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FILM REVIEW: KURONEKO

Kitty litter

By John Esther

Set in medieval Japan, Kuroneko (Black Cat) opens up with a scene of blunt realism. A gang of samurai come upon a house in the countryside. Without hesitation they drink from the land's water before going straight through the front door and into two unsuspecting women.

For a prolonged amount of time, Yone (Nobuko Otowa) and her daughter-in-law, Shige (Kiwako Taichi), are repeatedly raped before being burnt to death by the samurai.

When the smoke clears a black cat appears. A messenger from beyond.

After telling it like it is for a brief moment, director Kaneto Shindo (Naked Island) spins the harsh realism of the opening scene into a Gothic fantasy where women come back from the dead, take the forms of cat, ghost and women, plus any combination thereof, and wreak vengeance on the their killers.

Sworn to drink the blood of samurai, Shige wanders around Rajomon Gate waiting for a samurai escort to see her home. Yone waits at home with wine. As the two blood sisters lure one violent, drunk samurai after another into the cats' den of death, the whole town seems to know about the murdered samurai, including the powerful yet stupid, Raiko Minamoto (Kei Sato), who cannot figure out how to kill the new assassins in town.

Unfortunately for Yone and Shige, their grandiose plan runs into snag when Yone's son and Shige's husband, Gintoki (Kichiemon Nakamura), returns. Once a simple farm boy, Gintoki is now a mighty samurai whose latest assignment is to kill the demons haunting Rajomon Gate.

What is a bloodthirsty assassin/faithful wife and loving mother to do? Make even a more scary deal with the netherworld.

Originally released in 1968, Kuroneko is currently circulating various Landmark Theatres around the country in a new 35mm print. Occasionally showcasing some interesting visuals -- often with the women or white clothes floating in the air, because of the film's look and feel, it has developed a sort of cult status and will be greeted voraciously by those who like their films politically reactionary.

When women are raped, beaten and burned to death there are no opportunities whatsoever for them to come back and kill their killers. They decay away into history and it is only the living who can do something about injustice (although murder is final and cannot be undone). To entertain otherwise seems downright insulting to the victims of war who have been raped and killed.

Then there the linking of women to cats. This sexist stereotype may have been kitschy keen in the era of Kuroneko, but it now just comes off as silly, if not exacerbating.

Perhaps on a less serious note, this will not do anything for the reputation of the much-maligned black cat. Absurdly associated with bad luck, black cats are often the last cats adopted out of shelters because of superstitious cultural stereotypes. There are also the ones most likely to be abused.

Artistically justified for its look, plus its references to Japanese Folklore and Noh theater, Kuroneko wants to be a treatise on anti-war and women, but it blunts its attack by entertaining notions of fantastical visions of vengeance.

If I want to see a great story about a black cat taking down a violent drunk man for the sake of a murdered woman, I will pick up Edgar Allen Poe's The Black Cat. Pluto!

A scene from For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow Is Enuf.

Shades of life

By Aja Davis

In Ntozake Shange's For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow Is Enuf seven African-American dancers, all dressed in a different color, alternate their roles in the spotlight, maintaining a driving support system, a shoulder to lean on for one another. All the women are going through life altering experiences, some of which are very prevalent today. Shange’s goal was to reach audiences with these issues especially in the African-American community. There is no question that writer-director Tyler Perry executed this very well. Each actor was chosen to play out a scene, whether large or small and did it as if it was their own very real life. Everyone stroked a cord with every emotion. The acting is far from what we are use to seeing with Perry’s plays. Loyal Perry fans will appreciate that he used his trademark way of touching on moral issues but staying away from his over the top touches of humor.

Oscar worthy performances of the torn mother and daughter relationship between Thandie Newton’s sex addicted and Whoopi Goldberg’s over religious characters will not disappoint audiences. Macy Gray’s adaptation of a gritty back alley abortionist is a small cameo but will have young women think twice before having unprotected sex. Janet Jackson’s high powered character is knocked down from her high horse after receiving an unwanted gift from her husband. Kimberly Elise’s character has to deal with the struggles of supporting her family while dealing with abuse from her children’s father, a veteran left psychologically unfit after the war. These characters along with the others are all woman that many of us can relate to. You know all or some of these women, some of which are in your family, a friend, a co-worker, a boss or even a neighbor.

