DON (1978)

DON (1978)

April 12th, 7:00PM in Garland 104 (2441 E. Hartford)

Some people might recognize a lavishly constructed India tourism commercial that began airing on television about a year ago. In it a series of individuals most Americans would have no great cause to recognize without an interest in Indian popular culture or politics. Towards the end of the commercial there is an older man dressed in white. He takes a few steps forward and gives the audience a firm but benevolent gaze before stating that it is definitely a good idea to come to India. That was not a person you just encountered, that was Amitabh Bachchan.

In an age of cinema patronage to rival any era in film history, Amitabh Bachchan was an angry young man, or at least that is how crowds liked him. When faced with injustice, be it criminal or civil, he always would fight back. Or at least he would ignore the injustice initially for the sake of his old mother, or family, or even an idea that he could work within the system to restore order or even perhaps he investigating the whereabouts of the people who killed his parents and was consequently involved in a romantic drama to occupy the time. Then later he would fight back and injustice would pay. He was also in Sholay (1975.)

Amitabh Bachchan plays two roles, something he was known for at the time. A mobster and a nobody destined to collide. One of the most popular films of the hot year of 1978, Don has been remade five times to varying degrees of success, most recently in 2007 as well as its own parody film in in 1998. There is still a magic in this era of Indian filmmaking and it lingers.

India, Director Chandra Barot, Cast Amitabh Bachchan, Zeenat Aman and Iftekhar, 175 minutes, in Hindi with English subtitles

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