Day: July 11, 2014

LFM Reviews The Snow White Murder Case @ The 2014 Japan Cuts and New York Asian Film Festival

By Joe Bendel. Nobody in their right mind would call Mao Inoue homely and the young actress playing her middle school aged self has to be one of the cutest kids ever. Yet, those caught up in the mob mentality will believe anything. Group think in its many guises, including social networking, scandal mongering journalism, and peer pressure, stands thoroughly indicted in Yoshihiro Nakamura’s The Snow White Murder Case, which screens as a co-presentation of the 2014 Japan Cuts and New York Asian Film Festival.

Noriko Miki was Little Ms. Perfect at her cosmetic company (makers of Snow White soap). Outwardly beautiful and gracious, she was actually manipulative and mean. She also happens to be dead, having been found stabbed repeatedly and then burned to beyond recognition. The media will chose to print the legend, led by TV news part-timer Yuji Akahosi, who sees his relationship with one of the murdered woman’s co-workers as his opportunity to hit the big time. During their interview, Risako Kano not so subtly casts suspicions on Miki Shirono, referred to in his reports as “Miss S.”

In subsequent interviews, their fellow co-workers are eager to follow Kano’s lead, especially since Shirono has conveniently disappeared. Slowly, old high school and college friends emerge to defend Shirono. As they tell their stories in flashbacks, viewers see a pattern of bullying develop in her formative years. Yet, Akahosi doubles down on his narrative, egging on the internet’s baying hounds.

Ostensibly a mystery, Snow White is really the sort of film that rips your heart out and stomps on it. All three actresses playing Shirono are just overwhelmingly endearing and vulnerable. Viewers with any sliver of sympathy will be deeply moved by her/their sensitivity and indomitable faith the future will somehow be better.

From "The Snow White Murder Case."

Snow White was adapted from Kinae Minato’s novel, as was Tetsuya Nakashima’s incendiary Confessions—and it is easy to see a kinship between the two, especially in the way students’ causal cruelty leads to major macro consequences. However, Nakamura’s film does not leave audiences feeling so bereft and numb.

In addition to Inoue and her fellow Sironos, Shihori Kanjiya and her younger alter ego are terrific as Miss S.’s loyal but emotionally stunted childhood friend, Yuko Tanimura. Arguably, Go Ayano is appropriately vacuous and annoying as Akahosi, in a hipster Williamsburg kind of way. Yet, it is TV actress Nanao in her first feature role as Miki, who really gives the film a disconcerting edge.

Considering how intricately plotted Snow White is, the final resolution comes surprisingly quickly and cleanly. Nevertheless, witnessing Shirono’s life is an experience that really gets into your soul. Indeed, its genre trappings are rather deceptive, dressing up an intensely personal drama that steadily expands in scope. Highly recommended, The Snow White Murder Case screens today (7/11) at the Japan Society, as a joint selection of this year’s NYAFF and Japan Cuts: the New York Festival of Contemporary Japanese Film.

LFM GRADE: A-

Posted on July 11th, 2014 at 11:52am.

LFM Reviews The Devil’s Path @ The 2014 Japan Cuts and New York Asian Film Festival

From "The Devil's Path."

By Joe Bendel. Junji Sudo is a yakuza. Shuichi Fujii is a journalist. That means they are both users. Yet, each will discuss justice with earnest indignation in Kazuya Shiraishi’s The Devil’s Path, which screens as a joint presentation of the 2014 New York Asian Film Festival and Japan Cuts.

In the opening scenes, the audience watches Sudo kill, torture, and torment several victims, so it causes no great distress to learn he is now on death row, awaiting word on his final appeal. Before he goes, Sudo has a few things he wants the world to know. Fujii’s editor assigns him the provisional interview, expecting he will quickly dismiss Sudo’s letter as an attempt to buy time at the eleventh hour and move on to the political scandal stories in which she is much more interested. However, it does not work that way.

Sudo is willing to admit to three additional murders the cops know nothing about, for the sake of implicating the associate who set him up. He had always considered the man he called “Doc” (or “Sensei” depending on the translation) as a close friend and ally. During their time together, Doc was the brains behind some really nasty real estate and insurance schemes and Sudo was the brawn. Nevertheless, Doc duped the yakuza into believing his closest cronies had betrayed him. Needless to say, they all met very bad ends, for which Sudo will likely pay the highest price.

Naturally, Fujii is skeptical and Sudo’s accounts are frustratingly light on details. Considering how many horrible deeds he committed, these three just were not that memorable at the time. Yet, when Fujii starts probing, Sudo’s story holds up.

