Do we continue with the film club?

I just wanted to check if there’s still interest to continue with the film club. I hugely appreciate the handful of regulars who have kept the discussion going, but it’s still been pretty quiet here, especially on the non-Kurosawa months.

I know that I myself have been terribly AWOL these past months, as life just keeps getting in the way of things and the little time I have had for the website has gone with security updates and dealing with the spam bots.

But if there’s still interest, I’m happy to set up some films. I had originally planned to continue with a Dodesukaden themed set that would include some Kore-eda, Kaurismäki and Kurosawa’s 1971 Song of the Horse which we have never discussed (but which you would need to purchase as it’s not really widely available). That would be followed by the samurai films Seven Samurai, Yojimbo and Sanjuro, with some films related to them (Fencing Master, Hara-kiri, Django, Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo).

Of course, if non-Kurosawa films don’t interest you, we could also schedule just Kurosawa films.

I’m one of those who has made just a few short contributions to the discussions.
I’m glad there are people here that have more knowledge than me, and are much better writers.

Nevertheless, I’m watching every month’s film. The film club gives me a good reason to watch all the Kurosawa films again, and I’m spending some time also reading about the film in advance. I find the information mainly in my collection of Kurosawa books, and in previous and recent posts on this website. I think it’s also interesting to watch and read about the non-Kurosawa films.

I hope more people will join the discussions, and that the handful of regulars continue to contribute.

I too hope the club continues, but to make it worthwhile we really need more people to contribute.

Fortinbras (and others), don’t worry about writing well. Just say what’s on your mind. Did you like the film? Why or why not? Was it a good story? Was the acting convincing? How about the music? Did you disagree with any of the comments in your Kurosawa books? Were there ideas or themes in the film that particularly appealed to you? Or offended you? Etc., Etc.

As for future films, I much prefer the Kurosawa works. I don’t object to others but I probably wouldn’t watch or comment on them as often as the Kurosawa films.

I agree with what njean says. I prefer Kurosawa films and most likely won’t be commenting on other movies. I am very interested in what others have to say, so if you have any thoughts, please contribute.

Oh, please do continue with it. As always I seem to be a bit behind the curve, it always seems to be the last week when I finally get to see the film. But even if I can’t think of much new to say on one I’m always interested what others say, and your introductions are always terrific.

I have participated in a few discussions, but not as much as I would like to. Having said that I always read the comments of others and truly enjoy the depth of analysis. I would love to see the film club continue, but I can understand if we went to something more free form, or allowed for two months per film.

Thanks guys, I’m glad to hear that there’s still interest. I really enjoy reading your responses to the films, even if I haven’t been able to participate recently beyond the introductory posts.

Still, with the number of active participants so low, and with njean and chomei not all that interested in non-Kurosawa films, I think it would make sense to schedule just Kurosawa films for now.

As we’ve never watched Kurosawa’s films in groups of overall genres (I think), let’s now dive into the samurai films and see if that might also attract more people interested in participating in the discussions.

I shall nominate July as a rest period, after which we’ll have:

August: Rashomon
September: Seven Samurai
October: The Hidden Fortress
November: Yojimbo
December: Sanjuro
January: Ran

We’ll skip Throne of Blood and Kagemusha since we had those just recently. I also didn’t include period films that aren’t really samurai films; we can watch those as part of other types of groupings.

I lament that I have not been able to participate in the discussions as I had hoped but I have enjoyed reading the discussions over the last months and I’m glad to see the Film Club continue. I hope to restore my motivation to participate with this new group of films. I have been looking for excuses to revisit the greatest hits.

I’ve not contributed yet either but intend to do so… 😉

Although this topic is old, the issue is not. I strongly support the idea that the club should continue. My own contributions have dropped off for a number of reasons, including social activism and personal difficulties, but I hope to contribute more in the future. This is a unique resource.

chimin’ in. . . i’d like to see the film club continue as well.

perhaps the non-kurosawa films featured in the club should be related to kurosawa? for example, remakes of his films, or films involving cast and crew who’ve worked with kurosawa, or films about kurosawa.