Download or read book The Gangster and the Samurai written by Katsura and published by CreateSpace. This book was released on 2014-01-27 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fate is a fickle thing, fortune a double edged sword. "Being born into wealth and privilege may be the dream of most, but a fat, friendless child with no company but his books will find that money brings no real comfort. I was such a child and came quickly to the conclusion that to endure the mundane is not compulsory when one can retreat to one's thoughts and live the life of a samurai. I chose my own path. An existence of honour and adventure which I shared with my beloved fellow warrior, Hyung. Even I, at times, thought him to be a figment of my imagination, so when he appeared as a flesh and blood man in the offices of the Yakuza organisation, the Tatakai-gumi, my world was turned upside down." Kanno Sakamoto is a renaissance man. Homosexual, archer, swordsman, gardener, chef, pianist, gangster and fantasist - here he tells his own story. A dark, often humorous and sometimes challenging tale of love, lust and murder which is not for the faint of heart.
Download or read book The Gangster Film Reader written by Alain Silver and published by Hal Leonard Corporation. This book was released on 2007 with total page 428 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the 1930s the gangster film in the United States coincided with a very real and very sensational gangsterism at large in American society. Little Caesar (1931), The Public Enemy (1931), and Scarface (1932) borrowed liberally from the newspapers and books of the era. With the release of just these three motion pictures in barely more than a year's time, Hollywood quintessentially defined the genre. The characters, the situations, and the icons-from fast cars and tommy-guns to fancy fedoras and fancier molls-established the audience expectations associated with the gangster film that remain in force to this day. As with their Film Noir Reader series, using both reprints of seminal articles and new pieces, editors Silver and Ursini have assembled a group of essays that presents an exhaustive overview of this still vital genre. Reprints of work by such well-known film historians as Robin Wood, Andrew Sarris, Carlos Clarens, Paul Schrader, and Stuart Kaminsky explore the evolution of the gangster film through the 1970s and The Godfather. Parts 2 and 3 comprise two dozen newer articles, most of them written expressly for this volume by Ursini and Silver. These case studies and thematic analyses, from White Heat to the remake of Scarface to "The Sopranos," complete the anthology.
Download or read book A Companion to the Gangster Film written by George S. Larke-Walsh and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2018-11-12 with total page 551 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A companion to the study of the gangster film’s international appeal spanning the Americas, Europe, and Asia A Companion to the Gangster Film presents a comprehensive overview of the newest scholarship on the contemporary gangster film genre as a global phenomenon. While gangster films are one of America’s most popular genres, gangster movies appear in every film industry across the world. With contributions from an international panel of experts, A Companion to the Gangster Film explores the popularity of gangster films across three major continents, the Americas, Europe, and Asia. The authors acknowledge the gangster genre’s popularity and examine the reasons supporting its appeal to twenty-first century audiences across the globe. The book examines common themes across all three continents such as production histories and reception, gender race and sexuality, mafia mythologies, and politics. In addition, the companion clearly shows that no national cinema develops in isolation and that cinema is a truly global popular art form. This important guide to the gangster film genre: Reveals how the gangster film engages in complex and contradictory themes Examines the changing face of the gangster film in America Explores the ideas of gangsterism and migration in the Hispanic USA, Latin America and the Caribbean Discusses the wide variety of gangster types to appear in European cinema Contains a review of a wide-range of gangster films from the Americans, Europe, and Asia Written for academics and students of film, A Companion to the Gangster Film offers a scholarly and authoritative guide exploring the various aspects and international appeal of the gangster film genre.
Download or read book Musui s Story written by Katsu Kokichi and published by University of Arizona Press. This book was released on 2023-02-21 with total page 202 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A series of picaresque adventures set against the backdrop of a Japan still closed off from the rest of the world, Musui's Story recounts the escapades of samurai Katsu Kokichi. As it depicts Katsu stealing, brawling, indulging in the pleasure quarters, and getting the better of authorities, it also provides a refreshing perspective on Japanese society, customs, economy, and human relationships. From childhood, Katsu was given to mischief. He ran away from home, once at thirteen, making his way as a beggar on the great trunk road between Edo and Kyoto, and again at twenty, posing as the emissary of a feudal lord. He eventually married and had children but never obtained official preferment and was forced to supplement a meager stipend by dealing in swords, selling protection to shopkeepers, and generally using his muscle and wits. Katsu's descriptions of loyalty and kindness, greed and deception, vanity and superstition offer an intimate view of daily life in nineteenth-century Japan unavailable in standard history books. Musui's Story will delight not only students of Japan's past but also general readers who will be entranced by Katsu's candor and boundless zest for life.
