My first Shostakovich symphony – the “Leningrad”

A few weeks ago, I read a Mainland Chinese novel in which one of the major scenes involved a discussion of Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 7 and its place in the early days of communist China. Naturally I became curious about this piece of music. I went online, conducted some research on which version to acquire, and went disc hunting. I ended up buying Russian conductor Barshai’s 1992 version of the symphony at mid-price. But first abit of information about the composer.

Dmitri Shostakovich (25 Sept 1906 – 09 August 1975) was probably the best known and most popular composer of Soviet era Russia. The composer had a hot-cold relationship with the government; at times, he received commendations for his compositions, but in 1936 and 1948, he was also suffered two official denunciations. His reputation has also varied greatly over the years. During the cold war years, he was often derided as being a mouth-piece for Soviet propaganda and Pierre Boulez even remarked that he saw “Shostakovich as the second, or even third pressing of Mahler”. In recent years, his popularity has increased and Solomon Volkov’s 1979 book Testimony argues that many of the composer’s pieces contained coded anti-government messages.

The composition of Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 7 is material for an excellent biopic. Shostakovich resided in Leningrad during the worst period of the seige of the city by Nazi troops, and he composed the symphony as a response. The symphony’s value as both propaganda-piece and contribution to the Allied war effort was immediately recognised by the Soviet authorities. No doubt aided by the titles given to the movements, it became an icon of the war against fascism; the symphony was very popular both in the West and in the USSR as the embodiment of the fighting Russian spirit. Once the war ended, however, the West became deeply suspicious of the piece as a communist propaganda.

Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 7 “Leningrad” consist of 4 movements, which the composer himself labelled as War, Memories, Russia (My Native Field) and Victory. The symphony received its broadcast première in Europe by Henry Wood and the London Philharmonic Orchestra on 22 June 1942 in London and its première in the Western Hemisphere took place in New York on 19 July 1942, by the NBC Symphony Orchestra under Arturo Toscanini in a studio concert broadcast nationwide on radio. Shostakovich was awarded a Stalin Prize for the symphony.

The CD I acquired features Rudolf Barshai and the Symphony Orchestra of West German Radio. Rudolf Barshai formed the Moscow Chamber Orchestra in 1955 and in 1969 was asked by Shostakovich to premiere his 14th symphony. A one-time composition student and performing colleague of Shostakovich, he’s perhaps generally best known for his string orchestral arrangement of the the composer’s Eighth String Quartet.

How listenable is the symphony? I found the piece easy to like. The first movement is engaging even if the drums do sound banal at times. The symphony has been accused of being bombastic – and I suppose you could say that. But the “Leningrad” is a symphony boasting exaggerated emotions and maybe it is more approachable because of it. I will need to give it a couple more serious spins to see if the initial novelty wears off. At the moment, however, I am perfectly happy with this new discovery of mine.

Marky Mark in another solid action thriller

The Reaping – When I first saw the trailer online, this film was scheduled for a Halloween 2006 release. After many delays, it finally came out in March 2007 in the US. Normally, delays mean production problems, or worse yet, a lack of faith on the studios part. I went to see the film wondering which it would be and my guess now is the later. The Reaping starts off strong – Hilary Swank as a university professor out to debunk miracles with scientific explanations. The plot thickens when she is asked to explain a series of events the resemble the 10 plagues documented in the Old Testament. Unable to provide a plausible outcome, the final act comes out of nowhere and is extremely hokey. What a disappointment.

The Shooter – This movie reminds me of the no nonsense macho action movies of the 80s. Back then, they didn’t need convoluted plots. Compared to the current crop of actioners, The Shooter is fairly straight-forward and I think it is more entertaining precisely because of this. Mark Walhberg stars as an ace sniper, a role that is very familiar to gamers who play tactical FPS games. He is framed for an assassination he did not commit and needless to say he wants to clear his name. I didn’t find the action too bombastic and it was engaging enough as simple pop corn fun.

