MovieChat Forums > Kumonosu-jô (1961) Discussion > Wipes, *beep* wipes

Wipes, beep wipes

posted 16 years ago by MrElg
9 replies | jump to latest

Statement: I really is a fan of foreign films and Kurosawa is one of the most important directors. By stating this I hope to avoid any disrespectful comments when I'm complaining on elements of this film.

First I discovered that Shakespare is kinda boring. There is ways of getting the sories interesting, and Kurosawa usally does, but the story hasnt got the real deeper meaning I'm often looking for in non-american movies. Still I find the character development very interesting, and that makes up for the loss of excitement for the story. But there is still one thing wrong. What's with those silly wipes? Why cant the scenes just cut normally. This got me really distracted, I lost contact with the fiction and was remindet that it just was a movie. There's not a lot of movies using wipe-cutting, and guess the reason.

Sorry for this. Good to let it go. I would've loved this film without wipes. And it makes me really sad when i can see that excellent directing, marvelous character development and the magical cinematographical art. Nice film, but not the best from Kurosawa

The only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] 16 years ago

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[–] MrElg 16 years ago

Off-topic????

Your post has no value at all.

The only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] Madluke91 16 years ago

Just want to say i have no idea how to quote on here so ill just copy and paste.

"First I discovered that Shakespare is kinda boring."

Couldn't agree with you more, however i do think this comment is slightly out of place as this is an adaptation of Shakespeare by Kurosawa, done in his own style and IMO absolutely brilliantly done, and not boring.

"story hasnt got the real deeper meaning"

This is the comment that spurred me to reply, as i don't believe i could disagree more.
This film portrays such a wide diversity of human emotions, how greed and self ambition can initiate such a complex chain of actions and events. This film contains manipulation, lies, deceit, greed, sadness, terror which all lead to an unavoidable end result. I thought it was a well developed, twisting and turning, intertwining story of human nature portrayed in a masterful form.
But in the end it does come down to a matter of opinion so don't feel as though you have to defend yourself like in the opening statement. We can't like all films and maybe this film just isn't for you.
Possibly, if you went into the film expecting not to like it because of the Shakespeare theme this could be a reason for you not getting into it.

As for the rest of your post about te wipes complaint, once again its just a matter of opinion so i don't really have an argument about this complaint.

[–] TimeandSpace 16 years ago

Shakespeare is boring!?

Sometimes I wonder how many people actually make the effort to revisit Shakespeare after they were forced to 'read' it at school. Seriously, go and pick up any Shakespeare classic, you may well be pleasantly surprised. Or hell, if you don't like reading, (and the plays were meant to be seen anyway) try Romeo and Juliet by Franco Zeffirelli, or Henry V by Kenneth Branagh.

Don't forget that much of Shakespeare's charm lies in the lanuage he uses, but the fact that his stories have inspired innumerable adaptations over the years surely negates any suggestion that he is 'boring'? Right?

I agree with the post above though: if the OP likes to find a 'deeper meaning' in his entertainment, Shakespeare will provide, always.

[–] blueharvestblues 16 years ago

Language he uses...

"You used to be so amused
At Napoleon in rags and the language that he used
Go to him now, he calls you, you can't refuse
When you got nothing, you got nothing to lose
You're invisible now, you got no secrets to conceal."

Sorry that reminded me of a cool Bob Dylan line.

http://www.imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=31996616

[–] rhowells2000 14 years ago

What makes one method of punctuation sillier than the other? One of the reasons why Kurosawa uses the wipe is to suggest the passage of time. He also uses the wipe for a change of scene which differentiates from his use of the cut, which he obviously usually uses in the same scene. Rights for wipes!

[–] phelpsg1 14 years ago

It's a little late, maybe, and this has already been partially answered, but the function of the wipes is to say "a short time (usually a few minutes) has passed." A fade to black means "a long time has passed", and a plain cut between two scenes (not in the same location) means "simultaneous action." The commentary on the Criterion disk explains these conventions. The conventions are obviously different from what happens in Western films, but there's no point in complaining about them, any more than we would complain about Kurosawa's use of imagery from the Noh theater.