All genres of suspense, terror, and horror will be reviewed by Richard Gary. His address to send preview copies supplied upon request to rbf55@msn.com.
Showing posts with label Japanese Cinema. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Japanese Cinema. Show all posts
Woman of the
Photographs (aka Shashin no onna;
写真の女) Directed
by Takeshi Kushida Motion Picture Exchange; Pyramid
Film; Epic Pictures; Dread; MVD Visual
89 minutes, 2020 / 2023 https://epic-pictures.com/film/woman-of-the-photographs
https://womanofthephoto.com/en/ www.MVDVisual.com
Body dysmorphia is a recent
buzzword in the news thanks to the attacks on the Trans community. The term,
however, is much older, and it has been often used to describe women and more
recently men who are not pleased by their own bodies due to seeing, for
example, the models in magazines, especially though it is idealistic as many of
those images have been digitally enhanced. The desire to appear “picture
perfect” is an unrealistic goal and can cause other maladies such as bulimia and
anorexia.
In this Japanese release
(both English and Spanish subtitles are available), Kai (Hideki Nagai) is a subdued,
solitary, early-middle-aged photographer who tends to wear all white (I am
guessing as a metaphor for a colorless life). When he is not out in nature
snapping pics (he has a fixation with insects, and even has a preying mantis as
a pet), he runs a photo shop where he uses his talent of digital manipulation
to enhance either old or new photographs for his customers. There is almost no
dialogue by Kai to emphasize his quiet life. A slow-burn film, indeed.
Hideki Nagai
Along the way, he meets Kyoko
(Itsuki Otaki), an internet influencer/model/ballet dancer, who is aging out of
the youthfulness that was her bread-n-buttah. She is lively and talkative, and
he is aggressively silent and ignoring (yeah, kind of a dick). While their
personalities are quite different, there is a common element of the need to
control their own “image”: she to her fans and him by putting up walls of
exclusion.
There are only two other
characters in the film, the first being a funeral director, Saijo (Toshiaki
Inomata), an older man who uses the retoucher’s skill for pictures of the deceased
during the ceremonies, and has known Kai his whole life being a friend of his
father and thereby being both a spokesperson for Kai to Kyoko, as well as a Greek
Chorus for the viewer. The other is Hisako (Toki Koinuma), a woman customer obsessed
with her looks, and keeps demanding Kai repeatedly retouch her photo into what she
considers perfection.
Itsuki Otaki
At its core, this is a
film about obsession: Kail obsesses about his insects, Kyoko keeps looking at
old posts of her photographs (which occasionally includes well-done CGI
animation), the female customer with changing her looks, and the old friend
with his loneliness (despite claiming he is not).
Although an extremely
small cast, I am guessing this was shot just before the COVID outbreak, since
there is a scene in a public bath, and no one on the streets is wearing masks; also,
the budget for this film is not enough to get the sidewalk shut down for
filming.
I am not sure if this can
be considered as “horror” or even a “thriller,” but it definitely falls into
the “art” category. That being said, it certainly has its body horror moments involving
an injury (I will not give it away), which is squeamish inducing (well, for me
anyway).
I question the
relationship between Kai and Kyoto as beyond temporary need and infatuation with
what they can bring to the pairing; even though they become more themselves by
giving to each other. Certainly, this is a snapshot (no pun intended) of their time
as a couple, as it does not seem that it can sustain the pressure of day-to-day
reality, and aging. But in an odd way, this is a very strange and off-beat
romance, without Hallmark-ish cringe.
The extras start with interviews
(16 min; Japanese with subtitles), including the director, Kushida, and the
main actors, Nagai and Otaki, as well as make-up
artist Yoshiro Nishimura. It is insightful as they discuss the motivations of
the characters and the meaning of some obtuse moments. It is a good post-film watch.
This is followed by a short
film, “Voice” (Koe; 10 min, trailer HERE), in which Kushida first worked
with Nagai. It is without dialogue, of how a lonely factory worker (Nagai) responds and
interacts with a shadow of a woman. It reminds me of the work of ground-breaking
Canadian filmmaker Norman McLaren. It is a beautiful piece, and Nagai again acts more with his face and body to
convey all the emotions needed. There is also a nice level of animation that is
not cartoonish. Last, there are two trailers for this film and a few from Dread.
This is director Kushida’s first feature
film, that he also wrote, after years of working in television. It shows
enormous talent in form and look. He should have a long and storied career.
Although this film is
Japanese in origin and language (with subtitles), it may be inspired by the real
Hong Kong serial killer portrayed in Dr. Lamb. He was also a taxi driver serial killer.
