1996

Inception to Dec 96
  • Cuba Scuba - I just got back from a one-week scuba diving trip to Cuba. I stayed at the Delta Sierra Mar Hotel in Santiago de Cuba, on the east end of the south side of the island. Dive Adventures handled the diving. No American tourists, just some British, a few Italians and numerous Canadians, many of whom were there for the second or third time!
    (04 Jan 97)

  • I saw my first NBA Basketball game tonight: Chicago Bulls vs. Toronto Raptors. It was quite a circus outside SkyDome. The game was sold out, so I had to deal with the ticket scalpers-- yikes! A ticket for a nosebleed seat, face value $15, was now $60! Michael Jordan looked about as big as my thumbnail and didn't play very well. Raptors won.
    (Dec 96)

  • I saw a special screening of two Japanese films at the JCCC this afternoon:

    • "119" (1994, Dir: Naoto Takenaka; with Hidekazu Akai, Kyoka Suzuki, Yoshiko Kuga)
      A leisurely paced slice-of-life film about firemen in a quiet town in southern Japan. There isn't a single house fire in the entire movie. The most exciting moment is when they have to go to a community centre to capture a wild monkey which is running amuck. By the time they net the monkey, everybody in the building has become unconscious! (What disease is this? We didn't learn much about monkey-borne subtropical diseases at my medical school. If you know, please E-mail me at thiruki@uvic.ca). The routine at the fire station gets disrupted when a beautiful young Mystery Lady shows up to help out at the tofu shop. Two of the firemen compete for her affections, but she leaves without anybody (including the audience) gaining any insight into her situation. This movie was very opaque to me, but still more interesting than the Hollywood take on the lives of firemen, "Backdraft".

    • "Winds of God" (1995; Masayuki Imai, Tetsuya Bessho; Dir: Yoko Narahashi)
      Two modern-day stand-up comics from Osaka magically get transported back in time to an airbase in the final days of World War Two, where they are mistaken for kamikaze pilots. As they see more and more of their fellow pilots fly off to their deaths, one of the comics adopts the military cause. He dies on a mission just before the pair are returned to the present. The film ends with the surviving comic performing the same stand-up routine with a new partner. I didn't quite understand what this movie was trying to say: that war is noble, or that the past should be forgotten?
      (17 Nov 96)

  • I met David Suzuki at the launching of his latest book "The Japan We Never Knew", held this evening at the JCCC. I don't profess to have many role models, but Dr. Suzuki certainly must be listed as one! He was the first Japanese Canadian to have a national profile through the mass media. A geneticist by training, he has been the host of CBC Radio's "Quirks and Quarks" and more recently CBC Television's "The Nature of Things", and has kindled an interest in science in Canadians young and old (including me) for over 25 years. He doesn't do much genetics anymore, and is devoting his time these days to environmental causes, in part through The David Suzuki Foundation.
    (15 Nov 96)

  • Mizoguchi Retrospective, Week 2 - Film #10 Cascading White Threads (Taki no shiraito) ****: This 1933 silent film is an epic tale of unrequited love. Simulating the custom of the time, the soundtrack features a narrator who tells the story and does ALL the voices. He is so good, you forget it's only one person! Kanazawa figures prominently in the plot.

    Films #7-9 were:

    • A Geisha (Gion bayashi) ***** An update of "Sisters of Gion" showing that nothing much had changed in 15 years.
    • Street of Shame (Akasen chitai) **** The geisha theme is updated to TB-ridden post-war Japan.
    • Poppy (Gubijinsho) ***** An A-1 giri-fest!

    I'm all 'guchied out! A lot of other Torontonians must be, too-- almost every screening in this series was sold out!
    (12 Nov 96)

  • Mizoguchi Retrospective - Film #6 Miss Oyu (Oyu-sama) *****: What a story! The scandalous menage a trois in this 1951 film wouldn't be too out of place on "Melrose Place". Lots of kimono, koto, ikebana, and tea ceremonies. Tanaka Kinuyo is great, as always.

    Films #1-5 were:

    • Ugetsu (Ugetsu monogatari) ***** A classic! No need to elaborate.
    • A Woman of Rumour (Uwasa no onna) ***** A great movie! Hear what most Japanese REALLY think about noh.
    • Sisters of Gion (Gion no shimai) ***** Wow! A thought-provoking story about two sisters, both geisha, but with quite different attitudes.
    • Princess Yang Kwei Fei (Yohiki) * A period costume drama which never really gets going.
    • Victory of Women (Josei no shori) ***** A powerful indictment against corporate Japan.

    These films are as relevant as they were when first released! Many of the problems they address are still around.
    (07 Nov 96)

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