Wild Movie Chase

Thanks to my friend who lent me the book, I had a chance to read “The Wild Movie Chase,” an out-of-print movie review anthology written by Murakami and Saburo Kawamoto, a movie critic, in 1985. Murakami wrote 154 reviews out of 264 and the preface starting as;

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…, watching a movie was one of my festive rituals conducted on a semi-daily basis. As many of the festive rituals were, I thought it would maintain its supremeness eternally…

All the reviews are on non-Japanese movies and very brief and nifty. I tried to make a quick translation of some of my favorites;

The Treasure of Sierra Madre (1948): When I was a student, I used to read the scenario of this movie many times and learned dramaturgy. It lacks a humor element but its crispiness is impressive. The screenplay, written by John Houston in his young days, is still worth watching now. However, in my opinion, I do not like to see Bogart as a villain character.

Vivre Sa Vie / My Life to Live (1962): It is one of the most stimulating films of all time. “She” was doomed to be intrigued by the street and, consequently, died on the street. And the camera always shot the street. That’s it, and the rest are kind of bluff. However, “the bluff” is extremely hip. I also like Godard’s other movies; “Une femme mariée (A Married Woman)” and “Alphaville”

The Empire Strikes Back (1980): This most modest and dark (comparatively, of course) film among the (original) Star Wars Trilogy is peculiarly impressive. I wonder if it is too much to compare the scene of evading to the galaxy from the Imperial fleet to that in “The Tale of the Heike“.

Have a nice weekend.