death sentence is a 2007 american action drama film loosely based on the 1975 novel of the same name by brian garfield .

directed by james wan , the film stars kevin bacon as nick hume , a man who takes the law into his own hands after his son is murdered by a gang as an initiation ritual .

hume must protect his family from the gang 's resulting vengeance .

the film premiered on august 31 , 2007 , and was released on dvd on january 8 , 2008 .

death sentence ( 2007 film )

death sentence ( 2007 film ) <EOT> garfield has said that the film death sentence was never going to be able to be a strict sequel to winner’s death wish because the film rights for the death sentence franchise are still owned by somebody else . see nikki tranter , “historian : interview with brian garfield” , pop matters 4 march 2008 : urltoken .

looking for movie tickets ? enter your location to see which movie theaters are playing death sentence near you .

death sentence is a laughably bad exercise in the pornography of sadism and the american appetite which voraciously consumes it .

bacon ' s performance in saw creator james wan ' s laughably extreme revenge thriller death sentence is six degrees of ham .

“death sentence” is rated r ( under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian ) for graphic violence , language and drug use .

death sentence ; death wish ; fleshburn ; hopscotch ; the last hard men ; necessity ; relentless ; the stepfather ; wild times etc - - nineteen so far , and counting . . . .

death sentence has a weird history . technically , this is the sequel to death wish but in a literary sense . obviously , there were many death wish movies . however , if for some reason you wanted both stories in one day i suppose you could skip the death wish sequels and just watch death wish and this . i don’t know why you would do that but you could .

′colonia′ : film broaches atrocities of german - run sect in chile | film | dw | 14 . 09 . 2015

watching this film reminds me of i saw the devil and vice versa . it gets more and more uncomfortable as the film progresses .

bronson went on to make " death wish 3 " ( 1985 ) , " death wish 4 " ( 1987 ) and " death wish v " ( 1994 ) , by which date he was 73 and didn ' t need the bag of groceries as bait . they were set variously in los angeles and new york , largely filmed in toronto , and never did get back to chicago , reportedly because garfield hated the first movie and its sequels so much he would never sell the rights to death sentence . but now here at last , in 2007 , is " death sentence , " and it is filmed in , that ' s right , south carolina . it doesn ' t follow the book , either .

this week ' s round of new movie release information contains release dates for talk to me , death sentence , the christmas cottage and more . more . . .

now film director florian gallenberger has created a movie based on this dark chapter of history . the german film " colonia " premieres at the 40th toronto international film festival ( held from september 10 - 20 ) .

blunt , bloody and far too busy with its sledgehammer plot and mighty gunplay to waste time on the main character ' s inner life , death sentence is a baseline entertainment .

this form of authorship has a classificatory function . several films are related to a particular film – saw – and also related implicitly to the name wan . a relationship is established between these texts as a result of the specific links that they have ; moreover , this relationship calls forth into being a particular kind of film - group formation . put another way , each film being advertised is associated with other texts – each film is associated with saw but , in the case of death sentence , also the novel / film death wish and , in the case of insidious , also paranormal activity . what being associated in this way means is that each film is characterised by its relationship to other texts .

" a scintillating , talented writer . " - - newsday ( reviewing death wish )

[ … ] anatoly liberman’s look at the death of the adverb . [ … ]

what did you think the direction taken by the death wish sequels ? death sentence , the book , took such pains to delve into these issues of vengeance and modes of violence and crime eradication , yet the sequel to death wish really seemed to retread old territory . the book reveals so much about paul , and is such a fascinating continuation of his story , an evolution of his motives . i found myself reading death sentence and kind of feeling annoyed that your theories weren ' t explored more fully in the films . was that on purpose ?

death sentence wasn’t screened in advance for critics when it came out on august bank holiday weekend in 2007 , so when they finally saw it they were all too happy to savage the film . whilst the plot may be simple , the execution of death sentence is anything but . the effect that this film has on you is similar to a lot of the popular south korean revenge films of the last few years . you walk out shell - shocked and depressed , revenge is an ugly business and not something to be glorified and wan shows you this . with every murder that happens in the film there is a real sense of loss and finally when the climax comes , wan changes kevin bacon’s physical appearance to such a degree that the ugliness reflects how his soul has rotted through this mission of vengeance .

on the review aggregate website rotten tomatoes , 19 % of critics gave the film positive reviews based on 106 reviews , as of february 27 , 2009 . on metacritic , the film had an average score of 36 out of 100 , based on 24 reviews . rodger ebert of the the chicago sun - times gave the film 2½ stars out of 4 . he compared death sentence to the death wish films starring charles bronson , saying : " in the bronson movies , the hero just looked more and more determined until you felt if you tapped his face , it would explode . in death sentence , bacon acts out a lot more . " ebert called death sentence " very efficient " , praising " a courtroom scene of true surprise and suspense , and some other effective moments " , but concluded that " basically this is a movie about a lot of people shooting at each other " .

of the same name is based on . it is the sixth film in the

" i think that , except for its ludicrous violence toward the end , the death sentence movie does depict its character ' s decline and the stupidity of vengeful vigilantism . " death wish creator brian garfield talks to popmatters about remakes , sequels , writing , and the meaning of vengeance .

death sentence gave me hope for fast & furious 7 and i was interested in seeing what james wan would do with it . turns out nothing , you can ' t even tell he directed it .

a father ( kevin bacon ) goes out for revenge after his family is attacked in a senseless and heinous gang - initiation crime . the father enacts a death sentence on each perpetrator involved with the crime .

see john ellis , visible fictions : cinema , television , video , routledge , london , 1982 . the “narrative image” of a film relates to how the film functions as a component in public discourse ; put another way , it has to do with how cultural knowledge builds up around a film . this relates to not only knowledge about what kind of film it is ( say it’s generic structure and tone – e . g . a nasty or fun horror film ) but also other concepts that help to define the film and differentiate it from other texts in the marketplace . therefore , the narrative image of a film has to do with the intertextual contexts within which a film can be placed .

the film has little in common with the novel , a sequel to death wish . the novel follows paul benjamin moving to chicago , illinois after his daughter dies in a mental institution , as he continues his vigilantism . he then falls for a woman . the novel also deals with benjamin ' s attempts to stop a new , antagonistic vigilante from copying his methods for publicity , as he later is confronted with an idealist as to why his vigilantism must stop . the film , while borrowing elements from the death wish and death sentence novels , follows a new character , nick hume , as his family suffers a gang - related attack similar to that experienced by benjamin ' s in death wish .

plot triggering death : brendan ' s murder at the hands of joe causes nick to go vigilante .

a man must survive a prison where hardened criminals battle to the death for the wardens ' entertainment .

i was horrified at the new death sentence film ! i realize the film is not based on your book , but it was hard to judge the film on its own after reading the books , and following paul ' s story as closely as i have over the years . the new film was really just a retelling of the first story , heavily altered , removing much of paul ' s character , and the issues and debates between paul and irene the lawyer that make the second book so great . that bothered me . or am i looking at the project in the wrong way ?

death sentence is not for the squeamish or the weak of heart . but , in many ways it should be viewed by those who would otherwise turn their nose at such extreme violence . james wan never treats the death on screen as a joke or something to laugh at but he also doesn ' t wallow in the guts . yes , there is death and a lot of gore here , but it is the buckets of blood that represents the stakes that a single death can represent for those involved . it also makes it clear that the death of one will always lead to the death of many more . wan definitely drives home brian garfield ' s intended message that vigilantism is stupid and carries with it so much more . i do not think many people will leave watching this movie unchanged . i know that on repeated viewings , death sentence is still not an enjoyable film but not all movies should be fun . some movies should punch you in the gut and make you think about what you just saw . this movie does just that .

much like the conjuring films , death sentence has multiple layers to it . on a first viewing , you can focus purely on the action elements of the film and enjoy it as a roller coaster of guns and explosions . but , a deeper analysis opens up death sentence as so much more . this is a film that can be taken as an example of why the preponderance of gun violence in the united states must be dealt with . the actions of our " hero " may seem noble in an antiquated sense of the word , but what do his actions bring down on the innocent bystanders around him ? in a less political light , death sentence can be seen as a psychological look at what trauma can do to someone who doesn ' t exert any deviant behavior . can a man be forced to descend into the evil he is trying to stop ? aside from all of that , you can watch death sentence as an evolution in the skills of james wan . the courtroom scene alone is proof enough that wan should be given much more to work with than summer blockbusters and genre movies .

barry keith grant , “introduction” , auteurs and authorship : a film reader , p . 3 .

founded in 1999 , senses of cinema is one of the first online film journals of its kind and has set the standard for professional , high quality film - related content on the internet .

since last week making it only the tenth film to do so . over the weekend the film added $ 7 . 08 million on 4486 screens in 53 markets for a total of $ 626 . 30 million internationally , which places the film sixth place on that chart just $ 16 million behind

funny thing . when bronson made " death wish ii " ( 1982 ) , it was set in los angeles , even though brian garfield , the author of the novel death wish , had written a 1975 sequel , death sentence , set in chicago . ah , yes , here ' s my copy right here , dedicated to " jay robert nash , john mchugh , roger ebert and bill granger , chicago front - pagers all , with thanks . "

this graphically violent film suffers from cursorily developed characters whose primary function is to advance the creaky plot .

