IMDB 250 7.3 - Harakiri (1962)

Harakiri (1962)

"The greatest delicacies taste of nothing when eaten alone."

When peace comes to Feudal Japan, a Samurai finds himself out of work and on the brink of starvation. When he appears at the gates of a fortress and says he wants to invoke the right of "harakiri" (the right of ritualistic suicide) he's obliged. As he insists on stalling the proceedings to tell his own history, the samurai wonder what his motives really are.

"Harakiri" is a tremendous story of poverty, desperation, resentment and revenge. That the story is masterful is no surprise - the writer, Shinobu Hashimoto, also wrote some of Akira Kurosawa's greatest films ("Rashomon", "Ikiru", "Seven Samurai"). It begins slowly with a simple questioning of the main character's motives and very slowly builds suspense as we learn more and more details of his past.

Watching it, I was struck by how it was simultaneously Eastern and "Western". Though the actors are Japanese and the weapons are samurai swords, it particularly resembles the Spaghetti Westerns of Sergio Leone. Note the tracking shot of a man's shadow as he walks across sand. Watch the extreme closeups of a man's sweaty face as he waits for an attack. Note that the drama is in extending the anticipation leading up to the fight rather than the fight itself. Most surprisingly, watch how the conical Asian hat is wielded for dramatic effect EXACTLY like a cowboy hat.

But the film is undoubtedly Eastern as well. It's a classic samurai movie - perhaps the classic samurai movie. And it's amazing how much movies like "Kill Bill" can borrow from a movie made in 1962.

8/10.
Total "Top 250" Movies Seen: 352.

Conan on the Late Show

[Strike this. Reverse it.]

It's not just news it's like "moonlanding" news.

NEXT THURSDAY Conan O'Brien will be a guest on the "Late Show" with David Letterman. Conan O'Brien was last a guest on the Late Show 13 years ago in 1999. His first guest-appearance was in 1994 when he had just started "Late Night" (Letterman's old gig).

I think it's safe to assume that the "Tonight Show" debacle (Parts 1 and 2) and Jay Leno might come up in conversation.

Shortly after the "Tonight Show" debacle (Part 2), Conan and Dave had (perhaps) a small tiff of their own as Letterman invited both Jay Leno and Conan to do a Super Bowl commercial together. Conan refused, reportedly saying, “No f***ing way I’m doing that. It’s not a joke to me—it’s real.” Worried about any offense, Letterman called him to make sure "everything was fine". But that's all he said on the subject.

The episode will air Thursday, May 17th.

The Beach Boys on Late Night

The Beach Boys played three songs including one from their new album. They still sound pretty good.

Coco Co-opts College

A college (Sixth College) has decided to rename themselves "Conan O'Brien College" so Conan travels to the campus to ascend to his throne:

See the video here.


[Edit: Now, embedding video causes it to automatically play when loaded which screws up my blog. So I'm just posting links.]

The President on Late Night

Pretty big event for Late Night as they welcomed President Obama as their first guest. Let's go to the clips.







Oh, we don't have any clips?






OK. It turns out when you make every episode of your show a Barrack Obama campaign ad (Late Night, Late Show, Conan) it makes actually having him on redundant.... and boring.

And this is coming from a fan!

IMDB 250 7.2 - High and Low (1963)

High and Low (1963)

When a wealthy businessman receives a call that his son has been kidnapped and is being held for ransom, he and his wife panic and agree to pay the money. A few minutes later, their child walks into the house after a day of playing. The kidnapper has taken the wrong boy but insists on the ransom anyway. The family must decide whether to pay the ransom or risk the life of someone else's child.

As a big Akira Kurosawa fan, it's interesting to seem him make a film set in fairly modern times (modern in the 1960's when it was made). There are suits, thin ties, cocktails and cardigan sweaters. It's almost Kurosawa meets "Mad Men". But the theme is still just as classic: will an ordinary man sacrifice all his wealth and possessions to save someone's life? Feeling pressure from his wife, the police and his business partners, it's still the decision of a single man and his conscience.

Where the film weakens is when it strays from this intriguing sociological experiment. The question of the ransom is only a third of the movie - the other two thirds is dedicated to finding and capturing the criminals. The film transforms into a 1960's police procedural drama. Although well crafted and with significant twists and turns in the case, it's still quite a let down, particularly as there are currently a hundred "CSI" and "Law and Order" shows running around the clock doing essentially the same thing. This movie gets a pass for doing it first, but still, it's not the same.

6/10.

Total "Top 250" Movies Seen: 351.