Flick of the Day: The Yakuza

Sydney Pollack, who passed away in May 2008, was one of the great underestimated talents of American cinema in the last century. A director, producer and actor, he was a multi talented individual who won two Academy Awards. Perhaps his most endearing talent was his ability as an artist to turn his hand to a diverse range of genres. From comedy to thrillers to romance to drama, he could direct a picture. In this vein, today's flick of the day is The Yakuza, a 1974 Japan set neo-noir.

The Yakuza

A film that was little seen on its original release, The Yakuza was directed by Pollack from a script by Paul Schrader who would go onto find greater fame with his script for Taxi Driver and Blue Collar. An ageing Robert Mitchum is Harry Kilmer, an ex-military policeman asked to return to Japan by an old friend to intervene on behalf of his daughter who has been kidnapped by members of the Yakuza. Kilmer has not been back to Japan for 20 years since the last days of the occupation and returning brings back many memories. He reconnects with his old flame Eiko and her brother Ken, who was a high ranking Yakuza when Harry left Japan and Harry's sworn enemy. Ken is played by the great Japanese actor Takakura Ken. Ken has always resented Harry as he took care of Eiko during the war and thus is owed a debt that cannot be repaid by Ken. In an effort to repay this debt, Harry and Ken, who has left the Yakuza, join forces to save the girl. All however is not as it seems and Harry is forced to see where his true loyalties and those of his friends lie as the film moves to a dramatic and fitting finale.

The Yakuza is an unusual film for its era, even in the supposedly enlightened 70's. It displays a strong degree of cultural sensitivity and a surprisingly deep understanding of Japanese culture. This is perhaps due to Paul Schrader's meticulously researched script, based on a story by his brother Leonard. Schrader was one of the great writing talents to emerge from the 70's new wave of American cinema and though he would go on to greater things, this is a fine debut. The film is very much an exploration of the themes of guilt and honour. Mitchum's Harry is a world weary vet who has to question his past actions and even his point of view to reconcile with Ken and become immersed once more in Japanese culture.

Pollack as a director has always been more known for his ability to draw performances from actors then for a distinct visual style and this is evident in this film. Mitchum gives one of the best performances of his later career and gives this appearance throughout of carrying a great burden on his shoulders, namely his past. That said, the film is visually stylish, making great use of the almost otherworldly nature of hyper modern Japan. There is colour galore, with an Autumnal tone throughout perhaps to enforce the feeling of impending death.

It really is a shame that this film was not seen by a wider audience on its release as it is a gem. A surprisingly intelligent and deep tale will hold your interest throughout while Ken and Harry form a great partnership. At times a sober and quiet meditation on sacrifice, it introduces western audiences to the nature of Japanese culture and beliefs. Yet in the end, it delivers a thrilling and spectacular denouement in which Ken shows his incredible skills with a katana.

The decision to use ethnic actors and to film in Japan may not seem ground breaking for a modern cinema goer but they were at the time. You have to imagine this is an era where it was only a few short years on from Genghis Khan being played by John Wayne or an Apache Native American being played by Burt Lancaster. It is a good thing that this is no longer something seen as acceptable and yet it sets this film apart and marks it as something which along with the subject matter, is ahead of its time. A fine film.

Flick of The Day:The Big Lebowski

It would be hard to argue against the Coen Brothers as the most consistently entertaining and talented film-makers of the last 25 years. They have consistently delivered great cinema across many genres, from their debut with the suspenseful thriller Blood Simple to the gangster epic Millers Crossing, the darkly comic Fargo and their Oscar winning western True Grit. Perhaps their best work, or at least their most quotable and comic picture is 1998's The Big Lebowski. Today's flick of the day, it is a deeply funny comic riff on a Raymond Chandleresque caper.