movie about a killer who is waiting on death row , and finds an unlikely friend in a prison guard .

the category “classic auteurism” is used by barry keith grant in his film reader on auteurs and authorship . see auteurs and authorship : a film reader , ed . barry keith grant , blackwell , oxford , 2008 .

welcome to new orleans : a . n . s . w . e . r . coalition film series

that said , it’s a decent diversion next to the ludicrous death sentence , in which kevin bacon’s mild insurance man confronts the murder of his teenage son by killing the son’s attacker , which brings the rest of the hooligan’s gang after him — which forces him to go on a rampage , becoming as big and bad a skinhead mutha as any of them . the morality of revenge is barely at issue in a movie that pushes the plausibility of revenge right over a cliff . halloween : b - death sentence : d

is it a horror film , do you think ? so much of the marketing makes it look like an exploitation film , but it doesn ' t feel that way when you watch it , or at least it didn ' t for me . what did you think of the approach taken to the film ' s marketing ?

this earlier poster for the film was replaced by 20th century fox with the darker poster at top of column .

an interview with writer / director boots riley about his incendiary new film , " sorry to bother you . "

a terrifying horror within the walls of the infamous alcatraz prison . the last film ever shot on the rock !

florian gallenberger ' s film " colonia , " premiering at the toronto film festival , revisits the dark history of the colonia dignidad , a secretive german - founded colony in chile . the enclave ' s legacy remains controversial .

on welcome to new orleans : a . n . s . w . e . r . coalition film series

billy the puppet from the saw series makes a brief cameo as a grafitti - styled painting on a wall . leigh whannell , who plays spink in the film , is one of the creators of the saw series in addition to director james wan . charlie clouser , who provided the music for death sentence also composed the music for the saw series and the tv show las vegas .

in prison four long - sentence inmates planning an elaborate escape cautiously induct a new inmate to join in their scheme which leads to distrust and uncertainty .

a nun , while comforting a convicted killer on death row , empathizes with both the killer and his victim ' s families .

with only six months left of his sentence , inmate frank leone is transferred from a minimum security prison to a maximum security prison by a vindictive warden .

haven ' t seen the brave one yet . it ' s on order from netflix . i ' m told it ' s similar to death wish in theme , but can ' t judge it until i ' ve seen it . evidently it is a vigilante movie , which the movie death sentence is not - - the latter is a revenge fantasy and i suspect those are as old as the human race .

death sentence shows there ' s even more to [ revenge ] than your own downfall . the cycle you get into spirals out of control . perhaps it ' s more emblematic of gandhi ' s statement ' an eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind . '

three juvenile delinquents are sentenced to a correctional facility where they encounter gang violence , death , and harassment from staff and other inmates .

polite , unshakingly honest , and wonderfully introspective , brian garfield calmly addressed my death sentence ranting , before rightfully steering our conversation towards other topics , including fiction and non - fiction writing , hollywood , research , and finally to his latest work , the meinertzhagen mystery , just out in paperback .

a man befriends a fellow criminal as the two of them begin serving their sentence on a dreadful prison island , which inspires the man to plot his escape .

the tomatometer score — based on the opinions of hundreds of film and television critics — is a trusted measurement of critical recommendation for millions of fans . it represents the percentage of professional critic reviews that are positive for a given film or television show .

this is exactly what a " death wish " movie by a horror filmmaker should have been . eat your heart out , eli roth .

set in a prison , a death row inmate has a secret and the warden will go to any lengths to get it . things dont go as planned as you would expect . a good action film with alot of good fight . . . see full summary »

boris trbic , “the low - budget australian horror film” , metro no . 144 , 2005 , pp . 143 - 44 .

john wick meets green room . i admire this film even more than either of those , and found myself so on the edge of my seat that i was practically on the floor . though tonally inconsistent at times ( aided by somewhat of a sappy soundtrack ) , the film still knows how to tap into our emotions . call it exploitation , but sometimes a film like this just feels necessary .

the finale is brutal and somehow beautiful with a final confrontation not ending as expected . death sentence was probably the reason that wan got the fast and furious 7 directing gig for summer 2014 and he really proves his action credentials in one long foot chase starting at an office building , going through kitchens and winding up on the top of a parking structure . this is filmed in a series of very long takes by dead silence collaborator john leonetti and really gets the adrenaline pumping . due to the subject matter and its unrelenting bleakness , death sentence is fairly unknown and seems to be a film people don’t return to because it is such a tough watch . however it is far better than most gave it credit for and could be a good indication of what we will be in for next summer .

edward buscombe , “ideas of authorship” , auteurs and authorship : a film reader , p . 80 ( essay originally published in 1973 ) .

nazek : a documentary by ramez kazmouzisrael , 2007 , 52min , usa premierenazek is the first arab senior officer in israel ; she is 48 years old and a mother to four children . being an arab woman and a police officer might have been challenging enough for nazek but serving in the israeli police presents major contradictions and sets… read more »

by the end of my death sentence scripts the hero has learned a great deal , partly in the way paul learns it from irene in the novel , and he withdraws from his vigilantism , having killed no one . that was okay for the original producers ( karen and howard baldwin , who ' d produced several movies including the biography ray about ray charles ) but it didn ' t survive the committees of 20th century fox executives . that was the companies ' decision , and it ' s all right with me ; writers don ' t make movies unless they also direct and / or produce them , and death sentence is not " mine " in any but a distant sense .

yet saw has continued to be pivotal to the marketing of wan’s films and to his identity as an author . moreover , being known as the “ saw guy” has helped wan work as a director in hollywood . this article will argue that one way an author - name is attributed to wan is through the promotional material for his films , particularly the title saw . in order to make and support this argument the official trailers for dead silence , death sentence , insidious and the conjuring will be discussed . the official movie poster for insidious will also be referred to , as will a poster for death sentence made exclusively for comic - con international : san diego ; although this poster is now widely available on a host of entertainment related websites and databases promoting the film ( as are all the other posters and trailers for wan’s films ) .

a german man who fled chile after being sentenced to five years in prison for child sex abuse must serve his sentence in germany . hartmut hopp was part of the notorious colonia dignidad enclave .

author brian garfeild , who wrote the novel the film is loosely based on , said of the film : " while i could have done with a bit less blood - and - thunder , i think it ' s a stunningly good movie . in the details of its story it ' s quite different from the novel , but it ' s a movie , not a novel . in its cinematic way it connects with its audience and it makes the same point the book makes , and those are the things that count . " he also liked that , like his novels , but unlike the death wish film series , it does not advocate vigilantism . garfield further explained in an interview : " i think that , except for its ludicrous violence toward the end , the death sentence movie does depict its character ' s decline and the stupidity of vengeful vigilantism , " adding , " as a story it made the point i wanted it to make . "

death sentence tells a new story . . . um well . . . it has new characters in very familiar territories . kevin bacon is the father of an extremely happy family . he is a vp at his place of employment and he makes a once in a life time decision that will change everything he knows . seriously , this guy has it pretty…

big list in terms of numbers , not so much in terms of quality . in fact , the best film in terms of updates this week was

andrew sarris , “notes on the auteur theory in 1962” , film culture no . 27 , winter 1962 - 63 , pp . 1 - 8 .

kurt schnellenkamp , co - founder of colonia , was imprisoned in 2013 . the 88 - year - old was sentenced by the chilean state for unlawful detention of minors and sexual abuse . his son klaus , who escaped from the settlement , reported on his childhood in the totalitarian sect in his book " born in the shadow of fear , " published in 2007 .

i expected more . i thought it was quite slow , and the " brutal " scenes weren ' t brutal enough for this film . it needs more brutality for the effect . for some reason the music choice was absolute shite . the best thing about the film is john goodman and kevin bacon .

what follows is hume ' s decline from everyman to cold - blooded killer . physically , bacon has always been somewhat gaunt , but when he shaves his head , his appearance takes on a skeletal and gruesome look that matches hedlund ' s billy darley . seeing kevin bacon devolve in this way , and the focus that james wan puts on this characterization , gives death sentence a strong core that sets it apart from similar movies . it was easy to dismiss this film in theaters as just another generic thriller or another flick from the makers of saw , but when you revisit death sentence you can easily see that there is more going on in this movie than blood and guts . wan stepped away from jump scares and cheap horror tactics and instead invested his focus on what could happen to any of us if pushed over the edge . granted , this is still a movie and the odds of someone enduring events like this in real life are slim , but the suspension of disbelief needed here is very minor . this film is disturbingly plausible .

" the ballad of narayama " is a japanese film of great beauty and elegant artifice , telling a story of startling cruelty . what a space it opens…

sequel to the 2002 film . this time , heavyweight champ george " iceman " chambers is sent to a russian jail on trumped - up drug charges .

based on brian garfield’s novel — a sequel to the book that spawned the 1974 film “death wish” — mr . wan’s film is a middle - class white man’s payback fantasy , leavened with phony references to class difference . nick goes from pencil pusher to vigilante superhero in record time , racking up killings and personal tragedies en route to a climactic shootout that imitates elements of the “taxi driver” finale , right down to the shaved head , blown - off fingers and gushing neck wound .

the lives of guards on death row are affected by one of their charges : a black man accused of child murder and rape , yet who has a mysterious gift .

