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Subarashiki nichiyôbi (1947)
Kurosawa and Postwar Politics in Occupied Japan
I loved this film for all the reasons already advanced on this board. A story about two lovers who have only each other in a devastated, corrupted, and occupied society is universal in every sense.
I think Kurosawa's postwar films are especially interesting from a political point of view. All of his films had to pass U.S. censors, and so his political comments are shrouded in symbolism and cinematic sleight of hand. American occupation authorities doubtlessly viewed this film as a simple tale of struggling lovers. But a closer look reveals much more.
"Yuzo" is a war veteran down on his luck. Millions of Japanese war veterans returned home to a society ashamed of their service and anxious to forget their failure. "Masako" is his lover but their future together is rendered difficult by their mutual poverty.
Kurosawa gives us glimpses of pathetic war orphans, destitute women forced into prostitution, and a new economic oligarchy made wealthy by black markets. The ruins of Tokyo are presented only on distant horizons or as incidental background, but the damage inflicted by the 20th U.S. Air Force is clearly implied. None of these elements would ever pass U.S. censorship had they been essential to the story.
Postwar Japanese audiences. however, doubtlessly recognized these subtle references to their occupied and devastated country. That Kurosawa could express these matters without provoking American censorship is itself a testament to his artistic skills.
He Walked by Night (1948)
Linked to JFK Assassination?
Lamar Waldron and Thom Hartmann argue in their book, "Ultimate Sacrifice," that this film was bankrolled by gangsters, including Johnny Rosselli. Turner Classic Movies repeats this claim in its review of the movie and claims that one of Rosselli's silent partners was Joe Breen, the head censor of the Hays Office. According to Waldron and Hartman, Rosselli was inspired by the film to frame Lee Oswald for Kennedy's murder (shooting a police officer with a S&W .38 while fleeing the scene of the crime, hiding a shotgun in a blanket, lone gunman, etc.).
The film also influenced Jack Webb, as many others have noted on this board. Surprisingly, Webb shows more emotion in this picture than he would in the entirety of his body of work!
The film is a first class example of film noir as police procedural. The very best of this genre remains Fritz Lang's "M."
Adaptation. (2002)
Adapting to the Demands of the Marketplace
Screen writing must be a schizophrenic process for the creative artist. On the one hand, the writer desires to create an original work of art ("Charlie"); on the other hand, the writer wants audiences to enjoy his work ("Donald"). Real-life screen writing guru Robert McKee, Kaufman's adversary/mentor, writes in his book, "Story," that there simply isn't much of an audience for films that stray too far from the conventional, three-act story form ("archplot"). So, should the writer remain faithful to his artistic impulse or adapt himself to the demands of the marketplace?
The film's title, "Adaptation," refers to the fatalistic choices forced upon creative artists by a commercial entertainment industry, I think, as much as it refers literally to the translation of a non-fiction work into a film. "Charlie Kaufman" accepts the assignment of adapting "The Orchid Thief," an unfilmable story, suffering anxiety and depression as a consequence of his seemingly impossible task. At the same time, his brother/alter ego, "Donald," enjoys success by producing a crass, formulaic, and commercially appealing screenplay that slavishly follows McKee's precepts. In his frustration, "Charlie" succumbs to the pressures of the marketplace and reworks "Orchid Thief" into a standard, Hollywood, guns-drugs-sex-cars exploitation flick.
The film's finale is predictably absurd, but "Charlie" Kaufman permits himself one final artistic conceit: He kills off "Donald." What should we make of the death of Charlie's "brother/alter ego?" Is Charlie Kaufman arguing that submission to the commercial demands of Hollywood means the death of the artist? Or, is Charlie Kaufman making a more personal statement, that he is finished trying to satisfy the crass tastes of the industry and movie going public?
Red Planet Mars (1952)
Cold War Hysteria and More!
Most film reviewers dismiss "Red Planet Mars" as Cold War hysteria and American propaganda. Although true, these comments do a disservice to this film, which deserves much more serious consideration for at least two reasons.
First, the film's screenwriter, John L. Balderston, is one of Hollywood's most important fantasy/science fiction writers, penning such favorites as "Dracula," "Frankenstein," "Bride of Frankenstein," "The Mummy," "The Prisoner of Zenda," and "The Last of the Mohicans." While not his greatest work, "Red Planet Mars" is in some ways his most original screenplay.
Second, "Red Planet Mars" is remarkable as right-wing science fiction, of which there are precious few examples in American motion pictures (see "The Island" as a contemporary exception). In the film, faith triumphs over science, an idea that was uncommon in American society in the early 1950s and completely original in Hollywood sci fi films of the period. In the classic 1950s sci fi genre, scientists (often in league with the government and military) are generally heroes. In "Red Planet Mars," the scientists are unreliable and untrustworthy, a remarkably post-modern perspective.
The film, long out-of-print in VHS, is newly available in DVD. It really is an essential part of the collection of any serious, 1950s sci fi film enthusiast.