The only drawback that I saw with the movie was the editing. There were scenes that could have been drawn out more. You were left hanging on to the last word and then it cuts to a new scene. My mind often wondered, “What happened after that?” “I want to see more.” “Wait, go back!”

The movie wraps up with all of the women coming together and declaring that they will not let there terrible experiences defeat them. I can truly appreciate Perry for doing this film and bringing awareness to young and older woman today who may feel trapped and believe that there is no other way than suicide to end it all. I truly believe that this will motivate many to take control of her or his destiny.

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There is no missing misogyny in Quest of Honor.

Shame and blame

By John Esther

While four women are killed everyday in the United States due to domestic abuse, in countries such as Iraq, Turkey, Jordan and Iran there is a dis-stink-t rise in dishonorable "honor killings."

Often a price to be paid for the alleged transgressions of female sexuality, or to pay the price for some act committed by a male member of the family, or because of some false accusation by someone in the community, young daughters, sisters, mothers and wives too often pay the ultimate price to preserve some so-called family honor. While one is inclined to laugh at such stupidity, reality is too grossly unjust and usually neither swift or painless, either, to even garner a smile.

Fighting years of tribal mentality, the laws of Iraq's Kurdish Regional Government demands it end the sacrificial ritual, but with little sincerity and less effect. To assist the powers that allow the female populace to bleed to death, The Woman's Media Center of Suleymaniyah, Iraq, provides aid -- often at the considerable personal expense of the women involved -- by pushing the buttons of justice.

As the 64-documentary weaves between positive action and gross ignorance/indifference, filmmaker Mary Ann Smothers Bruni paints a picture of a few women (most women here play a part in their own subordination) fighting against an uncultured culture where females remain second class citizens, whose lives mean nothing if they do not serve patriarchy.

Engaging, and sometimes so enraging one considers sticking his or her hands through the screen and choking some of these misogynistic idiots, Quest of Honor is not for the timid, but rather for the indifferent as well as the committed.

Little props for big decisions at 12th & Delaware.

Living with the lies

By Miranda Inganni

"That's what abortions are for, to stop unwanted pregnancies. And this is an unwanted pregnancy," -- A 24-year-old mother of two in 12th & Delaware.

Thirty-seven years after Roe v. Wade became the law of the land, anti-choice movements are more prevalent, with a woman's right to choose what she wants to do with her own body now under attack more than ever since the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision.

A perfect example of the warring reproductive rights conflict is the intersection at 12th Street and Delaware Avenue in Fort Pierce, Florida, where across the street from the A Woman's World abortion clinic resides a Pregnancy Care Center, an anti-choice outpost where unsuspecting women looking for abortion counseling and care meet people trying to convince you to keep the child.

As the director of the Pregnancy Care Center, Anne C. Lotierzo -- a woman with no children of her own -- spends time counseling pregnant girls and women. Frequently using gruesome images, deceptive tactics and flat out lies (there is no link between abortion and breast cancer!), Lotierzo lays the anti-choice rhetoric on pretty think, but it's the free ultrasounds the center provides that are the most persuasive argument the center has for these girls and women to see their pregnancies through birth. When a woman sees an image(s) of her child's heart beating "Hi Mommy," a decision to abort the abortion sometimes becomes less difficult.

Across the street at A Woman's World, Candace Dye and her husband, Arnold, run the clinic, doing everything in their power to inform and protect their clients, as well as the doctors they shuttle to and fro the clinic. Shrouded in sheets, the doctors with whom Candace and Arnold work with are brought in at great risk to all involved.

Outside A Woman's World, the small, but mighty (or at least loud) crowd that seems to be constantly protesting the clinic, go to great lengths to make their intentions known. An old religious lady yells at everyone going inside A Woman's World. Then there is the group of young Latinos offering goods and money to young Latinas changing their mind. One misogynistic muscular male goes so far as to follow Arnold in yellow muscle car to the location where he and the doctor, who the protester refers to as "the killer," meet up, thereby putting that very doctor's anonymity and life at risk. "I know people," he warns.

It is abundantly clear that both groups are passionate about the work they do. The main difference is that Lotierzo comes across as a religious fanatic, hellbent on winning at any cost whereas Candace and Arnold seem truly concerned about the women they treat. Lotierzo gloats about her "successes" and prides herself on her modus operandi for convincing women, sometimes as young as 15 years old, to keep their unborn child. Over at A Woman's World, with no pressure and the facts in hand, Candace makes sure the needs of her patients are met. "Abortions are never wanted," Candace tells her patients.