The idea of a malevolent bad guy helping an investigating-protagonist solve some sort of crime probably sounds like another pale copy of the Silence of the Lambs-Blacklist formula, but there is considerably more to Devil’s Path. For starters, Fujii’s relationship with Sudo is decidedly awkward and nearly entirely antagonistic. It is also a rather bracing look at what are typically considered white collar crimes, perpetrated in a lethal blue collar fashion.

From "The Devil’s Path."

As Sudo, Pierre Taki is a truly riveting presence, holding a vice-like grip on viewers. In contrast, Takayuki Yamada’s Fujii is rather weak and dull opposite him, which is surprising given his fierceness in the thematically related The Samurai that Night (seen at last year’s Japan Cuts). On the other hand, Lily Franky calls and raises Taki as the ruthless Doc. Usually cast in shaggy dog roles, such as the easy going father in Kore-eda’s Like Father, Like Son, Franky delivers a lightning bolt out of the blue here. Amongst the rest of the large but mostly beaten down supporting ensemble, Nozomi Muraoka stands out a bit, bringing some Runyonesque dash as Fujii’s editor.

In all honesty, Devil’s Path could have lost an entire subplot involving Fujii’s wife Yoko and her mounting frustrations caring for his mentally deteriorating mother. Yet, the grit and grime of Sudo’s story is quite distinct from any other yakuza film. Recommended for those who prefer their crime dramas dark and existential, The Devil’s Path screens tomorrow (7/12) at the Japan Society, as a joint selection of this year’s NYAFF and Japan Cuts: the New York Festival of Contemporary Japanese Film.

LFM GRADE: B

Posted on July 11th, 2014 at 11:51am.

LFM Reviews The Mole Song: Undercover Agent Reiji @ The 2014 Japan Cuts and New York Asian Film Festival

By Joe Bendel. Yakuzas do not sing, but they should be able to tell jokes. However, theme songs are a handy way to ensure undercover cops always remember their principles. I mean obviously, right? These are about the only rules that apply during The Mole Song: Undercover Agent Reiji, Takashi Miike’s manic adaptation of the hit manga series, which screened as a co-programmed selection of the 2014 Japan Cuts and New York Asian Film Festival.

Reiji Kikukawa is the lowest scoring patrolmen to somehow graduate from the police academy. Basically, he is an idiot, so who would suspect him of being a deep cover narc? After trying to bust a pervy city councilman, Kikukawa is summarily fired and then wink-wink rehired to infiltrate the feared Sukiya-kai clan. Kikukawa’s ultimate target is the elusive boss Shuho Todoroki, but for reasons that would not make sense to explain, the #2, Masaya Hiura (a.k.a. Crazy Papillion) quickly takes Kikukawa under his wing.

Kikukawa also takes a shine to Hiura because of the yakuza’s unyielding stand against drug trafficking. Unfortunately, someone within the organization is not so principled. Kikukawa soon feels rather confused and abandoned. Much to his frustration, being a gangster also complicates his awkward attempts to put the moves on his cute former colleague, Junna Wakagi.

Periodically, Kikukawa experiences flashbacks of his superior officers singing “The Mole Song,” which is a crime in itself. However, that sort of shameless lunacy is right in Miike’s power alley. Mole Song makes the original Police Academy look like a Noel Coward drawing room comedy. No gag is too slapsticky and no humiliation is too unlikely to inflict on Kikukawa.

From "The Mole Song: Undercover Agent Reiji."

Yet, he keeps plugging away, because Mole Song also has heart. You have to hand it to Toma Ikuta’s Kikukawa—there is nothing he will not do for a laugh—starting with being strapped naked spread eagle to the hood of a speeding car. Literally, that is where Miike starts. Kenta Kurokawa and Itsei Nekozawa also make quite a strong impression as feline-themed yakuza assassins, who look like CATS chorus members on crystal meth.

Riisa Naka does her level best to provide some grounding as the decent Wakagi, but she is fighting a losing battle. However, Shinichi Tsutsumi (who also plays a bonkers yakuza in Sion Sono’s Why Don’t You Play in Hell?) largely steals the show as the indomitably hardnosed Miura.

Miike seems to be having a ball trying out nutty ideas throughout Mole Song and the fun is contagious. Frankly, it is rather impressive how many of the bits successfully land. Recommended for those who want to see a madcap cartoon with live people, Mole Song: Undercover Agent Reiji screened yesterday at the Japan Society, as the opening film of this year’s Japan Cuts: the New York Festival of Contemporary Japanese Film, co-presented by NYAFF.

