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Reviews
Sabu (2002)
Watch more than one copy of this film
The title is taken from the male protagonist of the original novel, but the screenplay changes the opening and closing to the viewpoint of one of the female characters. The central portion still features the two male characters, but we never find out what happened to them. I think this is why reviewers found the ending unsatisfying.
It has an all-star cast with young up and coming actors and Kenji Sawada grown much more rotund than his younger idol days. It is reputed to be Takashi Miike's first jidaigeki period film.
Technical type comment. I own two copies of this film. The ArtsMagic copy has a very good "making of film" bonus that is English subtitled. This is all too rare for Japanese films. It also has subtitled interviews with the director and cast. But sadly the transfer of the feature film is much too dark. I didn't see anything in the background, some sets are very dimly lit, and it made for a rather dreary viewing experience. I suppose the darkness suits the Dickensian nature of the story. The disc bonus menu has annoying mismatch between the titles and the place to point your cursor.
A few years later, I bought a Chinese-made high-bit copy and when I viewed it I was amazed to see much more detail in the background. It much improved the viewing experience. So you need to see both to optimize experience of this Miike film. I do not own a Japan-made copy, but it could be the best of all.
Bokutachi no kazoku (2014)
Preferring Yuya Ishii's newer films to his older ones
My review is based on English subtitled version. I would have ranked this film higher if the story, based on a best selling novel, had a less conventional sequence of events leading to its ending.The dependence upon and presumption of another person's benevolence may resonate more with a mature Japanese audience. Reportedly the Japanese film title is more indicative that this is a family story from mens' perspective.
English subs use the term "shut in" to describe the eldest son's past personality. I thought the subs might have included the Japanese term "hikikomori" that would have characterized the personal journey of elder son's (Satoshi Tsumabuki) reclusive adolescent dependency upon mother (Mieko Harada) to assuming adult responsibility for the whole family. According to the narrative he was a"futoko" or "school refusal"; no other culture having as many classifications of behavior as the Japanese. The film does a better job portraying personal development of the younger son where Sosuke Ikematsu provides "body language" relief from the somber tone of the film.
One glaring mistake in the subtitles. The yen are not converted into US dollars, making the family debts seem extraordinary for what is supposed to be a rather ordinary family. One mistake not made is the restaurant's gold star on black labeled beer bottles, indicating that Ishii likes the same Sapporo brand favored by Yasujiro Ozu and Yoji Yamada. The bar scene uses a lesser brand.
Reviewing the technical details, such as shooting in less expensive 16mm, I speculate the film is actually a kind of promotional vehicle for director and cast. Director Ishii is adding family drama to his past comedic accomplishments. The Horipro production showcases two of the brightest stars in its stable; their first joint appearance. The bonus disc shows Tsumabuki and Ikematsu practicing baseball for their next joint outing in Ishii's The Vancouver Asahi. For film trivia sake and fraternal appearance, they were coincidentally born 25 miles apart from each other in western Japan's Fukuoka Prefecture.
The film that has several wonderfully acted and directed scenes that highlight family alienation or intimacy. The film aptly conveys its suburban Tokyo setting in hilly Yamanashi and has a soothingly supportive minimalist score composed by Takashi Watanabe. I leave the menu screenshot on longer just so I can listen to the music. Note the film score only plays on the menu of the Japan Region 2 version.
Ai no uzu (2014)
Ai no Uzu is no Ai no Corrida
I just finished watching this Daisuke Miura film. I got this film for my Japanese collection that has a wide range from Ozu classics to Daiei jidaigeki B-films to modern Japanese films made by directors or actors whose works I follow.
I say this is no Ai no Corrida (In the Realm of the Senses directed by Nagisa Oshima) because, sensationalism aside in its marketing, I do not think it comes close to depicting the role obsessive sex played in Oshima's rendition of a true historic event. Plus it has not been banned in Japan or anywhere else where R-rated films are allowed.
I can imagine how the dialog among the orgy participants must have helped the original stage play experience; the dialog intervening between the sex scenes being the more interesting parts of the filmed version. But I found the chatty portions at odds with anonymous sex, that in my admittedly very personal experience, is "more hot" with the most minimal of conversation or no conversation. Intercourse on a purely physical level without intellectual intercourse.
While the chief female role played by Mugi Kadowaki has received good critic reviews, I cannot help wondering whether the old double standard of the Japanese cinema will again prove true? Nagisa Oshima had difficulty casting his landmark film. But in the end Tatsuya Fuji agreed over too many Shinjuku bar drinks and Fuji's career got a huge boost to where he still appears on the screen today. The actress that starred in Oshima's film took a career-shortening role and no one today can recall her name. Cast in this film's starring role, Sosuke Ikematsu has to bare his butt as he does in other current J-films. Seems he has to do this to dispel the idea of "child actor" from his former life.
