For this Friday Movie Night, we’re starting off with Pastoral: To Die in the Country (1974), the magnum opus of surrealist auteur Shuji Terayama, who is pretty much Japan’s answer to Alejando Jodorowsky. A director tries to make a film about his youth, but finds himself increasingly making it into an absurd spectacle. We see the end result on the screen, with the teenaged protagonist coming of age in a dreamlike village while the circus is in town. The performers are a bunch of strange folk. Weird stuff happens from there. Rave reviews everywhere for this one; it is one of the highest-rated Japanese films on Letterboxd. This film is often compared to its contemporary The Holy Mountain (1973), which was a hit on Hextube, so let’s try out another piece of 70s surrealism. After that, we’re continuing our journey through this year’s award-season darlings with The Iron Claw (2023), the based-on-a-true-story drama about the three Von Erich brothers in the 1980s as they try to rise through the ranks of the cutthroat world of professional wrestling. Ex-teen-heartthrob Zac Efron stars, and Sean Durkin directs, in what is by far his most popular and most well-regarded film to date. Critics and viewers have fawned over this one, so let’s give it a whirl.
We’ll start at 9PM EST on Hextube, right here:
https://live.hexbear.net/c/movies
Be there, comrades!
Letterboxd:
- Pastoral: To Die in the Country: https://letterboxd.com/film/pastoral-to-die-in-the-country/
- The Iron Claw: https://letterboxd.com/film/pastoral-to-die-in-the-country/
Doesthedogdie.com links:
- Pastoral: To Die in the Country: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071406/parentalguide?ref_=tt_stry_pg
- The Iron Claw: https://www.doesthedogdie.com/media/906376
CWs for Pastoral: To Die in the Country:
- Okay, the big one: although the movie is PG-13 for the first 90% of the runtime, the climax is about 3 minutes of the protagonist losing his virginity to a nude older woman who forcefully undresses him, in what I can only assume was the director's wet dream. This is the only real edgy content in the movie, but it’s a doozy, and right at the end. We can skip this scene if need be, since you’ll get the point pretty fast.
- A woman is inflated with air.
- Smoking.
- Death of dog.
- Death of baby.
CWs for The Iron Claw:
- Suicide.
- Someone leaves without saying goodbye.
- Abusive parents.
- Domestic abuse.
- Drug use.
- Alcoholism.
- Drug addiction.
- Someone is physically restrained.
- Shaving.
- Hand damage.
- Dislocations.
- Broken bones.
- Someone struggles to breathe.
- Choking.
- Amputation.
- Blood.
- Unconsciousness.
- Groin injury.
- Death of child.
- Disabled character played by abled person.
- Drug overdose.
- Death of family member.
- Ghosts.
- Natural bodies of water.
- Shower scene.
- Vomiting.
- Spitting.
- Needles.
- Hospital scene.
- PTSD.
- Mental illness.
- Violent mentally-ill person.
- Meltdowns.
- Suicidal ideation.
- Sudden loud noises.
- Crying baby.
- Shaky cam.
- Screaming.
- Profanity.
- Pregnancy.
- Ableism.
- Discusson of religion.
- Masturbation. No genitals depicted, though.
- Sounds of sex.
- Nudity.
- Someone loses their virginity.
- Male character ridiculed for crying.
- Motorcycle crash.
- Honking horns.
- Gun violence.
Links to movies:
- Pastoral: To Die in the Country: https://vimeo.com/913728201
- The Iron Claw https://vimeo.com/913757080
