Art Films & Documentaries

Photo courtesy MovieGoods.com

Yesterday a friend and I were talking about our favorite documentary- and art-films and the usually-beautiful art-film houses where we've seen the films.  One of my favorite experiences was seeing Theremin:  An Electric Odyssey at the Towne Theatre in San Jose, California in the 1990's.  My friend said that he saw one of his favorite documentaries--Nikola Tesla: The Giant Who Lit the World--just the other day online for free, and that there are many documentary films that you can see online for free.  Go to the website of TopDocumentaryFilms.com to see the Tesla film, and to MotionEmpire.com to see the Theremin film, or any of your own favorite documentaries.

Ida Lupino

Photo courtesy FanPix.net

One of my favorite actresses is Ida Lupino (1918-1995).  She was very talented and active in her field.  In the mid-1940's she formed her own independent film company and became a producer, director, and screenwriter for the company.  She was given two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, acted in 59 films, directed 7 films, appeared in 58 serial television episodes (I didn't know this), and directed 50 serial television episodes (I didn't know this).  I also didn't know that she directed an episode (episode 37 of season 4 in 1965 titled "Arthur") of one of my favorite television shows, Alfred Hitchocock Presents.

For more information, see her website, IdaLupino.com.

Tokyo Governor's Crazed Fruit

Photo courtesy of ProductWiki

Considered by some to be the Japanese equivalent of Rebel Without a Cause, Ko Nakahira's Crazed Fruit has long been one of my favorite movies (see View My Complete Profile near the bottom of this page).  It is a 1956 film based on the novel, Season of the Sun, by Ishahara Shintaro (born 1932), which won the Akutagawa Prize in 1955.  It is about the "Sun Tribe", which was a discontented-youth culture in 1950's Japan. 

What I didn't know was that one of the film's stars was the brother of Ishihara Shintaro, Ishihara Yujiro (1934-1987).  I also didn't know that Ishihara Yujiro became an icon of 1950's and 1960's Japanese films, and achieved a status in Japan much like that of James Dean in the United States.  I also didn't know that since 1999 Ishihara Shintaro has been governor of Tokyo.

Here's the Toronto Japanese Film Appreciation Pow-Wow blog about The Top Ten Films that Changed Japanese Cinema; Crazed Fruit is number six.

Here's an interview on FORA.tv with Donald Richie, writer, journalist, and a leading authority on Japanese films.