[ … ] lastly , the death of the adverb . while i would love to give my two cents on whether or not the adverb’s increasing rarity is [ … ]

like many of the best comedies and tragedies , this weimar - era silent film understands how each mode is often a hair ' s breadth from the other .

i usually think of horror films as movies in which there ' s a supernatural element . under that definition death sentence is not a horror movie . i ' d like to use the term " thriller " although that seems to have been redefined since the heydays of graham greene and john lecarre - - in publishing it still means a story of suspense , but in the movies a " thriller " is more likely a slasher or chainsaw film . i have no patience with those either . i know they attract certain ( apparently large ) audiences .

the program : resistir para existir : la lucha cucapa ( 2007 ) ( resist to exist : the cucapa struggle ) + excerpts from “the battle of mexcio city” ( 2001 ) rage against the machine’s concert dvd with xtras including interviews with zach de la rocha , noam chomsky and subcommandante marcos . + current clips from the indigenous struggles in oaxaca , atenco , etc . + alicia… read more »

death sentence is a wonderfully tight little thriller , the kind of statement cinema an up and coming filmmaker needs to establish his overall eagerness to achieve . it’s clear that , after only three films , saw savant james wan is becoming a compelling cinematic presence . while the gimmicks of his now seminal first film still stand out , the controlled visual splendor he showed in the horribly underrated dead silence shows up here as well . if saw was a film soaked in slimy greens , and silence shades of gray , then sentence is steeped in gritty urban blues . even the bloodshed – and there is plenty – is toned down , tweaked to maintain an aura of desperation and dread . wan wants to establish his own aesthetic goals , reasons why his movies matter more than other game genre selections . while there are those who dismiss practically everything he does , this is one novice filmmaker who has made finding his way a compelling cinematic exercise .

this movie also carries with it a code of ethics , as twisted as they may be . the catalyst for the film ' s events is the murder of brendan hume , carried out by joe darley ( matt o ' leary ) as an initiation into his older brother ' s gang . then , the death of joe leads billy to exact his own revenge on nick hume and his family . in the end , the actions of both sides comes down to the approval of gun dealer bones , played by an always excellent john goodman . bones , who also happens to be the father of billy and joe , determines that his son ' s actions warrant the eye for an eye quest of nick hume . a father allowing the death of his son is a haunting proposition but also one that fits into this twisted world . we have heard crazier things in the news recently that doesn ' t make this seem so outlandish , but the shakespearan tragedy that unfolds in death sentence makes it as dramatic as it is thrilling . it also examines the meaning of morality in a world consumed by death .

explores the origins of the first " frankenstein " car driver , carl " luke " lucas , who died in a race at the beginning of the first film .

death sentence is a realistic film compared to films like falling down and death wish . in this day and age of terrorist threats and mass shootings , it may not be as enjoyable to watch a man gun down countless people , but there is still a place for films like this . the vast majority of people would never act on the impulses on display in movies like this but we all live voyeuristically through these bloodbaths . but , where those vigilante movies show our protagonist gunning everyone down in a single - minded focus , right or wrong , death sentence offers something much more disturbing . kevin bacon is adept at playing an everyman character and in nick hume he gives us a father mourning the loss of a son and dealing with the futility of the justice system . when his son ' s murderer goes free , hume kills him but never looks content to have done so . in most films , that vengeance would be sweet , but here it is bitter as the dead criminal ' s brother , played by tron legacy ' s garrett hedlund , exacts his own revenge and takes hume ' s wife and puts his other son in a coma .

frank perry is an institutionalized convict fourteen years into a life sentence without parole . when his estranged daughter falls ill , he is determined to make peace with her before it ' s . . . see full summary »

bacchanale is a “lost” adult arthouse film from 1970 , released towards the end of the grindhouse era and at the dawn of xxx . the ( surprisingly enlightened ) sex in this film is overwhelmed by a script chock full of low - budget surrealistic pretensions . this creative tact was originally designed to provide enough of a veneer of artistic… read more »

funny , that ' s exactly what i thought when i viewed director james wan ' s update of the vengeance - vigilante story , death sentence , so loosely based on garfield ' s novel of the same name , a direct sequel to his death wish story , that it ' s about a vigilante , but certainly not paul benjamin from the books . wan ' s update is grittier , with concerns far different than the original novel . while the novel queried socialized forms of violence and the system ' s treatment of violent criminals , wan ' s film was a simple slash and burn revenge tale that tried ( and , in my opinion , failed ) to parallel family survival stories - - the father with his suburban family fights to survive against the violent " street " family and vice versa .

years after being shot by his eldest son darius and taking the fall for his crimes , former gangster james " animal " allen serves a life sentence at folsom prison . when a riot breaks out . . . see full summary »

the weekend after labor day is often the worst weekend of the year . let ' s hope that ' s true this year as the overall box office was down to just $ 80 million , which was a drop - off of 32 % from last weekend . on the other hand , it was up $ 10 million from the same weekend last year , which is a great sign for 2007 ' s chances at breaking more records .

[ … ] i posted a “glossary” word and used it in a sentence . i got that out of the way “real quick . ” i posted a link about that phrase above . it’s interesting . i bastardize the english [ … ]

paul schaefer , the ex - nazi corporal who tyranically ruled a chilean cult community , died saturday while serving a prison sentence for abusing children and taking part in the torture and murder of political prisioners . ( 24 . 04 . 2010 )

james wan takes it to the damn streets . after watching all five death wishes over the last five days , this was a pretty jarring change in tone . here is a movie that takes itself seriously while still telling an absolutely ridiculous suburban revenge tale . if the direct comparison to make here is to death wish 2 , then this is definitely a better take on the classic white male vigilante fantasy .

" i ' m curious to see what stallone will do with it . i have no idea whether it ' ll be successful at the box - office , but i have a feeling it ' ll be a better film than the original was . the original death wish movie had enormous impact on people , but if you look at it as cinema , it ' s woeful . "

you’re a hip director of horror films . you rule the facial - skin - mask - and - severed - limb ghetto , but you crave…respectability . and so , if you’re rob zombie , the former demon metal rock god ? turned ? cult wizard of gore , you follow your two mini - hits , house of 1000 corpses and the devil’s rejects , with a reverently ”ambitious” remake of john carpenter’s halloween . if you’re james wan , who made the original saw , you direct death sentence , a lavishly mounted gloss on the classic death wish . it says much about today’s movie culture that both of these new films could pass for prestige bids .

the closely contemporaneous release of two vigilante movies with more or less the same starting point—a close family member senselessly murdered by inner - city thugs—allows for a fascinating contrast in style . death sentence , from saw director james wan , and the upcoming the brave one , from the more high - toned neil jordan ( the crying game , the end of the affair ) , both reach the conclusion that revenge , no matter how righteous its intent , coarsens the avenger ' s soul . and yet the differences between the two are like chardonnay and rotgut : jordan ' s is a somber , elegantly wrought mood - piece , while wan ' s aims straight for the stomach lining . it ' s tempting to call death sentence the more " honest " of the two , since it ' s less ashamed to paddle around in the muck , but wan often lets his guileless enthusiasm get the better of him .

[ … ] time ago i read a vitriolic comment on my post titled “death of the adverb” ( the writer from australia was quite “incensed” by it ) . while discussing the phrase do it [ … ]

perhaps a more interesting question is what does death wish creator , brian garfield , think of the rocky and rambo star taking on his much beloved work ? he recently told popmatters , he ' s into it .

wan only directed the first saw and merely shares a story credit with whannell on saw and saw iii ( 2006 ) ( although wan did also serve as an executive producer on saw ii [ 2005 ] , saw iii and saw iv [ 2007 ] ) . despite his relatively small input into the subsequent saw franchise , wan is credited , along with whannell , with launching a popular culture phenomenon . “the saw franchise of films” , as james aston and john wallis explain ,

bacon , as usual , is very good even when he ' s slumming , and as a trashy b - movie redo of death wish the movie works well enough for a saturday afternoon with a case of brewskies .

evil voodoo - practicing serial killer shadow gets executed for murdering pregnant women . twenty years later the prison shadow was put to death at has been turned into an experimental women ' s . . . see full summary »

i don ' t know if there ' s a right or wrong way to look at it . the novel was written 30 years ago in a different sort of world . the first thing i did , when offered the screenwriting task a couple of years ago , was to point out that it needed to be updated . the second thing i pointed out was that contractually we could not create the film as a sequel to death wish . somebody , somewhere , still controls those film rights , and neither the producers nor i was interested in testing those waters . ( four sequels to death wish were filmed in the 1980s and 1990s ; all of them starred charles bronson , but they were made by four different companies , none of which exists today . tracking their assets and obligations would be an exercise in frustration at best . )

machete mayhem : brendan is cut down by a gang member armed with a machete early on in the film . nick considers using a machete in response but instead opts for a much more concealable knife .