You should not watch this film for the "free wheeling indecency" advertised to attract an audience. It is R-rated and not X-rated. I rate the film a curiosity that should be seen once.
Chûshingura 1/47 (2001)
A "kao-mise" for the 21st Century
This review contains spoilers because it is nearly impossible to write a comparative review of a true story reputedly filmed about 100 times over the last century of Japanese film making. Paghat the Ratgirl penned a comparative review of the most notable classic filmed versions at Netflix. I myself own 10 different filmed versions, watching each several times until I think I can compare them.
Produced as a Fuji TV "made for television" film , the commercially sold version has good English subtitles and very sharp high def video quality likely due to its being made to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the historic event. Costuming is lavishly colored and detailed as is expected for Chushingura films; Lord Asano clad in customary light blue and interior sets good. I knocked off a point for some of the exterior shots like the very fake-appearing Edo Castle exterior. The Pine Corridor set has the standard pine landscape paintings, but it is the least beautiful rendition when compared with other filmed versions. Amazingly there are not 47 ronin assembled in the room where the masterless samurai vow to seek revenge. I roughly count at most half that number.
This film is a remake of Nikkatsu Studio's 1934 Chushingura Ninjo-hen Fukushu-hen; Japan's first large-scale Western-style talking picture now lost to time. When compared with the 1928 Jitsuroku Chushingura, reputed to be the true version of events, this film is one of the least accurate filmed versions. When compared with the great classic versions filmed in the 1960s after lifting of war-time censorship, the film has a pleasing intimate feeling suitable for television unlike the epic scale of the 60s. The stabbing in the Pine Corridor takes visual effects from woodblock prints as is expected by the audience.
Most notable for film buffs is not another filmed version of the story, but the fact that this version is an all-star casting for the 21st century. Unlike most other versions, the actors are still alive. The all-star casting follows the Kabuki tradition of "kao-mise" or "showing faces" dating back to the Tokugawa period. The Kabuki season began with a late fall introductory performance to introduce all the actors slated to perform in the coming year. The audience was given a preview of faces old and new, with their stage personalities and acting styles. Noted TV drama star Takuya Kimura does a sympathetic portrayal of Horibe Yasubei. The film has veteran actor Masahiko Tsugawa doing an excellent rendition of the villain Kira Kozukenosuke; the best of any I have seen. Koichi Sato plays the chief protagonist Oishi Kuranosuke. Takako Matsu and Eri Fukatsu make appearances as young women as a prelude to their current status as major female film stars.
As in Kabuki tradition, the two emerging young male stars appear in contrasting "tateyaku" and "nimaime" roles they were predestined to play in 21st century feature films. Junichi Okada plays the steadfast "tateyaku" or "standing role" as the valiant Oishi Chikara. Okada has gone on to star in notable "samurai" films of the 21st century using his earnest screen personality started in this film. Satoshi Tsumabuki, cast as Takada Gunbei who gave up his death vow, plays the "nimaime" role where his emotional indecisive character represents love and life. A dozen years later, in current films marking the 70th anniversary of the end of WW2, the two stars reinforce their screen personalities established in Chushingura 1/47. Okada plays a kamikaze pilot in blockbuster Eien no Zero; a film some critics say overlooks Japan's wartime aggression. Tsumabuki plays a shy quiet Canadian Nisei baseball player in The Vancouver Asahi; a film with an ultimately sad story as internment camp films often are.
At the closing Takuya Kimura's character says living is harder than dying; a 21st century statement that contradicts the message given by older classics. Keep watching; the final seppuku scene appears after the credits roll because it has been found that it is bad for the box office to show it in the body of these films.
