[新聞] Yamazaki blasts the past with stunning CGI

[taipingeric (一隻羊)]

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/print/ff20090828a1.html

Yamazaki blasts the past with stunning CGI

By MARK SCHILLING

Takashi Yamazaki was known primarily as a computer-graphics whiz when he
directed the ensemble drama "Always Sanchome no Yuhi" ("Always: Sunset on
Third Street," 2005). True to form, the recreation of 1950s Tokyo by
Yamazaki's team at the Shirogumi effects house was hyper-realistically
detailed, while suffused with a golden-glow nostalgia for a simpler time.
Ballad: Namonaki Koi no Uta     Rating: (3.5 out of 5)
Star Star Star Star Star
MOVIES
Back to the future: A scene from "Ballad Namonaki Koi no Uta" ("Ballad: A
Song Without Love") c  2009 "BALLAD NAMONAKI KOI NO UTA" SEISAKU IINKAI.
Director: Takashi Yamazaki
Running time: 132 minutes
Language: Japanese
Opens Sept. 5, 2009
[See Japan Times movie listing]

The real discovery for me, though, were the performances Yamazaki drew from
his young actors, particularly star Kenta Suga. As Junnosuke, a street kid
who becomes the ward of failed novelist Chagawa (Hidetaka Yoshioka), Suga did
not try to charm the audience into submission — the favored strategy of
nearly every local child actor. Instead he played his dirt-smudged character
with a combination of raw innocence and true grit that made him
simultaneously a throwback and a standout.

In his new samurai period film, "Ballad Namonaki Koi no Uta" ("Ballad: A Song
Without Love"), Takahashi again focuses on a child character, this time a
modern-day boy named Shinichi (Akashi Takei), with a story inspired by the
2002 entry in the long-running "Crayon Shin-Chan" feature animation series.
Average-kid Shinichi, however, is little like the anime Shin-Chan — a
mischief-making, dirty-minded kindergartner who is Bart Simpson's Japanese
cousin.

Also, rather than recreate "Crayon" 's crude-but-cute style, Takahashi has
conjured up a vividly realized past world, in which the CGI is largely
invisible, while focusing on the common humanity of his characters, minus
much of the usual cinematic baggage. One of his models was Akira Kurosawa,
whose best samurai films always seemed to be rediscovering the genre and
whose characters were comprehensible to everyone from kids to foreign critics
(some of whom rather disdained Kurosawa for this clarity, while championing
the more oblique Ozu).

Watching "Ballad," I was also reminded of the late, not-as-great John Hughes,
who had a talent for not only making his kids and adolescents real to people
of similar age sitting in the audience but also for imagining the film
through their eyes. "Home Alone" (1990) is a tale of primal terror and
fantastic derring-do that could have been cooked up by its 8-year-old hero.

"Ballad" begins with Shinichi's recurring dream of a beautiful princess by a
pond. Meanwhile, in his waking life, he escapes a quarrel between his career
woman mom (Yui Natsukawa) and photographer dad (Michitaka Tsutsui) and later,
when bullies harass a girl he likes, he slinks away instead of defending her.
Then, after finding a mysterious old letter buried next to an ancient tree,
he nods off — and wakes up in 1574.

Despite his surprise, Shinichi quickly and accidentally saves the life of
Ijiri Matabei (Tsuyoshi Kusanagi), a fierce-eyed, but kindly samurai general,
who escorts him to his clan's castle. There he meets the princess of his
dreams — Ren (Yui Aragaki), the independent- minded daughter of the clan
lord (Atsuo Nakamura). Shinichi also impresses the locals with his mountain
bike and cell-phone camera — and confesses to Matabei that he is from the
future.

Before Matabei can help Shinichi return to his own time, Okurai (Takao
Osawa), a powerful warlord, descends on the castle and brusquely asks for the
hand of Ren in marriage. Though in love with Matabei, Ren agrees, since a
martial alliance with Okurai will be of benefit to her clan. Soon after,
though, she changes her mind and follows her heart. Not used to being dumped,
the enraged Okurai decides to rub her castle and clan off the map.

The ensuing battle is staged with the sort of CGI-assisted spectacle — from
swarms of arrows flying through the air to hand-tossed bombs exploding on the
castle grounds — that Kurosawa could have only imagined. At the same time,
the mayhem is not graphically and disturbingly bloody; instead it's of the
sort that stirs the imaginations of small boys: warriors thrusting, parrying
and bellowing with manly courage, vigor — and enjoyment.

Shinichi is more spectator than actor in all this, while being better-behaved
— or rather more cowed — than his obnoxious, pranksterish cartoon model.
Kids looking for vicarious thrills will be disappointed, as will Shin-chan
fans looking for a few laughs.

Takashi tries to open tears ducts in the usual way of dramas about
star-crossed love, with the added pathos of Shinichi's attachment to Matabei
and Ren — and his being only a visitor to their world. Once again, the cast
rises to the melodramatic occasion, especially Yui Aragaki as Ren, channeling
Misa Uehara's flashing-eyed Princess Yuki in Kurosawa's "Kakushi Toride no
San-Akunin" ("The Hidden Fortress," 1958).

The tears, however, don't flow in the hoped-for quantities, since the plot
gears designed to wring them are too well-worn and exposed. But I liked the
way the past meets the future in "Ballad" — with lively curiosity, but
otherwise not a lot of fuss. And, of course, all the samurai want their
pictures taken.

--
※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc) 
◆ From: 140.112.199.107
推 ag2360133   :快推 不然會被說看不懂
推 bestshow500 :嗯嗯 原來如此 我懂了
推 lovingkb    :好長的一篇文章~還沒看完就先暈了
推 ses2        :好長，看完第一段就end了
推 kuo56cabal  :快推  看不懂也要裝懂XD
推 michael18   :嗚~好多字~((暈
推 FDEE2562568 :英文被當.....不不不~~~~
推 ag2360133   :山崎