Thursday, November 30, 2006

my list of most visually convincing films ever

  1. Ying xiong/Hero (Zhang Yimou, china (2002))
  2. Fa yeung nin wa/In the Mood for Love (Wong Kar Wei, Hong Kong (2000))
  3. Solntse/The Sun (Aleksandr Sokurov, Russia (2005))
  4. 46 oku nen no koi/Big Bang Love: Juvenile A (Miike Takashi, Japan (2006))
  5. Kagemusha/The Shadow Warrior (Kurosawa Akira, Japan/USA (1980))
  6. Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (Quentin Tarantino, USA (2003))
  7. 2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick, USA (1968))
  8. 2046 (Wong Kar Wei, Hong Kong (2004))
  9. Wo de fu qin mu qin/The Road Home (Zhang Yimou, China (1999))
  10. 4:30 (Royston Tan, Singapore (2005))

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Miike roundup 11-06



Anyone been wondering lately what our grossly peculiar Japanese cult director Miike Takashi is up to? Well, as the seasoned admirer will most certainly know, there is usually no shortage of news and tidbits of information on upcoming productions in the air. After all, it is Miike if no-one else being good for virtually everything, no do-nots or bewares! unworthy of haughty dismissal to him, and no theme or genre too bland as not to apply some refreshing touches to its catalogue.
In keeping with any such good tradition (if that’s a word even remotely adequate in this conjunction), here’s the latest in Miike fanfare-dom on projected new films:

  • adaptation of Dan Oniroku's “Bishonen” currently in pre-production with no confirmed cast yet, as open audition is under way; this one will be an all-out gay love story set in the late 1940s
  • “Sukiyaki Western: Django", yes, this is indeed Miike trying his hand at the Wild West; cast includes Ito Hideaki, Sato Koichi, Kimura Yoshino, Momoi Kaori, Iseya Yusuke and Ando Masanobu.

With regards to the latter (though not to give you a clue exactly (how would that be possible?), just to raise expectations) here's further detail adding to the imponderable: the entire film is being done in English, referencing to the late 12th century Genpei Wars will feature as one collateral layer to the plot, Quentin Tarantino will give an appearance and the entire thing will be complete with gun-shooting and horses and all! General wrap is set for early December.

...once again: Some may consider Miike a loose canon of sorts, and sure enough, he is. But there is no getting around the fact that for all his weird directorial inventions he is a considerable, a truly innovative and original force in present-day cinema, one not to be so easily ignored. And at times, when for once, briefly, he happens to have all his creativity’s four-legged life stock passably charging in the same direction, he does manage to bring real cinematic treasures onto the silver screen.

Like this one for instance: “46 Oku Nen no Koi”/”Big Bang Love: Juvenile A” his 2006 masterpiece and my personal Miike favourite, which just now is available on DVD as either deluxe edition here, or as a standard release here. But note: this is an item on pre-order which as of now doesn’t give any English subs, so keep checking over the next weeks and months till 23-02-2007 as this information is still subject to change.

Major source to this article – it shall not be forgotten – has been the invaluable ryuganji.net, one proudly presented friendly link to proto-ymagon.


(pic©filmfestivals.com)

Monday, November 27, 2006

quote of the week

“Never be satisfied with what you've done.
But always enjoy what you're doing!”
(Sir Frank Williams)

Saturday, November 25, 2006

Battle Royale – is there a need for a US remake?



Now, “Battle Royale“ definitely is one of my all-time favourite films, one that despite it’s heavy explorations into the vastness of teenage angst moved me a lot.
Ever since news broke that US production company New Line is set to re-make this plot-laden masterpiece and turn it into a commensurable thriller for western audiences by 2008, discussion has been unending among all the original's fans. Some of them welcoming the thought of a wider audience sharing in the experience, some not so. I have to admit that, frankly, I would have to count myself among the latter.
Here's my three major objections against such an undertaking:

  1. Shinto-Buddhist society’s particular take on the age of youth and growing up, which is very much different from especially the US's usual, heavily Christian-influenced perspective
  2. Japanese fascism, on which the novel says a lot more in making a pointed and effective case against, and which accounts for much of BR's relevance (which, as recent developments seem to indicate, it still holds to-day...)
  3. Fukasaku Kinji’s own WW2 background adding a further and deeply personal layer of meaning to the film, which will invariably be lost in any remake.
Well, as far as I know, the thing is not entirely settled yet, with people behind this project currently trying to secure rights to actually bringing their version of “Battle Royale” to the silver screen. Therefore discussion such as this is not only open and on-going, but very much needed indeed.
If you want to dig deeper into this, do have a look at the film's site here, where you'll find everything the BR universe is made of, including a Remake Forum here, plus some extras...