Tsukigami (2007)
Needs understanding of Japanese history for full enjoyment
I was generous in my rating based upon the film's unusual perspective on its historic period. This film needs a good understanding of Japanese history to be fully enjoyed. Adding to the challenge is the very poor quality of English subtitles in the Region 3 Malaysian DVD release, the only one available to anyone not understanding Japanese. Whenever I watch the film I feel like going into it and editing the bad subs. Some examples: 1. For a film based in Japan's Bakumatsu Period (1853-1867) when armed forces of the Tokugawa Shogunate and the Emperor fought each other for supremacy, the subs commit the most egregious crime. The subs mix up "ue-sama" meaning "shogun" with "emperor". This is the equivalent of filming the American Civil War and mixing up "Union" and "Confederate" in the subs. Hence the viewer is very confused in a political situation already hazy to non-Japanese people. 2. The subs mis-translate the word "yojimbo" as "warrior" when the word actually means "bodyguard", the lowlier occupation resorted to by poor samurai like the diligent but unemployed protagonist Bessho Hikoshiro. 3.Like too many Malaysian versions of Japanese films, the English sub sentences have some poorly selected key words that if adjusted would add greatly to the understanding and appreciation of the film. Good subs are a cinematic art deserving more recognition. If you watch the film several times, you can choose a new word for the poorly chosen word. But how many people watch this kind of film more than once? 4.OMISSION The buckwheat seller's (Teruyuki Kagawa) chanting at the passing of the samurai era goes completely "un-subbed" so we are left guessing as to whether he summed up the film's theme in a few important sentences. I had to guess based on the pail of water tossed over the bridge railing and the tired old nag that Bessho Hikoshiro was riding upon. 5.A last indictment of the English subs is that these could not handle the subtleties of Japanese interpersonal communication. Japanese hate to say "no". English being more definitive, the subs confuse "yes" and "no" resulting in illogical confusion over critical situations in the film.
Features of the Bakumatsu Period included massive economic instability, unemployment, natural disasters, infectious disease and famine - all of which the comically satirical film depicts. Many said these were demonstrations of the displeasure of the gods and pilgrimages to notable shrines like Ise increased. Historians say "What changed in the 1860s was the intensity and the random quality of the pilgrims, whose behavior verged on the hysterical." So long and strictly had the Tokugawas ruled Japan that many believed in MILLENIARISM, a sense that their world was coming to an end and another world about to be born. There were rumors of supernatural occurrences.
Historical references in the film include the Battle of Ueno on July 4, 1868 where allies of the Shogun (Shiogatai) like the protagonist faced cannon fire and were defeated with some 300 killed. The camera angle is successful at depicting the high ground of the Ueno Hill. A lighter hearted reference in this satirical comedy is the shrine of the gods is at Mukojima, the site of the old 1913 glass-roofed Nikkatsu film studio which could be said to have been a shrine for aspiring actors.
The film source material is a novel by Jiro Asada, a descendant of samurai from the Tokugawa period and author of some other novels made into greater films than this one. Coincidentally, Asada shares a birthday, the 13th of December, with the starring actor. Maybe a good sign for a film subject like this one. I had to look carefully at the final scene to check whether the role is being played by Asada or Satoshi Tsumabuki with heavy make-up. The film has common elements with other Japanese satirical films such as the doting mother and the sword rusty for lack of pious anointment. The starring actor plays three different characters, as in Kabuki tradition. The snowy scene between the death god and the poor samurai contains thoughtful dialog, but you have to watch and decipher the subs.
Jajji! (2014)
" I have come here to eat the most delicious food in the world."
The South China Morning Post review of this film says "Judge is lowbrow, but funny." At first viewing this is true; with its strong visual gags and the fact that, if one does not understand Japanese, subtitles have to be "digested." On second viewing the film dialog reveals clever word play based on the protagonist's real-life inability to speak English.
I wonder if the need to view it twice to understand the word play is the weakness of the film? Hardly any viewer sees a film twice, but this film needs repeat viewing to understand the relationship between the protagonist's garbled English and the food ad subject matter. The fact that it was scripted and directed by advertising talents likely caused this problem. Movies are seen once. TV commercials are seen umpteen times in which a subsequent "discovery" by the viewer leads to deeper understanding of and interest in the ad. Ads need to continually engage the viewer upon each repeat viewing, with the viewer seeing something he/she had not seen in the first quick 30-second viewing. It was not a Japanese box office hit, considering the all-star casting, as it should have been because the script required a fuller understanding of both the word play and the English language. I see many J-films where the script writer labors over every line/detail but these likely "go over the head' of most viewers. Only on repeat viewings and analysis, as done for Ozu film classics, do these get noticed.
The film is a joint Shochiku-Fuji TV collaboration that is supposed to be a series of comedies. I suppose a hapless ad manager could become a modern-day Tora-san, but charming humor needs to come across in the first viewing.
The film's casting and acting level of non-Japanese actors is high compared with other Japan-produced films, likely due to the film's advertising origins with international standards. The Japanese cast is wonderful beginning with Satoshi Tsumabuki showing us his wide variety of spot-on facial expressions that won him his star audition way back in 1997 and his current status as a top commercial model. Keiko Kitagawa, Etsushi Toyokawa, Lily Franky, Kyoka Suzuki and Yoshiyoshi Arakawa all shine in their roles; reaffirming the Japan tradition of star ensemble comedy. Run time is short for this entertaining Japanese film, meaning you can watch it twice!