he was publicizing " death wish " ( 1974 ) , his film about a man whose wife is killed and daughter raped . he gets a gun and starts posing as bait for muggers , a middle - aged guy with a bag of groceries . then he shoots them dead . i think he kills about 11 victims ( 17 in the book ) and is nicknamed " the new york vigilante , " but the homicide rate drops 50 percent in new york , and so a cop cuts him a deal : get out of town . as the film ends , he ' s drawing a bead on a guy in chicago .

in a violent and corrupt prison , decorated cop louis burke must infiltrate the jail to find answers to a number of inside murders . what he finds is a struggle of life and death tied in to his own past .

leigh whannell was born in 1977 in melbourne , australia . he met wan while the two of them were studying film in the media arts program at rmit university in the mid - to - late 1990s .

awards in 1974 , the film was nominated for an oscar for best music , original dramatic score ( jerry goldsmith ) and a golden globe award for best motion picture actor , drama ( steve mcqueen ) .

an extraordinary film / slideshow / discussion celebrating bioregional beauty of one the most biodiverse regions in the world . enjoy stunning photographs , and a breath - taking film of very unusual natural features , creating a complex mosaic of fascinating plant and animal habitats . stay and chat about the shasta bio - region , as well as the klamath - siskiyou bio - region . bio - regional education is the new… read more »

scott tobias of the a . v . club contends the film is " certainly never boring " he felt that director james wan was " too busy jamming the accelerator to realize that his movie ' s spinning out of control . " matt zoller seitz of the new york times said , " aside from a stunning three - minute tracking shot as the gang pursues nick through a parking garage , and mr . bacon ' s hauntingly pale , dark - eyed visage , mr . wan ' s film is a tedious , pandering time - waster . " owen gleiberman of entertainment weekly felt that " the morality of revenge is barely at issue in a movie that pushes the plausibility of revenge right over a cliff . " conversely , justin chang of variety called the film " well - made , often intensely gripping " . similarly , bill gibron of pop matters felt the film was " a significant movie " and " a wonderfully tight little thriller " . darren amner of eye for film also gave the film a positive review , praising bacon ' s performance in particular : " [ h ] is portrayal is emotional , sympathetic and highly aggressive . as a father he is touching and as a stone - cold killing machine he is even more convincing . "

everything that follows will be a spoiler of one sort or another , unless you have already guessed that john , i mean nick , has lost a close family member , obtains a gun that would stop a charging locomotive and goes out for revenge . in the older movies , the killing mostly amounted to the hero shooting people , but " death sentence " is directed by the australian james wan ( " saw , " " dead silence " ) , who has a much more sensational line in violence .

in the bronson movies , the hero just looked more and more determined until you felt if you tapped his face , it would explode . in " death sentence , " bacon acts out a lot more , scaring his wife ( kelly preston ) and drawing the attention of a police detective ( aisha tyler ) , who you would think , at a crucial point , would think to ask nick why he has a blood - soaked bandage wrapped around his hand . probably just smashed a mirror in grief .

during wwii , the death camp at treblinka had an escape , causing the commandant at a similar camp in sobibor to vow that his camp would never experience the same thing . but those who were . . . see full summary »

nautical jazz suite ( 34 min . , 2006 ) film collage by hugo ball room from illuminated corridor show with ted brinkley suite for faces ( approx . 1 hour , 2006 - ) by hugo ball room processed film images for improvising musicians histoire ( s ) du cinema ( 1a , b ) by j - l godard ( 100 min . 1988 ) images from these films were viewed by onlookers from the street free… read more »

ilsa is an evil nazi warden at a death camp that conducts " medical experiments " . ilsa ' s goal is to prove that women can withstand more pain and suffering than men and therefore should be allowed to fight on the front lines .

despite the seismic changes in critical fashion during the past half century , auteurism – at its most basic , the idea that there is an author to a film – has been central to the historical development of both popular film and serious film criticism and theory… aspects of auteurism have overlapped with virtually every subsequent critical theory and paradigm . considered radical when it was first introduced , the claim that some directors may express an individual vision , a worldview , over a series of films with stylistic and thematic consistently is now simply common wisdom in everyone’s understanding not only of cinema , but also of other art forms of popular culture , from music to sports to comic books . ( 28 )

full financial estimates for this film , including domestic and international box office , video sales , video rentals , tv and ancillary revenue are available through our research services . for more information , please contact us at research @ urltoken .

" shredding his way through both meinertzhagen ' s four - million - word diary and the layers of sensational anecdote that grew up around him , mr . garfield exposes countless self - flattering inflations , from meinertzhagen ' s claim to own darwin ' s pipe to his boasts of having casually killed any number of men with his bare hands . . . mr . garfield manages both to prosecute meinertzhagen convincingly and , by means of his lively prose , to keep us engaged . " - - the wall street journal , saturday / sunday , february 10 - 11 , 2007

[ … ] that she hates hearing drive safe instead of drive safely . some time in the past i wrote on “the death of the adverb , ” and the essay provoked numerous comments , which i need not reproduce here . i only want to [ … ]

precisely because paratexts help us decide which texts to consume , we often know many texts only at the paratextual level . everyone consumes many more paratexts than films or programs . when we move onward to the film or program , those paratexts help frame our understanding and consumption ; but when we do not move on to the film itself , all we are left with is the paratext . hence , for instance , when at a multiplex we choose to watch one of the ten films on offer , we not only create an interpretive construction of the film that we saw ; but often also speculatively consume many of the other nine . paratexts , then , become the very stuff upon which much popular interpretation is based . ( 34 )

still , this is a significant movie , a clear indication that wan will remain a fixture in film for the time being . granted , he’s yet to be great , though saw ’s continuing influence and success suggests otherwise , and it would be nice to see him work within a genre that doesn’t demand stunts , splatter , or suspense . but in a realm where made for cable drek stands as the mainstream movie standard , death sentence gives good gonzo . it consists of some less than airtight plotting , and tends to understate the obvious , but perhaps that’s better than some regressive rambo of the suburbs stance . it definitely resides in the realm of flights of fancy and fiction , though it really wants to represent some measure of truth . unfortunately , the lure of vigilantism is too strong – and too socially acceptable – to avoid…or dismiss .

this movie tells the story of a man who goes undercover in a hi - tech prison to find out information to help prosecute those who killed his wife . while there he stumbles onto a plot involving a death - row inmate and his $ 200 million stash of gold .

see nigel w . smith , “ insidious director james wan : tired of torture porn , ‘i want to make my romanic comedy’” , indiewire 31 march 2011 : urltoken . however , wan and whannell also both acknowledge the obvious influence of poltergeist ( tobe hooper , 1982 ) on insidious and , indeed , the film itself pays direct homage to the hooper / spielberg collaboration . there are also clear attempts to be david lynch - like at times in the film , such as when the character lorraine lambert ( barbara hershey ) recalls a dream she had about a house late at night . in addition , the way supernatural aspects of the narrative are tied to the film’s audiovisual design is reminiscent of proto - blockbuster horror movies such as the exorcist ( william friedkin , 1973 ) .

i know many people on here have posted that this film isn ' t based in reality and i for one am glad ! ! ! we see reality too often day in and day out on the news , and the sad truth of it is , the bad guys usually get away with murder and don ' t suffer any repercussions for it . so it ' s great to see a film that delivers to us what it would be like if justice was served ! director , james wan of the original " saw " movie shows us he is not a one trick pony and can deliver his talents past just the horror genre . kevin bacon and the rest of the cast did a wonderful job delivering a very believable grief stricken family , i would definitely recommend this film !


osaka elegy ( 浪華悲歌 naniwa erejii ) ( originally naniwa elegy ) is a 1936 japanese film directed by kenji mizoguchi .

mizoguchi considered the film his first serious effort as a director , and it was also his first commercial and critical success in japan .

osaka elegy is often considered a companion piece to mizoguchi 's next film , sisters of the gion , which was released the same year and featured much the same cast and crew .

although not among mizoguchi 's best-known works , osaka elegy continues to be acclaimed by critics .

osaka elegy

osaka elegy <EOT> isuzu yamada , left , and chiyoko okura in osaka elegy ,  a 1936 film by kenji mizoguchi .

looking for movie tickets ? enter your location to see which movie theaters are playing osaka elegy near you .

scharres , barbara . " osaka elegy . " the criterion collection . 5 june 1995 . 21 january 2014 .

i can definitely agree that osaka elegy is genuinely the sort of film that everyone views as mizoguchi ' s norm .