Download or read book The Dreams of Interpretation written by Catherine Liu and published by U of Minnesota Press. This book was released on with total page 407 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rethinking the importance of Sigmund Freud’s landmark book The Interpretation of Dreams a century after its publication in 1900, this work brings together psychoanalysts, philosophers, cultural theorists, film and visual theorists, and literary critics from several continents in a compilation of the best clinical and theoretical work being done in psychoanalysis today. It is unique in convening both theory and practice in productive dialogue, reflecting on the encounter between psychoanalysis and the tradition of hermeneutics. Collectively the essays argue that Freud’s legacy has shaped the way we think about not only psychology and the nature of the self but also our understanding of politics, culture, and even thought itself. Contributors: Willy Apollon, Gifric; Karyn Ball, U of Alberta, Edmonton; Raymond Bellour, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique; Patricia Gherovici, Philadelphia Lacan Study Group and Seminar; Judith Feher-Gurewich, New York U; Jonathan Kahana, New York U; A. Kiarina Kordela, Macalester College; Pablo Kovalovsky, Clinica de Borde; Jean Laplanche, U of Lausanne; Laura Marcus, U of Sussex; Andrew McNamara, Queensland U of Technology; Claire Nahon; Yun Peng, U of Minnesota; Gerard Pommier, Nantes U; Jean-Michel Rabat, Princeton U; Laurence A. Rickels, U of California, Santa Barbara; Avital Ronell, New York U; Elke Siegel, Yale U; Rei Terada, U of California, Irvine; Klaus Theweleit, U of Freiburg-im-Breisgau; Paul Verhaege, U of Ghent, Belgium; Silke-Maria Weineck, U of Michigan. Catherine Liu is associate professor of comparative literature and film and media studies at the University of California, Irvine. John Mowitt is professor and chair of cultural studies and comparative literature at the University of Minnesota. Thomas Pepper is associate professor of cultural studies and comparative literature at the University of Minnesota. Jakki Spicer received her Ph.D. in cultural studies and comparative literature from the University of Minnesota.
Download or read book Yakuza written by David E. Kaplan and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2003-02 with total page 438 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "A fascinating study of how criminal enterprise can infect the very heart of modern capitalism. Here is the backstage world of political influence and organized crime in the world's second largest economy... by far the most detailed and even-handed study of this important and neglected subject."—John W. Dower, author of Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II Reviews of original edition: "A superb study of Japan's underworld that is both entertaining and revealing. The authors miss none of the color and curious detail of the yakuza style, but at the same time go far beyond surface observations."—Far Eastern Economic Review "The book is laden with fascinating information, some of it heretofore unavailable in English."—Washington Post "Blend the Mafia with the Masons. Let them simmer a while, then fold in the Ku Klux Klan and you'll have the yakuza…. Important and timely…Yakuza will serve for years as the source document on Japanese organized crime."—San Jose Mercury News "State-of-the-art investigative reporting…must reading for those who consider themselves already highly conversant with yakuza activities…disturbing."—Journal of Asian Studies
Download or read book Tokyo Underworld written by Robert Whiting and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2000-09-26 with total page 402 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "A fascinating look at some fascinating people who show how democracy advances hand in hand with crime in Japan."--Mario Puzo In this unorthodox chronicle of the rise of Japan, Inc., Robert Whiting, author of You Gotta Have Wa, gives us a fresh perspective on the economic miracle and near disaster that is modern Japan. Through the eyes of Nick Zappetti, a former GI, former black marketer, failed professional wrestler, bungling diamond thief who turned himself into "the Mafia boss of Tokyo and the king of Rappongi," we meet the players and the losers in the high-stakes game of postwar finance, politics, and criminal corruption in which he thrived. Here's the story of the Imperial Hotel diamond robbers, who attempted (and may have accomplished) the biggest heist in Tokyo's history. Here is Rikidozan, the professional wrestler who almost single-handedly revived Japanese pride, but whose own ethnicity had to be kept secret. And here is the story of the intimate relationships shared by Japan's ruling party, its financial combines, its ruthless criminal gangs, the CIA, American Big Business, and perhaps at least one presidential relative. Here is the underside of postwar Japan, which is only now coming to light.
