Another week, another mood board.
This week, I saw the Japanese film Nobody Knows. Here's the plot summary from the official website (needs Flash):
"Four siblings live happily with their mother in a small apartment in Tokyo. The children all have different fathers. They have never been to school. The very existence of three of them has been hidden from the landlord. One day, the mother leaves behind a little money and a note, asking her 12-year-old boy to look after the others. And so begins the children’s odyssey, a journey nobody knows."
And it's "based on a true story".
I liked this film. It cast an unflinching eye on the realities of the childrens' situation, without descending into pathos or pity. There was a certain aura of gentleness about it and about the way the siblings stuck together and cared for each other. The character portrayals were all very geniune, and didn't descend into that sappy plucky cuteness that seems to permeate kids' roles in Hollywood (the film's young star Yuya Yagira, who played the eldest boy, won the Best Actor prize at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival).
It wasn't until after I saw the movie that I learned that its director, Hirokazu Koreeda, also did the film After Life, which I saw a few years ago. While I thought that was a very lovely, meditative film, I found it really dragged in spots. I'm glad to see that Koreeda has learned to pick up the pace a bit while still keeping that gentle quality.
Tunage consumption this week was dominated by listening to some old stuff from The Sundays, featuring the vocal work of Harriet Wheeler. Damn, that woman has an amazing voice. I previously blogged about The Sundays here. Keeners may also want to check out this unofficial website dedicated to the group.
Also getting some heavy play in WinAmp this week was this electronic mix, which starts out all Richie Hawtin-esque, then gets a little more retro, with some acid breaks thrown in about halfway through. I particularly found myself repeating the segment starting at about the 26-minute-mark, when the song "Do you like acid?" by Swedish DJ Cari Lekebusch kicks in. I have to thank Dirty Radio for introducing me to this wickedly addictive tune, which unfortunately only seems to be available for purchase as a slab of 12-inch vinyl out of Germany.
Not much else to report, as the rest of the week was taken up with the usual jobhunt goo, and lots of meaningless websurfing. (Thanks to the ever-enjoyable toothpastefordinner for the drawing of the guy at the computer, and to gapingvoid for the scribbled bit.)