Name: Anonymous 2006-02-28 18:28
just saw Blue (dir: Hiroshi Ando, conversion of a manga by Kiriko Nananan) at my local "trendy art cinema" - here's an imdb link... ttp://www.imdb.com/title/tt0326773/
Now i've not read the manga, so the film was my first contact with Blue. Has anyone here read the manga and then saw the film? Is it a good conversion? Did you like the film as it stands on its own?
I'm a bit on the fence, its beautifully shot, there is some simply gorgeous cinematography, and I was really impressed by the way they dealt with the audio, and dialog, every scene with dialog between the two main characters has hardly any ambient background noise from around them, only sounds from far away. This really has the amazingly subtle effect of putting the main characters in a sort of bubble that insulates them from the world immediately around them, but still roots them in reality.
One thing that really made me wonder about the similarities to the book is that the character of Endo (played by Manami Konishi) seems very distant and dreamlike in all the scenes, as if she is slightly stoned, constantly looking uptoward the sky with a creepy, yet cute, smile on her face.... Is the character of Endo really like this in the book? I've not seen any other films with Manami Konishi in them.
One criticism the people I went to see the film with had essentially boiled down to "It was a film about almost nothing, it was so boring!"
But I simply loved the way the shots were held for a nice (long) ammount of time, it really felt like you (as a member of the audience) were getting a very real slice of life in that town, and experiencing the situations the main characters were dealing with at the same pace as real life flows. Hollywood films are too action packed, fast edits, constantly doing things... Life isnt like that, and I love films that acknowledge this, films that give you a snapshot of someone elses life, rather than a complete story that tries to wrap everything up and has a morral or some other ulterior motive - I like films that just _ARE_.
I'm very impressed by blue. Anyone else?
Righty - thats me done, time for a snooze!
Now i've not read the manga, so the film was my first contact with Blue. Has anyone here read the manga and then saw the film? Is it a good conversion? Did you like the film as it stands on its own?
I'm a bit on the fence, its beautifully shot, there is some simply gorgeous cinematography, and I was really impressed by the way they dealt with the audio, and dialog, every scene with dialog between the two main characters has hardly any ambient background noise from around them, only sounds from far away. This really has the amazingly subtle effect of putting the main characters in a sort of bubble that insulates them from the world immediately around them, but still roots them in reality.
One thing that really made me wonder about the similarities to the book is that the character of Endo (played by Manami Konishi) seems very distant and dreamlike in all the scenes, as if she is slightly stoned, constantly looking uptoward the sky with a creepy, yet cute, smile on her face.... Is the character of Endo really like this in the book? I've not seen any other films with Manami Konishi in them.
One criticism the people I went to see the film with had essentially boiled down to "It was a film about almost nothing, it was so boring!"
But I simply loved the way the shots were held for a nice (long) ammount of time, it really felt like you (as a member of the audience) were getting a very real slice of life in that town, and experiencing the situations the main characters were dealing with at the same pace as real life flows. Hollywood films are too action packed, fast edits, constantly doing things... Life isnt like that, and I love films that acknowledge this, films that give you a snapshot of someone elses life, rather than a complete story that tries to wrap everything up and has a morral or some other ulterior motive - I like films that just _ARE_.
I'm very impressed by blue. Anyone else?
Righty - thats me done, time for a snooze!