Screening Asia (comparing two movies from different countries) Essay

Screening Asia (comparing two movies from different countries) - Essay Example Departure, on the other hand, is a Japanese drama written and directed in 2008 by Yojiro Takita. The film offers a look into the historic ceremony of â€Å"encoffining† in Japan, whereby professional morticians prepare and ritually clothe dead bodies prior to placing them in the coffin (Asai et al 31). While the two films follow contemporary themes popular with other Asian movies, they are unique in that they are grounded in aspects of culture that are peculiar to their countries of origin. All Japanese films need a hero and Daigo, the hero in Departures, is a likeable and impulsive young man who is easy to talk to and understand. Mika, his wife, adores and believes in him, quickly agreeing to return to the town where Daigo was born after they are struck by disaster (Miller et al 45). They move back to his old house that was left to him following his mother’s death, for which they have to pawn his cello in order to pay for the trip. This incident has negative impacts fo r him since he has no employment or instrument to make a living by, going back to where he started. He looks through the job ads and comes across one that sounds like a job in a travel company. However, after the owner Mr. Sasaki appears at the office where he goes to apply for the job, he finds out that it is an undertaking business, and he is offered the job and advance salary. He is then taken for a job orientation tour of the funeral home where the practice seems more humane than is usually shown in western movies. The ceremony is one of grace and precise ritual with sheets arranged to preserve the corpse’s privacy as it is dressed after washing. While most of the families are silent through it all, some of them show emotional outbursts and here begins Daigo’s life lessons. From his reluctance to tell his wife what job he is in, one can gather that undertaking is important as an occupation but not respectable (Miller et al 46). However, she finds out and tells him she must leave. Cape No. 7 is set in a little town South of Taiwan referred to as Hengchun, which is literally translated to â€Å"forever spring†. This town is sleepy, similar to the one that Daigo and his wife have to go back to; although, the town is on the seaside, and it has a pleasant beach. The residents of this town are also conservative, preferring to keep their old and traditional values, despite the fact that there are liberal tourists in the town going around the streets dressed in bikinis when holiday season comes (Wang 137). The town is also host to a yearly concert for rock artists held on the beach in order to attract the visitors. It is for this annual concert that some residents in the town come up with an idea to make a band, which they begin to do some three weeks before the start of the concert. Aga, who is a postman, acts as a new band’s lead vocalist. He also discovers several love letters from Japanese soldiers, which were written during the col onial period and not delivered. The address to which the letters are sent in Taiwan existed during the 40s and is no longer in existence, referred to as â€Å"Cape No. 7† Aga proceeds to deliver these letters prior to taking the stage in order to perform with his band. Although the original writer of the letters, who was a Japanese, was forced to leave the country and his lover following the end of colonization in 1945 (Wang 137), Aga persuades his girlfriend, who is also

An Australian Luxury Fashion Accessories Company Essay

An Australian Luxury Fashion Accessories Company - Essay Example The paper "An Australian Luxury Fashion Accessories Company" talks about Australian Fashion Accessories Company. The report starts by outlining the historical background of the company which will be followed by an analysis of the company’s micro and macro environments in a bit to establish the degree to which these have an impact on the operations of the organisation. The main body of the report will focus on a critical analysis of the marketing strategy used particularly the current marketing mix in order to evaluate the effectiveness of this strategy. The last part of the report will look at the recommendations section where suggestions are given in order to improve the marketing offering of the chosen product or brand. â€Å"OrotonGroup Limited is a retailer, wholesaler and brand manager operating in Australia and the principal activities of the Company include retailing and wholesaling of leather goods, fashion apparel and related accessories under the OROTON and POLO RAL PH LAUREN labels, and licensing of the OROTON brand name.† Details about the historical background of the company can be viewed from its official website. This organisation is wholly owned subsidiary that includes OrotonGroup (Australia) Pty Limited, Polo Ralph Lauren Australia Pty Limited, OrotonGroup (New Zealand) Pty Limited, Macbray Pty Ltd, Marcs Wholesale Pty Ltd and Oroton Share Plan Company Pty Limited. The company operates approximately 60 retail stores and is listed on the Australian stock exchange. Critical analysis of Oroton’s Micro Environment According to Kotler & Armstrong (2004), the micro environment is comprised of actors close to the company such as suppliers, marketing intermediaries as well competitors while the macro environment consists of demographic, economic, technological as well as cultural factors. The first section of this analysis of the microenvironment is mainly going to look at the company’s competitive environment, its financial s as well as the structure of the business. According to Ibisworld (2010), the major competitors in the luxury brands industry include Luis Vuitton Australia Pty Ltd and Proud Jewellers Pty Ltd. Competition in the market is always a threat to the other actors operating in the industry given that they will be competing for market share. Oroton does not operate in a vacuum since it can be seen that the luxury brands industry is a bit different from other conventional industries. The company’s financials show an upward trend since 2007 according to Au Stocks (2011). This can be attributed to the management strategy that was adopted after the company had witnessed a decline in the revenue generated owing to decline in business. This is a major strength for the company. The company embarked on a drive to cut costs through laying some of the workers while at the same time offering affordable luxury brands. Another important factor about Oroton’s micro environment is that its structure is a typical brick and mortar model. This model mainly relies on linking the organisation directly to the customers through personal interaction but it can be noted that the organisation has also adopted e-commerce in its marketing strategy. However, a critical analysis of the factors characterising the micro economic environment of this organisation shows that the company is better positioned to operate viably in the market given that these factors do not pose serious challenges to it. The other advantage of this