I’ve been watching a lot of pretty old films lately. Why? Curiosity! Yeah with the freedom of information that is Wikipedia you find so many old movies just waiting to be watched.
The Dark Crystal (1982)
The Dark Crystal Movie Poster
First film is Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal (1982). Before CGI and 3d, puppets and anamotronics we’re used to create creatures and the special effects we see in every hollywood blockbuster. Master puppeteer Jim Henson, and his colleagues created at the the time first full-feature fantasy film with no human beings.
Every character in The Dark Crystal are puppets created by Henson. They are so skillfully animated, to me they move even more naturally on film than any CGI character (take that Na’avi).
The film looks at the nature of good and evil but in a very different fashion as most child-oriented films at the time. It does not portray a good overcoming evil but of harmony of both dark and light.
The film wasn’t as much a success as its competition at the time (ET: Extraterrestrial) but it receive critical success by winning BAFTA and Saturn awards.
Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (戦場のメリークリスマス)
Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence original japanese poster
Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (1983) is bilingual English-Japanese film based on Lauren van der Post’s The Seed and the Sower (1963) and The Night of the New Moon (1970).
The setting is a Japanese prison camp in Indonesia, Ryuichi Sakamoto plays young stern captain of the camp Yonoi who becomes fixated on the new rebellious prisoner Major Jack Celliers (played by rockstar David Bowie). In the same camp, Lt. Colonel John Lawrence (Tom Conti) is a japanese speaking british soldier who has become well trusted by both Yonoi and Sgt. Hara (played by Takeshi Kitano of Battle Royale fame).
The film is an interesting look at cross-cultural communication as the japanese and british constantly butt-heads on different cultural habits (such as Gyo and Christmas).