Brief introduction to Truck Yarou

One of Toei’s most succefull cash cows in the 1970’s was the Truck Yarou series. This 10 film series remains relatively unknown outside Japan, but it just may be director Norifumi Suzuki’s most remarkable work. Suzuki’s career could be divided into three parts. Western audiences are familiar with the middle part, the early 1970’s pinky violence movies. However, already before that Suzuki was an important yakuza film screenwriter and ditrector, being involved with a large number of ninkyo yakuza productions such as the Red Peony Gambler movies, of which Suzuki directed one and wrote seven. Suzuki became an official box office champion in the late 70’s with his mainstream friendly Truck Yarou films, which form the core of this final third of his career.

Truck Yarou stars Bunta Sugawara (Momojiro aka First Star) and Kinya Aikawa (Jonathan) as two truck drivers traveling across the country and making deliveries. Momojiro is an eternal bachelor, usually falling in love in every film, but never settling down. Jonathan is the opposite; he has a wife and too many kids. He can never tell them appart or remember their names. Both men tend to have problems with authorities, especially Jonathan who used to be a policeman. The authority issue is a regular theme in Suzuki’s movies. Most of his post yakuza-era films make fun of hypocrite teachers, policemen, priests, nuns etc.

The series features a terrific mix of low brow comedy, emotional drama, and action. Tearful family reunions (the supporting characters often turn out to be each other’s long lost sisters / brothers / daughters) walk in hand to hand with climatic car chases and regularly make way for naughty gags and female nudity. Suzuki’s exploitation preferences are sometimes visible, but always filtered through a mainstream lens. The Truck Yarou films are enjoyable, high energy movies for big crowds. Probably most surprising is that the mixture really works and even the drama parts are strong, rarely hurt by the surrounding comedy bits. One can also find fun references to timely events and movies. For example in the beginning of the seventh movie Momojiro dreams of his truck turning into a space ship. Yes, this movie was indeed released briefly after the Japanese opening of Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Stars Wars.

While all 10 movies are good, most of them are excellent. The earlier films tend to be a bit more drama heavy and the best action scenes are seen in the later installments. One theme that is repeated in most films is festivals. Since the storylines takes the characters around Japan, Suzuki is given a good excuse to present local festivals and feast with beautiful landscapes. The cinematography and music are good throughout the series. The theme song is sung by Sugawara and Aikawa. It’s a great song and after just a few films becomes an unseparable part of the series. You’ll notice it at the latest in the 8th film where the song is not included, immediately hurting the viewing experience.

More or less all of the films share the same structure. There’s a delivery task, rival trucker, love interest for Momojiro, and a big finale where enemies usually become friends and help each other to make the final delivery while the police force throws everything they’ve got to stop the truck bastards. Some of the action scenes feature a bit of stock footage as Toei couldn’t afford to trash so many police cars. Scenes like restaurant fights and Momojiro’s visists to bathhouse (always bringing the girls some gifts related to his current delivery mission) appear in almost every film. A cynical viewer could say that if you’ve seen one or two Truck Yarou films you’ve seen them all. But these films are not made for cynical viewers. It is a part of the concept to always throw our beloved characters into somewhat similar but slightly modified situations.

One of series’s main attractions is the dekotora vehicles. The term is an abbreviation of Decoration Truck. In the 1970’s it became popular among lonely Japanese truck drivers to decorate their vehicles with wild artwork, exterior parts and neon lights. It was in interesting deviation of the traditional Japanese work harmony, and a way to express oneself. There trucks were gorgeous to look at especially at night time. The Truck Yarou series played important part in popularizing the phenomena in all of Japan. During the series’ course we get to see various different artworks and decorations on the main characters’ trucks. Some of the supporting characters would also drive very distinctive and memorable vehicles.

There’s a load of famous actors appearing in the series. The better you know Toei movies, the more faces you’ll be able to recognize. Even if you’re not a Japanese cinema aficionado, you’ll surely recognize some superstars like Sonny Chiba (in the 5th film) and Tomisaburo Wakayama (in the 6th film) playing rival truckers. Chiba’s role especially is memorable. He plays the leader of the Jaws gang (the trucks are numbered Jaws I, Jaws II, Jaws III etc.). Chiba’s fight scene with Sugawara is a classic comedy piece on both stars’ career. Other famous actors appearing in the films include Junko Natsu, Downtown Boogie Woogie Band (both in the 1st film), Tatsuo Umemiya (2nd film), Mieko Harada (7th film), and singer Sayuri Ishikawa (10th film), just to mention a few.