Chiisai ouchi (2014)
10 for the effort - 5 for the result
I am reviewing this film just after re-watching it and then seeing Ozu's penultimate work An Autumn Afternoon. Unfair comparison perhaps, but Yamada's work is often considered an extension of the genre for which Japanese film masters have gained attention in world cinema. I rate it a 10 for effort beginning with Shochiku Studio still striving to finance this low key genre in the face of more box office-busting animation and glorified versions of TV shows. Yamada gets a 10 for attempting to film the award-winning novel that some have said is very difficult to present on screen.
But I am rating it 5 based on film masterpieces.The set for the pre-WW2 comes across as totally artificial unless the art direction is to portray an idealized dream-like setting in maidservant Taki's imagination. As some critics remarked, the house and especially its kitchen looks unlived in. If the intent was an idealized setting, this might occur to the viewer after repeat viewings which very few people do. I have to see a film several times due to being initially distracted by subtitles. Being an architect I am a good judge of real building and the sheer technical inability of the house roof to keep out any storm water bugs me. Maybe it would have been OK had the red roof not figured so prominently in the script and the French title for the film.
And what's with the film's depiction of the American bombing of Tokyo? It came across on the screen like a celebratory event instead of a tragedy.
A big reason for my only average rating is the casting and the acting direction. Not enough age contrast between husband and lover. In the novel the husband is much older and this would have given more plausibility to the affair. The lover acted his part well enough, but Yamada alumnus Hidetaka Yoshioka is too old to portray the part. The acting direction of the modern portion is overwrought with forced emotion. Satoshi Tsumabuki is typically successful at conveying any emotion with the most subtle facial and body expression. Here he is forced to act in artificially enthusiastic way to make the relationship between grand aunt and grand nephew seem close. He came across as a rank amateur actor here. The script kept including references to "girlfriends" to counter Takeshi's seemingly artificial relationship with older Aunt Taki. The "biographer" would have been more plausible as female, but likely at the expense of the box office.
I found the scripted ending overly dramatic for the secret it was to reveal. It did convey the idea of Japanese deference to privacy and propriety. But why did Takeshi's girlfriend have to pointedly ask permission to use the scissors? We westerners already find it odd that Japanese always use scissors to open envelopes. Too many tears were shed by Takeshi and Taki at the closing. Ozu just had his characters sit quietly with eyes downcast, but we got his message.
Wakamonotachi (2014)
Talented Cast with Awful Directing and Scriptwriting
This is a remake of a popular old TV drama and made as special for Fuji TV 55th anniversary. Hence a very talented and popular cast was assembled. So one would imagine that this drama should be both good and popular. Opening with some 12% Japan audience rating, the second episode recorded a huge drop in viewership that stayed low for all episodes.
Now I have seen the cast in many other TV dramas and films. Because I enjoy their performances I was really looking forward to seeing this as, I suspect, was the Japanese TV audience. Well... watching this was one of the most annoying TV experiences I have ever had. The acting is turned up so high on the drama level with constant high volume yelling and physical fighting. I am not against drama or conflict, but it was beyond what normal human behavior and family behavior is like. Plus it occupies the bulk of screen time. I know the actors are all seasoned professionals so I can only think the director and scriptwriter ordered this be done.
I read some blogs saying the writer was trying too hard. Yes. some of the scenes / settings were beyond belief. I won't comment specifically as this is supposed to be without spoilers.
I rate it two stars. One point for the casting and one point for the theme song.
The high octane acting and pace might have worked for a 2 hour TV movie special. But it is very hard to endure for 11 episodes.
Bankûbâ no Asahi (2014)
Old Fashioned Movie Making in the Best Sense
I say contains spoilers as abundance of caution for a film roughly based on true history. If you want true history, see the excellent 2003 Canadian documentary Sleeping Tigers The Asahi Baseball Story by Jari Osborne. This film, like pre-TV old fashioned film making, is made for mass audience (specifically Japanese), and hence got some negative reviews from indie film buffs inclined toward films that never attract mass audience or any audience.
Unlike many new J-films this has good scriptwriting. Plus the subject could have resulted in a film with the tone of most other films / documentaries related to the internments of WW2.
This is a warm human drama reinforcing cultural, social and personal values much more than it is a baseball film. It shows its roots in the genre where great Japanese directors of the 20th century built their enduring reputations. Thus the slower pacing (long run time) and lingering views of setting (usually devoid of people). The cast doesn't speak much, a criticism by some reviewers, but absolutely correct in that Japanese men of the laboring class do not do a lot of talking. A glance or grunt will suffice except in a bar setting. After the film some viewers uncritically remarked it had hardly any subtitles. It doesn't require many subtitles which is a plus for me who does not understand Japanese.
