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Born in 1962 in Tokyo, Hirokazu Kore-eda started out directing documentary
films.
His debut narrative film, Maboroshi No Hikari (1995), was peculiar
in the way it filmed its characters from a distance.
Una vecchia lascia la casa dove era ospite, invano rincorsa da una bambina.
Ha deciso di andare a morire al proprio villaggio.
Anni dopo la bambina e` diventata una donna ed e` sposata, con un figlio.
Suo marito e` un bravo ragazzo, anche se ruba una bicicletta dopo che
sconosciuti gli hanno rubato la sua. Vivono in semplicita` ma felici.
Lui lavora in una fabbrica, lei fa la donna di casa. Vivono in un appartamento
vicino alla ferrovia e si vedono in continuazione treni che passano.
Un giorno la polizia viene a prendere la donna: suo marito e` stato ucciso
da un treno, il corpo e` stato maciullato. Il macchinista sostiene che
l'uomo camminava sulle rotaie come se volesse farsi investire.
Una vicina trova il marito ideale per la vedova. E` anche lui vedovo, e
ha una bambina. La donna e suo figlio si mettono in viaggio (di nuovo su
un treno). Dal quartiere industriale della metropoli passano al paesaggio
rurale di un villaggio remoto sul mare. All'inizio i rapporti fra i due
coniugi sono freddi e formali, ma presto cominciano a conoscersi e piacersi.
Il bambino trova una sorellina con cui giocare. La natura calma e imponente
fa da cornice alla ritrovata serenita`. Non c'e` piu` il treno: c'e` il mare.
Sembra regnare l'armonia, ma una visita ai genitori crea turbamenti nella
donna: e` bastato tornare sul luogo dell'incidente per indurla a pensare.
E la donna non sa darsi pace: perche' mai il marito decise di suicidarsi?
La donna torna a casa triste e inquieta. Il marito e` impotente. Un giorno
la vede seguire ipnotizzata un funerale nella tormenta. La processione
si ferma in riva al mare: le nuvole si sono diradate e il tramonto avvolge
la figura della donna che rimane sola sulla spiaggia. L'uomo da` la colpa
al mare. Il paesaggio maestoso e silenzioso riporta la pace sulla famiglia.
Wandafuru Raifu/ Afterlife (1998) e` un racconto kafkiano su un
allegorico laboratorio per ricreare i ricordi dei morti.
It is also a philosophical investigation in the nature and value of memory,
and what makes life worth living. It may also be a metaphor for cinema itself,
since each movie focuses on "one memory" only out of all the possible stories
that one could tell about any single protagonist.
Un edificio in mezzo a un parco e` adibito a stazione di passaggio fra la
morte e il paradiso. Vi lavora un gruppo di ragazzi, guidati da un maestro.
Ciascun ragazzo intervista i morti e spiega loro come funziona la morte:
per passare da quel "purgatorio" al paradiso,
devono scegliere un ricordo della loro vita e quello sara` l'unico che
ricorderanno per il resto dell'eternita`. I ragazzi prima intervistano
i morti, poi guardano i filmati e discutono i casi con il maestro.
C'e` la prostituta, il pilota, la ballerina, il teppista, l'adolescente stupida,
la vecchia che si crede bambina, l'uomo che non vuole ricordare nulla...
Una volta che avranno scelto il ricordo preferito, il team di ragazzi
dovra` realizzare un filmato di quel ricordo.
I ragazzi compiono pertanto uno studio minuzioso della situazione per
ricostruire fedelmente l'ambiente.
I ragazzi si immedesimano sempre piu` con i loro casi. Le parti quasi
si capovolgono: i ragazzi cominciano a raccontare ai loro pazienti le
proprie vite e a confessare loro i ricordi di cui sono ossessionati.
Fra i ragazzi intervistatori c'e` una ragazza che sta facendo da assistente
a un ragazzo piu` esperto. Questi, morto giovane in guerra, viene colto da una
crisi quando scopre che il suo "caso" e` l'uomo che ha sposato la sua ex
fidanzata. Anche lei mori` e la ragazza lo aiuta a recuperare il filmato
del ricordo che lei scelse di portare con se` per sempre: e` il ricordo
di un loro incontro al parco. Il ragazzo decide che vuole a sua volta
passare in paradiso e pertanto e` pronto a scegliere egli stesso l'unico
ricordo da portare con se`: e` se` stesso solo sulla panca.
La ragazza prende il suo posto nella burocrazia della stazione. C'e` gia`
un altro gruppo di morti che attende di essere intervistato.
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If English is your first language and you could translate the Italian text, please contact me.
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Distance (2001) is a half-baked character study and an ill-defined
analysis of social diseases, that, stylistically, borrows heavily from
Blair Witch Project.
The director does not seem interested in all in creating and following a
plot (which is basically wasted here). His attention is all focused on the
process of "believing": how do some ordinary people come to believe in
something that changes their lives, and how do other people, who did not
experience that "change", come to understand what had happened.
It is, ultimately, another meditation on memory and meaning, through the
solitary calvary as well as the collective self-flagellation of four
individuals.
It is the third anniversary of the day when a religious cult killed scores
of people with a bacteriological weapon.
Four relatives and friends of members of the cult get together and
travel to the remote jungle area and to the specific location, a lake,
where the ordeal occurred for a memorial.
Each of them walks to the end of a little bridge, says a prayer and throws a
lily in the water.
(The bodies of the cult members were burned and their ashes were scattered
in the lake).
When they return to their car, they find out that it has been stolen.
They meet a former member of the cult who survived and trek with him to
the cabin where the cult members used to live.
Overnight, in the cabin, the relatives and the former cult member discuss what
it was like to be in the cult.
