Missing, The American Friend, Madadayo, & Kids Return

Missing is the based on a true story about the disappearance of an American in Chile. Except that the movie doesn't actually use Chile as that would probably cause some problems. Although it's really freakin' obviously Chile. Well, I guess it is, if you know anything about South American history in the 70s. Man, America really messed up a lot of countries with our desire to involve ourselves in coups and corrupt dictatorships all the time. Now that the information showing the most controversial aspect of the film, that the US knew about the disappearance and death of Charles Horman, is true, the movie actually may not have gone far enough in its denunciation of the American government. The movie itself has a strong performance from Jack Lemmon, but the most important aspect of it is the coming out against American involvement in foreign coups. Which is really the sensible position, all considered.

The American Friend is Wim Wenders doing Tom Ripley. It doesn't actually feel like a Tom Ripley story. Maybe it's that I'm not really familiar with the Patricia Highsmith novels, and he's a secondary character in a lot of them, but this was all about Bruno Ganz coming to terms with his disease and keeping his family well-provided for after his inevitable death. That one character just happened to be Tom Ripley was very much secondary, except for the fact that you just knew the guy was going to be a crazy killer.

Madadayo is Akira Kurosawa's last film, appropriately titled Not Yet and all about growing old. That's appropriate since Akira Kurosawa was very old when he made this film. Is it as good as his earlier films? Of course not. It's very episodic, full of Japanese drinking songs, and an almost fanatical devotion to the pope... I mean a cat. I imagine the cat was a very nice cat. I like cats a lot. I hope, one day, to have someone who likes cats as much as me and then we could have a cat together. I just found it sort of strange about how the cat seemed like the only thing that was keeping the guy sane. Although, really, he was pretty crazy from very early on in the film. Or maybe it's normal for people to be afraid of the dark and lightning. And I'm not sure about the final shot, it seemed sort of a strange thing to end on. It was, as is typical of Kurosawa, well made and interesting, just felt a little more Japanese than I was quite able to handle. If I were more Japanese, I might have liked it more.

Kids Return is Takeshi Kitano's first film after the motorcycle accident that almost killed him, and it's very different from most of his films. It's also, interestingly, one of the better boxing films I've seen lately. Definitely better than that last boxing film, the vastly overrated Million Dollar Baby. Of course, it's not really entirely about boxing. It's more about young people in Japan, and how much they can struggle to find their place in a society that honors conformity above almost all. And there's the typical slapstick scenes as well, because what would a Kitano film be without some humor. I really don't know. It's a very good film, not as good as his best, but certainly worth watching. Especially if you like good movies. And finally, I wanted to mention that Joe Hisaishi, the best film composer in Japan, and probably everywhere, has another great soundtrack, including a few bits that sound like they would fit in perfectly towards the end of Civ III, which has my favorite music in any Civ game.