Donald Richie’s account of Japanese cinema engrossing but flawed

Dubbed “the dean of Japan’s arts critics” by Time magazine, Donald Richie is renowned for his authoritative writings on Japanese cinema. In 2001, Richie published “A Hundred Years of Japanese Film, a concise history, with a selective guide to DVDs and Videos”. The revised and updated 2005 edition I just finished features a still of Kitano “Beat” Takeshi as Zatoichi on the front cover. Japanese cinema experienced a resurgence worldwide with the success of J-horror pictures in the mid-1990s, and with the gradual re-release of classic Japanese films on DVD, I began my building a library of samurai and cult classics. I bought Richie’s book to learn more about the Japanese cinematic tradition, and while the book was definitely informative, it wasn’t what I really expected it to be.

Subtitled “a concise history”, the book provides a solid socio-political background on which to understand the development of Japanese cinema. Richie explains in the introduction that he will look at Japanese films via a presentational / representational axis. By the “presentational” ethos, Richie believes content is presented via stylizations with no assumption that raw reality is displayed. He feels that Japanese cinema is more closely associated with being presentational. In contrast, the “representational” ethos is associated with the West and assumes reality is being shown, i.e. it is a more realistic approach to cinema. Richie bases his argument on the differences in perception of the origins of cinema in the East and the West. The Japanese, he claims, saw film as an expansion, a new form of theatre, and thus were more open to formalistic presentations on film from the very start. The West, however, treated cinema as moving pictures – that is an upgrade, if you will, on photography – and thus a more elaborate and enhanced method of capturing reality. Via this approach, Richie analyses the ebbs and flows of Japanese cinema from its advent to the present.

What’s good about Richie’s book is that it is very informative and well written. It offers plenty of anecdotes on directors, and insightful commentary on how the studio system affected the choice of content and style of direction of films. The chapter on post-WWII cinema elucidates how the American agenda affected censorship during the occupation years. In these early chapters, Richie delivers in-depth analyses of the careers and films of key directors including Ozu, Naruse, Kurosawa and Mizoguchi.

My complaints? The front cover of the book shows a still from the recent Zatoichi remake. Readers will tend to buy the book for a concise history of what they imagine to be key Japanese popular cinema. But Richie has chosen to omit discussion of genre pictures in general; the book barely mentions the pioneering and influential yakuza films of Kinji Fukasaku (though Seijun Suzuki is luckier and gets a few pages). The book also totally disregards chambara films – explained in the glossary as low-class samurai pictures – and cinema circa 1960s up till the present only gets a cursory mention in the final chapter. Richie has opted to concentrate on “high-brow” cinema and the book is a bad choice for readers who want to learn more about the popular Japanese cinema made cool by Quentin Tarantino.

I found the selective film guide available on DVDs and the glossary of terms included at the back of the book very useful. In short, despite its shortcomings, I would still recommend this book to any serious fan of Japanese cinema.

Midnight Eye’s review of the book.

Guitar Player’s top guitar albums from 1967

Rock music during the late sixties tended to be a smorgasbord of blues, jazz, psychedelia, country among other elements. Bands often featured innovative guitar players who were instrumental in creating many of the signature guitar effects we heard even today. And most of them could also engage in lively blues jams that could last upwards of half-an-hour!!

Recently, Guitar Player published a Top 40 list of Greatest Guitar Albums of 1967. Most of the usual suspects are present, including Jimi Hendrix, Michael Bloomfield, Peter Green, Magic Sam, Albert King. I own many of the albums mentioned in the list and discovered a few gems I didn’t know even existed – like the Chuck Berry and Steve Miller’s live album from the Fillmore.

Click to see article and list.

Ray Winstone retrospective : Scum and Sexy Beast

British actor Ray Winstone remains best known for playing gangster roles. I recently re-watched two of his more notable performances, Scum and Sexy Beast.

The DVD for Scum includes both the censored BBC TV cut and the full length theatrical version. Both were released in 1979 and feature Winstone in one of his first leading roles as Carlin, a juvenile delinquent sent to a Borstal. Both cuts do not shy away from violence and corruption rampant in the reformatory and the resolution is appropriately grim. Winstone was 22 at the time, and despite being relatively fresh in the business, he delivers very convincing and powerful performances. I love prison flicks, and Scum definitely ranks as one of the best.