A series of flashbacks shows how their friends and relatives, all
ordinary people, became members of the cult.
The action in the present is filmed with a hand-held camera, whereas the
flashbacks employs lengthy shots.
In the flashbacks, a man deserts his wife and their baby, a wife
leaves her husband, a medical student in a swimming pool
a sister
Some of the flashbacks show, instead, a police officer interrogating the
survivors to make sense of what happened.
In the morning, the stranded group gets a ride back into town.
visting the old man, but old man just died - wasn't even his son
Masaru one of them shows pictures during a picnic to his girlfriend
One of them walks back to the lake and burns all of his pictures and the
bridge itself.
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(Translation by/ Tradotto da xxx) Se sei interessato a tradurre questo pezzo, contattami
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Dare Mo Shiranai/ Nobody Knows (2004) is another
austere documentary-style semi-improvisational
film that involves four people who live in their own closed fantasy universe.
This time the universe is a happy and innocent one, one in which they feel
safe. And this time the four protagonists are
children who don't know the real world, and suddenly they have to explore it
and learn how to cope with it.
The film is neatly divided in three parts. At first it merely describes the
artificial and precarious paradise in which the children live. Then it
descibes their attempt at preserving the paradise once its artificial nature
has become undeniable (the mother has left them).
The camera now focuses on small insignificant objects that suddenly acquire
a much bigger meaning: they replace the mother who is no longer there,
because each of them reconstructs a memory of her having existed and
cared for the children.
Finally, when the equilibrium has been broken, a new "mother" appears to
help restore a new kind of equilibrium.
The first part of the movie is about presence: presence of the mother and
of the siblings, a presence enhanced by the fact that they are isolated from
the rest of the world. The second part is about absence: the mother is gone,
the children slowly lose faith in the unity of their family.
The third part is about freedom from the mother who used to determine if the
state was one of presence or absence.
Akira, who has been until then a passive victim of circumstances, suddenly
becomes a tragic figure, a victim of destiny.
The three parts also mark a progression from unawareness to dignity to
degradation.
The film recasts the themes of loneliness and alienation (explored by filmmakers
since the time of Antonioni) into the world of children, the world of
collapsing families. Not the victims of industrialization, but the victims
of parental selfishness.
A mother,
Keiko,
and her little boy, Akira, introduce themselves to the new landlord, promising
to be quiet tenants. Later the movers deliver their furniture and luggage.
Inside two suitcases are two more children, a girl and a boy.
Later Akira walks to the station to pick up his sister Kyoto.
The mom reminds the children that they have to be silent and not wander outside,
otherwise they will have to move yet again. Clearly none of the children
goes to school.
Akira and Kyoto take care of the younger ones when their mom is at work.
When she comes back from work late in the evening, she helps Akira study
while Kyoto does laundry for everybody.
The family arrangement is unusual, but they live happily together.
One night she talks to them about their fathers: it turns out that they
are children of four different men. And she told Akira that she is now dating
a new one, and she hopes he will marry her and take care of all of them.
One morning Akira finds a note from his mom: she's gone for a while and
left him some money. Akira has to take care of the children for one month,
begging two of the fathers (or suspected fathers) for additional money.
One day he is almost arrested for a misunderstanding at a convenience store,
a fact that could have turned into a major tragedy for the other three hidden
at home.
The mother comes back bringing presents for everybody. The children are
excited. But she leaves again, promising to be back by Christmas.
The children stick to their rituals inside the home, still obeying her
commands not to go outside. Akira is already aware that there is trouble ahead.
He becomes the little Ulysses who has to explore the city to understand how
they can survive without any guardian at all.
He pretends that mom sent them presents, but he is the one who bought them.
His sister Kyoto saves the money for when she can buy a piano.
For little Yuki's birthday the present is a walk outside the apartment,
through the streets of the big city that she has rarely seen.
They stare at the monorail that runs over their heads and Akira promises
that some day they will board it.
Akira makes two friends at a videogame store. They are spoiled, ill behaved
and selfish. They steal a toy from a store and invite Akira to do the same.
He refuses, puzzled. When he waits for them in front of the high school (that
he has never entered), they make fun of his house.
The economic situation is dire. Their bills are unpaid. Kyoto is aware of it
and gives Akira the money that she was saving for the piano. The only person
to know about them is the cashier of the convenience store, who kindly helps
Akira with leftovers. Akira decides
that their routine is pointless and takes everybody for a walk outside.
The city suspends their water service, so they have to go outside and get
water from drinking fountains at the nearby park. There they meet a melancholy
older high-school girl, Saki, who visits them at home and suddenly understands
their dire situation. To help, she accepts to entertain a businessman for
money. Akira sees it, and, disgusted, throws her money away and runs back home.
But their situation is getting worse by the day. And the children are no
longer disciplined. They are taking more and more chances going outside.
One day Akira happens to be near a baseball field when one of the teams needs
an extra player. He is happy to wear the uniform and play for real.
But just then, back at home, Yuki falls from a chair and falls in a coma.
Desperate for help, Akira finds the high-school girl and begs for money.
He uses the money to buy toys for Yuki, but Yuki dies. Just then they
receive an envelop from their mother with, finally, some money.
Akira and the girl put Yuki's corpse into the same suitcase that she arrived
in, and take the suitcase on the monorail (Akira's promise comes true but in
a cruel fashion). And they bury the suitcase outside the city, near the airport
and the sea. She takes his hand that is trembling. They take the monorail again
to go back to the city, all dirty from all the digging they have done with
their naked hands. The following day Akira and the girl are roaming the
streets with Akira's little siblings.
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(Translation by/ Tradotto da xxx) Se sei interessato a tradurre questo pezzo, contattami
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