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Documentaries (To Be Takei, The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness)
For today's entry, here are a couple of documentaries that I've watched in the past few months:
To Be Takei: a documentary about George Takei, focusing on his life, his career, and his relationship with manager/husband Brad. It also covers the creation of a musical based on his childhood in the internment camps during WWII. There are a few brief appearances by former Star Trek co-stars like Walter Koenig and Nichelle Nichols, who are still friendly with Takei, and William Shatner, who most decidedly is not. It's mostly funny and entertaining, but are there are also serious moments, as when Takei talks about the internment camps and his regrets over some harsh things he said to his father regarding that time.
The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness: a documentary about Studio Ghibli--definitely a must-see for any Hayao Miyazaki/Studio Ghibli fan. The documentary follows Miyazaki, director Isao Takahata, and producer Toshio Suzuki for one year, during the time that the studio was rushing to finish The Wind Rises and The Tale of the Princess Kaguya. Miyazaki and Takahata are both famous directors, of course, but up until now, I didn't know much about Suzuki, who seems to be the glue holding the studio together--the one who has to deal with all the business details, scheduling problems, and missed deadlines.
There are lots of fascinating behind-the scenes details of the production of the two movies, and a brief interview with Goro Miyazaki. I really would have liked to have seen more of him, and heard more about what it's like to bear the burden of being Miyazaki's son.
One interesting and amusing thing we find out is that Miyazaki has a pet cat that looks just like Muta from Whisper of the Heart and The Cat Returns! Don't skip the dvd's special features, as one of them is a very funny video diary told from the cat's POV.
Miyazaki is well-known for his curmudgeonly personality, but I was still a little shocked by how disparagingly he spoke of his friend/colleague Takahata at times, grumbling about how Takahata would never finish Princess Kaguya. Takahata is notorious for being a slow worker and missing deadlines due to his perfectionism, so the criticism was not unfounded, but I was startled by how harshly Miyazaki stated it.
But Miyazaki also shows his softer side in the film: he regularly opens up the studio to visits from children who attend a nearby school, and seems to be very kind and patient with them. He also has a statue of a sheep displayed in the studio that he said was from the Heidi, Girl of the Alps anime, which he brought home because he felt sorry for it being locked up in storage. So he's an interesting combination of grumpy old man and old softie.
I also watched a couple of documentaries on The Doors, but I'll save those for tomorrow's post.
To Be Takei: a documentary about George Takei, focusing on his life, his career, and his relationship with manager/husband Brad. It also covers the creation of a musical based on his childhood in the internment camps during WWII. There are a few brief appearances by former Star Trek co-stars like Walter Koenig and Nichelle Nichols, who are still friendly with Takei, and William Shatner, who most decidedly is not. It's mostly funny and entertaining, but are there are also serious moments, as when Takei talks about the internment camps and his regrets over some harsh things he said to his father regarding that time.
The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness: a documentary about Studio Ghibli--definitely a must-see for any Hayao Miyazaki/Studio Ghibli fan. The documentary follows Miyazaki, director Isao Takahata, and producer Toshio Suzuki for one year, during the time that the studio was rushing to finish The Wind Rises and The Tale of the Princess Kaguya. Miyazaki and Takahata are both famous directors, of course, but up until now, I didn't know much about Suzuki, who seems to be the glue holding the studio together--the one who has to deal with all the business details, scheduling problems, and missed deadlines.
There are lots of fascinating behind-the scenes details of the production of the two movies, and a brief interview with Goro Miyazaki. I really would have liked to have seen more of him, and heard more about what it's like to bear the burden of being Miyazaki's son.
One interesting and amusing thing we find out is that Miyazaki has a pet cat that looks just like Muta from Whisper of the Heart and The Cat Returns! Don't skip the dvd's special features, as one of them is a very funny video diary told from the cat's POV.
Miyazaki is well-known for his curmudgeonly personality, but I was still a little shocked by how disparagingly he spoke of his friend/colleague Takahata at times, grumbling about how Takahata would never finish Princess Kaguya. Takahata is notorious for being a slow worker and missing deadlines due to his perfectionism, so the criticism was not unfounded, but I was startled by how harshly Miyazaki stated it.
But Miyazaki also shows his softer side in the film: he regularly opens up the studio to visits from children who attend a nearby school, and seems to be very kind and patient with them. He also has a statue of a sheep displayed in the studio that he said was from the Heidi, Girl of the Alps anime, which he brought home because he felt sorry for it being locked up in storage. So he's an interesting combination of grumpy old man and old softie.
I also watched a couple of documentaries on The Doors, but I'll save those for tomorrow's post.
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