The opening credits’ title
states this is a “Japanese Giallo.” Well, the opening sequence screams of it,
as a woman in a spandex bathing suit sensually strips in a shower, and is
murdered by the titular, Fujinaga (Tomoki Kimura). The color palate (by Shuji
Hamamoto and Mitsuo Kojima) is correct for a Giallo, with lots of primary colors,
a knife, and a helmeted killer. Actually, what the opening made me think of was
a cross between Italian Giallo and the ending credits of What’s Up Tiger Lily?
(1966).
Tomoki Kimura, Iori Kogawa
The tone of the over-thought
narration describing the city definitely smacks of Taxi Driver (1976). Kimura
even looks a bit like a younger DeNiro; heck, there is even a scene with him in
front of a mirror holding a weapon and giving the whole “You talking to me?”
speech. I have no doubt this was meant as an homage, rather than a rip-off.
While this definitely has
a retro-Giallo feel, there is a Japanese spin on it. For example, as a
businesswoman is being chased, she takes off her jacket so the film camera can
get her braless bouncing, there is a close-up slo-mo shot of her backside where
you can see her underwear beneath her overly short skirt, and, of course, by
the end of the scene, her top is exposed. To be fair, in the body of the film
(pun not intended), there is also male nudity.
The driver is depressed after
his wife was murdered and he was stabbed in a home invasion by someone with the
same helmet as him. This sours him on society, and both wants to die and to
kill. But, how much of his killing his customers is real and what is fantasy?
This is a territory touched on in American Psycho (2020).
The nudity and sex is
a-plenty here, so it is no surprising that many of the women/victims in this
film come from the world of adult cinema, such as Saryu Usui, Ayumi Kimito, and
Ai Sayama (as is stated on the back of the Blu-ray box. Through fantasy and
memory, this turns out to be quite a softcore flick. There is also extraordinarily
little actual dialogue, with most of the philosophizing happening in the driver’s
head. It ranges from injustices, to positive feminism, to despair.
Slowly, as his anger as desperation
grows, he starts looking for a victim to take out his perceived vengeance on society
and to end his own miserable life. Meanwhile, we see him taking customers in
his cab numerous times, through a cab-cam with somewhat blocked faces. Did you
know that DeNiro drove a cab in New York for two months to get a better idea of
what the character goes through?
There are a lot of shots
of Tokyo and the editing (John Migdal) and cinematography (Makoto Hayashi) is
noteworthy, such as the city reflected through the moving hood of the dark
taxi. Most of the shooting is normalized, but the fantasies are in high-art
Giallo colors and lighting techniques. The music during these sequences are
also interesting, in a distorted way.
Things pick up when he
meets his (adult) “Jody Foster” in the form of injured Mayumi (Iori Kogawa),
and he finally sets in motion to carry out his idea for a murder/suicide. Heck,
there is even a long-haired villain (Yoshiki Kondô) who is reminiscent of Harvey
Keitel.
When the reality is
revealed and the facts are finally shown, well, some of it took me by pleasant
surprise. The ending nicely sums it up, but I won’t tell…
The extras on this Blu-ray
are as follows: an Audio Commentary by the director, Kurando Mitsutake, who
fortunately is very fluent in English, so no subtitles needed (born in Toyko,
grew up in Fresno, CA). He skillfully goes back and forth between descriptions
of what is happening on the screen, and anecdotes about the whole process and
the cast/crew. Worth at least one listen. We also learn that the title is a
mash-up of insane serial killer flick Maniac(1981), and said Taxi Driver.
The “Maniac Driver:
Behind the Scenes”-featurette (30 min) is exactly that, mostly setting up shots
(and then we see what they filmed), and includes some brief interviews with the
main cast. It is very basic but kept my interest. Finally, there is a Trailer (in
English) and Slideshow, along with a nice 4-sided box insert cover with images
of the film’s original posters. There are also subtitles available in three
languages.
There is a prestigious
amount of nudity, sex, and violence, not to mention blood and some gore (SFX by
Yoshinari Dohi). The story is a bit weak and repetitive at times, and seems to
circle around the point, but by the third Act, it is quite a ride.
Evil Dead Trap 2: Hideki (aka Shiryô no wana 2: Hideki) Directed
by Izo Hashimoto
Japan Home Video (JHV); Unearthed Classics; MVD Visual
97 minutes, 1992 / 2022 www.unearthedfilms.com www.MVDvisual.com/ Before I begin this review in
earnest, let us do a bit of house cleaning. First of all, this film is not actually
connected to Evil Dead Trap (1981), per se. They have different writers and the director for Hideki is actually
better known for writing the screenplay for the classic Japanese anime film, Akira
(1988). And rightfully so.
That being said, there are
some slim thematic similarities between the two Trap films. Both involve
a television reporter/personality, and the other is that of a mysterious child whose
origin is unknown: is it real? Imaginary? An evil spirit as in Ju-On:The
Grudge (2002)? Though it may seem like slim connections, I would bring up,
for example, how many of the more that 100 Amityville-titledfilms
actually have anything to do with The Amityville Horror (1979)? It should
be said, though, that Hideki is the name of the furtive child in both Evil
Dead Trap releases.