The British press lauded Sexy Beast upon its release in 2000, but Ben Kingsley received most of the spotlight for an over-the-top performance. I prefer Winstone’s more subtle approach. In the film, he plays Gal Dove, a retired gangster living in Spain who gets dragged back into a job in London. Gal sports an over-sized belly and lazes by the pool in his Spanish villa, but once he is back in England, he is all business. The film builds on Winstone’s history of playing tough guys, giving his performance here – his unwillingness to re-enter the world of crime – additional depth.

Winstone has remarked that he is not a successful Hollywood actor. Last year, nevertheless, he co-starred in Martin Scorsese’s blockbuster The Departed. Given very little space in the film, Winstone’s role amounted to little more than a cameo. I much prefer his UK projects.

Anthony Wong and Isabella deliver solid performances

The Painted Veil - A project produced by Edward Norton and Naomi Watts, The Painted Veil is adapted from W. Someret Maugham’s novel. In Shanghai, Bacteriologist Walter Fane decides to head out to a cholera stricken village after he discovers that his wife has an affair with a British diplomat. During their stay, the couple discover more about each other and a genuine love develops between them. But this all comes too late. The Painted Veil is a well-made film but retains that exotic China (only found in films, perhaps) that fascinates foreigners. Hong Kong’s very own Anthony Wong has a secondary role as a KMT officer and he delivers a subtle but effective performance. I found the film so-so, but a few ladies in the cinema were crying. So I suppose the movie works for some.

Spider Lilies – This homosexual romance features local star Isabella and Taiwanese mega idol Rainie Yang. I was expecting a sappy and sentimental weeper, but the film turned out to be much more restrained. I never really listened to any of Isabella’s pop songs and have always been sceptical of her acting chops. On the basis of this film, however, I would say she is more natural than any number of “actress” (like Miriam Yeung and Fiona Sit among others) that command more box office potential in HK. At around 95 minutes, the picture doesn’t overstay its welcome and I found it decently watchable. The much publicized lesbian sex scene is brief and not explicit.

2007 HKIFF : Part 3

After The Wedding (Cultural Centre) Director : Susanne Bier / Cast : Mads Mikkelsen, Sidse Babett Knudsen, Rolf Lassgard – Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen is probably best known to the world as the villain in last year’s 007 blockbuster Casino Royale. I became aware of the actor when I watched The Pusher Trilogy and I find the actor VERY versatile. In After The Wedding, Mikkelsen stars as an organizer of a charity operation in India who has to travel back to Denmark to secure fundings from a wealthy businessman. During this trip, he is reunited with his ex-lover and a daughter of which he has no knowledge. I normally don’t find these sentimental movies too entertaining, but this one features strong acting across the board.

A Few Days In September (Cultural Centre) Director : Santiago Amigorena / Cast : Juilette Binoche, John Turturro, Nick Nolte, Sara Forestier, Tom Riley – Dangerous spies and powerful businessmen trade information in the critical days that lead up to 911 in A Few Days In September. While that’s the premise, the film appears to much more interested in relationships than espionage and thrills. Nick Nolte delivers a short but sweet performance as an American spy. Recommended.

Black Sheep (City Hall) Director : Jonathan King / Cast : Nathan Meister, Danielle Mason, Peter Feeney – Instead of Zombies on the rampage, in this hilarious gore-comedy we have mutant sheep devouring humans on the green pastures of New Zealand. The audience in City Hall roared with laughter during the showing and I found this an enjoyable and light-hearted romp compared to some of the more artsy fair at the festival. Easily the most entertaining film I saw at this year’s HKIFF.

Days Of Glory a.k.a. Indigenes (Cultural Centre) Director : Rachid Bouchareb / Cast : Jamel Debbouze, Samy Naceri, Roschdy Zem, Sami Boujila – Yet another WWII movie, but this one concentrates on how the minority population from French colonies in North African made major contributions to the French war effort yet suffered discrimination and were denied basic rights. While the film is well made, I found it way over-long and not particularly striking or original when compared to other WWII films. Still, Days Of Glory highlights a chapter of history few pay attention to.

