Urusei Yatsura: Beautiful Dreamer (1984)

Urusei Yatsura: Beautiful Dreamer (1984)

April 5th, 7:00PM in Garland 104 (2441 E. Hartford)

Rumiko Takahashi is consistently one of Japans most popular Manga artists. She has scored major hits with series like Mermaid Saga, Ranma 1/2, Rumic Theater and InuYasha, all of which have spawned popular animated series and feature films. Her themes of love, longing and perseverance are universal. But arguably her most popular creation is still little known in the United States. Urusei Yatsura began as a 34 volume manga before making its debut as a weekly series that would stretch from 1981 to 86 delivering 195 episodes, six movies and twelve OVA’s. It tells the story of an average town where reality has gone mad. One day an alien invasion arrives on earth and our only chance to avoid defeat is to challenge the invaders princess to a game of tag. Tag being a game associated with a type of Japanese demon of which the aliens are patterned after. The recipient of the challenge is the world’s most average man, a lecherous teenager named Ataru. Lum, the princess can fly which presents difficulties. In achieving an unlikely victory he accidentally proposes marriage. Now Ataru lives his life in his parent’s home while living with a permanent house guest.

The series is structured along a large ensemble cast that includes a demented Buddhist monk, the son of the world’s richest family, a fire breathing flying space baby and an assortment of other gods and weirdos. The appeal of the series is that it is obsessed with the every day in and outs of Japanese culture. In this way it is similar to The Simpsons in that minor events like tax day or local community politics are prominent background elements. But the goal of nearly every character is love. But for any character to end up with their love interest, no less than two others must be denied their goal. This series of overlapping love triangles mixed with violently proactive characters means that every situation can escalate into a conflict more akin to a world war then a high school brawl. But uniquely for the franchise, this is not true of the second film Beautiful Dreamer.

The film begins with the preparation for a school party. But after a night of decorating, strange things begin to happen. The people of the town seem to have disappeared and days begin to run together into an endless blur. Because of this surrealism, this probably the most accessible of the six films, not really requiring any preexisting knowledge of the series to enjoy or understand the story. The absurd tone of the series mixes with this surrealist plot to deliver something magical.

Japan, Director Mamoru Oshii, Cast Fumi Hirano, Toshio Furukawa, Kazuko Sugiyama and Akira Kamiya, 98 minutes, in Japanese with English subtitles

Two Stars in the Milky Way (1931)

Two Stars in the Milky Way (1931)

March 29th, 7:00PM in Garland 104 (2441 E. Hartford)

The complexity of Chinese silent cinema remains little known in or outside of China. This is truly a shame. In its themes and technical sophistication is was a match for Hollywood or Germany, if initially somewhat less prolific. Few films demonstrate the richness of themes better than Two Stars in the Milky Way (1931.) It is a film about film making, but it focused as much on a discussion of the societal responsibility of the art as it did on a pure expose on the medium.
Superstar Violet Wong plays a young woman from a conservative family who encounters a group of film makers conducting location shooting. She catches their eye, or rather their ears and if offered entry into the heady world of Shanghai cinema in all of its art deco glory. Despite a predictable pattern of events involving her exposure to the excesses of the city and its modern age, the film asks meaningful questions about how Chinese intellectuals viewed the arts at this formative period.
China, Director Tomsie Sze, Cast Violet Wong, Yeh Chuen Chuen, V.K. Chung and Kao Chien Fei, 86 minutes, Silent with English and Traditional Chinese inter-titles

Rika (1972)

Rika (1972)

March 15th, 7:00PM in Garland 104 (2441 E. Hartford)

When a young woman is raped by an American serviceman the result is Rika. Born into a world of vice and corruption, Rika is a one woman army. When she isn’t running her own all girl gang she GoGo dances for Japans mightiest crime bosses, fights against a social system in which she has no place and takes down anyone who gets in her way.

Rika is one entry into the popular Pinky genre of Japan. These films dealt with strong willed, violent female protagonists who take nothing lying down. The particular hook of this character is initially her Eurasian status, making her an other within Japanese society. The original US release title captures this more bluntly, Rika The Half Blood Girl. In this way the character is somewhat similar to 1973’s The Street Fighter starring Sonny Chiba. Also like it, Rika would spawn two direct sequels as her insane exploits only grow.

This film shares many of the hallmarks of Japanese 1970’s exploitation cinema. It is violent, sexualized, stylish and schizophrenic. Politics are thrown into the mix in the most general way, especially relating to the American forces stationed in Japan. An example of this is the relationship of another wayward young woman, the result of the relationship between a black serviceman and a Japanese woman. In her quest for identity, she falls in love with a Vietnam war deserter.

Even among Pinky films, Rika over the top and this is in a genre that would produce titles such as Terrifying Girls High School - Lynch Law Classroom. Rika is one of the most individualistic of them all, relentless in its oddity and proving popular enough to generate two sequels.

Japan, Director Ko Nakahira, Cast Rika Aoki, Kazuko Nagamoto, Masami Souda and Michi Nono, 92 minutes, in Japanese with English subtitles