There are three main
characters here. First up is Aki Ôtani (Shoko Nakajima), who works
as a film projectionist in a theater. She is dumpy and plumpy, preferring to be
by herself, though is incredibly lonely at the same time. Her friend is
television reporter and ex-pop idol, Emi Kageyama (Rie Kondoh),
an ambitious and outgoing personality, but is also lonely in her own way,
finding meaningless sex momentarily fulfilling. She is also obsessed with
watching herself on television, via tape. Then there is Kurahashi (Shirô Sano),
who is married to Noda (Kazue
Tsunogae). And floating somewhere in the fringes of reality or
fantasy is the titular Hideki (Shôta Enomoto).
Aki has a split
personality, we quickly learn. The frumpy loner, and the red dressed serial
killer who murders young women and rips out their ovaries with shears. You heard
me. Or is she? Though at first we do not see the actual killings in detail (but
hidden in arty camerawork which I will discuss later), but the aftermath is
shown in quite gory details. Hey, remember, this is an Unearthed Films rerelease.
Meanwhile, Aki keeps
seeing a child in the audience of her theater, and Kurahashi and Noda are waiting for
their real or imagined child (demon?), Hideki. Kurahashi is a lothario, screwing
around with Emi and promising to bed Aki. Most likely there are others, but let’s
focus on the events, now that we have the exposition.
According to a psychic, Kan-nadzuki Chiyo (Shino Ikenami),
Aki’s psychic powers are stronger than hers, and warns her not to let it
control her. But as we have already seen, the other side of Aki shows that it
may be too late. But Hideki’s power and influence may go beyond Aki.
I have to, as always, be
honest with you. I have watched this twice now, and I have no fucking idea what
the hell was going on by the second half. Was there some really good gore? Yes.
Was there some really interesting violence? Yes. Did the story make any sense after
the halfway mark? Hell, no. I knew what was going on in the moment, visually,
but as for the overall arch of the story, I was lost. Perhaps this would make
more sense if I was raised in the Japanese culture in a way I am unfamiliar,
sort of like all the subtle wolf imagery in The Howling (1981), e.g., a big bad
wolf cartoon on the television, which may be lost on other cultures.
I do have to say, the cinematography
by Osamu Fujiishi is nothing short of astounding. Overwhelming neon city lights
(nearly a cliché in Asian cinema these days), silhouettes, and shadows, play
into the characters’ emotions so well. There were a couple of times I played
back a certain scene because it looked so good. The editing was a bit choppy (no
pun intended) here and there, with a few rough jump cuts, but I am guessing
that was meant to be unnerving, and was probably intentional.
Surprisingly for a Blu-ray,
there are only two extras, a Stills Gallery, and a bunch of trailers, including
the two Evil Dead Trap releases.
One could consider this
Asian Extreme, I guess, but it does not match up to some of the classics, by
the likes of Takashi Miike’s Audition (1999). However, I have heard this
film compared to the likes of those by David Lynch and Dario Argento. I can see
that. There are lots of weird goings on, strange angles, artsy visuals, and a convoluted
story.
If you liked Evil Dead
Trap, I would recommend piggy-backing and seeing this as well right after,
and then, perhaps, explain it to me.
Baby Assassins
(aka Beibî
warukyûre)
Directed by Yugo Sakamoto Rights Cube; Far East Films;
Well Go USA Entertainment; Hi-Yah!
95 minutes, 2021 / 2022 www.wellgousa.com/films/baby-assassins
@WellGoUSA
When I first read the
title, I was confused: was this about infants in diapers who kill people, or
adults who kill toddlers? Of course, in both cases, I was wrong (pretty sure I
would be). I should have known better as this film is from Japan.
The “babies” in
question are two teenage high school girls and possibly future cosplay objects,
Chisato (Akari Takahasi). and blonde Mahiro (Saori Izawa). They are the
innocents who are both about to graduate from assassin school, and are highly
trained to kill. Needless to say, there are some strong comic elements to the
story as they butt heads.
The film is on a
couple of different tiers: first, there is the stereotypical two opposites
needing to work together to survive with fun and merriment, and then there are
the (literally) deadly serious assassinations, where the ladies come into their
own. Like many teenagers, even with their killing expertise, it’s the simple
and every day tasks that are filled with angst (such as adding whip cream to a
meal).
