frank also smashes out a final chord. However, it's not like Paul's big E Major chord! Instead, ringing dissonances are panned back and forth between channels, fading very slowly, just as Paul's does! FZ definitely is having fun goofing on what was, even then, already a classic! His "parody" -- taken as a whole -- speaks musical volumes about differences in musical philosophies.

And one important note about all the "electronic" sounds you hear on this release: You'll find this little statement from FZ in the liner notes:

"None of the sounds [on this album] are generated electronically...they are all the product of electronically altering the sounds of NORMAL instruments..." The interest in this distinction (between electronically-generated sounds and "musique concrète" [real sounds manipulated by electronics]), as Watson points out on page 70, is largely confined to us analytic types who want to know how everything is done! More important than exactly how each sound was produced, is the fact that this release HIGHLIGHTED electronic sounds in an integrated way probably unheard of in any pop music release at that time!

The Peter Blake classic. The Cal Schenkel classic. Two album covers, two classics!

This page shows you how the Beatles laid out their cover. For legal reasons, FZ had to reverse that layout:

FRONT AND BACK COVER. With FZ + MOI, all wearing dresses, in front of a plain yellow background, identical to the Beatles' layout. On the BACK COVER, FZ with a dialogue balloon saying, "Is this Phase One of Lumpy Gravy?" (qv)...
INSIDE LEFT LINER. On Sgt. Peppers, Paul has his back to the camera, while the remaining Beatles face forward. FZ sort of reverses this with FZ and all the MOI except Motorhead with their backs to the camera; only Motorhead faces forward! The written instructions for The Chrome Plated Megaphone of Destiny deserve to be reprinted here:
- 1. If you have already worked your way through, "IN THE PENAL COLONY" by Franz Kafka, skip instructions #2, #3, #4.
- 2. Everybody else: go dig up a book of short stories & read "IN THE PENAL COLONY".
- 3. DO NOT LISTEN TO THIS PIECE UNTIL YOU HAVE READ THE STORY.
- 4. After you have read the story, put the book away & turn on the record player [contemporary note: good luck, boys & girls!] . . . it is now safe to listen (DO NOT READ & LISTEN AT THE SAME TIME).
- 5. As you listen, think of the concentration camps in California constructed during World War II to house potentially dangerous oriental citizens ... the same camps that many say are now being readied for use as part of the FINAL SOLUTION to the NON-CONFORMIST (hippy?) PROBLEM today. You might allow yourself (irregardless of the length of your hair, or how you feel about greedy wars & paid assassins) to imagine YOU ARE A GUEST AT CAMP REAGAN. You might imagine you have been invited to try out a wonderful new RECREATIONAL DEVICE (designed by the Human Factors Engineering Lab as a method of relieving tension & pent-up hostilities among the members of the CAMP STAFF ... a thankless job which gives little or no ego gratification ... even for the chief warden).
- 6. At the end of the piece, the name of YOUR CRIME will be carved on your back.
THE MOTHERS TODAY: has the "TO" crossed out and replaced with handwritten "yester."
INSIDE RIGHT LINER. The perfection of parody. Rather than the neat flower arrangement of the Beatles, FZ and Schenkel device the word "MOTHERS" with carrots, watermelon and radishes! Many of the personages behind the Mothers (in dresses) have black bars across their eyes. According to Cal, once they began to have legal problems with one person or the other, they just started putting the black bars on nearly everyone. Gail stands to the left of Frank, extremely pregnant with Moon Unit, and on Gail's left Jimi Hendrix has his arms peacefully wrapped around a small white girl. An unbelievably powerful image with an even more powerful message. At the feet of Jimi Hendrix sits the grand designer himself, Cal Schenkel, holding a carton of eggs.

1. Are You Hung Up? (1:24)
2. Who Needs The Peace Corps? (2:34)
3. Concentration Moon (2:22)
4. Mom & Dad (2:16)
5. Telephone Conversation (0:48)
6. Bow Tie Daddy (0:33)
7. Harry, You're A Beast (1:21)
8. What's The Ugliest Part Of Your Body? (1:03)
9. Absolutely Free (3:24)
10. Flower Punk (3:03)
11. Hot Poop (0:26)
12. Nasal Retentive Calliope Music (2:02)
13. Let's Make The Water Turn Black (2:01)
14. The Idiot Bastard Son (3:18)
15. Lonely Little Girl (1:09)
16. Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance (1:32)
17. What's The Ugliest Part Of Your Body? (reprise) (1:02)
18. Mother People (2:26)
19. The Chrome Plated Megaphone Of Destiny (6:25)