The successful series ran from 1975 to 1979, with two films being released every year. Apart from the finl film they were all Toei Top 10 box office hits in their release year. Director Suzuki still found time for other projects as well. Most interestingly, in his depraved 1979 exploitation film Beautiful Girl Hunter Suzuki made a direct reference to the Truck Yarou series. It was quite surprising to see two such different type of movies meet, even if it was just for one scene. Perhaps this connection will remind people of the versatility of both tough guy Sugawara and ”exploitation director” Suzuki. Indeed, most Western viewers who only know Sugawara from Kinji Fukasaku’s violent yakuza films will be very surprised to see him do some very silly physical comedy in the Truck Yarou films.

Films in the series:
Truck Yarou: Goiken muyou (トラック野郎　御意見無用 ) (1975)
Truck Yarou: Bakusou ichiban-boshi (トラック野郎　爆走一番星 ) (1975)
Truck Yarou Boukyo ichiban-boshi (トラック野郎　望郷一番星 ) (1976)
Truck Yarou: Tenka gomen (トラック野郎　天下御免 ) (1976)
Truck Yarou: Dokyo ichibanboshi (トラック野郎　度胸一番星 ) (1977)
Truck Yarou: Otoko ippiki Momojiro (トラック野郎　男一匹桃次郎 ) (1977)
Truck Yarou: Totsugeki ichiban-boshi (トラック野郎　突撃一番星 ) (1978)
Truck Yarou: Ichiban-boshi kita he kaeru (トラック野郎　一番星北へ帰る) (1978)
Truck Yarou: Neppu 5000 km (トラック野郎　熱風５０００キロ ) (1979)
Truck Yarou: Furusato tokkyubin (トラック野郎　故郷特急便 ) (1979)

Recently seen movies #166

The Terrifying Girls’ High School series (1972-1973)

Hitting the Toei theaters in the midst of their second Pinky Violence wave (preceded by Teruo Ishii’s period movies in the late 1960’s) Terrifying Girls’ High School movies were basically a high school variation of the Sukeban girl gang movies which ran from 1971 to 1974. The main difference was that the girl bosses would now wear school uniform, and the villains would include corrupt high corrupt school officials rather than just ordinary yakuza. The opening installment, Violent Women’s Classroom (1972), stars Miki Sugimoto as a heroine who must fight Ema Ryoko’s ruthless girls for the supremacy of the school. Reiko Ike co-stars as a sukeban who has not yet decided her side. This was the basic casting also in most of the Sukeban films, where Ike and Sugimoto would take turns playing the heroine / guest star. Poor Ema Ryoko was destined for villain roles and fight scenes where her shirt gets ripped for life.

Violent Women’s Classroom features little if any deviations from the genre conventions. It’s an enjoyable, fast paced exploitation film full of violent girls beating each other and making fools of their senile teachers. Typical to Suzuki, there’s a lot of humor included, and none of it can be described as very sophisticated. Nudity is plenty as well, but thankfully there are no long sex scenes interrupting the minimal storyline – something director Norifumi Suzuki has been found guilty of a few times before. Technical execution is of relatively high standard, as expected from a Toei production. The stylish theme song is performed by supporting actress Rika Sudo, and was re-used in the superior sequel, Lynch Law Classroom.

Lynch Law Classroom (1973), Norifumi Suzuki’s second attempt with the Terrifying Girls’ High School series, counts as one of the high points of the genre. Compared to its predecessor the follow up is a much darker film. Occasional silly comedy now walks in hand to hand with torture scenes that make reference to the Vietnam War! At the same time the film manages to be wildly entertaining (Reiko Ike’s introduction scene with a motorcycle is a small genre benchmark) and even beautifully shot at times. Dull moments are almost entirely missing for the film. The primary casting is the same as before (Sugimoto as heroine, Ike as guest star, Ryoko as villain), with Tsunehiko Watase’s sunglass wearing lone wolf yakuza being the most notable addition. The film’s most satisfying scene by far is the ending, which is high school anarchism at its best.