浪華悲歌 ( naniwa ereji ) - osaka elegy ( 1936 ) english subtitles | noir of the orients . . | pinterest | youtube

readings : carole cavanaugh . “unwriting the female persona in osaka elegy and life of oharu” in mizoguchi the master , pp . 64 - 65

blakeslee , david . " a journey through the eclipse series : kenji mizoguchi ' s osaka elegy . " criterioncast . 18 may 2011 . 21 january 2014 .

naniwa elegy , or , as many know it , osaka elegy is often cited as kenji mizoguchi’s first real masterpiece . it won the kinema jumpo in 1936 as japan’s third best film , and marks the first collaboration between mizoguchi and his long time screen writer yoshikata yoda .

a critical and popular triumph , osaka elegy established mizoguchi as one of japan’s major filmmakers . the director ' s often - used leading actress isuzu yamada stars as ayako , a switchboard operator trapped in a compromising , ruinous relationship with her boss to help support her wastrel father . with its fluid cinematography and deft storytelling , osaka elegy ushered in a new era of sound melodrama for mizoguchi .

also offers a satiric view on what mizoguchi viewed as the city of osaka ' s materialistic culture .

kenji mizoguchi departed abruptly from his earlier sentimental films into a world of acute realism with osaka elegy . boldly critiquing the position of women in contemporary japanese society , the film examines a young woman’s victimization and desce…

mizoguchi’s bitter and bleak osaka elegy , shot in only 20 days and with visibly meagre means , was released into the nationalist mood at the height of japanese military success as a stunning affront to the deeply - ingrained patriarchal and capitalist structures of japanese culture . though mizoguchi would direct more acceptable samurai films under government order in the early to mid - 1940s , his country banned all screenings of osaka elegy in 1940 , issuing the claim that the film’s mood tended toward the “decadent” .

though mizoguchi’s camera techniques are more varied than those of his contemporary ozu yasujiro – and to whom he is often inevitably compared – he does favour long shots and compositions in depth in osaka elegy , crushing his characters under the weight of the frame and their surroundings .

osaka elegy / naniwa ereji / 浪華悲歌 . dir . : kenji mizoguchi , sc . : yoshikata yoda ( daiichi eiga japan 1936 ) cas . : isuzu yamada , seiichi takegawa , sd , b & w , 35mm , 6 , 394 feet . archive : jpt .

( 1936 ) is as much about osaka the place as it is about the character of ayako murai . ( the title in japanese ,

blind pianist nobuyuki tsujii cries while playing " elegy for the victims of the tsunami of march 11 , 2011 in japan " | thepiano . sg

this page is based on the copyrighted wikipedia article osaka elegy ; it is used under the creative commons attribution - sharealike 3 . 0 unported license ( cc - by - sa ) . you may redistribute it , verbatim or modified , providing that you comply with the terms of the cc - by - sa

michael kerpan wrote : mizoguchi ' s most genuinely feminist - ish films are probably osaka elegy , uwasa no onna and aien kyo ( straits of love and hate ) - - where male authority is ultimately rather thoroughly blown off . it is too bad aien kyo is unavailable in any decent version ( even unsubbed ) .

for any lover of cinema , naniwa elegy is definitely one to recommend . its narrative will leave you feeling emotionally drained , while its formal construction will leave you captivated .

a few other bits of information i forgot to include : last monday ( may 16 ) was kenji mizoguchi’s birthday , andâ may 28â is the 75th anniversary of osaka elegy’s original release , if you’re looking for a special occasion reason to watch this film . it was also recently added to the ever - growing lineup over at hulu plus !

, refers to naniwa , an archaic name for the city . ) osaka was long one of the main merchant cities in japan and remains an important business center . as the mizoguchi scholar donald kirihara notes , by the 1930s the city had become a boom town thanks to trade with the west , but this " saddled osaka with an image of modernization and westernization undiluted by remnants of ancient traditions . " mizoguchi himself commented , " people from osaka do not care what others think . they are too busy pursuing self - interest , too shameless to value self - restraint . " in particular ,

in “sisters of the gion , ” made later in 1936 , after “osaka elegy” had proved an unexpected hit , ms . yamada seems to be playing a continuation of the same character , only now she is a geisha in a working - class quarter of kyoto whose determination to take her customers for every last penny shocks even her sister ( yoko umemura ) , a geisha who still sees her job as providing necessary comfort and affection .

as a marker in the career of mizoguchi , osaka elegy is notable for its rarity . though many of his early works have been lost , this film has been preserved but not often screened . this is likely due to the look of the film itself : the images are thoroughly dark and the direction and editing are often choppy . however , many critics assert that 1936 , the year in which mizoguchi also directed the more widely - screened sisters of the gion , saw the initial crystallisation of a set of themes , stylistic tendencies , and methods of production that would evolve over the next 20 years , until the director’s early death in 1956 . osaka elegy marks , for instance , the first collaboration with the screenwriter yoshikata yoda , who would co - write many of mizoguchi’s more famous titles : miss oyu ( 1951 ) , the life of oharu ( 1952 ) , ugetsu monogatari ( 1953 ) , and sansho dayu ( 1954 ) .

in the carnegie hall performance , nobuyuki played “elegy for the victims of the tsunami of march 11 , 2011 in japan” . this was a self - written piece dedicated to the people who had perished when the earthquake and tsunami struck japan .

1936 . directed by mizoguchi kenji . starring yamada isuzu , takegawa sei ' ichi , and okura chiyoko . subtitles in english , brazilian portuguese , and spanish . " kenji mizoguchi departed abruptly from his earlier sentimental films into a world of acute realism with osaka elegy . boldly critiquing the position of women in contemporary japanese society , the film examines a young woman ' s victimization and descent into prostitution . together , mizoguchi ' s direction and isuzu yamada ' s powerful performance create sorrowful , timeless poetry . " ( urltoken )

the critic’s choice column on tuesday about new dvds , including a set of four films by the japanese director kenji mizoguchi , misidentified the city in which one of those films , “sisters of the gion , ” is set . it is kyoto , not osaka .

both “osaka elegy” and “sisters of the gion” star isuzu yamada , mizoguchi’s first muse and an actress who would become one of the most enduring personalities of the japanese cinema . ( among ms . yamada’s 100 other roles is the lady macbeth figure of akira kurosawa’s 1957 “throne of blood . ” ) in each of the two films she plays a confident , modern woman — it isn’t hard to imagine bette davis starring in the warner brothers’ versions — whose powerful sense of self - reliance is still not sufficient to rescue her from the web of family obligations and the economic power of men .

nobuyuki had composed his elegy in memory of the people who had lost their lives in what had become known as japan’s largest and most difficult crisis . the young pianist’s masterful playing not only transmitted beautiful melodies to the audience present but also conveyed his deepest emotions associated with the substantial loss of lives .

those who’ve seen osaka elegy are most likely to think , when first prompted , of its final scene , with ayako now cast aside and rejected by her family and the men who once flattered themselves through their purchase of her services . mizoguchi’s coup in bringing this briefly told tragedy to its close is to not take what would have been the obvious route , showing ayako finally broken , tearful , perhaps penitent but in any case pitiful . it would be a natural tendency for any director ; one could not fault him too much for choosing to give the audience what it both expects and enjoys .

“women of the night” is one of the features included in the eclipse box ; the others are his twinned masterpieces of 1936 , “osaka elegy” and “sisters of the gion , ” and his final film , the anomalously bright , harsh “street of shame” ( 1956 ) . all of his major creative phases are covered : the romantic , expressionist - tinged work of the silent and early sound periods ; the politically engaged work of the postwar period , influenced by italian neo - realism ; and the final creative surge of the 1950s , in which a distanced , contemplative tone conveys an infinite solicitude for human suffering , balanced by a sense of its insignificance in the cosmic order .

the film i’ve chosen is the one that authoritative sources , including mizoguchi himself , cite as his breakthrough into artistic maturity , osaka elegy , from 1936 . having perfected his technical chops for over a decade cranking out dozens of short features in japan’s silent film era , mizoguchi found his voice in this story that depicts a modern , independent - minded woman’s struggle with the burdens imposed upon her by cruel and manipulative men . among her exploiters are her own father and brother , oblivious to the sacrificial lengths she goes to in order to enable their security , as well as the corporate bosses who employ her , first as a switchboard operator , and later for their own carnal pleasures .

perhaps osaka elegy introduces these themes in such a personal , universal way because it represents the first instance of one of mizoguchi’s plots coming close to his own autobiography . in the film , ayako , a telephone operator , is bound by the codes of filial piety to sacrifice herself for the needs of the men in her family . her father arranges for her to become a mistress to his boss , asai , and to work towards cancelling the debts he has accumulated in a failed embezzlement scheme . ayako’s earnings also help her brother hiroshi with his school tuition . mizoguchi’s sister suzu was herself sold by their father into prostitution at 14 to cover for a failed business gamble . with the money suzu raised , young kenji was able to enroll in art school .

but rather than serving up ayako’s downfall as a moralistic cautionary tale to warn young women about making the wrong choices at the formative stages of life , mizoguchi has a larger point to make about the society he was a part of and the corruption at the top of the class hierarchy that created the wretched scenario of osaka elegy . and so he begins his story by focusing on a sad and rather repulsive couple , the asais . sonosuke asai is the president of asai pharmaceutical company , a prominent businessman in the industrial city of osaka , who ascended to that highly respectable station in life by marrying his wife sumiko , heiress to her family business and considerable wealth . that crass motivation is about the only thing that holds them together , as we quickly learn over the course of a painful breakfast encounter where they shamelessly quarrel and mock each other in front of their guest , dr . yoko . you can tell that sonosuke is an evil corrupt man by the harsh light that flares off his lenses in the picture above , and the pained expression on dr . yoko’s face as his supposedly respectable hosts do their best to humiliate each other in his presences speaks eloquently as well .

