We have a few things lined up like the Dia Beacon museum and catching a movie. But anything you would personally suggest, please let us know :)
I attended the Japan Society showing of the 35MM imported print of "Charisma" by Kiyoshi Kurosawa the other day. I knew Kurosawa had other Q&As later in the day for his new film so I didn't expect a long session at all. But the person hosting the Q&A seemed to have no idea what they wanted to ask or discuss. Thank God Kurosawa and his translator were funny and charming or else this would have been a disaster. The questions they did ask were basic "Can you tell me more about this shot?" rather than things that would lead to a more in-depth discussion of the film. They almost tried to veer the discussion into something more but instead ended up stumbling over every word quietly and didn't really finish their thought or give any direction to Kurosawa to guide him to something other than complete open air.
I've seen a few posts recently about Q&As being poorly done so was curious if this has been the normal Q&A experience recently out there. Either way, the Japan Society theater was great, the workers were very nice and the film was amazing!
Did not know about this screening at the Japan Society until today! Please let me know if anyone has any leads, thank you!
I believe as movie viewers, we have been conditioned through over a century of cinema (and generations of stories) that the majority of the time, things will work out and the protagonist will end up on top at the end of the film. However, this is not always a guarantee and expert filmmakers know just how much hope to give and take away from the audience.
My question is; At what point does a film stop towing that fine line between hope v. hopelessness thus taking you out of the movie? I tend to be a big fan of downer films and things that may not end so cheery, but there's normally still a semblance of "things might improve or at least they'll get out of this situation" during the runtime.
Example for me, and it's actually a film that I do enjoy, is Funny Games. The remote control moment is where I essentially give up on the film and check out. It was as if this movie was made in a lab to see how far an audience is willing to stay with it until the credits roll if hope keeps being stripped away beat by beat. I think Funny Games is a remarkable experiment to that extent but to literally undo the one gasp of air we get to remind us that there is no escape from this new hell was an insanely ballsy choice that, which ended up doing exactly what the director intended. I'm personally not saying that they should have all lived, or the bad guys needed to die, but in that moment we can just cut to black cause we will never engage again knowing that the rug can be pulled any moment. Curious to see what others think!