Hopperesque

Hopperesque

Sunday, 20 July 2014

No Longer Enough


            .......... the visual rhythms of the game of 'matched draws' called ' tehonbiki ' played here - if not the rules of the game itself, which will elude all but the most specialized audiences - are a central component of the film's mesmeric effect. Arranged to Takemitsu's hypercussive mini symphonies, these scenes draw the viewer even deeper into the vortex of the game's mysteries - just as they do the death-driven Saeko and Muraki, who finally surrender themselves to greater wins, and greater losses, when the thrills of the game are no longer enough.

Chuck Stephens
from
Pale Flower - Loser Takes All
May 2011
From Criterion.com

image
Pale Flower
1964

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