LFM GRADE: B

Posted on July 11th, 2014 at 11:28am.

LFM Reviews Why Don’t You Play in Hell? @ The 2014 Japan Cuts and New York Asian Film Festival

By Joe Bendel. Which is a greater menace to society, the Yakuza or independent filmmakers? It hardly matters, because when they join forces, there will be blood on the floor. We are talking wall-to-wall pooling here. Yes, this is a Sion Sono joint, so get your game face on when Why Don’t You Play in Hell? screens as a joint presentation of the 2014 New York Asian Film Festival and Japan Cuts.

Ten years ago, scruffy would-be teen filmmaker Hirata Don and his two camera-operating chums first met Sasaki, their supposed martial arts star. On that fateful day, they also crossed paths with Jun Ikegami, a profusely bleeding yakuza. He was supposed to assassinate Taizo Muto, a rival clan leader, but they ran into his wife Shizue instead. Only Ikegami survives her wrath, but not before getting a severe dressing-down from her ten year old daughter, Michiko.

Michiko had been well on her way to being Japan’s sweetheart, based on her perversely catchy TV toothpaste commercial, but her mother’s murder convictions derail her career. Feeling understandably indebted to his wife, Muto promises to establish their daughter in the movies before her release. However, the now punky and petulant Michiko walked away from her legit film debut, forcing the studio to recast. With mere days left before Shizue’s parole, Muto needs to find a production for Michiko fast. You see where this is going? Eventually, Don’s dubious crew will hook up with Muto’s clan, but everyone thinks the director is Koji Hashimoto, a poor schmuck on the street Michiko roped into her madness.

From "Why Don’t You Play in Hell?."

With no time to write a proper script, Don opts to film Muto’s war with Ikegama verite-style. Buckle up, because there is going to be a body count. When it comes to over-the-top, outrageously gory comedic violence, Sono’s latest film stands tall, in a field all its own. The sheer level of mayhem Sono unleashes in the third act would even leave Itchy & Scratchy slack-jawed. It is impressive.

Amid all the carnage, there is also something of a valentine to filmmaking and an affectionate eulogy for old school 35mm. It also features one of the greatest and fiercest performances by a child actor, maybe ever, but it will probably be a good eight or ten years before Hara Nanoka’s parents let her see her work as young Michiko. As the older Michiko, NYAFF Rising Star Award winner Fumi Nikaido smoothly picks up the baton and proceeds to bash just about everyone with it. It is a butt-kicking star turn, but nobody can out hard-nose Jun Kunimura (Boss Tanaka in Kill Bill vol. 1, which seems so tame in comparison) as the steely but devoted Muto.

On the Sion Sono spectrum, this is more polished than Bad Film, but more ragged around the edges than Love Exposure. Regardless, whatever you think WDYPIH is, raise it to a power of ten. Highly recommended for cult film connoisseurs who have a general idea what they are getting into, Why Don’t You Play in Hell? screened yesterday at the Japan Society, as a joint selection of this year’s NYAFF and Japan Cuts.

LFM GRADE: A-

Posted on July 11th, 2014 at 11:27am.

Momoa Rides Through the Mojave: LFM Reviews Road to Paloma

By Joe Bendel. It is like Easy Rider, except there is a reason for the angst and defiance. When Robert Wolf’s mother suffered a brutal attack, the Feds, being Feds, declined to prosecute the case. It was just too much work. However, when Wolf took the law into his own hands, they made his capture a top priority. There will not be a lot of sunsets for the biker and his new traveling companion to ride off into during Jason Momoa’s directorial debut, Road to Paloma, which opens this Friday in New York.

Wolf is a lot better at being a drifter than the self-destructive rocker, Cash Guirgis. Nevertheless, they ride together for a while, sharing some colorful encounters on the road. Wolf has secretly picked up his mother’s ashes from his estranged reservation policeman father, to spread in accordance with her wishes. Anticipating he might do something like that, Special Agent Williams grabs a reluctant local white copper and heads into the Mojave after him.

Wolf and Guirgis will see some scenery worthy of John Ford on their journey, stopping along the way for some bare-knuckle brawling and a little bit of loving. For Guirgis that means lap-dances, but Wolf prefers using his mechanical skill to seduce Magdalena and her broken down vintage car. It is nice for a while, but it the law is never far behind.

