Category: Film Reviews

Reviews of films past and present.

Audition (1999): Pins and Needles

Audition (film)

Made in 1999 and directed by Takashi Miike, Audition  (Ôdishon)  was Miike’s ‘break-out’ film. Already quite prolific with his output, Miike had yet to garner world-wide recognition. Audition changed all that and Miike (pronounced Meekay) became synonymous with all that is weird and wonderful in Japan.

Miike cast Ryo Ishibashi as the lead character Shigeharu Aoyama. Ryo is something of a legend in Japan. He is, in essence, Japan’s version of Mick Jagger. He was a rock star first and foremost and as he got older he branched out into acting. More successfully than Jagger, whose random foray’s into the acting world have been, mercifully, brief.

Ishibashi Ryo
Ishibashi Ryo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The film opens with the death of Shigeharu’s wife. He and his son, Shigehiko both go through a period of mourning. They soon set up a routine and life marches forward.Widower Shigeharu starts getting lonely and wonders how he can find someone to be a companion.

He is very hesitant to start searching despite his now 17 year old son urging him to find someone. He explains his situation to his friend and colleague Yasuhisa Yoshikawa who is a film producer. Yasushisa decides to help his friend by setting up a ‘fake’ film audition. This, Yasushisa  explains, is the easiest way to meet and date prospective girls.

Although Shigeharu is reluctant at first, he soon gets into the swing of it and finally finds one girl who catches his eye. She is Asami Yamazaki (played brilliantly by Eihi Shiina in what was only her second film) Although Shigeharu is quite taken with Asami and is keen to build a relationship with her, Yasuhisa and Shigeharu’s personal secretary don’t like the girl. Both people urge him to slow down in his pursuit and Yasuhisa has even had the girls past investigated.

Shigeharu disregards their well meaning advice and continues pursuing Asami. But the words of caution do worry him as is evidenced by the dream he has where he introduces Asami to his dead wife. He makes up his mind to make love to Asami on a romantic weekend away and to confess his feelings for her.  Once they arrive at the hotel, Asami reveals that she was abused as a child. She also states that if Shigeharu does really love her, he can love no-one else. After sleeping together, he falls asleep. The hotel phone wakes him up, the front desk is calling to see if he will remain in the room as Asami has left.

What follows next is a knuckle biting, nerve wrecking, and cringe worthy journey. Shigeharu attempts to find Asami and when they are re-united it is not a happy event.

Audiences have for years hotly debated whether what happens after Asami and Shigeharu re-unite is a dream or not. I have my own opinion, although it took a lot of “to-and-fro-ing” to get there. The entire film is at turns sad, hopeful, uneasy, scary, uncomfortable, weird and perverse. In other words a typical Takashi Miike film.

Photo of Japanese director, Takashi Miike, at ...
Photo of Japanese director, Takashi Miike, at New York Comic Con 2009. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

If this film is not on the top 100 films to watch before you die, it should be…and it should be at least number 2.

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Event Horizon (1997) A Haunted House in Space

Film poster for Event Horizon. Copyright 1997,...

Helmed by the English director Paul W.S. Anderson (Mortal Kombat, Resident Evil, AVP: Alien vs Predator, Death Race) Event Horizon is a nightmare inducing ride through a celestial  haunted house.

Amazingly this ‘space screamer’ was penned by Philip Eisner after he initially ‘pitched’ the idea to the studio money men on a film he referred to as “The Shining in space.” He was given the go ahead, although he had not written one word on a plot. It turned out incredibly well, despite it’s ‘shaky start.’

Blessed with an amazing cast: Laurence Fishburne, Sam Neill, Kathleen Quinlan,  Joely Richardson, Jason Isaacs, and my personal favourite Sean Pertwee and a good multi-written script, the film has no problem selling us the idea of a haunted spaceship. Although, I personally would have loved to see the original 130 minute film before Anderson had to trim twenty minutes of the more spectacular violence out.

The “Reader’s Digest” version of the plot is as follows:

It is 2047.  The crew of the ‘Lewis and Clark’ have been tasked to answer a distress beacon that seems to be coming from another ship, the ‘Event Horizon’ that vanished seven years preciously.  A scientist, Dr Weir, has been tasked to join the crew because he was the man who was behind the technology of the Event Horizon.

The crew find out that the Event Horizon was capable of creating it’s own black hole. This black hole would enable the ship to travel to the furthest reaches of space. Unfortunately, the first time that Event Horizon used the black hole device, the entire ship and it’s crew vanished. The distress beacon indicates that the Event Horizon has re-appeared.

