Other Christmas Gifts
As I think I said, Joey Sobrino's sister gave me Andrew Sulllivan's The Conservative Soul which I started reading yesterday. Very thoughtful and well written - it might make me a conservative yet, once we figure out what that means anymore.
Carmen, my wife, gave me a CD by 'Medieval Babes' entitled 'Mistletoe and Wine.' She never heard of them before but loved the name 'Medieval Babes.' Has all the top hits of the twelfth through 14th century, including 'Gaudete', one of my favorites (Gaudete, Christus puer natus est). She also got me 'Seven Samurai' by Akira Kurosawa.
'Seven Samurai' has to be one of my all time favorite movies. I think it is the consensus of critics that it is the best action adventure ever filmed. I once showed it to a class on peasants in world history. At first they were pissed that I was going to make them watch an old b&w movie in Japanese with subtitles that went on for 3 hrs! We saw it spread out in three episodes. By the end of the first hour they couldn't wait to see the rest and when it was over some had so identified with one of the characters that they were upset at his fate.
As for the subtitles, one blurted "What subtitles?"
It should be no surprise that one of the classic westerns is 'The Magnificent Seven', based almost scene for scene on the Japanese epic.
posted by Clemens @ 8:06 PM
5 comments
5 Comments:
Re: Seven Samurai - you're absolutely right. I love it.
I gave the Medieval Babes a listen when they released their first CD but it didn't really grab me. I mean, I thought I would like them - it's a cool name and they had posters will all of them posed provocatively in low-cut medieval clothes... but, like Britney Spears, that just didn't translate into interesting music!
"will" = "with"
Seven Samurai is a favorite of mine as well. I used to have it on VHS and have hankered after the DVD version for years.
It's funny that you mention showing it to your class on peasants in World History as I always recall the opening scene when reading about peasants in World History.
Not just a great action-adventure movie, a powerful film with real tragedy, real humor and real love.
Have you seen Ran by Kurosawa?
Welcome to Senentiae Ian. I like your blog, for obvious reasons. You're right about "7 Samurai" too. I have seen "Ran" and the much older Kuraswa Shakespeare flick "Throne of Blood," or as I like to think of it, "Samurai MacBeth." Kurasawa was great at interpreting Shakespeare.
When I lived in Minnesota every Wed was Samurai Movie Night at a local theatre. I saw some real trash, and some classics by people other than Kurasawa. "Chusingura" was the best, "Under Samurai Banners" the most perplexing. This last one was about the same Takeda clan that K's "Kagamusha" epic was.
I think "Kagamusha" is my favorite. Well, after "Seven Samurai" of course.
Drop in again.
Elliot -
I am afraid I will have to agree with you about the Medieval Babes.
Still, there is something to be said for a mere pretty face.
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