Frankly, Paloma is far more sensitive and moodier than you would expect from Jason Momoa’s WWE-distributed motorcycle-powered directorial debut. Small in scope, it is much more closely akin to his Sundance series The Red Road than Game of Thrones or Conan. They both feature Native themes, as well Momoa’s wife, Lisa Bonet. Regardless, Paloma’s cinematic vistas and alienated vibe are surprisingly effective. On the other hand, Momoa largely wastes the timelessly cool character actors Lance Henriksen and Wes Studi (who has a bit more to do than the former).

From "Road to Paloma."

As his own lead, Momoa is a serviceable renegade-brooder. He also generates some decent heat with Bonet, as well they should. Even in his brief scenes, Studi shows everyone how it is done, but it might co-writer Robert Homer Mollohan who makes the strongest impression as the reckless Guigis. Unfortunately, Timothy V. Murphy’s unapologetically serpentine Williams just does not ring true. Feds are nothing if not politically astute, so the degree he goes about antagonizing local law enforcement feels more like a clichéd contrivance.

Although it has some swagger, Paloma is not a meathead movie. It is a rather dark, character-driven affair that has a real point to make. Essentially, Momoa, Mollohan, and co-writer Jonathan Hirschbein suggest federal jurisdiction over crimes committed by outsiders on reservation land has created an incentive for predators to prey on Native victims. That is the good old Federal government at work. Recommended on balance, Road to Paloma opens this Friday (7/11) in New York at the Quad Cinema.

LFM GRADE: B-

Posted on July 11th, 2014 at 11:27am.

LFM Reviews Firestorm 3D @ The 2014 New York Asian Film Festival

From "Firestorm."

By Joe Bendel. Despite an innate laissez-faire attitude towards government, Hong Kong has always trusted its police. That is why there was such profound disappointment when the cops broke up recent pro-democracy demonstrations, as per their instructions from above. That might seem ironic for those raised on a steady diet of Johnnie To-John Woo rogue cop thrillers, but the general populace has always been willing to forgive a little corner-cutting to bring down the baddest baddies. However, Inspector Liu Ming-chit will take off-the-books justice to a whole new level of recklessness in Alan Yuen’s Firestorm 3D, which screened during the 2014 New York Asian Film Festival.

Fronting as an art dealer, Mainland armed robber Cao Nan and his gang have been running circles around the police in general and the by-the-book Inspector Liu in particular. They enjoy a challenge and don’t give a toss how many bystanders are killed in the process. When Liu’s old high school judo partner To Shing-bong is released from prison, he rejoins Cao Nan’s outfit, while pretending to keep on the straight and narrow for the benefit of his loyal girlfriend, Law Yin-bing.

Liu is a cool, frosty cat, but the dead bodies start to push him towards the edge of legality. When a shocking atrocity hits home, the Inspector finally takes a running leap into the dark side. Of course, that leads to complications, culminating in a massively explosive shootout right smack in the middle of Hong Kong’s financial district that would even leave Michael Bay dazed and exhausted.

Even though there is no sex or nudity and little foul language to speak of, Firestorm is all about sheer excess. Whether it is the amped up action sequences, the over-the-top 3D effects, or the shameless emotional manipulation, writer-director Yuen has no patience for half measures. The last half hour or so is simply a jaw-dropper of an action set piece, spectacularly choreographed by Chin Kar-lok.

From "Firestorm."

If you have a problem with entire city blocks blowing up than Firestorm is not for you. Nevertheless, Andy Lau’s work proves there really is such a thing as an action performance. He broods so hard you can see the steam coming out of his ears, elevating Liu to the level of classical tragedy. On the flip side, Hu Jun is magnetically steely as the uncannily unruffled Cao Nan.

Yao Chen manages to scratch a few decent scenes as the thankless Law, which is saying something, considering how testosterone-driven the film is. Unfortunately, second-lead Gordon Lam’s macho slow burn as To suffers in comparison with Lau and Hu. However, the film is peppered with terrific supporting turns, including Michael Wong hamming it up as Liu’s boss and young Jacqueline Chan demolishing viewers’ heartstrings as his disadvantaged god-daughter.

There is no room for subtlety or hand-wringing in Firestorm. It is simply too busy firing RPGs into crowded city streets. Given the magnitude of it all, you wouldn’t think this is Yuen’s first solo turn in the director’s chair, but the screenwriter comes strong and lays it down with authority. Recommended for action fans who like a movie to shake them by the lapels, Firestorm screened this week at the Walter Reade Theater, as part of this year’s NYAFF.

LFM GRADE: A-

Posted on July 11th, 2014 at 11:26am.