Like “The Odd Couple” (whatever
incarnation), their personalities are different, and yet they overlap in Zinn
Diagram means. For example, Mahiro is Gen Whatever, with a slacker attitude of
not-caring or wanting to be bothered, whose wardrobe choice is PJ bottoms and a
tee (at one point it’s a Lou Reed Transformers one); and yet, she has an
inclination towards philosophy. Chisato, on the other hand, is more focused,
but just as lost in menial tasks. Thing with Assassin School is that, as
implied, they teach killing but not social skills needed for employment or
fitting into society. This is a really interesting added on touch.
Reminiscent of the
series “Dead Like Me” (2003-04), between assignments the women are expected to
hold down jobs that will not bring much attention to them. For example, Chisato,
at some point, works in a small waffle eatery as wait- and kitchen staff, but
is totally out of her element.
Now, 20 minutes into
the film, and we are somewhat familiar with their sitch, enter the credits and
a flashback to them first being thrust together. The commentary on government bureaucracy,
such as taxes, housing and basically not taking care of their own (sound familiar?)
permeates the underscore of the film. This is used both as comedy fodder and
with a figuratively pointed stick.
Another jab of the
elbow in the side is the Japanese tendency for older men to be attractive to
younger women, as I mentioned previously. Be it an assassination target or a
store clerk, the two are hit on mostly by adult men. Creepy; always was, always
will be.
Things get a bit darker
in the third act, as our heroines are at odds over attitudes, and to add to the
mix is confrontations with a Yakuza (must be powerful; he has all of his fingers),
his blowhard son Kazuki (think Sonny Corleone), and revenge seeking, psychotic,
over-the-top enthusiastic daughter, Himari, who seems to be about the same age as
our two killin’ protagonists.
In the first two acts,
there are some decent kills scattered throughout, and somewhere along the way I
made a note for myself, “Increased violence in the third act?” Of course there
is, including one superb fight with Izawa, who has some Taekwondo training, and
a Yakuza. Now, the fight scenes are not overly choreographed to ridiculous level,
with people flying through the air, or stylized like the infamous corridor
scene in the original Oldboy (2003). This is sloppy in a good way, more like
fighting than something sterile in a mainstream release.
I also really liked
this dive into modern Japanese culture. In fact, there are two things discussed
that I had to look up: the first was a food called Oden, which is a fish
cake stew (ironically, I was eating fishcakes while I was watching this… ”it’s
a small world, but I wouldn’t want to paint it” – Steven Wright. But I digress…).
The conversation about it takes on almost a Tarantino-eque quality, without the
camera needing to swirl around the couch. The other is the use of the
expression Moe Moe Kyun, which apparently means something like happiness
to a level of blushing.
The director does
really well in translating the personality of our two assassins to be likeable
characters, even when they misbehave. He also has a way of showing the mixture
of action and the lull between without getting boring. It is a mash-up of the
mundane and murderous mayhem. Sometimes the action comes as a surprise, which
was quite pleasant, and other times, it builds up. Also, pleasant.
By the end, it kind of
leaves it off as a possible franchise, as the Japanese are wont to do with
police procedurals and gangster mayhem. If this comes to be true, I will enjoy
seeing what happens next with Mahiro and Chisato.
The film is available on the martial arts streaming service Hi-Yah!, and the digital and Blu-ray versions will
be accessible on August 16, 2022.
2LDK
Directed by Yukihiko Tsutsumi DUEL Film Partners;
Micott; Times In; Office Crescendo; Unearthed Films; MVD Entertainment
70 minutes, 2003 / 2022 www.unearthedfilms.com www.MVDentertainment.com
I am pretty sure when you see the title of this
Japan-made release, you might be scratching your head, unless you are into real
estate. It is shorthand for 2 Bedrooms, Living room, Dining room, Kitchen. And
that is where the story takes place, in a Tokyo condominium. But this Blu-ray is
on the Unearthed Films label, so you know things are going to get complicated and
bloody within those four walls.
Eiko Kolke, Maho Nonami
Living within those rooms are two ambitious actors:
there is Nozomi (Eiko Kolke) who has a history in local theater, commercials
and print modeling, and redheaded Rana (Maho Nonami), a film buff who likes
expensive things, and is on the verge of a breakdown. The chief contention, for
the purposes of this, is that they are both up for the same part in something
called “Yakuza Wives.”
Smartly presented, we see the two women’s relationships
on various levels.First, there is the
almost passive aggressive quality as they are polite to each other with little,
subtle digs. But here’s where it gets interesting: we also hear their inner
thoughts, and neither one of them has anything nice to say about the other.
They are petty and determined, and anger is simmering as both are convinced
that they are the ones who will get the part.
Yet, there is another contention between the two, and
that is vying for the attention of the same man, Takuya Ezaki (Daisuke Kizaki;
who does all the phone voices), who is only heard on voicemail. All the
onscreen time is with just the duo of Nozomi and Rana.
