The Twilight Samurai,Tasogare Seibei, is a beautiful, well written and slightly melancholic chambara movie made by Yoji Yamada. Hiroyuki Sanada (known from Ring and The Last Samurai) and Rie Miyazawa are both excellent in their leading roles as the samurai widower taking care of his two daughters and his childhood love who has divorced her violent and drunken husband after years of abuse. This low key drama is set in the mid 19th century, a time when the Japanese society went through dramatic changes. It's very different from its Chinese counterparts, Hero and Crouching Tiger. Not as spectacular. This movie is more like the great drama movies that came out of Europe and the US during the 70s. More realism than spectacular escapism. This doesn't mean that I don't love spectacular escapism, it just means that I think that more realistic movies also can be good. This one sure is. It's yet another example that shows that Japanese cinema is the most interesting in the world right now.
Back in 1987 David Sylvian released his third solo album, Secrets of the Beehive. Not much to say about it. It's one of the most perfect albums ever created. Very elegant string and brass arrangements, often made by long time collaborator Ryuichi Sakamoto and haunting melodies with great lyrics. The songs are slow with a melancholic atmosphere and a very cool jazzy groove. A masterpiece.
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