nobuyuki was born blind but that did not stop him from learning to play the classical piano . nobuyuki developed a passion for music at a very young age , having played jingle bells at two and performed with the osaka century symphony when he was twelve . he went on to become the world’s first blind pianist to win the van cliburn international piano competition in 2009 , in a tie with zheng haochen from china .

both osaka elegy and sisters of the gion could have easily slipped into " crime doesn ' t pay moralizing , " and had these been post - code american movies , they probably would have . what mizoguchi has done is progressive , but he ' s sly about it . the drama is nuanced enough that neither the women nor those who dismiss them are completely right or wrong , and that ' s all the more daring when you think about it . people love absolutes , and they love to be absolved . mizoguchi has taken a chance in confronting these cultural standards head - on and examining them honestly , putting blame where it belongs , including with some who may be watching . it ' s a gamble that pays off . both films continue to be relevant nearly eighty years later , which is a sad commentary all on its own .

instead , mizoguchi has ayako striding purposefully , not so much with confidence as with sheer determination , into a future certainly fraught with risk and with little promise of reward or lasting vindication . but ayako will face it on her terms – her abrupt turn and straight - on gaze into the camera at the end has a 23 - year jump on antoine doinel’s similar move at the conclusion of the 400 blows . ( maybe if mizoguchi had gone with the freeze frame here he’d get more credit ? i dunno . ) audiences of the time probably had little sense of how impressively mizoguchi would build upon this final flourish , or the magnitude of achievements yet to come . for those like me who mainly know him for his later award - winning masterpieces like ugetsu or sansho the bailiff , osaka elegy is an essential re - introduction to a phenomenal cinematic artist .

as the plot grows more complex and ayako becomes ever more entangled in the web of exploitation , mizoguchi throws in other elements that add a touch of fascination to osaka elegy . part of the “luxury” that sonosuke offers to placate ayako , perhaps to obscure the extent that she’s being used , is an evening’s outing to the theater , where she accompanies him in the attire of a respectable married woman . the night’s entertainment is a puppet show , featuring another squabbling couple , with a female manikin poignantly operated by a male puppeteer . tipped off that her husband is out on the town with another woman , sumiko arrives to create a scene aimed at shaming her husband , but once again a crafty man in charge steps up to improvise a false alibi on the spur of the moment , that at least buys sonosuke a bit of time before his house of cards inevitably falls .

gregory - - you are , of course , free to read the film any way you prefer . but i think it is safe to say that both mizoguchi and his intended audience viewed the ending as " good " even if not , strictly speaking , " happy " . is the ending of traviata " happy " - - of course not . but it is as positive an ending as the poor heroine could have expected . female self sacrifice for problematic males is an operatic staple ( viz . both puccini and wagner , in particular ) . and both mizoguchi and his screenwriter were quite aware of these operatic precedents . mizoguchi ' s most genuinely feminist - ish films are probably osaka elegy , uwasa no onna and aien kyo ( straits of love and hate ) - - where male authority is ultimately rather thoroughly blown off . it is too bad aien kyo is unavailable in any decent version ( even unsubbed ) .

in the osaka films mizoguchi almost seems reluctant to intrude on the privacy of his characters . his camera remains withdrawn , even abashed ; there is no cross - cutting to draw us into the drama , no tearful close - ups to solicit our sympathy . in “street of shame , ” made 20 years later and set in the yoshiwara district of tokyo , mizoguchi’s method has been reversed . even at night , this is a brightly lighted world , flooded with neon .

in “osaka” the delicate , long - faced ms . yamada is a switchboard operator who is forced into an affair with her boss to repay the money embezzled by her worthless father ( a character said to be based on mizoguchi’s own father ) . delicate and retiring at first , she emerges from the film a hardened , ruthless woman . in the famous final shot she strides directly into a confrontational close - up , as if she were about to denounce the public for its complicity in her plight .

in addition to the conniving of her adversaries and the maddening series of desperate compromises to which she resorts in order to rescue her ungrateful family , mizoguchi pulls us into ayako’s dilemma through forebodingly bleak visual compositions . this is indeed one of the darkest films i’ve seen in a long time – not merely thematically in its portrayal of social relationships , but also in the utter absence of light . huge swaths of opaque blackness crowd in around the perimeters of most scenes , with most shots framed at a distance and only a few strategically placed close - ups to bring us near to the perspective of our protagonist . this video clip , an interesting fan edit of “the second film hidden between the moments , ” offers a good sampling of mizoguchi’s technique , sans actors . some of the charcoal haze through which we view osaka elegy is undoubtedly attributable to the effects of time and minimal efforts at film restoration . while a more pristine print would be nice to have at our disposal , this is an instance where one could argue that erosion enhances the atmosphere mizoguchi intended to create .

sonosuke asai ( benkei shiganoya ) is the owner of asai pharmaceuticals , a typical , bossy osaka businessman who prays for his own wealth and health , while finding fault with everyone around him . he badgers his daughters and treats them like servants . he criticizes his wife sumiko ( yôko umemura ) for being independent and remarks there ' s no fun in their marriage anymore . but she calls him out and challenges him to take on a young mistress if he ' s so unhappy , knowing he doesn ' t have the guts .

. filmed in the same year , both movies portray women who use their sexuality to gain power and money . in both films , the main characters are deeply disappointed with the actions of the men they become involved with . the films are deeply similar , with the women challenging why they must suffer for their families , the use of extremely long takes , and many close - ups of the protagonists . mizoguchi once said of the two films , " it is only since i made naniwa elegy and sisters of gion that i have been able to portray humanity lucidly . "

as in most of mizoguchi’s films , women play a special role . more often than not , his films portray the role of women in society as tragic . women in mizoguchi films usually represent the backbone of society — they are expected to be loyal wives , good mothers , obedient daughters , dependant carers and models of purity . such expectations placed upon mizoguchi’s women compel them to seek independence in society , but ultimately they end up succumbing to the hypocrisy of its moral expectations . ayako’s role in naniwa elegy is a prime example of this thematic trait , and is one of cinema’s strongest and most poignant critiques on the problems of patriarchal society .

for mizoguchi “osaka” and “sisters” represented a radical stylistic breakthrough : the relatively conventional editing patterns of his earlier films vanish almost completely , to be replaced by long takes and slow , graceful camera movements . scenes are often illuminated by a single light source that isolates the characters in a pale , luminous pool surrounded by absolute darkness . the frame seems to lose its edges : all that exists is a cone of light at the center of the screen . the influence of german expressionism is apparent , but mizoguchi takes the style one step further . these are not characters threatened by or struggling with an encroaching darkness , but individuals trying to generate some light and warmth in a world that has long gone dead .

ayako murai ( isuzu yamada ) is a young woman working as a telephone operator in 1930s osaka . in order to pay the debts of her father , unemployed and threatened with arrest after embezzling 300 yen , she agrees to become the mistress of her employer mr . asai . after paying her father ' s debts she then continues working as a mistress , this time for another workplace admirer , mr fujino , in an attempt to help pay her brother hiroshi ' s university tuition fees . when she attempts to fool mr fujino into giving her extra money , so she can marry her boyfriend nishimura , he calls the police and she is arrested for soliciting . upon her return home she is ostracised by her family and her boyfriend and forced to leave home .

naniwa elegy is a bitter film . there is no other way to suitably describe it , especially in terms of its narrative effect . the story looks at ayako murai ( played by isuzu yamada ) , a young female telephone switchboard operator whose life progressively spirals downwards through her interaction with society . mizoguchi presents human interaction in the most clinical fashion possible . the relationships presented , especially between ayako and her male acquaintances , lack compassion , and their meetings are treated as a series of transactions , where ayako always seems to get exploited . for example , ayako’s father tries to sell her off to settle his debts , her brother steals her money so that he may attend college , and her fiancé refuses to see her as a suitable partner in society . finally , although she has done as much as possible for her family , she is still scolded as defiant , rebellious and ultimately immoral . as you can see through ayako’s struggles , mizoguchi paints a rather scornful image of the problems with a capitalist patriarchal society .

html public " - / / w3c / / dtd xhtml 1 . 0 transitional / / en " " urltoken "

your social account may not have provided your email to us . please confirm or enter it below to complete your profile .

we found your email in our system . please provide your site password to link to your existing account .

forgot your password ? enter your email address and we ' ll send you instructions on how to access your account .

we have not verified that the email belongs to you . please check your inbox for the verification email .

to resend the verification email , please enter your email address and click submit .

