On the opposite end of the spectrum from Bare Essence of Life is Villon’s Wife (and hey, it rhymes).  Villon’s Wife is going to be the complete opposite feel of Bare Essence, with traditional characters, a classic setting, and a serious, realistic, adn dramatic story.

Villon’s Wife lives up to it’s name.  It is a period piece set in late-WWII of Japan, and focuses on the wife of an often drunk and even suicidal writer who gets caught stealing a large sum of money from a local food & spirits joint.  The rest of the story follows her as she sways between being a loyal wife and leaving him for a better life.  The story is somewhat sad because of the traditional values in the wife’s character.  Like the ‘good’, loyal wife that she is, she is very forgiving of just about everything her husband does, including cheating on her and stealing her money.  Without giving in to cultural relativism or feminism, the movie is better watched knowing that this is the “traditional role” for the wife at this time and place, at least before the war.

The acting, storytelling, development, pacing all are quite good until the very end of the movie.  It’s easy to fall in love with Sachi, the wife, as several men in the film do.  Tadanobu Asano delivers another great performance as the meandering, drunk villon.  The characters, besides the villon, feel a lot like some of Ozu’s, albeit more modern and less subtle.  Much of the story is very lively, with Sachi either working at the bar to pay off her husband’s debts.  It slows down considerably, as you might expect in a melodrama.  The story even falls apart a little bit at the end when it tries to pull everything together.  Some of it feels out-of-place or unexplained, and I was left wondering what happened to one character all-together.

There definitely seems to be some underlying message in Villon’s Wife.  I read somewhere that it is supposed to be about Japan changing after the war.  This can definitely be felt near the end of the movie where we see girls with lipstick running away with GI’s.  If anything, it shows the faults and benefits of Japan’s traditional double standard roles of husband & wife in the transition to an industrial society.

Villon’s Wife is a great movie for anyone interested in ‘old life’ in Japan, though I think you have to also be on board for the drama.  It is beautifully shot and one of the most believable WWII-era settings I’ve seen in a while.  It’s not really a romance picture, but it is decent as a slow, relationship drama.  Without ruining the ending, it can keep you guessing.  There are several different ways it could have gone, and if the director had taken a more Ozu-esque open ending, it probably would have been a perfect fit.  But the story clearly is leading to the definitive ending given.

Rating – 4 /5

Ultra Miracle Love Story is a crazy movie.  Note the actual Japanese title of the movie is the katakana translation of this ‘English’ title, so I will call it this name throughout the review.  This title is also much more reflective of the actual plot and feel of the movie.  It really is a follow-the-character story plot that has some love elements, irrational and imaginative plot changes, and is borderline insane.

It was interesting to see a lot of actors and actresses from some other major films appear in Ultra Miracle.  The protagonist is L from Death Note, teacher Machiko is from Kairo (Pulse), as well as an appearance from an actress of the classic Kaidan (Kwaidan)!  At first, it seems that Kenichi Matsuyama plays a very different role from L (and different his role in Akarui Mirai) in Ultra Miracle since he is go outgoing and rambunctious.  Honestly, the first third of the film is tough to watch him run around and cause havok.  Some of it is funny, but most of it equally annoying.  It’s really going to depend on your tolerance for silly and ridiculous things whether it’s enjoyable or not.  Later in the film when he calms down, he seems to turn back into a low-key rational guy like L (but without the ultra logical thinking).  Kumiko Aso is somewhat the same character she was in Kairo: quiet and a ‘typical’ Japanese female role.  As a teacher, this fits her role, though.  The acting and development of the characters are great throughout, which is really a saving point of most of the movie.

The plot of Ultra Miracle is very strange.  About half of it is somewhat logical and placed in reality.  But as we progress toward the end, several ‘miracles’ happen and things get crazy.  Clearly the purpose of Ultra Miracle is not to tell a story at all.  There seems to be a desire to show human emotions and exploration of life through freedom, spirituality, and irony.  I felt that there were some messages underneath the strange events of the last third of the film, but it’s so crazy and seemingly dumb that it’s difficult to understand what’s trying to be said.  This is really the most disappointing aspect of Ultra Miracle.  Had this been really fleshed out or given more time (especially with cutting a bit from the beginning of the film), it would have been a much greater and meaningful film.

Ultra Miracle is not a movie for everyone.  It will definitely not be liked by a good majority of Western audiences.  If you’ve seen other bizarre Japanese family-driven comedies, you know what kind of silliness and bad visual effects can be in these types of films.  Luckily there is very little of the latter, mostly because the film doesn’t try for too much, visually.  A few notable things were some extremely long camera shot (long in time, not field of view).  There were several parts that were at least three or four minutes without cut.  This said, there are a lot of interesting elements of comedy, camera work, and a sort-of ‘flight of spirit.’  It was also quite interesting to hear some thick Aoyama dialect.  Someone who can sit through similar Japanese movies should be fine, but a ‘normal viewer’ should be warned before seeing Ultra Miracle.  It is definitely a “WTF” movie.

Rating – 3 /5

Last year, at CIFF 33, I saw a film by Johnny To called Sparrow.  I was a bit disappointed in the pacing and overall lack of anything very interesting besides nice set pieces and a few ‘action-y’ moves.  The same goes for the Johnny To produced (but not directed) Accident, which ultimately takes an interesting premise and disappoints on the execution.

