Comments for Mikkokoivisto's Weblog

Comment on Recently seen TV shows #6 by Mikko Koivisto

Mikko Koivisto — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 16:03:45 +0000

Amazon, yesasia, cdjapan, hmv… that’s where you find this drama.

Comment on Recently seen TV shows #6 by baka

baka — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 18:49:09 +0000

This looks amaizing! Never heard it about before.
Right now im watching the first season of Sukeban Deka wich is great, i love Yuki Saito.
I need to find this drama

Comment on JP Films = Women’s cinema? by ax2grind

ax2grind — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 23:53:40 +0000

This is awesome! Thanks for the breakdown. What a great idea. I must look into Japanese women in cinema more. Beautiful. Just Beautiful.

Comment on HIFF 2009 by Mikko Koivisto

Mikko Koivisto — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 14:08:45 +0000

Good comment. I can perfectly understand your view. Still Walking is indeed more coherent of the two, but it's also meant to be. Kurosawa's film is a humoristic tragedy that doesn't aim for maximum realism. It begins as a rather normal family movie, but every turn it takes is more and more tragicomic, even slightly surreal. It's a social commentary, yes, but one of Kurosawa's primary methods is satire and exaggeration. This combined with some "depth" in the execution of some individual scenes (the long car tracking shot with Koizumi and Yakusho) created something that really appealed to be - something that is well balanced between "classic dry family drama" and over the top drama like "Memories of Matsuko" (ok, quite far from that terrible film, thankfully, but you get the point). Still Walking on the other hand is - as far as I can tell, which isn't all that much considering my limited knowledge of this genre - more Ozu-type, traditional drama. I tend not the be the biggest fan these type of films. Without meaning to make any generalizations, I think character oriented drama films have greatly improved during the last 10 years as compared to past decades. Partly thanks to digital cinematography, directors have finally brought the camera "to the skin"... so close to the actors that it feels more real than fiction. Digital cinematography gives a film a less cinematic look. It's kind of like acting without make up; you're more exposed. I really like this. All About Lily Chou Chou, Tokyo . Sora, It's Only Talk are some of my favorite films. A bit less successful but still good examples of this style are Hiroki's films Tokyo gomi onna (Tokyo Trash Baby) and Vibrator. In my eyes Still Walking represents the old school drama filmmaking - more theatrical, more scripted, and with a glossier or softer visual look - which I often (not always) find less interesting. Of course, Still Walking and Tokyo Sonata are not opposites. Tokyo Sonata is largely built on the same old school groundings as Still Walking. But it was the "incoherence" that steps in that made it very enjoyable in my books. A few screencaps demonstrating the "new style" that I like All About Lily Chou Chou Tokyo . Sora Vibrator

Comment on Too damn much Yamashita by Blogschau Oktober09 | Japankino

Blogschau Oktober09 | Japankino — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 20:43:44 +0000

[...] abgeschweift, aber der Blog ist eindeutig auf J-Film gepolt. So sehr, dass Mikko auch schon mal von Begegnungen mit Nobuhiro Yamashita träumt. In solchen Momenten äußert sich dann auch der typische, trockene finnische Humor. Die [...]

Comment on HIFF 2009 by Klaus

Klaus — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 20:08:23 +0000

I’ve had the chance to see both “Still Walking” and “Tokyo Sonata” this year at the NipponConnection on the same day. And I have to admit that I couldn’t follow you ranking Kore-eda’s work so much lower than Kurosawa’s. For me, “Still Walking” was actually more coherent, convincing and compelling. It seemed to me like Kurosawa wasn’t sure where he wanted to go with his film and what message he wanted to send, thus all those turns not just in plot but also in atmosphere. Seemed to me rather immature compared to Kore-eda.

Comment on About by m1

m1 — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 03:48:14 +0000

ok, fair enough. Ur not an a**hole. Keep up the good work.

Comment on Recently seen movies #46 by Mikko Koivisto

Mikko Koivisto — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 07:34:42 +0000

Thanks. The film was on Finnish TV. Unsubbed Toei dvd exists also.

Comment on Recently seen movies #46 by viktor

viktor — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 16:49:24 +0000

Hi, Where did you get a hold of this film?!

i really like your reviews and you have sparked an interest in some directors previously unknown to me.:))

Comment on About by Mikko Koivisto

Mikko Koivisto — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 14:26:27 +0000

Do you see links to any other blogs here? I’m not interested in blog whoring.

I’m sure Candide is doing great job with his/her blog, but that’s no reason for me to link to it. It’s in a language I don’t understand, and it concentrates on films that don’t personally interest me. The latter one is the main reason. I should have been more clear about this before. My apologies.

If I had links, it would be a handful of personal picks. But currently I don’t have any.