FadedBlue_net

Title: The Man From Nowhere (aka Ajeossi)
Director: Jeong-Beom Lee
Year: 2010
Genre: Action / Crime / Revenge
Format Reviewed: Film (@CIFF 35)

The Man From Nowhere kind of came out of nowhere.  A new director and a seemingly typical Korean crime-drama plot.  I mean; just look at the poster.  I’ve seen dozens of movies of a clean-shaven dude in a suit that has some kind of connection to enforcement that goes above the law.  Right?  Wrong.  The Man From Nowhere is easily the best revenge movie since Chan-wook Park’s Vengeance trilogy.

The Man From Nowhere has strange cadences.   The first hour is action-packed.  It introduces characters perfectly, without slowing down the flurry of mystery and crime scenes.  Just when it feels like the whole movie is going to be a full-on Jason Statham-style 90 minute spree, The Man From Nowhere takes a breath.  I bit of a long breath, then continues to another half hour of intense “holy shit”-ness.

In between all of this is incredible cinematography and an interesting storyline.  Incredibly beautiful establishing shots make one realize that there are certain visuals lacking from most “gritty epics” coming out of Asian film.  At times, it can even feel like an adventure film.  Even with all of the action going on, I never once felt like I didn’t know what was going on or confused by the characters.  The characters themselves are varied and give more realistic emotion than the typical Asian thriller.  One bad guy in particular reminds me of a character from a Japanese yakuza film or The Good, The Bad, and The Weird (it may have actually been the actor from the latter) – he is a bit cartoony, but complements the extreme end of the gangsters nicely.  The usual violin-heavy classical violence music underlies most dramatic scenes.

The one gripe I have with the film is the use of the little girl in the plot.  She gives a great performance – actually she delivers lines a little too well for her age, pulling me out of the film slightly – and is designed to really pull at the hearts of the audience.  In theory, this is fine, and almost needed to scrap together a plot so cluttered with action scenes.  While the plot is developed well and she worked to pull even myself to love her from the start, the ending relied a little too strongly on this.  Perhaps The Man From Nowhere is using a bit too much from a typical Hollywood endings.  I personally would have preferred something less one-sided, emotionally.

The Man From Nowhere is a great example of what Korean films do best.  It combines great film-making with crime, revenge, action, style, and prose.  While this film is more a straight-forward crime movie than the aforementioned Vengeance trilogy, it will nonetheless be loved by fans of Oldboy and Korean crime films.  While the focus is not on catching the audience off-guard in the final scene, it is a thrill to see The man From Nowhere play out.  Jeong-Beom Lee clearly has the talent to become one of the growing number of great Korean directors, and I anxiously await his future work.

Rating: 5 /5

Title: Caterpillar
Director: Koji Wakamatsu
Year: 2010
Genre: Drama
Format Reviewed: Film (@CIFF 35)

Caterpillar is messed up.  Like most experimental and pink film directors of prior decades, director Wakamatsu knows how to make a typical audience feel uncomfortable.  Unlike that era, though, where the audience is mostly just shocked into a message, Caterpillar delivers powerful messages on Japanese society (both historical and contemporary) around a relatively realistic and dramatic framework.

Caterpillar basically has two cohorts of characters.  The wife & husband (the war god), and the rest of the village.  Most of the scenes are basically studying how the wife treats and is treated by her husband, both before and after he enters the war and returns home severely injured.  While there isn’t much difference in the war god’s attitude and expectations of his wife, the power has shifted greatly in her favor.  While she struggles to accept and care for her husband, the only reason to keep him alive is her national pride and encouragement from the town.  Without their support and empowerment of the nation, she has little reason to treat him like a god.

The film has many messages, and it would clearly take multiple sittings to understand all that is being offered from Wakamatsu.  Besides the obvious WWII story and the accompanying comments on war in general and Japanese nationalism, Caterpillar makes a comment on the traditional Japanese husband-wife relationship.  Not only this, but perhaps it can be broadened to say Caterpillar fights against Japanese’s society of male domination.

