The Irish Arts Center in New York City, recently finished their limited engagement of Pat Kinevane’s one man show, “Forgotten”. This play is an eye opening look into what elderly people face in their twilight years. Kinevane wanders to the stage, wearing black-red kimono and only a pair of ripped pants beneath. We get a glimpse into the lives for the four characters, who reside in various nursing homes.
Kinevane weaves between each character’s personalities from Flor’s gruffness, to Dora’s prim ‘n’ proper gossip, right down to Eucharia’s make up tips. Rather than just performing for an audience, Kinevane “participates” with the audience by sitting next to an audience member and addressing them by their name, while he is “in-character”. The most unusual, yet heartbreaking portrayal was the character of Gustus. Kinevane sits in a chair, with his back towards the audience. A face mask is put on backwards on his head. The dialog was spoken through from a voice over. Kinevane provided the odd movements and gestures which are familiar with stroke victims. Gustus recalls his strained relationship with his daughter, always wondering why she never bothered to visit him. It was revealed when Gustus discovered his daughter was pre-occupied with a less than desirable profession that kept her from visiting.
While the dialog is steeped in traditional Irish storytelling, Kinevane weaves between characters with graceful movements adapted from Japanese Kabuki Theater. He used this Asian theater genre to give the elderly people not only a voice, but the grace and dignity they deserve.
It should be noted Kinevane and the Irish Arts Center hosted a panel discussion with health and elder care professionals on opening night in February.
Here is Kinevane explaining his use of Kabuki and what he hopes the viewer can understand from watching , “Forgotten”.
* My sincerest thanks to The Irish Arts Center, Chris Cullen, Karen Greco and most of all, Pat Kinevane, for making this interview possible.
Do you remember when you first met your best friend from childhood? Mai Mai Miracle is such an anime. Adapted from Nobuko Takagi’s autobiography, the film is a slice of life from post-war Japan. Shinko, a feisty tomboy, always imagined what life was like for her rural town of Suo, Yamagata Prefecture in ancient times. Her grandfather always tell her stories of Japanese royalty, wars and iron making in their town.
A transfer student from Tokyo, Kiiko, moves into Suo. She is every bit a princess from Tokyo: fashionable, polite, shy and clean cut. Kiiko is very much alone in her new surroundings and feels very much out of place. Shinko, ever the curious one, follows Kiiko home from school one day, just to see what kind of house Kiiko’s family lives in. Shinko also finds out that Kiiko recently lost her mother. Kiiko’s father is a doctor, so she is often alone.
Being the good friend that she is, Shinko decided to bring Kiiko into her world of friends, family and imagination. Upon Kiiko’s first meeting with Shinko’s family, Kiiko brought a box a chocolate candy in shapes of little bottles. However, Kiiko didn’t know these little chocolate bottles were filled with whiskey! So there was Shinko, Kiiko and Shinko’s little sister getting smashed by the time Shinko’s mother arrived. I can imagine certain parents in the audience may be up in arms about this scene, but I have to say the intention was a very innocent one. Needless to say, this is a beginning of a beautiful friendship.
Shinko and Kiiko often imagine the life of a princess named, Nagiko Kiyohara, who lived in Suo 1,000 years ago. Nagiko Kiyohara’s story sort of runs parallel to Kiiko’s: a well-to-do young girl who is longing for a friend. The film’s plot is interspersed with Sei Shōnagon’s, The Pillow Book.
The film does get confusing for me at times. Perhaps it could be the fact I am not familiar with The Pillow Book. I enjoyed the film nevertheless. It may not be everyone’s cup of tea. Since this is a slice-of-life story, don’t expect action or drama.
There were two young girls sitting next to me, sharing a thermos of hot drinks and cookies together throughout the film. One of the girls admitted to me she actually shed a few tears towards the end. I guess it reminded of her what it was like meeting her best friend for the first time.
Go see this film with your best friend when you can.
Ever wondered what happens to your toys and belongings that became discarded? Production I.G.‘s 3-D animated effort, Oblivion Island, shows you in-animate objects all have souls and a life of their own. Our heroine, Haruka, was just a little girl when her mother gave her a mirror as a gift. Unfortunately, Haruka’s mother passed away shortly thereafter. Haruka and her father moved away, packing along with all the memories from childhood (including her mother’s mirror) stashed away. Haruka just wants to get on with her life as a teenager.
Where do all the discarded belongings go? They get snatched away by Kitsune, a Japanese folklore legend of a magical and intelligent fox. Haruka made a fateful enchounter with a Kitsune named, Téo. She gets sucked into the world of the Kitsune, with no way out. She also finds out just what happens to all the junk that was discarded by humans: these magical foxes use all the junk create an island shanty-town of their own.
Now I wasn’t too impressed with the movie up until this point. I’m too keen on the 3-D art work from the beginning. Boy, was I wrong by the time Haruka lands on Oblivion Island!
Don’t believe me? Check out this screen shot.
Image from AnimeAlmanac.com
The creativeness of Oblivion Island is ASTOUNDING. Whatever doubts I had about the hokey 3-D artwork were erased from this point forward.
The friendship between Haruka and Téo is very touching. Little Téo is considered as a runt among other Kitsunes and is often harassed by a trio of gangsters. He reluctantly helped Haruka to find her mother’s mirror, who is now in the hands of the wicked Baron, who oversees the Kitusne’s world. The Baron also blackmailed Téo to trap Haruka, so she can become his personal slave. Didn’t the Baron know not to mess with small people?
There are some spectacular action moments, along with some touching, tear jerking moments.
The lesson learned from Oblivion Island: never take your belongings and memories for granted.
