[Discussion] Shokuzai
[Discussion] Shokuzai
Shokuzai is a brilliant new drama by Kurasawa Kiyoshi. A girl has been murdered and now there's atonement. I would call this cinema by a great cast and director.
http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Shokuzai
-
- Posts: 26
- Joined: Jan 1st, '12, 17:02
I'm watching it as well. It's quite dark and depressing. I wonder what the mother wants from the 4 girls cos from what I see, there are 5 episodes and it seems that each will be about the girl so that makes 4 eps. And at the end of each episode,
I wonder what ep5 will be about - the mom's life since the incident or will it feature all 5 main characters finding the culprit?
I think the last episode will be about the mother and the culprit.
I don't really find this series depressing, but it's a very grim fairy tale. It's beautifully shot and the music is cleverly used. In that sense I really enjoyed Kurosawa's direction. The story is fascinating, but seems a little incoherent at the endings of both episodes.
Still I found the series very interesting till now and looking forward to the next episode!
I don't really find this series depressing, but it's a very grim fairy tale. It's beautifully shot and the music is cleverly used. In that sense I really enjoyed Kurosawa's direction. The story is fascinating, but seems a little incoherent at the endings of both episodes.
-
- Posts: 26
- Joined: Jan 1st, '12, 17:02
-
- Posts: 1
- Joined: Feb 11th, '12, 18:22
Hello everyone here. New here and having a good root around.
I like this series . The Opening was great and I loved the fact that I spent the first episode wondering exactly where this was going, until the lamp scene. I totally got Ep3, to me that and Ep4 are the best so far. I looking forward to a good finale. I can only watch subbed versions atm until my Japanese improves and a lot of these dramas are helping with word recognition and a lot more.
It's good to be here.
I like this series . The Opening was great and I loved the fact that I spent the first episode wondering exactly where this was going, until the lamp scene. I totally got Ep3, to me that and Ep4 are the best so far. I looking forward to a good finale. I can only watch subbed versions atm until my Japanese improves and a lot of these dramas are helping with word recognition and a lot more.
It's good to be here.
Although I said in the beginning of this thread this wasn't depressing, I felt it was. The ending was all about that.
Depressing, but any other emotion would be wrong in this situation... except fear, there was a lot of that going around as well.
It's definitely an interesting story. It reminded me of Soredemo, ikite yuku, but even murkier.
-
- Posts: 26
- Joined: Jan 1st, '12, 17:02
After the first 2 episodes, I stopped thinking and trying to understand this drama because I didn't quite understand what it was about. But damn, the last 2 episodes were great. I feel that this could have been a good 2 hour movie with just the last 2 episodes (seriously, the other 3 girls don't really have a point).
I really liked the use of light and shadows to tell the story and the atmosphere. It was creepy throughout the drama.
-
- Posts: 215
- Joined: Sep 13th, '08, 08:33
I gave this a spin.
The first episode is indeed nothing like most dramas, but the elements that distinguish it from other dramas are also ones I don't like. I'm not into the desaturated and clinical look, the unbelievably abnormal personalities, and the self-consciously shocking plot twists foreboding atmosphere. It's all been done to death anyway, so the only thing that makes it seem fresh is that it's on television instead of the cinema. It's good for what it is and expertly crafted, but not what I personally like to see.
Episode two:
I'm not going to watch the remaining episodes. Even if episode two was just an unfortunate blunder, the overall problem I have with the show is that it's too disconnected from reality, and there's no point in getting invested in the characters when they're...
Such an exceptional cast should have been put to better use.
The first episode is indeed nothing like most dramas, but the elements that distinguish it from other dramas are also ones I don't like. I'm not into the desaturated and clinical look, the unbelievably abnormal personalities, and the self-consciously shocking plot twists foreboding atmosphere. It's all been done to death anyway, so the only thing that makes it seem fresh is that it's on television instead of the cinema. It's good for what it is and expertly crafted, but not what I personally like to see.
Episode two:
@ Akiramike: That scene really bugged me, so I had to watch it again
@ Lollercopter: Thanks for your comments always good to hear a different opinion. Sure, this series wasn't perfect, but I found the cinematography interesting. It was a painting of gloomyness in bold strokes. Not very subtle but very effective. It's something you either like or don't. I obviously did enjoy this atmosphere. Most of the cast was strong and the story was interesting. I especially felt the last episode was satisfying and clearly stated the theme that was hinted in the earlier episodes.
I agree that there were some loopholes, but none that spoiled it entirely for me. I found it a fascinating (and very creepy) story, but I guess if you hate it after the first two eps, that won't change by watching the rest.
@ Lollercopter: Thanks for your comments always good to hear a different opinion. Sure, this series wasn't perfect, but I found the cinematography interesting. It was a painting of gloomyness in bold strokes. Not very subtle but very effective. It's something you either like or don't. I obviously did enjoy this atmosphere. Most of the cast was strong and the story was interesting. I especially felt the last episode was satisfying and clearly stated the theme that was hinted in the earlier episodes.
Last edited by antspace on Feb 20th, '12, 18:38, edited 1 time in total.
-
- Posts: 215
- Joined: Sep 13th, '08, 08:33
It was a story painted in bold strokes. I think Kurosawa Kiyoshi meant to paint this story that way. There are some slight faults in the plot, but if you watch it to the end, the point he tries to make comes out quite well. It is an interesting story of ambiguity. The characters have there own (part of the) story to tell. The final episode explains a lot of what had been going on previously. Like life, there isn't a perfect logic to the story, but it can tell you something about humans under traumatic conditions.
Overall I really liked this drama. The first ep was killer - Aoi Yu nailed it! Other eps were good but IMO just didn't measure up to the high bar set by the first. I loved the cinematagoraphy and totally agree with another posters' comment about how the cinematography reflected the lack of color in the characters lives.
I have two questions:
I have two questions:
-
- Posts: 73
- Joined: May 31st, '12, 08:28
The first episode raised the bar so much that Ep 2 and 3 seemed a bit lacking in one way or another. Nonetheless, I thought that Ep 4 and 5 were really good and helped to wrap up this dark tale convincingly.
I have posted some reviews on my blog so if you are interested, please take a look and we can discuss further (don't want to flood the forum with long posts...):
http://doramaworld.blogspot.sg/search/label/Shokuzai
I have posted some reviews on my blog so if you are interested, please take a look and we can discuss further (don't want to flood the forum with long posts...):
http://doramaworld.blogspot.sg/search/label/Shokuzai
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 14 guests