The trouble is that as deep as the movie is, it is probably only going to be enjoyed, or at least put up with, by Japanese film scholars.  Caterpillar is a film that will easily be overlooked by the casual viewer (though they probably wouldn’t have found this to begin with) and written off as a weird anti-war movie.  While the tragedy of war is depicted dramatically, the real focus of the story is the on the wife.  She represents something more than a housewife, perhaps a whole civilization itself and how it must battle it’s past mistakes – whether directly causing it or themselves being a victim of their own ancestors.

Rating: 4 /5

Title: The Silence (aka Das Letzte Schweigen)
Director: Baran bo Odar
Year: 2010
Genre: Drama / Suspense
Format Reviewed: Film (@CIFF 35)

Starting out my CIFF 35 reviews is a rape-murder scene and a two hour slow burn of a crime investigation drama.  Like most killer plots, The Silence‘s murderer starts in the 1980′s, but we flash forward quickly to a present-day Germany, where he remains uncaught and hidden issues still lie beneath.

The Silence isn’t driven so much by a psychotic, vengeful, or neurotic behaviors of the killer, but by the drama ensuing in the police side of the investigation, as well as the accomplice.  Each with issues of their own, as well as having to confront skeletons in the collective town’s closet, the film mostly revolves around interactions between characters.  This sounds kind of vague, but the point is that there is very little action.  But where there is, it is powerful and realistic.  The pacing can be slow at times, and I think the film could definitely been improved a bit from more cuts, though it doesn’t feel like a drag for too long.

The Silence has a cool style, clearly inspired by movies like The Shining and Funny Games.  From up-side-down camera angles and low fly-by’s of pine trees, there is a very unnerving, creepy feeling throughout.  The music adds greatly to the setting, giving what might be a boring drama a sense of purpose.  Another cool aspect of the movie is the female officer.  She is a very interesting character and defies both female stereotypes and counter-stereotypes.  She gives a down-to-Earth and truly human feel to an otherwise angry and depressed cast.

Overall, The Silence is a good Drama that could have been easier and more interesting to watch.  As it is, it is a good movie and worth the watch if just for the references to other films.  I found myself rooting for the good guys, and while the ending won’t keep you guessing too hard, it was enough to keep me interested and was ultimately satisfying.

Rating:  3 /5

Title: Still Walking (歩いても歩いても aka Aruitemo, Aruitemo)
Director: Hirokazu Koreeda
Year: 2008
Genre: Drama
Format Reviewed: Netflix instant streaming (HD)

Still Walking has been a movie I wanted to watch for a while.  Although it’s not readily apparent what the movie is about by reading a plot synopsis, Koreeda is 2 for 2 in my book (Air Doll and Nobody Knows).  Having been on Netflix instant streaming in HD for a while now, and recently released on Criterion bluray, Still Walking is oddly accessible for what might have been an under-the-radar release of a relatively indie filmmaker.  It’s focus from movie distributors is, though, justified in the depth of the film.

Like a lot of Japanese films, especially of those which aren’t obviously labeled as “Asian Extreme/Horror”, the viewer can’t be very sure where a Still Walking is going to take you.  For a while it feels like the movie isn’t going anywhere.  There is a middle-aged couple made up of divorcées, and a child who doesn’t quite fit his new family.  The greater family of the step-father has it’s own discriminations and conflicts within themselves.  But the true story arcs are much more subtle than, of course, these details and are not readily apparent until late in the film.  And maybe this intentional, as the moral of the story itself is something that people don’t typically focus on.

The speed of Still Walking is similar to an Ozu film.  That is to say at a speed similar to normal life.  This is both a complement on good editing, but also a warning to anyone who can’t stand a slow movie.  Unlike Ozu’s films, though, some characters are extremely talkative.  Again, this is likely closer to reality than one is used to in a typical Japanese film.  Some characters are a bit cumbersome and others too characterized, but overall the families function realistically, which ranges from pleasing to disappointing to watch.  Acting is not quite up to par as a classic Ozu, either, but it is definitely well enough to put together Still Walking, and more importantly, to effectively pace the movie.