Download or read book Ozu written by Kathe Geist and published by Hong Kong University Press. This book was released on 2022-06-28 with total page 301 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Based on a close reading of Japanese director Yasujiro Ozu’s extant films, this book provides insights into the ways the director created narrative structures and used symbolism to construct meaning in his films. Against critics’ insistence that Ozu was indifferent to plot and unlikely to use symbols, Geist demonstrates otherwise, revealing the director’s subtle iconographic paradigms. Her incisive understanding of the historical and cultural context in which the films were conceived amplifies her analysis of the films’ structure and meaning. Ozu: A Closer Look guides the reader through Ozu’s early, silent films and his sound films made during Japan’s wars in Asia and the subsequent American Occupation, then takes up specific themes relevant to his later, better-known films. These themes include religion, gender, and the influence of traditional Japanese painting. Geist also examines the impact that Ozu’s films had on specific directors in Europe, America, and Japan. Intended for film scholars, students, and fans of the director, this book provides fresh insights into the director’s films and new challenges for those who study him. “Kathe Geist has woven an elegantly textured tapestry in this illuminating survey of Ozu’s films and their endless sense of pattern, rhythm, and cultural renewal. Melding form, narrative, iconography, and context, the book traces old and new patterns of meaning and critical debate.”—Alastair Phillips, University of Warwick; author of the BFI Film Classic on Tokyo Story (2022) “Ozu: A Closer Look provides one of the most comprehensive and meticulous analyses so far on Ozu Yasujiro. With her great attention to small textual details, along with intertextual and contextual comparisons, Geist achieves a significant reinterpretation of the director’s work, opening up new possibilities in future Ozu studies.”—Woojeong Joo, Nagoya University; author of The Cinema of Ozu Yasujiro: Histories of the Everyday
Download or read book The Samurai s Wife written by Laura Joh Rowland and published by Minotaur Books. This book was released on 2000-04-25 with total page 477 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A compelling murder mystery set in seventeenth-century Japan, filled with finely drawn characters and suspenseful plot twists, Laura Joh Rowland's The Samurai's Wife is a novel as complex, vivid, and artful as the glorious, lost world it portrays. Far from the Shogun's court at Edo, Most Honorable Investigator Sano Ichiro begins the most challenging case of his career. Upon the insistence of his strong-willed and beautiful wife Reiko, Sano arrives with her at the emperor's palace to unmask the murderer--who possesses the secret of kiai, "the spirit city," a powerful scream that can kill instantly. A high Kyoto official is the victim. Treading carefully through a web of spies, political intrigue, forbidden passions, and intricate plots, Sano and Reiko must struggle to stay ahead of the palace storm--and outwit a cunning killer. But as they soon discover, solving the case means more than their survival. For if they fail, Japan could be consumed in the bloodiest war it has ever seen...
Download or read book Japanese Film and the Floating Mind written by Justin Vicari and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2016-06-14 with total page 233 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Japanese film is enduringly fascinating, challenging and rewarding. This book provides a cultural, historical and philosophical study of Japanese film, from the silent era to the present-day, focusing on its expansive consciousness. The author examines masterpieces by Ozu, Mizoguchi, Oshima and many other directors, discussing their influence on the Japanese culture of esoteric Zen Buddhism and relating them to recent neuroscientific theories of brain trauma.
Download or read book Goddess of the Sun written by Elijah Stephens and published by Liquid Heaven Productions. This book was released on 2014-05-10 with total page 18 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Ancient Japan, a young man enters the Capital and goes head-to-head with the Yakuza to free the woman he loves.