Things begin to ramp up pretty early as pettiness and
jealousy seep ever deeper into the psyche of the two women, as well as a dose
of vanity. While Nozomi is a bit of a control freak along the lines of Felix
Unger (she initials all the food, both her’s and Rana’s), and Rana is a touch
schizophrenic, hearing voices and seeing horrible visions of a past event. The
internal rancor that we hear in their inner monologue slowly but surely start
to come out in the verbal, building the tension further. And the viewer just
knows it can only get worse.
And it does. Taking place all in one night, things
escalate to the extreme, with household objects being used to do damage to each
other, including decorative swords called Jyuttes, a fire extinguisher, a mini-chainsaw,
electrocution, and lots of fisticuffs, among others.
The level of violence goes a bit beyond reality, but is
mostly relentless (with some lulls for psychotic conversations or primal
screams). Both are surprising in the levels to which they will go to punish the
other. Of course, this makes it all the more fun for the viewer. Neither of
these women are likeable though both are beautiful, at least at the start. The
O. Henry-eque ending is completely fitting for the film.
The film is well shot, employing wise moves to both
keep it claustrophobic and seeming like they are as far apart as their personalities.
There is even a scene where our two pro-ant-agonists are sitting at a table,
and as Rana talks (and Nozomi think-comments), the camera circularly swirls
around the table, a style used by Tarantino a few years later in Deathproof
in 2007.
Both actors in the film are well seasoned, both before
and after this film. They worked extensively in cinema, but mostly appeared –
often as regulars – in numerous Japanese television mini-series over the years.
This shows in their performances here,
which relies a lot on the range of keeping everything inside to exploding on
the outside.
There are a ton of extras on this Blu-ray, though I’m
not sure how many are new and which are older. For example, there is a full-length
commentary by the two actors that was recorded two years after the filming, so
that would be about 2005. It is in Japanese with subtitles. It is amusing that
they both snuck out from the same film shoot to come record this commentary.
The two women don’t get very deep, but what is interesting is their discussions
of the likeability (or lack thereof) of their characters, and almost
blow-by-blow of what was happening to them as actors playing those characters
as it appears on the screen. They talk about how hard a particular move was,
what the cameraman was doing, their level of the flu they had caught, etc.
“The Making of 2LDK”
chronicles the 8-day shoot, which was done chronologically. This is a
featurette handled professionally to be used for publicity, not just
cobbled-together scenes. It is shown day-by-day, and includes interviews,
behind the camera scenes of table readings and the like, and is interesting
throughout. For the “Duel Production Briefing” is a video of the director
talking to his production crew. For festivals, there is a “Video Message for
Theatre Audiences,” “Tokyo International Fantastic Film Festival Interviews,” and
the “Screening at Kudan Kaikan Interviews.”
Along with a “Photo Gallery,” there is a collection of
Unearthed Film trailers, including this one, and four other international
releases, such as Evil Dead Trapand A Serbian Film.
While a pretty simple storyline, the film is also a
complex mixture of the physical and psychological, both focusing on Rana and
Nozomi together, and individually. Rather than two trains passing in the night,
they are on a single track, barreling full speed to a head-on collision. And
the result is both disturbing and bloody. Right the way it should be, after
all.
Tokyo
Decadence (aka Topâzu;
Topaz)
Directed by Ryû Murakami Cinemabrain; Melsat; Unearthed
Classics; MVD Entertainment
112 minutes, 1992 / 2022 www.unearthedfilms.com www.MVDentertainment.com
It is hard to nail this one down when it comes to
categorization. Exploitation? Sexploitation? Asian Extreme Cinema?
Transgressive? Well, I guess the film has its leather boot in and on all of
them.
This film is infamous, and to be honest, before this,
I have never seen it, so I am looking forward to catching up. Despite a penchant
for vengeful ghosts, Japan genre releases are more known for violence,
gangsters, and underage women and other sexual deviances (that term conditional
to the individual viewer).
There are two versions of this film: the first is the U.S.-released
“soft core” 92-minute version, but this is the longer, Japanese 112-minurte “harder”
one, with more sado-masochism in certain scenes (neither of them is hardcore). Needless
to say, the film is in Japanese with English subtitles. The director and writer,
Ryû Murakami, is no stranger to over-the-top
storytelling, having written the novel upon which was the foundation of Takashi
Miike’s Audition (1999). This film is also based on one of
his own best-selling novels.
This Japanese production
was filmed in Tokyo, at a social stratum I am certain I will never achieve in
my lifetime (unless there is a full Lotto in my future).
Miho Nikaido
Right off the bat, we meet
a mostly nekkid and tied down Ai (Miho Nikaido) before the credits roll. She is
a high-end call girl who specializes in sado-masochistic role playing for
incredibly rich men, especially on the receiving end. Her exploits are shown in
very loving photography and highly erotic stylings. The first half hour is
dedicated to a couple of her couplings, but one really needs to be into that kind
of thing for it to be effectives, but I must admit, it’s not my style, either
the humiliation, the leather, nor the domination. Artistically, I can marvel at
the lighting and the way the camera is used, but the action leaves me cold and –
er – unresponsive. I never really understood Japanese kink.