Of course, I'd like to hear your opinion on this as well!

(pic©Battle Royale Production Committee/Fukasaku-gumi/Toei Co. Ltd.)

Friday, November 24, 2006

Rattawut Lapcharoensap wins AAWW Fiction Award 2006



28-year-old New York-based author Rattawut Lapcharoensap from Thailand has been officially named as recipient of this year’s prize for fiction by the Asian American Writers Workshop (AAWW) for his début collection of short stories “Sightseeing” (have a look at my review here).

Congratulations, Rattawut! Now that's what I call a well-deserved recognition for once. Cheers!
In what will be already the 9th such annual event, the AAWW is “recognizing excellence in Asian American literature [...] awarding the best in Asian American fiction, poetry, and nonfiction of 2005”. The ceremony will take place on Monday, December 4th; you'll find all further details here.

Rattawut is currently working on his first novel, expected for publication no sooner than by late 2007. I’ll keep you updated.


(pic©June Glasson)

Thursday, November 23, 2006

my list of best books ever read

  1. Die Bibel / The Bible
  2. Ilias/Odyssee / Iliad/Odyssey (Homer)
  3. Faust, der Tragödie erster Theil/Faust, der Tragödie zweiter Theil / Faust Parts I & II (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe)
  4. Iphigenie auf Tauris / Iphigenia in Taurus (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe)
  5. Ulysses (James Joyce)
  6. La Divina Comedia / Divine Comedy (Dante Alighieri)
  7. Underworld (Don DeLillo)
  8. Moby Dick (Herman Melville)
  9. Die Vier Jahreszeiten / Kokin-wakashu: pts.1-6, The Seasons
  10. Der Zauberberg / Magic Mountain (Thomas Mann)

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

“4:30“ by Royston Tan now on DVD



Finally available on all-region DVD: The second feature by Singapore’s famed auteur Royston Tan, “4:30”, is nothing short of a minimalist masterpiece.

With its brilliant cinematography, complemented by the lead actor Xiao Li Yuan’s stunning performance as 11-year-old latchkey child Xiao Wu, this film easily elevates each of its pointedly choreographed camera moves to the level of becoming breathtaking action in themselves.

The plot comes reduced to an almost negligible quantity: the boy, Xiao Wu, desolate flotsam to Singapore’s “streaming” society, and apparently stranded awash on some time-shore equally bypassed or stretched to such an infinity as grows from abandonment and ensuing oblivion, over a period of a mere four days grows ever more intrigued by his 30+ tenant Jung, on whom he develops a habit of spying at 4:30 each morning.
Him being Korean, lovesick Jung that is, there passes no verbal communication between the two of them, just mute interaction, distance and shared solitude of the heart-rending kind. Here it is silence itself turned into drama.
When in the end the last wavelet of compassion recedes, it is not just little Xiao Wu shedding some tears for this cruel departure - while gazing, no: tentatively rather than hopefully beaming into the dark big-city night void...
I can't think of a feeling heart unmoved by this pristine, awesome film!

Short of words it is indeed. But what it does give instead, is a handsomely visualized display of a heart’s fill of half swallowed emotions and helpless gestures. To me, that is all the language I need in a film.

Deeply moving – or, to put it best in the words DeLillo would have used: “gradually shattering”, that’s what it is! For me personally, “4:30” has come to hold special meaning when it instantly, irreversibly claimed its place as the one film most dear to me.
Which is why I want to urgently recommend it to you: check the newly established moviexclusive estore here to order your copy of "4:30" now. It works particularly well for any international buyer, regarding shipping conditions and paypal transaction. For additional information on where to get your copy simply click
here.
Don't waste no time considering!

(pic©Zhao Wei Films)

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Exploring your outlandish self - “Sightseeing” by Rattawut Lapcharoensap



Here is a young, yet astonishingly full-grown literary voice that shouldn’t fail your notice:
Thai/American author Rattawut Lapcharoensap, whose first collection of short stories, “Sightseeing”, I most warmly recommend to anyone in here.

