Tuesday, June 19, 2012

White Night, Never Let Me Go, Zeni Geba, Fifty Shades Darker

I was away on a small break to Cappadocia with two of my close friends (and I'm very glad that I have visited the place earlier since my friends only wanted to sit somewhere and chat). This time I got to get into a baloon which was a bit of a let down - but to be fair everything is bound to be after sky diving.

Anyway that meant I have started to read Fifty Shades Darker along with Black Tulip. Fifty Shades is brain dead so was entirely suitable for the trip. I'm glad I didn't get Fifty Shades Freed because I just might have read it after all. I can stop eating junk food but I can't stop reading junk literature. 
The good news is that Black Tulip is even better than I remember it and yes, Turkish translation of a French novel is much better than the English one.

I have managed to catch

Never Let Me Go on the weekend and I have to say that I liked it a lot. Of course it cannot be compared to the novel but I liked how British the whole thing looked. Liked the actors and how dealt with the big issues in the story. It just is not a story fit for cinema I suppose. Anyway it reminded me of the book - with that certain Ishigiro mood. Cannot decide it was the low expectations, close up shots or me liking English scenery but I enjoyed it in the end.

White Night Korean adaptation of the novel where two children kill their parents and the cop who is after them. And despite the fact that Han Suk Gyu's story line had BS conflicts I liked it better than the Japanese series. Son Ye Jin is excellent and Goo Soo did very well. Han Suk Gyu is one of my faves so there was not a problem there also. The cinematography, the costumes and the music (Swan Lake, a fave of mine) were all good.

Zeni Geba (huge spoilers) This one I only purchased because I have a thing for Kenichi Matsuyama ever since I watched him in Death Note. He is a good actor- better than most - but I like his face. Anyway this one turned out to be a good purchase because it definitely made me think. The main lead of the film is a murderer who is not really a sociopath since the empatises with some things around her (like an alley cat) and has nightmares which indicate that on some level he feels about how things turn out. Kenichi Matsuyama was excellent in the role and I loved the child actor who played younger Futaro.
Now Futaro is not a good guy- at all but one can't help but feel some sympathy for him not only because his childhood was not a very good one but he simply could not find evidence against what he believes in - money trumps is all. There were only two people around his life who were not swayed by money. One his mother, who really was an angel and his father the good for nothing. After having lots of money he simply figured out that he is happier without it and he returned them all (of course it would have been so nice if he was a good father instead of a very lousy one but I'm glad that he has seen the light in the end). The other people who were so quick to judge Futaro (like the cop) or simply acted so nice (the restaurant family) changed their minds when difficulties occurred in their lives and they need money. The cop gave up his obssesive chase because his wife was in the hospital and would die if she couldn't get a heart transplant. Futaro offered him money to do just that and after some deliberation he took it and quit the force. So much for his high ideals and principles.

The restaurant family acted happy with themselves and love each other, a bit odd ball but not people whose sole aim is to make money. Of course this changed when their no good niece borrowed money from yakuza and they trashed their restaurant threatening to kill them. They even pulled a knife at Futaro just to get the money (in the end he gave it to them, they received it after he killed himself).

So the lesson I have learned from this short drama is that it is not good to judge and one shouldn't do so. No one knows what will happen in the future and what decisions one will come across along their lives.

And Kenichi Matsuyama, very good.
 

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