With _Zero Degree_ fresh on my mind, I saw _Lost in Translation_.
The extended night scenes where Bill Murray and Scarlet Johannson (sp)
are having a really good time are the best part of the film, really
well shot, exhilarating, and authentic. The rest feel fake and
cliched, at least to me. I'm not fond of Japanese culture, but
making fun of Japanese customs and TV shows is so trivial; if only
Coppola had the guts and the insight to juxtapose those scenes with
footage of American clowns like David Letterman and Rush Limbaugh!
Murray is great, but I thought the actress is very limited, and her
character isn't that interesting either. Maybe I don't get Sophia
Coppola, but she doesn't seem to have much depth. Nevertheless she
got a lengthy, glowing write-up in the NYT magazine, and on a per
screen basis _LiT_ is without question the best attended film last
weekend. So what do I know.

I've been seeing -- I guess we all have -- a tendency to bracket Sofia
Coppola with WKW, which has made me curious about _LIT_ (one review
likened it to _ItMfL_ among other films). I guess I can hold off for
a few weeks at least...

A friend of mine sent me this "making of _Happy Together_" documentary.


With _Zero Degree_ fresh on my mind, I saw _Lost in Translation_.


My friend also made me a copy of Stanley Kwan's _Yang and Yin: Gender
in Chinese Cinema_. It is interesting that the section on father-son
relationship in Chinese films features _Fallen Angels_, the only
one of Wong's films which has a biological father in it. The section
perhaps highlights the reason I am so fond of Wong while middlebrow
American critics prefer Edward Yang and Ang Lee. Lee and Yang harp
on the tradition Chinese art house theme of modernity vs Confucionism,
father-son conflicts and reconciliation. Wong Kar-Wai, appropriately,
treats such conflict as already over. In his universe, the two
generations have fought to a standstill, come to a truce through sheer
exhaustion, and are acting as though the other doesn't exist.

And then there's Tsai Ming-liang and his _The River_. (Tsai is
interviewed in the Kwan film, right? But that was probably before
_The River_...)

Yes, Tsai was interviewed. Tsai probably belongs to a younger

Are _Buenos Aires Zero Degrees_ and _Yang + Yin_ available
commercially anywhere? I guess I had read on wongkarwai.net a while
ago that the first was coming out, but I didn't know about the Kwan.

In <21405c39.0309181823.7b3afe89@posting.google.com> monterone@draac.com (monterone) writes:

I've been seeing -- I guess we all have -- a tendency to bracket Sofia
Coppola with WKW, which has made me curious about _LIT_ (one review
likened it to _ItMfL_ among other films). I guess I can hold off for
a few weeks at least...

There are some similarities. They both show the loneliness, dislocation,
and aimlessness of city life, as well as its excitement and pleasures,
especially the pleasure of random encounters. Also, Coppola's scenes of
the streets of Tokyo are visually reminiscent of Wong's views of
Hong Kong and Buenos Aires, where movement through the city creates
abstract patterns.

Very true.

I was also reminded of Claire Denis. I thought _Lit_'s brief encounter
was portrayed more effectively than the one in _ Friday Night _, partly
because we got to know the characters better, and more was at stake:
there was a real possibility Murray and Johansson's characters would
leave their spouses, even not return home, partly because of Bill
Murray's fine performance.

The male lead in _Friday Night_ let the woman pay for the dinner --

I don't think _LiT_ is nearly as good a film as Wong or Denis'
best films, but there are some moments that are comparable (Murray
singing "More than This," touching Johansson's foot, etc.). Also,
I don't want to underestimate Coppola: it's easy to prejudge her
because she's a fashionable celebrity and the daughter of a
famous director. And I prefer her work to that of a lot of the other
hyped new directors: Spike Jonze, P.T. Anderson, Wes Anderson, etc.

I enjoyed _LiT_, but I wasn't as impressed as I was with _Virgin
Suicides_. I agree that a lot of the jokes at the expense of the
Japanese were too easy, but they seemed to be done with affection.
Scarlett Johansson's character seemed undefined -- which is
surprising since Coppola says she based the character more or less on
herself.

I wonder what this says about her marriage! She was on Charlie

Paul Gallagher wrote:

I enjoyed _LiT_, but I wasn't as impressed as I was with _Virgin
Suicides_. I agree that a lot of the jokes at the expense of the
Japanese were too easy, but they seemed to be done with affection.
Scarlett Johansson's character seemed undefined -- which is
surprising since Coppola says she based the character more or less on
herself.

I wonder what this says about her marriage! She was on Charlie
Rose last night but I was distracted and didn't pay full attention.

I saw the film in your haunts by the way, in NYC where I was
at a conference. It was opening night and *all* the night
shows were sold out. The Saturday morning show was almost
sold out as well. Regardless of how good the film is, it
is a bracing experience. Independent films typically draw
an audience of 10 in my town, and subtitled ones are lucky
to get 4. If I had came one week later I would have been
able to see the much-hyped _Demonlover_, seen some new plays,
*and* attend the Jane Birkin concert! Better not go on in
that vein ...

Interesting ... have you (or anyone) seen _Cold Water_? Has
it played yet? I am always curious about it because it has
such a high reputation and is never officially released in
the U.S.

I saw _ Demonlover _. It's worth seeing. It has some striking
images, and the actresses are very good. It's an interesting
experiment, but, though it has lots of ideas, it doesn't seem
to have a clear point.

Paul

In _What Time_ the father figure is mute and ghostlike.
I'm amused and intrigued by that "modern" treatment.

Are _Buenos Aires Zero Degrees_ and _Yang + Yin_ available
commercially anywhere?

Paul Gallagher wrote:

I enjoyed _LiT_, but I wasn't as impressed as I was with _Virgin
Suicides_. I agree that a lot of the jokes at the expense of the
Japanese were too easy, but they seemed to be done with affection.
Scarlett Johansson's character seemed undefined -- which is
surprising since Coppola says she based the character more or less on
herself.

I wonder what this says about her marriage! She was on Charlie
Rose last night but I was distracted and didn't pay full attention.

His great _Hold You Tight_ is on DVD
(Netflix has it), _Island Tales_ on a less good-looking VCD (New York
Public Library has it), and _Red Rose, White Rose_, which I haven't
seen yet, is also listed by yesasia.com.

I wandered over to China Town in NYC and bought a DVD of _Hold Me

Doesn't the Tony Leung character refer to his conflict with his father
in a voiceover in _Happy Together_? Anyway, I gather there was
originally going to be much more about the character's father,
according to a summary of _Zero Degree_.

claims that Wong "tricked" Tony Leung into appearing in the film by
telling him it was about a man and his father.)

I caught the tail end of that Charlie Rose interview -- too late to
see the film clips (if there were any). I thought she came off as
something of a bubblehead. That's probably my generation gap showing,
as well as a few other things! But Haley Joel Osment, age 15, of the
unbearable-looking _Secondhand Lions_, seemed like a mental giant by
comparison, for example, and I'll bet he'd at least have been able to
tell Charlie Rose what book he was reading! Coppola's flabbergasted
response to that question ("Book?!") was almost George Bush-like. But
I'm sure she probably just didn't want to let on that she was carrying
Derrida in her back pocket.