Dealing with a whole range of remarkably intense and close-up themes of adolescence (I realize only now how prominently an issue this apparently is with me…) and the many wondrous intricacies of inter-culturalism this is definitely a book that deserves to make it onto your shelves.

The strong point of Rattawut’s writing is in his obsession with scrupulously going for the most accurate wording of his well-crafted sentences. Yet however much effort he’s putting into this, the result almost never betrays its painstaking conception. In effect, the seven stories of this volume each offer a convincingly rendered world of their own, with all the nitty-gritty details of life’s reality fabric. Anyone with a keen eye for psychological twists, mindscaping the uncharted territory of teenage angst’s darker recesses will be impressed by the blunt originality of his story-telling. He may be pushing his plot lines a bit too hard at times, but still, here is talent already developed to profundity. The insights he gives are all deeply infused with a subtle but hard-won sympathy for his vivid characters. Emotions abound, and while they at times happen to trespass the crucial boundary to the pathetic, you’ll be fully compensated for these minor flaws by comic bits of salaciousness…

All in all this is a more than satisfactory read. In particular the eponymous story “Sightseeing” stands out as easily the best among the good and will give you a lot to think about, memorable characters and scenes so handsomely put on the page they strike you with equal force for their permeating wrath as well as their astonishing freshness. “Farangs”, the bitter-sweet opener giving the hosts’ smirking view on foreign tourists’ well-known behaviour, and “Draft Day”, a double-edged tale of betrayed friendship and initiation, as well as “At the Café Lovely”, a hard boiled sojourn with Bangkok’s underbelly youth, equally deserve mention here.

The amazing thing is that neither of these stories can be quite that easily summed up, for double meaning is never far away, scenery isn’t mere decoration and close reading pays in most every paragraph. Since I take it for a fact that every collection of short fiction is just as strong as the best piece included, there will be no harm in admitting to the following:
Truth be told, I do have my problems with the last two stories in particular, which tend to take on the appearance of being mere literary stunts, welcomed vehicles to suitably test and showcase the author’s artistic wingspan. Nevertheless, even these two have their fine moments where the author manages to reign in his forward charging vigour and window dressing antics to give imagination a chance and evoke images that altogether make for a rewarding reading experience.

While attending this year’s 6th “Internationales Literaturfestival Berlin” in the “Literaturen der Welt” section on September 7th he spoke about how “the years on the cusp of adulthood are probably the darkest time in our lives”.
Well, he certainly sheds some blissfully modest light here and there, never exposing some ill-conditioned existence and labelling it “truth” or “shame”; but always keeping level with his protagonists, not shying away from full eye contact and thus it is that he tentatively and so powerfully illuminates some of the more obscure places, wherein a feeling heart may happen to temporarily seek refuge.

If you are looking for a book that is telling on the human condition, on aspects of growing up in a Thailand that's not all clichés, if you'd like to read something real intelligent, well written and truly enjoyable: try out “Sightseeing” by Rattawut Lapcharoensap (wonderful name that is!), who as far as I can tell is an author to watch.

You can get your copy of “Sightseeing” here (hier).


(pic©Grove Press)

Monday, November 20, 2006

writing wisdom – Don DeLillo turned 70

All my sincerest well-wishes go out to the greatest living author of our time writing in the English language: American novelist and playwright Don DeLillo just turned a youthful 70 today, November 20th.

Congratulations!

No other single work of art impressed me more profoundly and influenced me in more lasting a fashion than “Underworld” did when I first read it. If you haven’t had the pleasure of discovering his unique language magic and the unfathomable depth of his linguistic fables and explorations yet, I would very much like to take this opportunity to point out his 1985 landmark achievement “White Noise” as probably the best entrance into DeLillo’s very particular universe.

If you happen to be even remotely interested in language dynamics and meta-textualism, you should read DeLillo. If you concern yourself with questions of world representation or perception, you have to read DeLillo. If you wonder about all the inherent cybernetics and patterns of ratiocination, then you’ll have plenty to discover in the works of Don DeLillo.

But first and foremost: if you enjoy being challenged in a multitude of ways by a work of literature, there certainly is every reason for you to have a go at his writing. Besides, it is actually a hell lot of fun to read, it is!