Danny Boyle’s Sunshine disappoints

Danny Boyle’s Sunshine starts off as an pseudo intelligent science fiction film in the veins of 2001 and Solaris but in the last act resorts to the chaotic thrills of space horror films like Event Horizon. Scripted by noted novelist Alex Garland, Sunshine commences with a nice premise, that our Sun is near the end of its lifespan and is no longer able to provide a suitable climate for people on Earth. Spaceship Icarus II’s mission is to launch a payload into the sun and re-ignite it. This is the last chance for humans as the previous spacecraft failed its mission.

Watching the crew interact and deal with issues plaguing the spaceship, I found the first hour of the film engrossing. But both Boyle and Garland fail to produce any plausible way to wrap up the plot, and fall back to a strange character who kills off all the characters one by one. The film does not explain who this mysterious character is and how he came on board the ship. It is all VERY unsatisfying.

Sunshine features a very international cast including Japanese actor Hiroyuki Sanada, Michelle Yeoh, Chris Evans (Fantastic Four) and Cillian Murphy (Batman Begins). I found the special effects decently well done and it did not look cheap or shoddy.

Verdict : approach with caution.

MILK – fancy high end computer desk

The MILK desk is a sleek looking Scandinavian product. It features a clean aesthetic and helps transform your messy workspace into a work of art! The product’s web page is very well constructed and shows off the features of the desk – which includes cable and cord drawers, specialized bins and even powered elevating and lowering of the entire desk surface. Fascinating.

Product page

Fujiwara Shuhei : outstanding Japanese samurai fiction

Last week, I finally finished reading a collection of Fujisawa Shuhei’s short stories. Since the success of period film Twilight Samurai, there has been a resurgence of Japanese samurai novels in translation. These books were hard to find in Chinese translation in Hong Kong and English translations are even more rare. Recently, however, high quality paperbacks of these novels and short stories have reappeared. I managed to lay my hands on a couple of different authors and I have been most pleased with Fujiwara’s works so far.

Fujiwara works are more concerned with low ranking samurai’s and the dilemma they face – namely, the delicate balance of maintaining the code of honour of a samurai and being pragmatic in running a household with a meagre pain. He explores the psychology of his characters, how they perceive the feudal system and how they deal with matters of the heart. Fujiwara does not seem to be concerned with swordplay or how his character’s learn their skills; this contrasts sharply with Chinese martial arts novels which often go into great detail how swordsmen gain their amazing skills.

I found the stories collected in this edition very entertaining. The vary in length, but most are around 40 pages long. The author is not overly concerned with historical detail, not does he crowd his stories with too many characters or overly convoluted relationships (again, a common trait of many Chinese martial arts novels). While the stories feature few scenes of action or intrigue, I did not find them boring or slow. In fact, I finished the entire collection rather quickly. Also, while the movies Twilight Samurai, The Hidden Blade and this year’s Love And Honor (see my short review here) aren’t in any way bad film adaptations of his works, the actual stories offer more depth in character and have less “clean” endings.

Highly recommended!

Classic Concerts : 3 great Muddy Waters gigs on 1 DVD

Muddy Waters – Classic Concerts collects 3 gigs by the master bluesman that features significantly different bands over a period of 17 years. The 3 concerts are :

1) His historic appearance at the Newport Jazz Festival, 1960. Band : Pat Hare (g), Otis Spann (p), James Cotton (harp), Andrew Stephenson (b), Francis Clay (dr).

2) Copenhagen Jazz Festival, 1968. Band : Luther “Snake” Johnson (g), Pee Wee Madison (g), Otis Spann (p), Paul Oscher (harp), Sonny Wimberley (b), S.P. Leary (dr).

3) Molde Jazz Festival, 1977. Band : Bob Margolin (g), Luther “Guitar” Johnson (g), Pinetop Perkins (p), Jerry Portnoy (harp), Calvin Jones (b), Willie Smith (dr).