( 1936 ) is one of two films that the japanese filmmaker kenji mizoguchi directed for the daiichi eiga studio in kyoto . the other was

( 1936 ) , and both are considered among mizoguchi ' s most accomplished films . through the plight of asako murai , a young switchboard operator who is compelled to become a mistress to her boss in order to pay off her father ' s debts , mizoguchi comments on the precarious status of women in society , a frequently recurring theme in his films .

at this point in his career , mizoguchi had already directed dozens of films - - his first feature was released in 1923 - - but most of them unfortunately do not survive . even so ,

demonstrates the considerable skill he had acquired with long takes and staging in depth . examples of these techniques include the lateral tracking shot that follows asako and her boyfriend nishimura when they walk through the department store , and the meticulously staged scenes when asako ' s boss asai propositions her and when asako finally confesses to nishimura .

was notable its use of kansai regional dialect . mizoguchi ' s scriptwriter yoshikata yoda later commented , " for the first time in japanese cinema the kansai accent , which up till then had only been used in comedy , became an authentic dramatic language . " kirihara further notes that the character of ayako is an example of a

, a modern and assertive young woman in japan during the 1920s and 1930s , something equivalent to a flapper in the west , thus giving her character a distinct meaning for japanese audiences of that period .

( " new school " ) , a genre of stage melodrama in japan that often focused on the sufferings of female characters . although it was influenced by romantic melodramas from the west , the

stage tradition retained elements of kabuki theater , such as having male actors play women ' s roles . considering that mizoguchi himself began his career at the nikkatsu studio directing

films , perhaps it is not surprising that he we would want to collaborate with her . yamada ' s first film with mizoguchi was

( 1934 ) , though that film no longer survives . by the time she made

, she was just nineteen . not only did yamada became mizoguchi ' s favorite actress during this time , but he fell in love with her as he did with several of this other lead actresses throughout his life .

yamada writes about her experiences with mizoguchi in her 1953 autobiography : " mizoguchi - san was always very nice but when work started he became difficult . physically too , the work was extremely strenuous . i am certain it was in the

. in 2000 she received the order of culture from the emperor of japan .

the studio daiichi eiga ( number one film ) started in 1934 with financial support by shochiku and was headed by nagata masakazu , who had come from nikkatsu . mizoguchi ' s scriptwriter yoshikata yoda recalls that this group of men at nikkatsu frequently brawled with each other , even dumping men into the chemical bath for developing film . the studio ultimately made only a handful of films before closing down . masakazu later worked with mizoguchi again at daiei , in the later years of mizoguchi ' s career .

' s ending was too abrupt . during a panel discussion , kotaro yamamoto commented , " the public is shocked to be so brutally expelled from these stories . " fuyuhiko kitagawa further said , "

ends with a scene in which people are simply walking out of the frame , and i think the public can ' t be satisfied with something so unusual ! " even mizoguchi expressed doubts in this regard , although the lengthy close - up of asako ' s ( isuzu yamada ' s ) face as she walks down the street at night seems instead perfectly economical and expressive today . despite these minor reservations ,

cast : isuzu yamada ( ayako murai ) ; seichi takegawa ( junzo murai ) ; chiyoko okura ( sachiko murai ) ; shinpachiro asaka ( hiroshi murai ) ; benkei shiganoya ( sonosuke asai ) ; yoko umemura ( sumiko asai ) ; eitaro shindo ( yoshizo fujino ) ; kensaku hara ( nishimura ) ; kunio tamura ( doctor yoko ) ; takashi shimura ( inspector ) .

translated by brij tankha and edited by aruna vasudev and latika padgaonkar . oxford : berg , 2008 .

tcm celebrates the 100th anniversary of a musical legend with three nights of programming devoted to some of leonard bernstein ' s . . . more

james cagney , jean harlow , mae clarke , joan . . . more info

leonard maltin classic movie guide , copyright 2005 , 2010 . used by arrangement with penguin group ( usa ) inc .

tm & © 2018 turner classic movies , inc . a time warner company . all rights reserved . code of conduct for this site | press room | privacy policy | | terms of use

last month , in the course of reviewing hiroshi shimizu’s the masseurs and a woman , i impulsively committed myself to review “next week” another 1930s japanese film by kenji mizoguchi , in order to complete the sampler i’d started with recent articles on yasujiro ozu and mikio naruse from that same era . of course , i followed up on that commitment seven days later with an article on the rise of catherine the great , from the alexander korda’s private lives eclipse set . and then last week i postponed my journey through the eclipse series altogether , opting instead to write a column on ten criterion films for mothers day .

so i didn’t really know which “next week” i was referring to , until now , when it’s finally time to make good on my promise . i guess it’s only fitting , after offering my thoughts on one of the most powerful women who ever lived ( russian empress catherine the great ) , and then turning my attention toward the many moods of motherhood last week , that i complete this informal survey of feminine role models by contemplating a prime example of the subject that helped make mizoguchi famous : women beset by tragedy , scandal and social disgrace , at least in the eyes of a dominant patriarchal establishment . in fact , that archetype is so central to the director’s oeuvre that it’s embedded in the subtitle of this career - bookending box , eclipse series 13 : kenji mizoguchi’s fallen women .

the hostility that has saturated his miserable marriage pushes sonosuke toward some kind of outlet to burn off resentment and reclaim some measure of self - respect . unfortunately for ayako , his path to that flimsy imitation of redemption crosses her own , as she finds herself in a vulnerable position not through any mistakes on her part , but because of her scoundrel of a father , who’s gotten in trouble for petty embezzlement that is beyond his capacity to repay when suspicious company officials come around , offering him a last chance to avoid public exposure of his crime . instead of manning up and taking responsibility for his actions , he flatters himself with excuses and berates his daughter for confronting him ( bluntly , for sure , but deservedly so ) with the truth .

sensing her vulnerability instinctively like the opportunistic vulture that he is , presuming a lack of virtue because of her unapologetic modernity , and clearly recognizing her beauty , sonosuke summons up what little charm he can muster to make a move on ayako , and backs it up with his undeniable advantage : money .

though she bravely thwarts his proposition at first , ayako’s own predicament suddenly gets worse when her father all but kicks her out of the house after an unvarnished exchange of words brings them both to the boiling point . ayako has had enough . she leaves home , giving up her menial job , even disappearing for a short while from her young and genial boyfriend nishimura , in order to take matters into her own hands . she accepts sonosuke’s offer of an exchange : if she resigns herself to the boredom and debasement of being his kept woman , he’ll provide a discreet apartment and resolution of her father’s legal crisis . ayako does this mainly for the sake of her younger sister who has no ability to care for herself , but also because she recognizes that there’s no one else capable of managing the problem any better .

the whirlwind of deceit and hypocrisy continues to pick up speed , to the point where ayako herself gets caught up in the maelstrom , resorting to her own devices of trickery in order to gain a measure of revenge and , if they’re willing to see it , reveal to the manipulative men around her just how depraved they’ve become . turning the tables on fujino , to whom she became a mistress after her arrangement with sonosuke collapsed , ayako thinks she’s achieved the upper hand in her dealings with men , especially now in her newfound confidence that nishimura will take her as his wife .

but that sense of optimism is so very short - lived , as ayako discovers that even the kind - hearted man she had confidence in is no match for the cynical determination of those in authority to crush any challenges to their rule . as fujino brings in the law , supremely assured of its willingness to side with him against a lowly and easily vilified woman in this dispute , whatever feelings of love nishimura once expressed for her quickly whither under the pressure of an investigator’s reprimands . the tough cop , played by a young and only distantly visible takashi shimura ( years before he became a favorite lead actor of akira kurosawa’s ) , demonstrates the pitiless severity of a patriarchal status quo that doesn’t have to exert much effort in order to keep its citizens in line . even those who , like ayako , find it within themselves to rebel against injustice quickly find themselves isolated and without allies , however plain and morally defensible their cause might be .

david and william provide a spoiler - free intro to a great japanese director . . .

a podcast network and website for fans of quality theatrical and home video releases .

get info about new releases , top 10 lists , contests , giveaways , and other special offers .

some parts of this page won ' t work property . please reload or try later .

a young woman becomes a mistress of her boss in order to support her family .

check out highlights from some of the best recent trailers including mandy , the predator , zoe , and the king of thieves .

want to share imdb ' s rating on your own site ? use the html below .

two geisha sisters lead a hard life in the gion district of kyoto . after one of them feels obliged to support a bankrupt businessman , the other sister sets up various schemes to get rid of him .

a mistress of a drug dealer in post - war japan is shocked when she discovers that he is having an affair with her sister .

utamaro , a great artist , lives to create portraits of beautiful women , and the brothels of tokyo provide his models . a world of passion swirls around him , as the women in his life vie for . . . see full summary »

the adopted son of a legendary actor , and an aspiring star himself , turns to his infant brother ' s wet nurse for support and affection - only for her to give up everything for her beloved ' s glory .

in the post - war , the sixteen year - old teenager eiko seeks out the geisha miyoharu in the district of gion , in kyoto asking her to be a " maiko " ( apprentice of geisha ) . eiko explains that her . . . see full summary »

shinnosuke is introduced to shizu as a prospective marriage partner , but he falls in love with her widowed sister oyu . convention forbids oyu to marry because she has to raise her son as . . . see full summary »

hatsuko umabuchi is a widow who runs a prosperous geisha house in present day kyoto . her daughter yukiko returns from tokyo following a failed suicide attempt , after her lover found out . . . see full summary »

follows a woman ' s fight and survival amid the vicissitudes of life and the cruelty of the society .

in eighth century china , the emperor is grieving over the death of his wife . the yang family wants to provide the emperor with a consort so that they may consolidate their influence over . . . see full summary »

ishun is a wealthy , but unsympathetic , master printer who has wrongly accused his wife and best employee of being lovers . to escape punishment , the accused run away together , but ishun is certain to be ruined if word gets out .

japanese film about a friendly bus driver and his passengers over the duration of one journey through the mountains to the nearest train station .

ayako becomes the mistress of her boss , mr . asai , so she can pay her father ' s debt , and prevent him from going to prison for embezzlement . she also sends money for her brother , hiroshi , to pay his university tuition , but asks her father not to tell him that it is from her . she tricks mr . fujino into giving her money so that she can marry her boyfriend nishimura , but fujino calls in the police .

