Category Archives: Movies

Movie – Fear and Trembling (Stupeur et tremblements)

Fear and Trembling 1Fear and Trembling (Stupeur et tremblements) (2003, Alain Corneau)

I rented this movie from the library. It is about a a Belgian women who was born and partly raised in Japan returning to work for a year at a large corporation. Amelie has a hard time fitting into Japanese corporate culture, and most of her co-workers are not helping her. It was an interesting movie. I do no know much about Japanese culture. This movie almost exclusively takes place in the office. From the movie I gather that honor and duty are very important.

It was a fun movie but was also depressing. From the limited information I could find out about the movie it seems this was adapted from a book and it was semi-autobiographical (but don’t quote me on that). This would be a very long way to spend a year of one’s life.

The movie had it’s fun parts with some humor to lighten the mood. This sequence brought a smile to my face:

Fear and Trembling 2

Overall I would recommend the movie. It was an interesting look at the way Japanese workplaces might have looked like in the early 90’s. It is much different from my office – that is for sure!

Have you ever seen this movie? What did you think about it?

Kitchen Stories

I recently rented and watched Kitchen Stories (Bent Hamer, 2003) or Salmer fra Kjøkkenet from the library. It is a fictional story about a Swedish observer sent to Norway to observe the kitchen habits of a Norwegian bachelor farmer.

The movie was very good and funny but I am sure I missed out on some of the humor and other plot lines. This movie takes place in the late 40s or 50s. It seems there was some resentment that Norway fought in WWII but Sweden did not. It is hard for me to understand because I do not know much about the history and culture of these two countries. I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of friendly Norwegian & Swedish jokes and stereotypes flew over my head. I did like the movie though. Some of the highlights for me personally was seeing the Volvo that the main character drove and also seeing the sled/toboggan that the farmer used to get around. (I am not sure what it is called so if you know please leave a comment to enlighten me!) I also liked to see the snow.

Kitchen Stories

Kitchen Stories

I would recommend it! It made me smile and did a good job of showing the simple life and how fulfilling it can be.

Eraserhead

Last weekend I saw Eraserhead (1977, David Lynch) at the UW Cinematheque. It was a full house. Several things about the movie struck me. The first thing I noticed was the doors. It seemed to me that there were a lot of doors closing, or that the focus was often on that. Strange thing to notice. The second thing was the noise. It was constant noise which was a big part of the movie.

I must be honest. I did not like it right after it finished. In fact when the screen cut to black and the silence washed over me I felt relieved. But in the few days since it has grown on me. I won’t be re-watching the movie soon but I will probably view it again in the future. The main character – Henry – has such a distinctive hair style. I wonder how much of the low budget went to that!

Afterwards I ate at Paul’s Pelmeni. It was delicious as usual. Give it a chance if you are downtown. And it seems other people are getting hip to the jive – see this article in the Isthmus.

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Smiles of a Summer Night, Encounters at the End of the World, & Battleship Potemkin

I had a long weekend over the holiday so I decided went to the library to stock up on things to keep me busy. I read one book and watched three movies.

The Millionaire Next Door

I read this book as it is highly recommended in personal finance circles. It is a bit old but still had a lot to offer. The section about car buying really had me chuckling as it involves newspaper ads and facsimile machines. The main message I took away from it was that living below your means can really add up. It was also interesting to note the differences between first generation affluent and subsequent generations. It is food for thought for the affluent with children. I also liked the breakdown between prodigious accumulators of wealth and under accumulators of wealth. I would recommend this book.

Smiles of a Summer Night

From Smiles of a Summer Night Source: http://ozu-teapot.tumblr.com

1955 by Ingmar Bergman. This is the second movie I have seen by this director (The first was The Seventh Seal). I enjoyed this film a lot. It was playful. The acting was good and I enjoyed the story. I also like films set in places and times that I am unfamiliar with. In this case it was turn of the century Sweden. The Swedish word for lawyer is “advokat” which is very similar to the Polish word “adwokat” which also means lawyer.

I liked this movie and I am 2 for 2 with this director. I will have to search out more of his work.

 Encounters at the End of the World

2007 by Werner Herzog. This is a documentary about Antarctica and is primarily concerned with the people that live there. It was interesting to see the people who spend time down there. One of the characters said it best when he mentioned that people who don’t fit anywhere else fall down to the bottom of the world. One of the inhabitants that piqued my interest was the man who always has a bag packed and ready to go at a moment’s notice. He even has a rubber raft and paddle in there. It mentioned that he escaped from behind the Iron Curtain and was making the most of freedom.

The scenery of Antarctica was beautiful. I am partial to snow and cold over heat. The place looks so peaceful and quiet. It would be an interesting place to visit but not necessarily live.

Battleship Potemkin

1925 by Sergei Eisenstein. A silent propaganda film. And a good one to boot. It really sets the stage of the common man against the privileged. Includes the famous shot on the Odessa Steps. It was fairly short but still packed a good punch. It would have been a tough life to be a sailor at that time. And the food wouldn’t have been the greatest either.