Listening to these 3 concerts, one can easily see how Muddy Waters’ live act changed over the years – he incorporated more guitar players into the band, yet maintained giving plenty of room for his harp players to shine. The music on the Newport set features a younger Muddy Waters and the music comes across as much more aggressive and energetic. The latter sets lack the impact of the Newport concert but make up for this with perhaps a more accomplished band and more solo space for the instrumentalists. I found all three concerts offered top notch and very satisfying blues.

Of the 3 sets, I was most impressed with the acclaimed Newport set. For this DVD, the producers synced a remastered stereo audio track to the concert footage and the result is simply stunning. The sound quality is awesome and does justice to the performances. The DVD also features a generous booklet with a preface by Bill Wyman from the Rolling Stones and a guide to each concert by Muddy Waters guitarist Bob Margolin.

Verdict : An essential buy for blues fans!

2007 HKIFF : Part 2

The Boss Of It All a.k.a. Direktøren for Det Hele (City Hall) Director : Lars von Trier / Cast : Jens Albinus, Peter Gantzler – Lars von Trier shows he can do top-notch comedy as well as he does depressing art-house films. The owner of an Danish IT firm is on the verge of being acquired by a Icelandic corporation, but he must present his prospective buyer with the company’s president, a man who doesn’t exist. His solution is to hire a self-important actor to fill in for the president! The Boss Of It All mocks the corporate hierarchy of modern tech firms and even makes fun of the process of filmaking and Dogma 95 movement. Recommended.

Bugmaster a.k.a Mushishi (Cultural Centre) Director : Katsuhiro Otomo / Cast : Odagiri Yu Aoi, Makiki Esumi – directed by Katsuhiro Otomo, the creator of the seminal cyber-punk animation Akira, Bugmaster has alot of expectations to live up to. Adapted from a manga, Bugmaster traces the story of a druid type character who helps farmers and villagers fight off supernatural creatures. Despite saving the lives of many, however, he has no memory of his past. I liked Bugmaster although the film unfolds rather slowly, and offers very few gripping action or special effects scenes. The period picture boasts none of the immediate thrills of Akira but is nonetheless a rewarding picture if you can sit through the lengthy 131 minute duration.

The Postmodern Life Of My Aunt a.k.a. (City Hall) Director : Ann Hui / Cast : Siqin Gaowa, Chow Yun-fat, Vicky Zhao – this is perhaps the most entertaining film Ann Hui has made in well over a decade. Siqin Gaowa thoroughly convinces as an old-fashioned and eccentric old woman trying to survive in the metropolitan city Shanghai has become. Chow Yun-fat steals the show as her romantic partner while Vicky Zhao also delivers a captivating turn as her abandoned daughter coming to her rescue. The film offers plenty of A-grade comedy and it has been a very long time since we have seen Chow in these lighter roles. Highly recommended.

Who’s Next : One classic rock masterpiece I missed out on for many years

Considered by many to be The Who’s masterpiece, Who’s Next is an album I refrained from buying for quite some time. I don’t have a large collection of albums by The Who – the ones that I own include Tommy, Live At Leeds, Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy and the soundtrack to The Kids Are Alright. I like parts of Tommy and Live At Leeds, but found both of these CDs patchy overall. Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy is a collection of early Who singles (which are brilliant) while The Kids Are Alright is a so-so compilation.

When I saw Who’s Next on sale at a very reasonable price, I decided to give it a try. I found the album surprisingly listenable and much more consistent as an album than Tommy. Radio staples like Baba O’Reily and Won’t Get Fooled Again are indeed exceptional cuts, but I ended up being most impressed by Behind Blue Eyes.

Verdict : the essential The Who album to own.

Yahoo launches the confusingly titled Alpha (Beta) service

Yahoo! has launched an interesting new search service called Alpha (currently in beta!!). The services generates results pages with modules for Flickr, YouTube and other web services. Users can log in with their Yahoo Accounts and customize the modules. The interface is quite clean – a definite plus.

It is supposed to compete with Google’s Searchmash, which I find to offer a slightly better experience. (Compare screenshot of Yahoo! Alpha on top with Google Searchmash on bottom).

[via Download Squad]