Ambiguous (film)

Ambiguous (曖昧, Aimai) aka Waisetsu Netto Shūdan Ikasete!! (猥褻ネット集団　いかせて!!) and Group Suicide: The Last Supper (集団自殺　最後の晩餐, Shūdan Jissatsu: Saigo no Bansan) is a 2003 Japanese Pink film directed by Toshiya Ueno. It was chosen as Best Film of the year at the Pink Grand Prix ceremony.

Synopsis

A diverse group of people, all with troubles in their daily lives, meet online and decide to commit suicide together. Isolated from society at large, they form a physical bond as the appointed time approaches.

Cast

Critical reception

Anglophone pink film scholar Jasper Sharp notes that there are two different audiences for contemporary pink films: The traditional pink theater-goer who is generally interested in seeing sex on the screen, and the devotees of pink cinema represented by such publications as P*G magazine and its website. As with many of Kokuei's pink films, Ambiguous did not prove very marketable for the traditional softcore porn audience, in part because of its downbeat subject matter. However, when looked at as a film which happens to include sex scenes—Kokuei's approach to the pink genre—Sharp writes Obscene Internet Group "stands as one of the most genuinely insightful and of-the-moment films produced within the Japanese independent sector in its year."

...Ish (album)

...ish is the debut album by Australian pop rock band 1927, released on 4 December 1988, which peaked at number one for four weeks in early 1989 on the ARIA Albums Chart. The album remained in the top 50 for 45 weeks and reached No. 2 on the 1989 ARIA Year End Albums Chart and was awarded 5× platinum certification – for shipment of more than 350,000 copies. At the ARIA Music Awards of 1989, 1927 won 'Breakthrough Artist - Single' for "That's When I Think of You" and 'Breakthrough Artist - Album' for ...ish. At the 1990 ceremony the group won 'Best Video' for "Compulsory Hero", which was directed by Geoff Barter. In 1999 rock music historian, Ian McFarlane, described the album as "brimful of stirring, stately pop rock anthems". As of 2002, it was in the top 10 of the most successful debut albums by Australian artists.

Background

Iga Province

Iga Province (伊賀国, Iga no kuni) was a province of Japan located in what is today part of western Mie Prefecture. Its abbreviated name was Ishū (伊州). Iga bordered on Ise, Ōmi, Yamato, and Yamashiro Provinces. Its roughly coincides with the modern municipalities of Iga and Nabari.

Iga is classified as one of the provinces of the Tōkaidō. Under the Engishiki classification system, Iga was ranked as a “inferior country” (下国) and a “near country” (近国). Surrounded by mountains, historically, Iga Province was rather inaccessible due to extremely poor road conditions. However, the area is now relatively easy to access from nearby Nara and Kyoto, as well as the larger cities of Osaka and Nagoya.

History

Iga was separated from Ise Province during the Asuka Period, around 680 AD. The provincial capital was located in what is now part of the city of Iga, along with the ruins of the Kokubun-ji of Iga Province. The Ichinomiya of the province is the Aekuni Jinja (敢國神社), which is also located in what is now part of the city of Iga.

Act! (Italy)

Act! (Italian: Fare!, F!) is a centre-right political party in Italy, based in Veneto.

The party is led by Flavio Tosi, mayor of Verona and former leader of Liga Veneta–Lega Nord, who was ejected from it in the run-up of the 2015 Venetian regional election, due to his opposition to Matteo Salvini's political line.

Act! was immediately joined by three deputies (Matteo Bragantini, Roberto Caon, Emanuele Prataviera), three senators (Patrizia Bisinella, Raffaela Bellot, Emanuela Munerato) and four regional councilors in Veneto (three elected with the Tosi List for Veneto and one with Il Veneto del Fare). All of them were Tosi loyalists who followed him out of the League.

In July Michele Boldrin, leader of Act to Stop the Decline, sued Act! as the names of the two parties looked too similar.

In September a fourth deputy joined the party: Marco Marcolin, also from Liga Veneta–Lega Nord.

In October Act! became an occasional supporter of the centre-left government led by Matteo Renzi, whom Tosi held in high esteem, fueling rumors that the party might either enter in stable alliance with or join Renzi's Democratic Party.

Act (drama)

An act is a division or unit of a theatre work, including a play, film, opera, and musical theatre. The number of acts in a theatrical work can range from one to five or more, depending on how the writer structures the story. The duration of an act usually ranges from 30 to 90 minutes, but may be as short as 10 minutes.

The word act can also be used for major sections of other entertainment, such as variety shows, television programs, music hall performances, and cabaret.

Acts and scenes

An act is a part of a play defined by elements such as rising action, climax and resolution. A scene is a part of an act defined with the changing of characters.

To be more specific, the elements that create the plot of a play or any story, and divide a play into acts include the exposition, which give information, setting up the rest of the story. Another is the inciting incident, which starts all of the action that will follow. Going along with the inciting incident, the major dramatic question is formed; this holds the rest of the play. The majority of the play is made up of complications. These are the things that change the action. These complications lead up to the crisis, this is the turning point. Most of the time, at this point, the major dramatic question has been answered. Finally, there is the resolution. This is the end of the play where everything comes together and the situation has been resolved. This leaves the audience satisfied with the play as a whole. These more specific elements of plot in a play are the main things used to divide a play up into acts and sometimes scenes.

Act (document)

An act is an instrument that records a fact or something that has been said, done, or agreed. Acts generally take the form of legal instruments of writing that have probative value and executory force. They are usually accepted as self-authenticating demonstrative evidence in court proceedings, though with the precarious status of notaries public and their acts under common law, this is not always so.

Common types of acts are legislative, judicial, and notarial acts.

Legislative acts

Legislative acts (fully, acts of statute), or more commonly statutes, are the cornerstone of statutory and regulatory law. They may include in a monarchical system any royal edict, proclamation, or decree setting forth or establishing law as it affects all citizens. In parliamentary or congressional systems, acts passed by a legislature are known as acts of Parliament or acts of Congress.

Notarial acts

A notarial act (or notarial instrument or notarial writing) is any written narration of facts (recitals) drawn up by a notary public or civil-law notary authenticated by his signature and official seal and detailing a procedure which has been transacted by or before him in his official capacity. A notarial act is the only lawful means of proving those facts of which it is the recognized record, whereas on other matters it is usually inadmissible, because, being beyond the powers entrusted to the notary by law, it is non-official. In most common-law countries, multiple-page acts are bound together using a sewn or knotted ribbon (referred to as silk), the ends of which are secured by a wafer impressed with the notary's seal. This is called annexing or annexure.