Still Walking shows us the difference between the drama we think we must resolve in our lives to what we must come to terms with.  While some conflicts in the movie seem to lead to character development, they are eventually dwarfed by a realization of the importance of one’s outlook on life.  This drama portrays a contemporary, simple family and how they deal with jealousy, pride, and revenge deep below the surface.  It may be difficult to watch in the outset, but I highly recommend anyone who start this movie to watch it to the very end.  There is an emotional payout which is somewhat subtle and clever, replicating the feel of a real-world personal epiphany.

Rating:  4 /5

Title: Bandage
Director: Takeshi Kobayashi
Year: 2010
Genre: Drama
Format Reviewed: DVD

Knowing nothing about Bandage until I watched it, the movie seemed to be a sure hit.  Generally, Japanese movies with music, especially ones with youth forming bands, like Swing Girls, have almost always been fun to watch.  While Bandage doesn’t live up to those expectations I had going into it, it is an overall enjoyable film.

Bandage feels more like an indie film than one might expect given it’s premise.  Contemporary Japanese movies concerning music is generally upbeat, and their plots usually follow this tone.  Bandage has a darker look to it.  The scenes are gritty, and hardly any shots take place outside during sunlight.  Most action is happening at night, sometimes all night.  Even one character quits school to get a job, shown early on.  The camera work is also a little more down-to-earth, with a lot of hand-held and moving shots throughout small apartment rooms that gives Bandage a more realistic feel.

The characters of Bandage also don’t behave like your usual upbeat Japanese music story.  The band members all have issues, and the main love interest of the lead girl is especially juvenile and rude.  While the band mates’ characters are somewhat rounded, with their own scenes of showing off talent or their work ethics, there isn’t exactly a melding of drastic changes to their temperaments from one scene to the next.  Luckily, the best developed character is the lead protagonist, as we see her step outside her safe zones many times, with good results and bad.   What she feels and learns throughout the story climaxes to a great performance in a long shot at the end of the movie.

Despite the slightly darker nature to the story, Bandage still has what you would expect:  several scenes of the band performing in front of crowds, rehearsing, and fiddling around on their instruments.  Sound effects and music is great, but the movie maybe could have used one more song, especially in the latter half of the film where things really slow down.  It doesn’t quite keep full-steam going in the story, but Bandage is kind of saved because the fore-mentioned excellent performance is right in the middle of this third-act lull.

Bandage is an interesting watch and  accessible to anyone who can relate to youth in angst, trying to find themselves in life.  This is  the theme of the movie, and has little to do with the band itself.  The conclusion is a bit drawn out, but never does the movie really feel too long or boring.  The first half moves along well and kept me engaged, hoping to see what happens next.  Overall, I thought this was an enjoyable watch.

Rating:  3 /5

Title: Villon’s Wife (Viyon no tsuma)
Director: Kichitaro Negishi
Year: 2009
Genre: Drama
Format Reviewed: Film (@CIFF 34)

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

Title: Bare Essence of Life (aka Ultra Miracle Love Story)
Director: Satoko Yokohama
Year: 2009
Genre:  Comedy, Drama, Love Story (?)
Format Reviewed: Film (@CIFF 34)

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

Title: Accident (Yi Ngoi)
Director: Pou-Soi Cheang
Year: 2009
Genre: Thriller
Format Reviewed: Film (@CIFF 34)

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

Title: Ingredients
Director: Robert Bates
Year: 2009
Genre: Documentary
Format Reviewed: Film (@CIFF 34)

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

Title: Queen to Play (Joueuse)
Director: Coraline Bottaro
Year: 2009
Genre: Drama
Format Reviewed: Film (@CIFF 34)

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