Despite the psycho-sexual
tone of the film, the story itself moves at a glacial pace, as Ai superstitiously
gets advice from a medium (Yayoi Kusama), who gives her advice such as to put
telephone books under her television (like to see her try that now).
Ai starts having a change
of heart about her life’s work after a few clients go just a bit too far…okay,
way too far, and she begins to want to get out (somewhere in my head I hear Al
Pacino saying, “But they keep pulling me back in”). While she pines for an ex-lover, a well-known man (Hiroshi Mikami) who
appears on television, and is now married to a famous opera singer (Chie Sema),
she is also drawn to a statuesque dominatrix drug addict, Saki (Sayoko Amano).
Sayoko Amano
The camera seems to love Nikaido
and shows her emotions through extremely contrasting use of light, with people
wearing mostly black and white, with the background dark and the people lit sharply.
But still, she looks quite beautiful even in this harshness. There is also a
sharp use of the adding of the color red, used seductively, in things like
shoes, nail polish, lipstick, and especially Ai’s nearly ever-present oversized
handbag to hold all her sex-toy and attire accoutrements. The shots are long, following the action with relatively few edits.
The scenery is also worth mentioning, as most of the first two acts is of the
city at night, with incredibly tall building with industrially florescent
lighting inside the structure’s windows. It feels both organic and incredibly designed
at the same time. When we do see nature, usually trees, it almost seems out of
place.
Ai’s journey of dealing
with rich people who need her but do not really care about her, and trying to
get out of the life reminds me quite a bit of the framework of the story of Bob Fosse/Neil
Simon’s Sweet Charity (1968), except it’s not a musical, other than the incidental music here
is by Oscar™ winner for The Last Emperor (1987), Ryuichi Sakamoto. The music is extra helpful because Ai doesn’t
really have too much dialogue, relatively speaking to most of the other characters
in the film, and when she does talk, often it is almost whispered. It is like
she is on a boat without oars, and she just floats in the direction the waters
take her.
While I found the S&M
scenes cringe-worthy, for me the most uncomfortable moments were the last act,
where Ai goes looking for her ex-lover, and her further humiliation on the
journey itself, even before possibly meeting him, a series of bizarreness worthy
of Fellini or even Philippe de Broca’s King of Hearts
(1966).
The extras for this “Blu-ray Special Edition” include an English dub
version for those who have an aversion to subtitles, but know that I watched
the original Japanese versions with the English subtitles turned on. I did spot
check in on it here and there, and the dialogue comes close to matching the
subtitles, but not quite. As a non-Japanese speaker, I really cannot say which of
the two is most accurate. A “Featurette” is included from when it was first released,
which is an odd mix of an extended trailer that focuses on each of the actors
through clips, and interviews and pieces from the film’s opening (it looks like
at a festival, but it could just be a theater and the after-party. It’s in
Japanese with subtitles, but that’s no surprise, I am going to surmise. Along with a “Stills
Gallery,” and a nice box slip-cover, there are trailers that include a bunch of
Unearthed Classic releases, and two different versions of the one for Tokyo Decadence:
from Japan and Germany.
I can certainly understand why this is considered a
classic: the beautiful way it is shot, its languid style among the brutality, and
the story arc, almost like an opera, but I will not be revisiting it, honestly.
Versus (aka Down to Hell 2) Directed by Ryûhei
Kitamura Arrow Video;
WEVCO Produce Company; napalm FILMS; KSS; Suplex; MVD Entertainment 120 minutes, 2000
version 131 minutes,
2004 Ultimate edition www.arrowfilms.com www.facebook.com/ArrowVideo/ www.mvdb2b.com
To be clear, there are
actually three editions of this film on these discs, rather than two. The first
is the original 2000 cut at 120 minutes, then the Ultimate Versus, which
is the 130 minutes director’s cut from 2004, and last is VersusFF, which
is a 20 minute version, which I am assuming is for film festivals, given the
“FF” appendage. It does not, however, contain the 45-minute Down to Hell
(1997) which can be interpreted as the demo version of this film before the
real thing, though it is available on YouTube HERE. Still, this is gonna take a while to get
through this sumptuous package.
I am not gonna lie; I
watched the Ultimate cut from Disc 2 first, then for the shorter 2-hour
one, while I did see it, I paid more attention to the commentaries.
