Hokusai manga

This starts very well indeed with interesting characters and situations and I wasn't at first aware that this was a bio pic on the life and work of Hokusai, he of the amorous octopus woodcut. Certainly the first half is very beautiful and engaging with it has also to be said lots of nudity as the artist sketches out his erotic pictures. The last half, unfortunately, at least to western eyes seems overly drawn out with the characters now made to look old in rather poor effects make up. It may be that we have different ideas about which features to accentuate to get an aged look but in any event it does not seem very realistic. Again it is perhaps an eastern preoccupation that so much time should now be devoted to regretting what has not been, looking forward to death etc. What I have not yet mentioned of course is the central scene where in fantasy and fact we see the beautiful nude and the octopus. Again, for me, not the greatest special effects but the scene certainly carries power with Hokusai's claim that he is painting not a woman being ravished but the hidden desires of women and is undeniably erotic. Well worth a watch and some gorgeous views of Mt Fuji to accompany the sequence dealing with his many interpretations of the elegant mountain.