Several things you probably expect from Accident are there, though.  For one, the style of Accident feels like a well-produced, modern Hong Kong flick.  There is an undeniable mark of an HK actor who is suave, resourceful, and especially in this case: clever.  Brain, the lead character, is the mastermind of an assassination squad that works without directly killing their targets.  They plot and engage seemingly realistic events which lead to an “accidental” death, or one which is undetectable as a homicide by police investigations.  The second thing you would expect from this interesting premise are elaborate, well-shot scenes or the camera panning through the situation in either slow-mo or rapid fire.  Got it.

If the above paragraph is all you knew about the film, it probably sounds pretty good!  Which is why Accident is so disappointing.  An interesting premise and good camera work doesn’t save the excruciatingly slow pacing during parts of the movie.  For the longest time, we are watching Brain try to figure out how to go after his last target, so obsessed it feels a bit like A Beautiful Mind at times.  There is only slight tension which ultimately leads to an anti-climactic ending.  There is a final twist that I admit I still don’t think I fully get yet, so I will give it the benefit of the doubt.

The accidents themselves are too few and far between.  There are really only two elaborate accidents, and a couple more small ones.  They aren’t ridiculous in size enough to be really fun, but then again you wouldn’t want to them to be too wild and crazy.  These scenes range from intense to not even knowing it’s happening.  The latter is an interesting concept, since the audience is put in the shoes of the victim.  The thriller aspect of Accident is definitely present in a few set-ups, and are genuinely good.  There are just too many lulls in between.

In the end, Accident is an ok movie that may put some to sleep in the middle or last half.  Coming in with expectations only hurts what is otherwise an interesting idea, but it is showing when short, non-explicit sex scenes are the most engaging parts of the middle third of the movie.

Rating – 3 /5

Ingredients, at first glace, looks like another derivative documentary covering the green-ness of growing your own food.  But Ingredients actually takes a different angle at it’s subject.  Although most of the political concerns in the films are covered in several other, similar documentaries, Ingredients tries to show it’s audience the actual progress and examples of local growing, rather than preaching the politics of its subject.

Ingredients rightly avoids wasting time on what it’s audience already knows from films like Food Inc. After a very short animated clip of the evolution of the food industry (much like the animation from Bowling For Columbine), the film gets right into several types of food experts (chefs, farmers, scholars) and their views on the subject of locally grown foods. It’s almost inaccurate to call this an environmental documentary, because the argument for local growing is actually in the opposite direction.  Rather than “the environment is ruining, so we should grow locally”, Ingredients says “we should grow locally because of it’s own benefits, which happens to be great for the environment.”

The point, which really isn’t revealed until the final portion of the film, is to show a revolution cultivating from the “affluent” class.  As they catch on to locally grown foods, it will trickle ‘down’ to the rest of society.  At first Ingredients suggests that to really gain the benefits of better nutrients and taste, everyone ought to know as much as they can about the plants they are buying and their source.  On one hand, this is asking a lot of a working person, and Ingredients even admits that the sustainable growing is not feasible in feeding the world, due to  growing populations.  But even if an everyday person is unable to do so, this trend is already set in motion via chefs, scholars, and farmers, as well as a growing consumer population who have already come to see the benefits.

Overall, this is a well-made documentary which let’s the subjects talk for themselves, who seem interested, knowledgeable, and for the most part passionate.  Since it takes for granted the evils of processed food and environmental concerns, one could say it’s intended for those already bought into the green lifestyle.  But Ingredients doesn’t really use those in it’s main arguments, so it is probably the most accessible film of this type to anyone who doubts the politics of being green.

Rating – 3 /5

As the first film I saw at 2010’s Cleveland International Film Festival, this was a great one to get me into the mood of appreciating film.  Joueuse, like many French movies (and especially the ones that become visible to the American audience), is very charming, rounded with mixed emotions, and enjoyable.  But even beyond a pleasant feeling, Joueuse goes beyond the everyday-life-drama to contain a subtle inspirational undertone.

The first part of the film follows the everyday mundane existence of this middle-aged, married mother.  As implied, she (and her daughter) become unsatisfied with their low-class lifestyle.  This all changes when she learns of her passion to play chess, inspired by another couple that she may or may not be jealous of.  While adopting a coach through a kind of hard-to-catch relationship with a doctor (professor?), she is pushed both to pursue and avoid her passion from opposing social forces.

Joueuse is made-or-broken by the characters.  At times, our main character’s emotion is black-and-white.  She is either serious and let-down, or smiling and cheerful.  The later is only seen when she is pursuing her passion or sees others pursuing their own.  This leads to a little bit too strong of a push from the major point of the film: to encourage the audience to achieve fulfilment through the things you love in life (or to support your spouse in doing so!).  In fact, besides the doctor, who is a brilliantly crafted character, most of the characters are exactly two-sided.  This leads to a little bit of artificiality in the story.  But if you can buy into the delivery of the actors/actresses, they all develop into a satisfying conclusion.

Although it lacks the uber-charm of Amélie and some other French movies, any fan of those types of films will find something to like with Joueuse.  Similarly, the overall feel of the movie is a lot like other inspirational movies such as October Sky, but it is much less powerful.  In a way, the subtlety of Joueuse makes it more relatable.

Rating – 4 /5