If a writer and director can penetrate their brushstrokes deep into the nerve endings of the national nature, and relentlessly analyze and present them, this person is not far from greatness. In China, Lu Xun did so. In Japan, the same is true of Akira Kurosawa in the film industry, who is a video poet.
Poster of "Trammania"
Today I would like to highlight one of his early works: "TramMania". This is a work from 1970. Just by looking at the style of the poster, you can feel the surreal meaning of it, as well as the nightmarish atmosphere and poetic realm.
In a garbage dump, there are all kinds of people living and so on. Mentally retarded Little Six dreams of being a train driver, and every day, he drives a train that never exists. The beggar and son of a poor schoolboy lived in a dirty abandoned car, and every day he described to his son the non-existent luxury house he had built. And he lives every day on his son's going to restaurants to beg. An old man, with a family surrounded by walls, has a kind heart. The thief came to steal in the middle of the night, and when he returned empty-handed, he gave the thief the last bit of money in his pocket and told him that if his life was difficult in the future, he was welcome to continue to steal. In this garbage dump, there are also prostitutes, homeless people who are hurt by love, and the villains of the city, rogue green skin.
The whole movie is permeated with a deep despair, a huge emptiness, and you can even feel a spirit transmitted inside. "Everything that has a way of doing things, such as a dream bubble, like dew and like electricity, should be viewed as such." This is a world of six reincarnations, and almost everyone is obsessed with the illusion, and after seeing it, it is a sad and joyful intersection.
Compassion for the little ones, epiphanies about the emptiness of this world, and compassionate love for human beings make one great. Whether he is a singer, an author, a filmmaker, or an ordinary living person.
Recommended Reading:
Akira Kurosawa's autobiography "The Oil of the Toad"