Shot over two years and edited down to a tidy 80 minutes, co-directed by Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grad -- the team behind the Oscar-nominated documentary, Jesus Camp -- 12th & Delaware spends the majority of its time focusing on the Pregnancy Care Center and, true to form, their supporters who are both vocal and vigilant. For better or worse, A Woman's World receives far less attention.

Perhaps most surprisingly is that neither the center nor the clinic discusses adoption as an option. And that omission is indicative of how this HBO documentary fails to address an issue consuming much of America. (Europe is pretty much done discussing the validity of a woman's right to choose.) The documentary's narrative stresses the singlemindedness of and victory for each side and less about the the lives affected.

However, one thing remains perfectly clear at the end, with more than 4000 pro-life clinics and 816 abortion clinics in the United States, it's clear where America's money and mindset is blowing.

Julia Voth, America Olivo and Erin Cummings Bitch Slap the male gaze.

The down and devious sexuality of Erin Cummings, America Olivo and Julia Voth

By John Esther

Backhanding one of the most misogynist colloquialisms in feminist times, co-writer/director Rick Jacobson’s Bitch Slap picks inspiration from such knuckleheaded flicks as Faster Pussycat, Kill, Kill to Kill Bill and high-fives the sky in dis-order to point-well-taken out (of context) the fem-male gazing that simultaneously, conversely and often irreducibly arches women back on all fours into submission.

At its American-made puritanical hardcore, Bitch Slap follows three women Hel-bent and heave-nly sent to track down-low and into the Mojo-ave des(s)ert the treasures of a criminal as cunning and elusive as Keyser Söze.

Hel is her-apparent leader of the three, keeping her mind, eyes and hands on and off Camero, a foul-mouthed angry woman, and the angelic Trixie, a stripper with a streak-ing for decency. As beauty, breasts, blood, and bodies boil over the big screen, betrayal and the bad-est-rogen levels of betrayal bloom and burst. Why cannot these ladies just end their disputes with a game of strip poker in a sauna? Well as matter of fact. . .

In many ways -- as they freely admit and assume -- in real life the three women playing Hel, Trixie and Camero reflect their Bitch Slap roles.

A writer, too, the actor Erin Cummings (Dante’s Cove), who plays Hel, is seen as seen as the intellectual of the three, while model-turned-actor Julia Voth (The Phone), who plays Trixie, is considered the prettiest of the three, and actor America Olivo (Friday the 13th 2009), maintains an edginess just beneath her thin skin.

In this exclusive interview I caught up to Voth and Olivo at a West Hollywood hangout where Cummings joined us via Olivo’s computer.

JEsther Entertainment: How did the three of you get involved in Bitch Slap?
Erin Cummings: The traditional way. My agent said I had an audition for Bitch Slap. Seriously, I told him to go fuck himself. I imagined it would be a super low-budget film with a terrible script and a bunch of young girls prancing around naked, which was a different road I wanted to travel as an actor. But, because the writer’s strike was going on, there was not a whole lot going on, so I read the part where Hel conjures up a story for Deputy Fuchs (Ron Melendez). And I thought it was so well written, so intelligent, that a woman would conjure up this story out of nowhere. So I read more. Then I found out the meeting for the film was in Chatsworth, porn capital of the world, and I was, “Okay, what’s this about.” So the first thing I said when I walked in the door was, “Just so you know, I have this friend. If I don’t call him in 15 minutes, he’s calling the cops over here.” [Laughs.].
America Olivos: Erin and I were like, “It’s in Chatsworth. It’s called Bitch Slap. No way.” But Julia says she was always like, “Sign me up.” [Laughs.]
Julia Voth: Maybe I share my character’s naiveté. I was really new to the whole auditioning process.

JE: There is the debate Camero and Trixie have in the film about sexuality, stripping and female empowerment. How do you feel about that argument?
JV: I can say that in the dancing I had in the movie I felt empowered. I felt so sexy. I felt there was nothing that could touch me. I was on top of the world. I’m here in my angel wings and 8-inch heels; I’m going to rock it! As long as you are true to yourself then do whatever you want to do. If you need to strip to feed your family or work your way through school, I say, “Do it!” And I will give you money to do it.
EC: Chances are I will be there as well.
JV: [Laughs.] I absolutely agree with what Trixie says in the movie. She is in power. We all do it in some form in our lives, don’t we? We might do a little something racy in a movie. When we go to a club dressed sexy it’s not for someone else, it’s for us. It’s to make us feel beautiful. “This is who I am.”