When the crew find the Horizon and board it, they find out that the distress beacon was actually a warning. They also find a ships video log and have to fix it so they can see what happened prior to the ships disappearance. While the crew and Dr Weir are trying to piece together what happened and the status of the Horizon, they all start experiencing things. They soon find out the wherever the Horizon went, the furthest reaches of space was not where it wound up. The ship has returned and brought something terrible with it.

This film can almost literally scare the crap out of you. Taking metaphorical pages from Solaris, Legend of Hell House, and yes, even The Shining the film works incredibly well. Even though there are a few blaring plot holes (and to be fair these seem to be the result of the studio enforced editing of some of the gorier scenes to lower the film rating) and the ‘dating’ of some of the FX, the film still has the ability to creep around in your head long after you’ve watched it.

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White: The Melody of the Curse (2011) Scream-a-long Terror

 

A little something different for today. Now just to set this up I have to explain that I love films. Especially horror films. Most especially Asian horror films. And top of the list are Korean horror films. My daughter shares this passion with me and she found this little gem of a horror film –  White: Cursed Melody. She has literally been banging on about this film for months. We finally were able to see this when we got our copy from YesAsia.com.

All I can say is…Woah!

Korea is the capital of “manufactured” bands. Literally dozens of these groups are formed every year, usually by SM Entertainment. Boy bands and girl bands, the younger the better, are formed, homogenised and pasteurised and released to an adoring fan base. White: Cursed Melody (aka White) is about a girl group struggling for recognition in this highly competitive arena.

Okay, I know what you’re thinking. How on earth is this a horror film. Well, even without the paranormal slant that is part of this film, you might find girl/boy singing groups quite horrible. Seen X Factor lately?

On with the plot…The “leader” of the group finds a 15 year old video tape that’s been recorded in an old studio – a studio that previously caught fire with deadly consequences – by an unknown girl group. The song on the tape catches the “leader’s” interest and she along with the group’s manager decide to use the song in their competition. This song titled “White”  propels the group into the limelight.

The song turns out to be cursed (no, not like The Ring cursed) and that is essentially the plot of the film.

This film was brilliant. It showed, in the first half of the film, the stresses and strains on relationships between band members. It also showed the ravishing affects of inter-group competition and the “back-biting” and the “in-fighting” that occurs when any band takes off.

The second half of the film was just downright jump out of your seat, goose-bumply scary. I don’t even think that Insidious made me jump as much. The film sucker punches you so many times you start to feel punch drunk. It also has a plot that isn’t easily guessed by the viewer. You literally find out at the last possible moment who the “big-bad” really is.

Considering that most of the actors who played as the girl group were not actors but were singers from existing bands in Korea, it makes the film all the more memorable and amazing. I know that a lot of folks don’t like sub-titles, but believe me this film is worth the irritation of reading them. On a side note, unlike a lot of sub-titled films, the titles themselves are not of book length and quickly read.  They really don’t detract from the film at all.

Like I said it is SCARY.  Not to sound like a big fraidy cat, but, I’m going to bed tonight with the lights on.

Fudoh: The New Generation (1996): Cool Kiddie Crime

Fudoh: The New Generation
Fudoh: The New Generation (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Directed by iconic cult favourite Takashi Miike (Audition, Ichi the Killer , 13 Assassins) and starring Shôsuke Tanihara (Sky High) and Riki Takeuchi (Riki is well known to most Yakuza film fans, he has been a regular player in most ‘straight to video’ Yakuza tales. He also played the teacher in Batoru rowaiaru II: Chinkonka aka Battle Royale II as well as co-starring in all the Dead or Alive films)

Cover of "Dead or Alive (Unrated Director...
Cover of Dead or Alive (Unrated Director’s Cut)

The ‘Readers Digest’ version of the plot is as follows:

When Riki Fudoh is a young boy, his Yakuza father kills Riki’s brother to escape death himself. It seems that Riki’s dad committed a heinous  crime against another Yakuza crime lord and rather than pay the penalty himself, blames it on his eldest son.

Riki never tells his father that he saw him kill his brother, but as he gets older he becomes the head of a juvenile gang that is comprised of his fellow high school mates.

The gang may be made up of children, but the criminal acts they participate in are very grown-up. Under Fudoh’s tutelage they are carrying out a systematic assassination of several local Yakuza bosses.

Riki Fudoh is ruthless in his pursuit of crime. At the start of the film he kills one of his teachers for failing to pay what he owes. Working as a loan shark is just one of the many ways that Riki increases his power as a kiddie Yakuza.