The Big Lebowski

Jeff Bridges, in a once in a lifetime performance, is Jeff 'The Dude' Lebowski, a layabout bowler and a Creedence Clearwater fan in 1991 Los Angeles. The Dude spends his days bowling and arguing with his two friends, ex-surfer Donny played by Steve Buscemi and Vietnam vet cum psychotic Walter played by the incomparable John Goodman. Arriving home one evening, he walks in on two hoodlums looking to collect a debt owed by a Jeffrey Lewbowski and his trophy wife Bunny to a Jackie Treehorn. One of them decides to urinate on The Dude's rug when the case of mistaken identity becomes apparent. The Dude decides to contact the big Lebowski and get compensation for his soiled rug. He is quickly drawn into a web of double crosses as he seeks to get to the bottom of the disappearance of Bunny Lebowski involving a trio of German nihilists, a pornographer,  a teenage car thief, a private detective, an artist who describes her work as "strongly vaginal" and Dude's crazy friend Walther.

The Dude: And, you know, he's got emotional problems, man. 

Walter Sobchak: You mean... beyond pacifism?

This is a gem of a movie, an absurdist take on the kind of hard boiled detective tales so often set in Los Angeles and penned by the likes of Chandler and Hammet. It has the kind of gleefully bizarre cast of characters that one only encounters in a Coen Brothers picture. Bridges' The Dude is a latter day stoner Philip Marlowe and his interactions with his crazy Vietnam obsesses friend played by Goodman are a highlight of the film. 

Donny: Are these the Nazis, Walter? 

Walter Sobchak: No, Donny, these men are nihilists. There's nothing to be afraid of.

Less of a cogent tale then a series of encounters between The Dude and the oddballs which populate Southern California. In that sense, it is perhaps the most quotable film of all time with so many witty one liners, it is difficult to pick your favourite. Add this to a series of bizarre dream sequences  set to the music of Kenny Rogers and you have a film that really can't be missed.

The Dude: Mr. Treehorn treats objects like women, man. 

Malibu Police Chief: Mr. Treehorn draws a lot of water in this town. You don't draw shit, Lebowski. Now we got a nice, quiet little beach community here, and I aim to keep it nice and quiet. So let me make something plain. I don't like you sucking around, bothering our citizens, Lebowski. I don't like your jerk-off name. I don't like your jerk-off face. I don't like your jerk-off behavior, and I don't like you, jerk-off. Do I make myself clear? 

The Dude: [after a pause] I'm sorry, I wasn't listening. 

A commercial failure on its release in 1998, perhaps because its unstructured tale of idiocy clashed with the kind of crowd attracted to the Coen's work after the roaring success of Fargo. In the years since, it has come to be seen as the true classic it is and indeed has spawned a whole cottage industry of Dude related paraphernalia and even a festival.

Walter Sobchak: Nihilists! Fuck me. I mean, say what you like about the tenets of National Socialism, Dude, at least it's an ethos.

Ultimately, this is the kind of film you either love or hate. You either buy in to the bizarre circumstances and run with it or you don't. It is a brilliant film held together by a fine ensemble cast and with perhaps the best script the Coens have ever written. A real must see.

Da Fino, Private Snoop: I'm a brother shamus! 

The Dude: Brother Seamus? Like an Irish monk? 

Da Fino, Private Snoop: What the fuck are you talking about?

Flick of The Day: Blade Runner

In my review last week of The Adjustment Bureau, I noted the contribution that the work of Philip K. Dick has made to science fiction and to Hollywood in general. Perhaps the best film to come from his work, and also perhaps one of the best science fiction films of all time is today's flick of the day, Blade Runner, from director Ridley Scott. A critical and commercial failure on is release in 1982, it has since gone on to be highly influential and reappraised as the classic it is.

Blade Runner (Two-Disc Final Cut)

Opening with a beautiful and disturbing vision of the future, Los Angeles 2019. A dystopia in which genetically engineered robots known as replicants have become common place but are now banned from earth, forced to work on the off world colonies. We are soon introduced to Deckard, a brilliantly underplayed Harrison Ford, is a retired cop who used to work as a Blade Runner, licensed to catch and kill any replicants caught on earth. Scott's vision of Los Angeles is a dark cramped Asian city cast in almost permanent darkness with corporate advertising and its neon glow framing each shot with flying cars and at the top of this society is the Tyrell Corporation who design and build the replicants. They are designed to have short lifespans as a control however a rogue group led by Roy Batty, a brilliant Rutger Hauer have made their way to earth in search of an extension. Deckard is forced to come back on the job in search of Roy and his gang by his shady boss, the always creepy M. Emmet Walsh. Part film noir, part sci fi the film follows Deckard and his hunt for the replicants which leads to a bloody finale where he must confront the fearsome Roy.