Summer Wars is about a boy and a girl heading off to the countryside to celebrate her grandmother’s 90th birthday. The girl, Natsuki, is spoiled and comes from a big samurai clan family. The boy on the other hand, Kenji, is your anime typical awkward geek who happens to be a math genius. Natsuki literally imposed the idea of making Kenji pretending to be her boyfriend so her granny, Sakae, won’t be worried about her becoming a spinster. Poor little Kenji is home alone most of the time, with both of his parents at work. Seeing Kenji being dragged into Natsuki’s big samurai clan family make a case for an interesting family dynamic study. You can’t help but feel a bit sorry for Kenji for feeling left out in a large family setting.
Like all families, there’s always a Black Sheep. Natsuki’s beloved uncle, Wabisuke, is actually an illegitimate son of Natsuki’s late grandfather. Despite this, Natsuki’s grandmother took Wabisuke as one of her own. The relationship between Wabisuke and Sakae became estranged as time went on. Wabisuke is generally not welcomed by the rest of the family, since he does not follow the clan’s bloodline. However, Wabisuke became a very successful IT entrepreneur, using the money Sakae gave to start his own comapany.
Like all of us these days, all the members of the film belong to an online social media world. The online world of OZ was visually represented like the Super Flat artworks from Takashi Murakami.
Here’s a screen shot of OZ and you’ll see what I mean.
Image from Gyabbo.Wordpress.Com
Kenji’s OZ got hacked one night. All of Japan’s internet/communication infrastructure were sent into a tailspin. To make matters worse, the hacker used a picture of Kenji, which implicated Kenji is now a key suspect. To prove his innocence, Kenji, along with Natsuki’s otaku cousin, Kazuma, infiltrated the world of OZ to find the culrpit: a powerful A.I. avatar by the of Love Machine, which was developed by Wabisuke! A brilliant boy math genius and an awesome otaku online gamer proved to be no match for the Love Machine. Wabisuke redeemed himself by helping the boys to defeat Love Machine’s plan to crash a satellite on earth. However, boys can’t fight the battles just by themselves. Enter our girl, Natsuki, who happens to be a wiz when it comes to the ancient card game of Hanafuda. It turns out that granny Sakae taught all her children to play this game. The boys created an ingenious online game of Hanafuda: pitting a match between The Love Machine and Natsuki to save the world.
So, what have we learned from all this?
Sounds like Family Values to me!
But don’t take my word for it! Audience member and mother, Lorraine Ratchford, gave us her two pennies of the film.
I don’t care if you have kids or not, but you really should check out the New York International Children’s Film Festival. It’s fun for the whole family, as well as adults who are kids at heart. The Opening Night festivities featured Mamoru Hosoda’s, “Summer Wars“, followed by a Q&A session with Hosoda and a reception for everyone. The day began with a massive snow storm in the NYC metro area, but that didn’t stop the NYICFF’s staff and film goers from attending the opening night.
Eric Beckman is the director of the New York International Children’s Film Festival. Here he is giving us a breakdown of this year’s festival.
The star of the evening was Mr. Mamoru Hosoda. He directed anime movies for Digimon, One Piece and The Girl Who Leapt Through Time. Mr. Hosoda took time for a Q&A session, taking questions from kids and adults alike. Honestly, I think the kids asked better questions than the adults!
Hosoda-san was more than gracious in taking the time signing autographs for kids as well. Here he is drawing a figure on a ticket stub for a young girl.
The fun doesn’t stop there. Here is Hosoda-san drawing on a paper plate for three boys from the audience!
You can also check out NYICFF’s Opening Night festivities in this Gallery.
NYICFF – Opening Night
NYICFF – Summer Wars Review
NYICFF – Oblivion Island Review
NYICFF – Mai Mai Miracle Review
It just so happens Chinese New Year falls on the same day as Valentines Day this year. I was waiting on line at a grocer’s cashier when I over heard a polite cashier asking his costumer either she preferred single or double bags for her groceries.
The lady exclaimed, “DON’T EVER SAY SINGLE! USE ANOTHER TERM! I don’t like being SINGLE!”
Now THAT annoyed me to no end. I looked at her and replied, “PUH-LEEZE! There are things in life that are MUCH worse than being just single in this day in age.”
Perhaps being a whiney ass bitch doesn’t help the fact that she is STILL single.
You know what I say? FUCK VALENTINE’S DAY! Chinese New Year is where it’s at!
Being single plays a MAJOR advantage when it comes to Chinese New Year.
Here are some comparisons of the two holidays:
Valentine’s Day – You hope to get a box of chocolates, a bouquet of flowers or a nice dinner from that special someone you hope to snag.
Chinese New Year – As long as you are single, you are the recipient of the Lucky Red Envelopes filed with money.
Valentine’s Day – You get the anxiety of being the only one without a date, therefore dining alone is a real nightmare.
Chinese New Year – What? You have nowhere to go? If you have any Chinese friends (provided that you are cool/nice person), they will most likely invite you to join them for their festivities.
Valentine’s Day - It only lasts for JUST One Day.
Chinese New Year – It’s not just one day. It is a festival that lasts for FIFTEEN days!
Valentine’s Day – A wonderful day to be married.
Chinese New Year – An excellent time to get married. However, you’ll end up being broke before you know it. According to traditional customs, married couples are the ones who have shell out money in the Lucky Red Envelopes to un-married folks, children and the elderly. BTW, it is considered to be rude and bad luck for a single person to refuse a red envelope.
See? It’s cool to be a single person after all!
Only SINGLE (and the elderly) people get money on Chinese New Year!