As the opening scrawl
tells us, there are 666 (of course) portals between our world and the “other
side,” and the 444th one is the “Forest of Resurrection” (shades of Pet Sematary)
in Japan, where the film takes place. I’m not sure what it is about Japan and
wooded areas, but there are at least two other stories about the mysterious arboreal
surroundings there, including The Sea of Trees and The Forest (both
released in 2016). This story is similar to Down to Hell, but it is quite
expanded and bloodier. The plot(s) also has a lot more depth to it.
Two escaped prisoners,
the star, Prisoner KSC2-303 (Tak Sakaguchi, who resembles a young Johnny Depp) and
the – er – non-star (Motonari Komiya) meet up with a car full of five yakuza
hitmen and a cute, kidnapped woman (Chieko Misaka) whose presence, naturally,
is more than it seems; her white dress never gets dirty, no matter how much
blood is sprayed or how often she is on the forest floor. No names for the characters
are given. Through a couple of double crossings and some killings, KSC2-303 (for
lack of a better name) and the woman escape into the spooky woods where the hit
men have buried dozens of their victims. Problem is, they are now zombies out
for revenge. Heck, they even have guns (though are terrible shots; the undead
need some practice).
The hit men are quite
colorful and give a nice flavor to the story rather than the typical Vincent
and Jules types, or any of a dozen hulking masses from mafia films. Here, they range
a bit on the hysterical side or are extremely stoic, giving a nice balance. Their
leader (Kenji Matsuda) is nuts and seems to act mostly with his eyes and mouth,
but he is so much fun to watch, strutting and subtly dressing like the Joker in
a green shirt and red tie; whether done on purpose or not, it works. The one I
liked the best is the most impassive (Kazuhito Ohba). Then there is the scared
and mentally unstable one (Minoru Matsumoto) and the bare-armed fighter (Yuichiro
Arai). Lest I forget, there is the one who is too quick on the draw (Ryosuke
Watabe).
Joining the mix are
two coppers from whom the prisoner escaped, the leader (Yukihito Tanikado,
doing his best “Twin Peaks” Dale Cooper) and the other with one hand (Shôichirô
Masumoto), thanks to the result of being handcuffed to KSC2-303. One of my
favorite lines is said by the cop leader who proudly brags that “I grew up at
Yellowstone National Park in Canada.” I am assuming this was an unintentional mistranslation
in the captions, but it amused me to no end.
There is a lot – and I
mean a lot – of action here, including fisticuffs, guns a-blazing and
samurai swords a-swishing. As much as the zombies are there for payback to the
hitmen, they will attack anyone. As a result of the fighting and violence, the
make-up special effects by Susumu Nakatani look great, in a Dead Alive (1992)
cartoony-way; it is easy to tell that this Peter Jackson’s film was an
influence as we get to look through holes in people, total dismemberments, and
there is blood sprayed everywhere (except, of course, on white-clad Misaka).
That the director studied film in Australia indicates that, as well.
Through it all, three
more assassins are added to the action (redhaired Takehiro Katayama, Hoshimi
Asai, and attractive gun-totin’ Ayumi Yoshihara), and to include at least two
more competent women to the cast. And this is all before the halfway point when
the film goes into a completely different and unexpected direction that is both
a WTF moment and a Hell yeah!” one, as we meet “the boss” of all the
hitmen (Hideo Sakaki), who you know from the start will lead to a final
showdown with the prisoner.
The film is insane –
in a good way – on so many different levels. While I would not dub this a
comedy, there are a lot of funny moments, often in a twisted way. Also, there
is a traditional fighting cinematic style that is occasionally used, but director
Kitamura also uses some wild editing, especially
near the end, that plays with the viewers’ expectations on the fights. With all
the wild angles, zooms, close-ups and zombies left and right, the action is
practically non-stop, and even at this length, went by pretty quickly. Even if
you don’t like captions, as this is obviously in Japanese, it won’t matter: the
actions speak louder than the words.
As always, Arrow Video
aims to please, so this Blu-ray is abounding with bonus materials. These appear
across the two discs.
The first extra I watched
on the second disc (there are only two here, most of the rest on the first
disc) was the audio commentary by Kitamura, and members of the cast and crew.
This is different that the one on the first disc, but I must say, watch it at
your own willingness to spend the time. There is about 20 minutes worth of
interesting info disbursed throughout, but most of it is utter nonsense about
their kids, kidding insults to each other, and is just plain blather. I watched
it in double time and read it faster that way (it is in Japanese, with
captions). For most of it I have no idea who said what as there was a large
group and they are not identified in the captions. The most interesting stuff
is comments on the new material. Speaking of which, the second 18-minute featurette,
“Sakigate! Otoko versus Juku,” about the new material shot four years later
than the original, with all the same actors regrouping. It’s a fun Making Of,
though it does not follow any narrative lines, but rather jumps around quite a
bit, which is fine. The action between Sakaguchi (who was the fight coordinator
for the reshoot) and Sakaki, which takes a large portion, is the most
interesting.