Download or read book Screening the Mafia written by George S. Larke-Walsh and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2010-04-20 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The "post-classic" era of American gangster films began in 1967 with the release of Bonnie and Clyde, achieving a milestone five years later with the popular and highly influential The Godfather. This historical study explores the structure, myths and intertextual narratives found in the gangster films produced since The Godfather. The intense relationship between masculinity and ethnicity in the gangster film, especially within the movie-generated mythology of the Mafia, is carefully analyzed, and the book tracks the trends in the genre up to and including the landmark HBO television series The Sopranos (1999-2007). A selected filmography is included. Instructors considering this book for use in a course may request an examination copy here.
Download or read book The Wicked and the Damned A Hundred Tales of Karma Vol 3 written by Natsuhiko Kyogoku and published by Creek ＆ River Co., Ltd. This book was released on 2015-06-26 with total page 23 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Set in ancient Japan, Natsuhiko Kyogoku's chilling series interweaves tales of karma and retribution with supernatural tricksters and spirits. In The Flying Heads, when local authorities refuse to act, the Mendicant steps in to help the residents of a small Izu town being terrorized by a serial rapist. An outlaw, a crime boss, a wandering ronin, and a corrupt official are caught in a web of retribution resonating with echoes of an ancient legend, but not everything is as it seems.
Download or read book Western Japaneseness Intercultural Translations of Japan in Western Media written by Frank Jacob and published by Vernon Press. This book was released on 2021-03-02 with total page 174 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Our images of non-Western cultures are often based on stereotypes that are replicated over the years. These stereotypes often appear in popular media and are responsible for a pre-set image of otherness. The present book investigates these processes and the media representation of otherness, especially as an artificial construct based on stereotypes and their repetition, in the case of Japan. 'Western Japaneseness' thereby illustrates how the Western image of Japan in popular media is rather a construct that, in a way, replicated itself, instead of a more serious encounter with a foreign and different cultural context. This book will be of great value to students and academics who hold interest in media studies, Japanese studies, and cultural studies. It will also appeal to a broader audience with interests in Japan more generally.
Download or read book Japan Encyclopedia written by Louis-Frédéric and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2002 with total page 1130 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Knowing Japan and the Japanese better," Louis Frédéric states in the introduction to this encyclopedia, "is one of the necessities of modern life." The Japanese have a profound knowledge of every aspect and detail of Western societies. Unfortunately, we in the West cannot say the same about our knowledge of Japan. We tend to see Japan through a veil of exoticism, as a land of ancient customs and exquisite arts; or we view it as a powerful contributor to the global economy, the source of cutting-edge electronics and innovative management techniques. To go beyond these clichés, we must begin to see how apparently contradictory aspects of modern Japanese culture spring from the country's evolution through more than two millennia of history. This richly detailed yet concise encyclopedia is a guide to the full range of Japanese history and civilization, from the dawn of its prehistory to today, providing clear and accessible information on society and institutions, commerce and industry, sciences, sports, and politics, with particular emphasis on religion, material culture, and the arts. The volume is enhanced by maps and illustrations, along with a detailed chronology of more than 2,000 years of Japanese history and a comprehensive bibliography. Cross-references and an index help the reader trace themes from one article to the next. Japan Encyclopedia will be an indispensable one-volume reference for students, scholars, travelers, journalists, and anyone who wishes to learn more about the past and present of this great world civilization.
Download or read book Martial Arts as Embodied Knowledge written by D. S. Farrer and published by State University of New York Press. This book was released on 2011-12-01 with total page 265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This landmark work provides a wide-ranging scholarly consideration of the traditional Asian martial arts. Most of the contributors to the volume are practitioners of the martial arts, and all are keenly aware that these traditions now exist in a transnational context. The book's cutting-edge research includes ethnography and approaches from film, literature, performance, and theater studies. Three central aspects emerge from this book: martial arts as embodied fantasy, as a culturally embedded form of self-cultivation, and as a continuous process of identity formation. Contributors explore several popular and highbrow cultural considerations, including the career of Bruce Lee, Chinese wuxia films, and Don DeLillo's novel Running Dog. Ethnographies explored describe how the social body trains in martial arts and how martial arts are constructed in transnational training. Ultimately, this academic study of martial arts offers a focal point for new understandings of cultural and social beliefs and of practice and agency.
Download or read book Gun and Sword written by Chris D. and published by . This book was released on 2013-04-17 with total page 822 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Complete with the original 2002 foreword by Kinji Fukasaku"--Cover.