The casting and acting is excellent, with the star Satoshi Tsumabuki creating character through distinctive walking style and his trademark facial expressions. After some 40 previous film appearances his screen persona will resonate more with Japanese domestic audience. Director Yuya Ishii has followed his last triumph The Great Passage by making the star a quiet shy man supported by a more actively boisterous Kazuya Kamanishi. Koichi Sato shows us a new kind of character versus his typical film roles. I read negative comments re most of the characters portray stereotypes. But what else to do in a film where these stories used to have runtime of 3 hours and intermission?
The sets were very supportive of the story and built the old fashioned way. While I found the Main Street too cluttered by the prop department, the house interiors were excellent in both scale and detail. I am an architect when not spending time on films, so sets and scale are vital to my film enjoyment. As usual Ishii has gotten the clutter and intimacy correct. Remember the Tokyo rooming house in The Great Passage?
I knocked the film down a point for the INCONGRUOUS J-pop music over the closing credits. I imagine it is sung by the supporting star who belongs to KAT-TUN group. This is one of the very very most annoying aspects of Japanese films where the producer finds it necessary to market some J-pop instead of having the composer reinforce our cinema experience. I have several J-films in my collection where I have to switch off the closing credits due to the badly chosen song that has nothing to do with the film subject. Toho is the most guilty in my opinion! If there are larger international intentions for this film, Toho must get rid of the J-pop and use more supportive thematic music. I have seen potential J-classics knocked out by the closing music. Don't we miss the old ones where the kanji for "the end" was all we saw before the screen went black? Now we find out who made the bento boxes for crew lunch.
At the world premiere in Vancouver there was apparently a rear cameo shot of the last surviving player if the VIFF trailer is correct. Old man sitting on a bench in pensive pose, it looked like the now aged Reggie reminiscing on pathos of life. So I was surprised not to see this at the US premiere.
Ôgon o daite tobe (2012)
Many better bank robbery films out there
A-list acting, B-movie intentions, C-grade novel with D for scriptwriting. I confess I saw this without English subtitles, but subs are not likely to change my comment. A high-rated film starts with a good story, second in importance is the quality of the visual experience, third in importance is acting because actors almost always do their job with more actors available than roles available. This film has it all reversed. The script makes the film way too long. How many professional critics keep saying this about nearly every Japanese film, but current films still are overly long compared with those of the Japanese golden age of film? Far too much screen time was spent on the clumsy robbery and too little on the background of characters that are supposed to be what makes the source novel unique. I was disappointed at the end because the source novel relies on a concealed truth I consider my second most hated plot device in Asian films. Only amnesia I hate more. Doubly disappointing was the short time allotted to the crime's aftermath after wasting so much screen time on what came before. The film takes its time and then hastens to the end.
Unless you are a fan of the starring actors, there are far better crime films to be seen.
Sumagurâ Omae no mirai wo hakobe (2011)
Waste of all star cast
Smuggler suffers from poor scriptwriting as it is hard to tell whose story is being featured for the viewer. The failed actor Kinuta, Vertebrae the assassin, the truck driver, or even the yakuza wife Ms. Tanuma could each make a good protagonist. But not all four at the expense of a coherent story line and finale.
Kinuta's intro is so brief that the advertised plot line "failed actor deep in debt" is hard to sense. A mobile phone ad campaign, not in the film at all, showing Kinuta going through failed casting calls sounds like the prelude that might have helped. Ishii has one or two brief flashbacks that make Kinuta appear like a failed singer instead of an actor (even the set looks like a night club); were it not for English subtitles that should not be needed at all to get this idea across.
The first yakuza scenes, supposedly scripted for comedy effects, elicited a few very short chuckles at the Hawaii International Film Festival showing I attended. After that the HIFF audience, who seemed mostly there anticipating the all star cast, sat in complete silence. They left as the credits were rolling.
The ramen meal breaks and the night truck driving scenes could have been the making of a well-rounded portrayal of Kinuta, but Ishii devotes as much time to these scenes as can be seen in the film trailer! And indeed these scenes are edited like TV commercial breaks in the middle of the feature story. He zips through them to make time for the very extended violence he is aiming for. The very final scene is set in an incongruous setting for ending the tale of a failed actor. Ishii is credited as Writer, Director, Editor, and Storyboarder of this film. I suppose that is why successful films have an expert in each.I have seen the cast in many other films and this one is near their collective bottom.