Back to the first
disc, I started with an audio commentary by Kitamura and producer Keishiro Shinei,
which is happily in English. While there is still a bit of whatever in
the conversation, this is focused on the film production, and is a lot more interesting.
In the yet-another commentary, this third one is the director, the lead actor,
and four of the crew (including, again, Shinei). Unlike for the Ultimate,
this one, which is in Japanese with captions, is quite a bit more informative
and my assumption is that they said most of what they needed to say, so by the
time the Ultimate one came around 4 years later, they had said their
piece. This one is also worth the listen, though it does get disjointed at
times; it’s like a film of the one for Versus Ultimate in that it is
about 80 percent decent and 20 percent fluff.
With “Body Slamming, Body Horror: Jasper Sharp on Ryûhei Kitamura” (16
min), the British expert of Japanese films frames the director in historical
context at the beginning of a new wave of Asian Extreme Cinema, such as those
by Takashi Miike. It’s a nice overview of Kitamura’s career. “First Contact: Versus Evolution” (10
min), a featurette exploring the film’s origins, is a bombastic telling with no
dialogue but Japanese title cards (and English subtitles) that just flashes images
in MTV editing style with no piece being more than 5 seconds over thunderous
music and language heavy in adjectives like “unprecedented.” Personally, I
found it a bit annoying. “Tak Sakaguchi’s One-Man Journey” (14 min), a mostly
self-shot featurette on the actor’s visit to the 2001 Japan Film Festival in
Hamburg. The first 10 minutes is just him leaving for the flight, his hotel room,
meeting his interpreter, food, and expressions of lonely feelings. When he
finally arrives at the fest, he signs autographs, looks cool in his Neo leather
jacket from the film, and destroys a screen. It was an okay watch, but I don’t
feel a need to see again.
“Team Versus” (1 min)
is a humorous look inside the napalm FILMS basement office; short and sweet. “Deep
in the Woods” (25 min) is a thoughtful featurette of interviews with Kitamura,
cast and crew, including Sakaguchi, Matsumoto, and Sakaki. “The Encounter” (13
min) is an interview with well-respected editor Shûichi Kakesu by Versus
producer Keishiro Shinei. While he discusses this film, he also talks about
different ways to approach editing, and the differences between action and
animation (he did 1995’s Ghost in the Shell).
Next up is a fun Deleted
Scenes (21 min) with audio commentary by Kitamura, cast and crew obviously done
when the main one was completed as it is the same group. As discussed above,
there is the Versus FF Version, a condensed, 20-minute recut of the film.
While the narrative is obviously in disarray, it’s pretty much a collection of
action scenes, mostly with Sakaguchi., and very little dialogue.
“Behind Versus,”
a two-part behind-the-scenes documentary exploring the film’s production, the first being “Birth
of a Dark Hero” (27 min) and the second “Versus the Legend” (46 min). Both
are very well made, one featuring a mix of interesting interviews, especially Sakaguchi
again, and filming some of the action; the other is more about the non-fighting
parts, like rehearsals, make-up, set-ups, steadi-cams, and the like, but
remains fascinating. These are well put-together Making Ofs.
There are two clips
from film festival screenings, one being the XXI Fantafestival in Genoa (2 min)
and the second is from various other fests where the film won awards (3 min).
Again, there is no dialogue, and each edit is less than 5 seconds, over blaring
music. This is more ego stroking than anything else, but considering the rightful
fanfare it got, who would be surprised. For “side stories,” which are
mini-movies featuring characters from Versus, there are “Nervous” (6.5
min) and “Nervous 2” (16 min), along with a featurette on the making of “Nervous
2” (1 min). The first one deals with the two police detectives and their
dislike of being called “officer” (is this a Japanese thing?). It’s confusing
because one detective has both hands while the other has the cuts on his face
from Versus. Either way, the image is a bit over-exposed, but I am
assuming that’s on purpose. For the second, directed by Yudai Yamaguchi, four
of the characters are in an asylum post-Versus, and can’t remember what
happened before, until… It’s quite humorous. The Making Of is a waste, don’t
bother.
There are five trailers,
each one quite different. I love coming attractions, but want to warn anyone
with epilepsy to avoid due to the flashing lights. Seriously. Also included are
5 different image galleries, including stills (both publicity and screen shots)
and posters. On the tactile side, there is a reversible sleeve for the box
featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Chris Malbon, and a glossy,
beautifully illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film
and a reprinted interview with Kitamura by Tom Mes, with notes on the making of
the film by Kitamura (this appears only in the first pressing of the Blu-ray).
Note that it took me three days to get through all the films and features. That's a nice package.
Kitamura would go on
to make 2004’s Godzilla: Final Wars, and most notably what has become an
underground classic, The Midnight Meat Train in 2008.
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