So, since it is understood that Don DeLillo is my most revered literary hero, you’ll hopefully not mind my coming back to this issue from time to time, highlighting quotations or sharing some thoughts on his work. Also, to get acquainted with the intricate universe of DeLillo's writing, to catch all the latest in news and reports, or simply to check some of your facts, there is probably no better place on the web to go than “Don DeLillo's America” (here) - proto-ymagon's very first friendly link! For now, I reckon it rather fitting that this day of all days should mark the official beginning of this blog

Meanwhile I exercise myself in patience for the “Falling Man” to arrive…

Hope you’ll join in!


(pic©N.N.)

Welcome to proto-ymagon!

“Und jedem Anfang wohnt ein Zauber inne.” (H. Hesse)

Welcome!

This now is the very first day in the hopefully healthy life of this site, proto-ymagon.blogspot.

Here some short inaugural remarks:

Since I happen to live in the wonderful and history-laden city of Berlin in Germany, right in the heart of Europe, I will from time to time defy the requirements of international outreach that lie at the core of all you'll be treated to in here, by slipping in some bits and pieces of German. Apart from seeing this as a humble incentive to probably learn the language, I of course invite you to simply drop me a line of request for translation whenever you should feel like missing out on something I've written. I shall do my bets to see to it that you get the English treatment if possible.

Main topics of this blog will be themes and issues relating to Europe and Asia.
My main interest is in literature, film and the arts in all its manifestations.
Communication will be centering on life reality and the way we perceive of it.
Focus therein will be on Germany, Japan and Singapore.

What exactly are the points of convergence where these disparate plot lines intersect or merge to become inextricably intertwined? This precisely will have to be be explored.

And then there is ymagon. ymagon is a concept of exchange between Europe and Asia that is in statu nascendi still. With time however, It should eventually evolve from proceedings in here, finally transforming itself into a workable concept; and in narrowing down on clearly defined objectives, proto-ymagon finally will be obliterated by the factual platform altogether, that is ymagon.
More on this shortly.

But up until then: this blog's relative openness is considered to be its strength. I dearly hope for the creative impulse to be enjoyable to any number of folks out there.

So, here we are, let's begin!

Sunday, November 19, 2006

"Against the Day" – the long awaited new Pynchon



It has been a long time, close to 10 years in fact. But now “Against the Day” is finally out there for everyone to read. And that I'll do, starting this very day with immersing myself into this new, outrageously intricate universe of the great American master of tangled literary design!
You'll get your copy – a must-read, no doubt – at you local books store, or here (hier).

As this voluminous novel will treat me and everyone else to almost 1100 pages of the best in high-strung English one can possibly lay eyes on, it shall take quite some time to come to terms with it. After all, any Pynchon calls for a slow-learner's attentive devotion, doesn't it?
I shall get back to you with comments, remarks and tentative bits of reviewing, while at the same time I would very much like to share in your reading experience of this massive piece of fiction!
Is it a masterpiece, another landmark achievement – or is it for Pynchon fans only?


Let's clear things up together!


(pic©The Penguin Press)

a new vital voice: Al Jazeera International on air








The world is not only growing ever more interconnected and interdependent, but also more complicated and difficult to understand by the day. All the more reason to cater to the urgent need for valid information, profound analysis and in-depth interest in the other.

“Get to know thy neighbor” is the sign of our times and I think here comes a long awaited addition to our daily dish of undigested news and coverage: have a look at AJI and see for yourselves what to make of it.

Contribution, partaking is ever better than simply looking the other way, isn't it?
Be it biased (I see no harm in that), be it controversial: as long as it enhances our mutual understanding it offers an additional flicker of enlightenment.

And it is up to us whether it catches fire or not; reason that is!


(pic©Aljazeera.net)

herald

heralding proto-ymagon.blogspot

this is a start, this is a beginning.
this is setting up an online laboratory
ushering in and laying the groundwork for
the ultimate launch of ymagon
– an inter-cultural platform
for Europe-Asia exchange in the arts.

from today on you will find more detailed information
on what it's about,
what the objectives are
and what issues will be tackled here.
there will be a call to join in the project,
to bring in fresh ideas and multiple perspectives.

since this blog is all about diversity,
you're sincerely welcomed to participate,
to comment or criticize wherever you wish.

i hope you'll stay tuned and come back
visiting this site, for more is on the way...

cheers!