The Cinephilicas: Episode #3 - Kenji Fujishima (Fallen Angels)

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"I feel like film for me is kind of a fulfillment of an ideal of an art form that has power and the ability to fuse all these previous forms of art, even before the beginnings of cinema, into one work."

Kenji Fujishima might not have the wisdom that comes from age of Peter's previous guests, but the two have an excellent time talking about how he became a hardcore cinephile and writing for The House Next Door. Kenji discusses reading Pauline Kael at an early age, choosing to forgo his mother’s wishes to go into accounting, and becoming a consumer of arts beyond cinema. The two also chat about his blog My Life, 24 Frames Per Seconds, balancing emotion and formalism in writing, and the beauty of “cinematic recklessness.” Finally, they explore the dark beauty of Wong Kar-Wai’s Fallen Angels, which Kenji posits as the filmmaker’s most reflexive commentary on his own feelings to transition toward a new style.

0:00-5:00 - Act One: Establishing Shots - Sight & Sound Poll
5:16-52:13 - Act Two: Deep Focus - Kenji Fujishima
53:07-1:18:12 - Act Three: Double Exposure - Fallen Angels (Wong Kar-Wai)
1:18:13-1:19:50 - Close/Outtake

Read Kenji Fujishima at My Life, 24 Frames Per Second, The House Next Door, InReview Online, and the Wall Street Journal’s Speakeasy.

Follow Kenji on Twitter.

Highlighted Articles by Kenji Fujishima

-One of many Artistic Consumption Logs

-A (early) post about Kenji’s relationship with his mother

-On the emotions of Godard’s Pierret Le Fou

-Seeing Jacques Tati’s Playtime

-On the work of Diego Velazquez in Pierrot Le Fou

-There Will Be Blood, No Country for Old Men, and thoughts vs. emotions in writing

-Close-ups in the films of Wong Kar-Wai

-Die Hard 2 and “Cinematic Recklessness”

-On Terrence Davies’s The Long Day Closes