8:17 PM 4/25/2007

Today I borrowed a Japanese Movie: Warui yatsu hodo yoku nemuru - which you might know as "The Bad Sleep Well".

It's one of those Kurosawa movies that isn't about samurai. I worry that I don't fully appreciate it for that quality. I like those samurai movies - at least the Kurosawa ones, and a lot of his movies were about wartime and contemporary Japan. High and Low is one of my favorites. I have a copy of "The Emperor and the Wolf", which is a joint biography of Akira Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune. It can be annoying to read extensive descriptions of the production and storyline of films you've never seen. I guess I'll just have to see them all... - and I really like having text to support non-textual experiences. It helps sharpen the mind.

Even so, there is a particular pleasure in watching old movies. Not everybody enjoys it. It can be disappointing for someone raised on Hollywood blockbusters to see stories told another way, but enlightening also. I always have to work a little harder to sort out which character is which in a black & white Japanese movie. This one begins with a wedding reception, and a group of about fifteen reporters is trying to cover a story on business corruption involving some of the guests. Police detectives are there to arrest someone, but have to wait for the right moment. Start with a banquet room full of people all dressed the same, and a confused flow of attention to as-yet unremarkable players giving toasts and speeches. It's a lot to keep track of. Have I been a victim of plot oversimplification in mass media? Consider a typical television sitcom: A core group of about five people, with additional characters making clear entrances and cogent transactions. Maybe I've been intentionally handicapped so that I cannot follow complex scenarios like an international war on terrorism or electoral politics either.

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