At least Gena Rowlands is sympathetic in the Cassavetes films that are the freshest in my mind (A Woman Under the Influence, Minnie & Moskowitz, Opening Night). Actually, I think most of the characters in A Woman are pretty sympathetic.
I’ve never gotten that Llewyn Davis criticism either but then again I am a sad white guy as well.
I don’t think the Chinese as a culture are uninterested in ghosts. One of stages of reincarnation in the Buddhist conception is a “hungry ghost”. If you watch “Song of Midnight”, the Chinese take on Phantom of the Opera, he sings about how he’s as hideous as a ghost. The Kuomintang government at that time censored films dealing with spirits and superstition (that film technically doesn’t have any of that, which is how it evaded censorship), and the current communist government views things similarly. They regard such things as backward and are known for their campaign against the “Four Olds”. Japan isn’t China, but if you watch something like “Kwaidan”, you can see ghosts are part of their folklore as well.
That’s a good point. We shouldn’t confuse the government censoring things with the populace not being interested in them. The opposite is more likely to be true.
At least Gena Rowlands is sympathetic in the Cassavetes films that are the freshest in my mind (A Woman Under the Influence, Minnie & Moskowitz, Opening Night). Actually, I think most of the characters in A Woman are pretty sympathetic.
I’ve never gotten that Llewyn Davis criticism either but then again I am a sad white guy as well.
I don’t think the Chinese as a culture are uninterested in ghosts. One of stages of reincarnation in the Buddhist conception is a “hungry ghost”. If you watch “Song of Midnight”, the Chinese take on Phantom of the Opera, he sings about how he’s as hideous as a ghost. The Kuomintang government at that time censored films dealing with spirits and superstition (that film technically doesn’t have any of that, which is how it evaded censorship), and the current communist government views things similarly. They regard such things as backward and are known for their campaign against the “Four Olds”. Japan isn’t China, but if you watch something like “Kwaidan”, you can see ghosts are part of their folklore as well.
That’s a good point. We shouldn’t confuse the government censoring things with the populace not being interested in them. The opposite is more likely to be true.
– David