The mask on the poster and in the film is a Hannya mask, used in certain Japanese theatre. While the name comes from the word for “wise” it’s not referring to the mask itself, but supposedly to the artist who made it. Focusing on the wisdom needed to perfect the design.
The mask is used to portray women who have become demons due to jealousy, but there’s so much more depth than just some troll with horns. Look at it…
Fuck me, this movie is amazing. I mean, where do you even begin with this?
Despite being overwhelmingly shot in close-up, the cinematography offers a crazy level of variety throughout. Each shot is framed and lit perfectly to inform character and drama. Just fantastic.
But it doesn't start or end at the visuals. This is a screenplay devoted to dry and sterile historical legal documents. The artistry comes from the director's, actors' and cinematographer's interpretation of the emotions coming from…
Only about three minutes of this film still exists, and they're pretty cool. Rich and colourful and a lot of fun special effects.
But I honestly never understood why this one film lives on so vividly after it's gone, while thousands of other films don't (read: about a hundred of Alice Guy Blaché's works).
Next to countless others, it's just another one on the ol' pile. I would have loved to see the whole thing.
What is going on? Why isn't this on everyone's list of the top top Ghibli films?
Anyway, moments in childhood that define who you become in ways you can't see at all as a child, and whose scope you can't fathom even as an adult. They remind you of themselves in moments of realization, I think.
The framework of Only Yesterday, and its calm, floaty tone, is genius in that there is no bombastic drama needed to deepen our understanding…
Mary Shelley was a complex woman. She was interesting and had strong opinions and believed in her values. This is not Mary Shelley, and frankly, I'm sick and tired of these fairytale versions of actual people and events.
Do these people think that we, the audience, can't connect with, and empathize with a person with complicated, real emotions? Do they think we can't understand the sometimes differing moral values of a person from a different time?
Mary Shelley and her…
Tench is an empathetic and sad portrait of a man being a victim of his own desire. He's given a second chance by society, but his past and his very nature is again brought forth when he falls in love with a nine year old girl. I don't think I've seen a movie about paedophilia before that wasn't also on some level provocative and Bold, with a capital b.
Amazing acting and genuinely sensitive scenes depicting someone uncontrollably falling in…