JE: Where is the crossing point between female empowerment and exploitation?
JV: Tough question. We need a smart person to answer this right now. Erin?
AO: Duh, I don’t know.

JE: Perfect, America. That is answer. I am not going to put Erin’s response in the article. I am going to use yours to reinforce the stereotype of pretty, vacant women.
EC: [Laughs.] Here’s the thing. Even if none of us are nude in the film, it’s one of those things that people equate when you expose yourself physically – the three of us were running around with very little clothing, the film opens with our cleavage – that the body parts you’re showing -- as being exploited. If all you’re being seen as is a pair of tits or a nice ass, then, yes, that’s exploiting you as a woman. But if you’re shown as a full-rounded character, that also happens to have a nice rack, then that’s not exploiting. That’s using what you were given to help tell the story.
AO: I have felt more stereotyped and pigeonholed reading some sitcoms. I’ve turned down roles where I’ve been asked to do much less than I was in Bitch Slap because I felt disgusted. And I’ve been absolutely butt-naked in many a photo shoot where I’ve felt free and wonderful. As Trixie says in the move, "It’s not about what you’re showing; it’s about how you’re being portrayed." If I had to be butch-y and strap it away, that would make me angry. I can be feminine, sexy and strong. Being intelligent doesn’t mean you can’t have a really nice rack, hot legs, and awesome ass like Erin. [Laughs.]
JV: She has a great ass.

JE: The film also asserts women can be just as violent as men. Do you agree? If so, what examples can you give us?
AO: The reason why women are probably not encouraged to fight in many cultures is that we would fight very mean. [Laughs.] We fight dirty. Any schoolyard fight I had it was about pulling hair and earrings out.
JV: Women are strong. We have babies, for Christ sakes.
EC: Women are so much more vindictive then men are. The story is so common where men will get into a fight in a locker room or bar and that’s where they’ll meet and become best friends. That does not happen with women. A woman gets crossed and she will never forgive you. She may pretend to forgive you but she will never forget what you did...The film’s stunt coordinator, Zoe Bell (Kill Bill, Grindhouse), came up with these ideas that a man just probably wouldn’t do. Camero is sitting on top of Hel’s face punching her and Hel just reaches up and bites Camero’s crotch. I don’t think a man would have thought of that whereas a woman would go, “Just get down and dirty. Bite her pussy. Go for it!” or “Grab her titty with your nails.” Because Zoe is a woman she was able to push our fight scenes much further than a man would have – or I would have felt comfortable doing.
AO: I may have questioned some of things she asked us to do if a man had presented it, because I do have reservations about being that physically capable. Seeing a woman do that I didn’t question that. I love that Zoe led by example. She made me so much stronger.

A much longer version of this interview ran in the May 2009 issue of Lesbian News Magazine. www.lesbiannews.com

By John Esther

Sisters, as well as mothers, daughters, aunts, nieces and other women, plus three guys, got together to discuss the condition of contemporary cinema for for the treated-unfairer sex this week over breakfast.

Hosted by Glamour Magazine and Suave at the Simon LA restaurant (good fruit) located in the Sofitel Hotel in Beverly Hills, talks focused around the filmmakers behind the lenses of the short film series - Glamour Reel Moments.

On hand were Kirsten "Kiwi" Smith (Legally Blonde; House Bunny); Leslie Russo, Glamour Executive Producer; Francesca Silvestri, Producer, Freestyle; and Jean Lee, Associate Brand Manager, Unilever.

The conversations between the panelists and the attendees were healthy; aspiring female filmmakers heard firsthand what it takes to make it in Hollywood as a woman: luck, perseverence and, most importantly, a completed script (not just a plan for one).

Short films in the series can currently be viewed at http://www.glamalert.com/reelmoments

FILM REVIEW: KURONEKO

FILM REVIEW: FOR COLORED GIRLS WHO HAVE CONSIDERED SUICIDE

FILM REVIEW: QUEST FOR HONOR

FILM REVIEW: 12TH & DELAWARE

INTERVIEW: BITCH SLAP WOMEN

REEL MOMENTS FOR GLAMOUR-OUS FILMMAKERS