Riki Fudoh gets help from a giant of a boy who pretty much volunteers to join Riki’s gang. He gives the huge lad a tour of his “training” facilities where very young children train in pairs with guns. One stands and shoots the gun while the other one provides a steadying brace. It is with this wide ranging age group of children that Riki plans to take over the local crime scene and to ultimately take on his father.

Fearing for his life Riki’s dad calls in outside help.

Fudoh: The New Generation is an atypical Takashi Miike film. In film circles he is known as the director who isn’t afraid to show the ‘under-belly’ of Japan. He shows characters on film that other directors would never dream of showing.

Fudoh is no exception. Riki’s two bodyguards are female high school students. At least they both look female. One is actually a hermaphrodite whose speciality is shooting darts from her vagina. The same ‘girl’ also stands up to urinate against a fence post. Such dexterity is to be admired.

Miike is also famous for using gallons of blood in any violent scene where most directors would use a pint. In one scene one of Riki’s body guards dispatches a local crime lord who is in the back of a police car. She serves him a cup of coffee which has been laced with poison. The crime lord begins to spew blood from his mouth. So much blood that it fills the back of the car and comes out in a four foot wave when the door is open. Typical Takashi Miike.

Français : Takashi Miike au 64ème festival de ...

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Crying Fist (2005): Down But Not Out

Crying Fist

Written and directed by Seung-wan Ryoo (Arahan, No Blood No Tears) and starring Seung-beom Ryu (Arahan, No Blood No Tears) and  Min-sik Choi (Oldboy, The Quiet Family, Sympathy for Lady Vengeance, I Saw The Devil) Crying Fist [Jumeogi unda] was Ryoo’s fourth film that utilised the talent of his brother and was a break in direction for both him and his brother. Ryu was so ‘beefed-up’ for his role in the film that he is almost unrecognisable.

The ‘Reader’s Digest‘ version of the plot is as follows:

Tae-shik Kang (Min-sik Choi) won the  Olympic Silver Medal for Boxing when he was younger. Kang has fallen on hard times. His wife has left him, he is broke, jobless and in serious debt. He has turned himself into a human ‘punching bag’ and bills himself as a stress reliever.

Sang-Hwan Yu (Seung-beom Ryu) is a teenage juvenile delinquent. He has an anger management problem and has no self discipline. His frequent brushes with the police end with his being put in prison. Once inside, his natural proclivity for fighting works for him as he joins the boxing team. He learns that boxing may just change his life.

An amateur boxing title is up for grabs. The winner not only receives a title but he also wins a nice sum of cash. Both men decide to go for the title. Tae-shik Kang goes for the title in a last ditch attempt to clear his debts and turn his life around. Sang-Hwan Yu goes for the title to give himself a new start in life, he is desperate to ‘go straight’ and not return to prison.

The film follows the journeys of both men. We see the depth of Kang’s misery and hopelessness. In his eyes he is a loser, someone who was once proud and respected. Watching him set up his area in town squares and main streets is heartbreaking.

Kang is constantly reminded of how much he has lost and how much he owes. The amateur title seems almost too good to be true. He realises that this could be a second chance and he starts training for it.

Yu is an angry young man. Stubborn and wild he looks to have no real future, apart from prison. When he warily starts boxing in prison, he soon realises that he is good at it. Once he is out of prison, he trains for his chance at the title. If he wins, he will have respectability, money, and a purpose in life.

The film shows us both men’s story by cutting back and forth between the two. The director manages to get us on both men’s side. We feel their despair, anger, helplessness, frustration and finally hope. While rooting for each man to succeed, we are uncomfortable in the knowledge that only one of them can win.

It can be a little frustrating to watch. Ryoo does such a good job in connecting us with the two ultimately opposing characters that we remain torn over which one to root for. The characters are so well written and performed that we constantly shift our allegiance and this shifting of sympathy gets harder as the film progresses.

Both men endure gruelling punishment in the ring. Each one continues to win until,ultimately, they must face each other. The fights in this film are choreographed brilliantly. Each fight actually appears so realistic we wince and start to react to the fight sequences as if they were real.

I would highly recommend this film to anyone. If you have not watched Asian cinema before, this would be an excellent introduction. Min-sik Choi and Seung-beom Ryu are craftsmen of the highest order. I have never seen either actor in a film where they failed to deliver. Seung-beom Ryoo goes from strength to strength as a director and this film is an excellent example of his work.

This film is no Rocky it is too realistic and gritty. It also grabs you and reels you in, by the end of the film you will be practically exhausted from all the “side changing” you will go through. Definitely a must see and one that you’ll need two bags of popcorn for.  Crying Fist is a cult favourite and it deserves to be.