Set to a perfectly futuristic score by Vangelis, this is a dark and yet beautiful vision of the future. A society with a junk filled culture in which advertising dominated the skyline. There are vast temple like skyscrapers which reach toward the skyline while the ground level is made up of crumbling slums of 20th Century buildings. Roy and Deckard have their final confrontation in an ornate gothic mansion in the depths of the city while neon signs for Coca Cola and TDK look down on them. This combined with a great cast make for an entertaining if dark film. Harrison Ford and Rutger Hauer are justly lauded for their performances and Hauer's ad libbed soliloquy is a great final line, evoking images of the far reaches of the universe.

"I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I've watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die. "

The film is both awfully prescient and tellingly relevant in terms of the questions it asks about artificial intelligence. Advertising has become ever present in the intervening years and there is a deleted scene featuring technology like E-Readers. In terms of the replicants, it is not hard to feel sorry for them and their situation even the murderous Roy. They are forced to live a life that lasts but 4 years and yet have all of the emotions and needs of a real human. A pertinent question today as we move more and more toward the use of artificial intelligence.

While it performed poorly on its release, it has since come to be seen as a classic. It marries complex themes with and enjoyable detective storyline and this was perhaps too far ahead of its time for the audiences of 1982. There have been numerous versions of the film since its release as Ridley Scott has played around with it and had  it played around with by studios. Perhaps the definitive version is 2007's The Final Cut and this is the version I have reviewed as it fully realises Scott's vision of the film.

Deckard: You're reading a magazine. You come across a full-page nude photo of a girl. 

Rachael: Is this testing whether I'm a replicant or a lesbian, Mr. Deckard?

All in all, this is a really great film which anyone with even a passing interest in the genre has to see. The influence of its design and technical achievement cannot be overstated. Rutger Hauer gives the performance of a lifetime and there is a fine supporting cast including Daryl Hannah.

Flick of The Day: Brick

Film Noir is that most stylistic of genres, trading as it does substance and realism for an often rollercoaster ride to the dark side of town. Populated by cynical leading men and a host of seedy underworld characters, it exhibits a bleak view of humanity and arose primarily from the dark underbelly of domestic prosperity in America during the 1940s and 50s. Strictly speaking today's film is Neo-Noir, in that it attempts to recapture the spirit of those films in a modern setting. Brick, written and directed by Rian Johnson, was a big hit at Sundance in 2005.

The film's narrative centers on a hardboiled detective story that takes place in suburbia, specifically that most well travelled of film locations, an American High School. The film draws heavily in plot, characterization, and dialogue from films such as The Big Sleep and The Maltese Falcon. Suspend your disbelief for a moment and take the story at face value and you will quickly get sucked into a gripping ride with a twist finale. Brendan, played by the then rising star Joseph Gordon-Levitt, is the high school loner who has to try and penetrate the upper echelons of the school's social scene and its drug fuelled underbelly when he finds his ex-girlfriend's body in a storm drain, shortly after she made a cryptic call for help.  As always, to find out the true story, you have to watch the film.

This film could so easily have been a train wreck mixing as it does the high school genre and the dark heart of Film Noir however the script is well crafted enough and the leads so obviously enjoying themselves that it pulls it off. As mentioned the film is carried by the performance of its leading man, Jospeh Gordon-Levitt. His character is obviously intelligent, driven by guilt to find out what really happened to the woman he loved. However it's his everyman nature that will keep you caring about what happens to him and his quest for truth.

Shot in only 20 days on a minimal budget by a first time Director, this film punches far above its weight. If you love Noir, you'll love this, filled as it is with shady guys. femme fatales and sharp, pacy dialogue.