: you ' re a woman . . . being taken to the police station . . . getting thrown into jail . . . you ' ve done shameful things . you ungrateful child !

: how could you say that ? i never expected that i ' d be treated like this when i came home . this is ridiculous ! i thought you would welcome me with open arms . if i ' d have known this , i never would have come back .

this is the first collaboration between mizoguchi and writer yoshikata yoda , with the actress isuzu yamada in the principal role , as a young telephonist pushed to prostitution to save her ruined family , and then repudiated by them . mizoguchi begins his impressive mastership with the framing and the perspective and , though still far from his masterpieces , is an interesting milestone for the mizoguchi admirers .

4 of 9 people found this review helpful . was this review helpful to you ? yes no | report this

with jurassic world : fallen kingdom now in cinemas , we take a look at how imdb users rated the films of the franchise . plus , browse exclusive lego® jurassic world playsets , presented by lego .

enjoy a night in with these popular movies available to stream now with prime video .

" this final view of ayako is the most powerful image in the film , and is often cited as one of the most absorbing images in mizoguchi ' s oeuvre . the image of ayako staring into the camera and walking off , into the unknown , leaves the final outcome of the film open to viewer interpretation . however , one cannot resist the thought that her future will ultimately be bleak . " jason dow " mizoguchi has been dubbed japan ' s first " feminist " director - - the women in his films are central , he sculpts their characters with deep empathy , and he allows them a full range of emotions which give them the breadth of complex humanity , not the one - sidedness of mere martyrs or objects of love . additionally , he directs his leading actresses , especially yamada isuzu , stellar here as the truly unfortunate ayako , to transcendent performances . " michael price

the third man o . s . t " anna walks away alone - end "

cuentos de la luna palida de agosto pres . 1 / 2 que grande es el cine

subscribe to senses of cinema to receive news of our latest cinema journal . enter your email address below :

styles of substance : the extraordinary image : orson welles , alfred hitchcock , stanley kubrick , and the reimagining of cinema , by robert p . kolker

the potent militarist regime of japan was moving west in the 1930s . having already annexed korea two decades earlier , and then adding what was then manchuria to its territory , it withdrew from the league of nations and other treaty obligations . the japanese imperial fighting machine , riding high on a string of conquests , was only one year away from taking beijing .

at home , in order to help monitor public opinion and promote favourable and passive attitudes in its people , the government closely watched its blossoming film industry . under a string of prime ministers , japan’s judicial and cultural leaders worked surreptitiously – “unofficially” – to insure that the majority of films followed comfortable , crowd - pleasing formulas providing melodramas that led to satisfying , expected resolutions . the plots of these films were usually based in the home and rarely referenced the wars outside , except in the simplistic and bloodless terms of honour and glory .

ayako serves as an illustration of the contradictory philosophies that , in mizoguchi’s view , left japanese women few options but a life of ultimate misery . honouring the family led to misery because parents were often unworthy of and ungrateful for the sacrifices made by female family members , using their children as disposable resources , not individual lives . becoming an expressive individual led to misery because no japanese man would take a woman not supported by her family and the group - oriented society would not support an individual , leading to further isolation . as ayako continues to rebel and struggle to maintain dignity in her own way , she is forced out by the men around her – father , brother , boyfriend . these men are disgusted by her actions – even though they arranged and approved of them – while still taking the money and reaping the benefits . by the final exhausting close - up – of ayako staring directly into the camera at the japanese audience – she is severed from her surroundings . in previous long shots these surroundings had overwhelmed her , but now she’s without a family or country , on a bridge , lost in a no - man’s land .

founded in 1999 , senses of cinema is one of the first online film journals of its kind and has set the standard for professional , high quality film - related content on the internet .

click here to make a donation . if you are an australian resident , any donations over $ 2 are tax deductible .

janus films 215 park ave . south 5th floor new york , ny 10003 booking @ urltoken ( 212 ) 756 - 8822

for what would prove to be his final film , iranian director abbas kiarostami gave himself a challenge : to create a dialogue between his work as a filmmaker and his work as a photographer , bridging the two art forms to which he had dedicated his life .

with his second feature , a towering epic that took him years to complete , andrei tarkovsky waded deep into the past and emerged with a visionary masterwork .

commissioned to make a working - class family drama , up - and - coming director rainer werner fassbinder took the assignment and ran , upending expectations by depicting social realities in west germany from a critical—yet far from cynical—perspective .

an acclaimed early work by olivier assayas that has long remained unavailable , the deeply felt coming - of - age drama cold water at long last makes its way to u . s . theaters .

agnés varda’s enchanting ode to female friendship and liberation is part blissed - out bohemian musical , part revolutionary cri de cœur .

with her first and only feature film—a hard - luck drama she wrote , directed , and starred in—barbara loden turned in a groundbreaking work of american independent cinema , bringing to life a kind of character seldom seen on - screen .

urltoken no longer supports internet explorer 9 or earlier . please upgrade your browser .

the new boxed set from the criterion collection’s budget line , eclipse , is titled “ kenji mizoguchi ’s fallen women , ” which is probably a more enticing title than “four randomly chosen films by kenji mizoguchi , ” but is no more meaningful . from his earliest surviving films , like “tokyo march” ( 1929 ) and “the water magician” ( 1933 ) , this great japanese filmmaker showed his dedication to those women driven to the margins of society — actresses , geishas , ordinary prostitutes — by the hypocrisy of men .

in falling , of course , these women often demonstrate more strength , compassion and selflessness than their unappreciative , exploitative lovers have ever shown toward them . in film after film mizoguchi explores this paradox , of the woman who achieves the highest moral standing by descending to the lowest point of the social scale .

although mizoguchi ( 1898 - 1956 ) was not a christian , this is a theme he often drapes in christian imagery : a woodcut of a madonna and child appears under the opening credits of “oyuki the virgin , ” a 1935 story of a geisha ( isuzu yamada ) who offers herself to an army officer to save the lives of a group of ungrateful bourgeois travelers . ( the film is based on the same maupassant story that john ford turned into “stagecoach” ) .

in “women of the night” ( 1948 ) a band of prostitutes gathers in a bombed - out church to administer a brutal beating to fusako ( kinuyo tanaka ) , one of their own who has dared to dream of going straight . these women are not saints or martyrs — for mizoguchi , there is no next world in which they might receive their reward — but , more concretely and more movingly , mere human beings whose strength of character sets them apart , the true aristocrats of a fallen world .

from the new york times . you may opt - out at any time .

you agree to receive occasional updates and special offers for the new york times ' s products and services .

the principal setting is dreamland , a tatty brothel with half a dozen employees living out the last of its days before prostitution is outlawed in japan . instead of darkness , the characters seem to be surrounded by mirrors , trapped inside multiple , dehumanizing images of themselves . the ruthlessness of the yamada character has been transferred to yasumi ( ayako wakao ) , the most beautiful of the prostitutes , as well as the most heartless . ( she augments her income by making small loans to her co - workers at high interest rates . ) her softer “sister” is now hanae ( michiyo kogure ) , who works to support her invalid husband and young son .

but mizoguchi seems most fascinated by another figure , the flamboyant mickey ( machiko kyo ) . as her permed hair , toreador pants and western name suggest , she represents something new in postwar japan . her blunt , brassy sexuality contradicts the geisha’s world of cultured illusion . yet mizoguchi expresses no nostalgia for the passing of that profession . he seems even to locate an element of hope in mickey’s physicality and candor , which grant no quarter to traditional hypocrisies .

but if mickey represented something new in mizoguchi , the director was unable to explore it further : six months after the release of “street of shame , ” he died at 58 , and an immense career was cut short . ( eclipse - criterion , $ 59 . 95 , not rated )

abbott & costello : the complete universal pictures collection fifteen discs containing all 28 of the universal films starring the slapstick pair , from “one night in the tropics” ( 1940 ) to “abbott and costello meet the mummy” ( 1955 ) . ( universal , $ 119 . 98 , not rated )

baraka filmed in 70 millimeter , ron fricke’s new age documentary on the spiritual life of planet earth is now available in a superbly engineered blu - ray edition . stephen holden , writing in the new york times , called the film “an aggressively spectacular exercise in planetary consciousness - raising . ” ( mpi home video , $ 34 . 98 , not rated )