After Lynch Law Classroom the series lost two important talents; actress Miki Sugimoto and director Norifumi Suzuki. In Delinquent Convulsion Group (1973) Reiko Ike carries the lead role, leaving the film without a strong guest star. Probably standing out most (and not due to their acting talents) are the American actors who play evil drug dealers and rapists. Yes, this is yet another film that does not improve cross cultural understanding. Director Masahiro Shimura is no first timer in the field of exploitation cinema. He worked as an assistant director in the previous two films, and was also involved in screenwriting several Toei action films such as The Street Fighter (1974). His directorial filmography is short, but perhaps for a reason. While not a bad movie, Delinquent Convulsion Group is not among the genre’s best films, and this would appear to be largely Shimura’s fault. His direction is a bit sloppy, lacking the intensity and visual style of Suzuki’s best movies. Delinquent Convulsion Group is mainly saved some memorable scenes such as the sailor suit and machine gun finale.

The Terrifying Girls’ High School series ends with another Shimura effort. Unfortunately Animal Courage (1973) is the weakest of the four films. It suffers from similar problems as the previous film; Shimura directing features no sharp edges, and there are no strong supporting characters (although lead star Reiko Ike almost becomes one). The storyline is all over the place, and gives more room to sex scenes than action. There are visual highlights, but they tend to be inconsistent, and often the follow up doesn’t live up to build up. The soundtrack is somewhat restrained but does feature one rather stylish spaghetti western tune. Another ear pleaser is the language mix on offer; you’ll get to hear the girls speak French and English on language lessons. Yes, we are trying hard to find positives here…

Somewhat interestingly the film spends a considerable amount of time mocking Christianity (Yankee Mark Darling returning as a dirty priest), immediately making one suspect Suzuki had his fingers involved with the screenplay. Another cast member one might recognize is Harumi Tajima, who later made a rather memorable beach run in the final Sukeban movie (1974). Finally, and literally so, the film’s very last scene is quite excellent. Animal Courage may not have been the best way to end the series, but the last 30 seconds couldn’t have been better (rviewer note: it’s been approximately 2 months since I viewed this film and wrote this review, and I can no longer remember how the film ends).

Verdict:

Violent Women’s Classroom (Japan, 1972) – 3,5/5
Lynch Law Classroom (Japan, 1973) – 4/5
Delinquent Convulsion Group (Japan, 1973) – 2,5/5
Animal Courage (Japan, 1973) – 2/5

Recently seen movies #165

Love Exposure (Japan, 2008) – 5/5

Director Sion Sono is probably best known for his cult hit Suicide Club (2001). This beautiful yet disturbingly graphic satire used the horror genre as its playground and painted an image of hectic modern Japan where popular culture and the societal demands could even make suicide fashion. The semi-sequel Noriko’s Dinner Table (2005) dropped horror from the mix, and delivered a 2½ hour dive into the mind of a teenager desperately looking for her identity. Sono’s new film, 237 minute Love Exposure, is logical continuation to the director’s earlier works. It’s also one of the most massive and best movies of the decade.

The primary theme in Love Exposure is religion. The main character, Yu Honda, excellently played by Takahiro Nishijima from the pop-band AAA, is a teenager living in a deeply Catholic family. There are two important women in Yu’s life; his saint-like mother, and Virgin Mary. As a child Yu promises his mother to find his own Mary when he grows up and start a family. After the mother’s death Yu’s father (Atsuro Watabe) becomes a priest, but ultimately descends into depression and starts forcing his son into daily confessions. Being an extremely kind and good hearted person, Yu can’t think of any sins he might have committed. This, of course, is considered even a greater sin. To please his dear father Yu even tries to make up sins, but is soon caught lying. The only solution left is to start committing real sins.

Despite this insane and tragicomic religious circle presented in the film, it is not Sono’s intent to entirely bash Christianity. The director respects the origins of the religion – even as much to include the line “Jesus Christ was cooler than Curt Cobain”. The film’s characters – including Yu, who believes he can be a devout Christian by following the norms taught to him, but doesn’t realize religion should come from one’s own heart and be based on one’s own decision – are as much victims as abusers of religious ideals distorted in the course of time. In Sono’s mad world religions are only one part of the twisted system that also includes the pop-culture insanity of Suicide Club, and the murderous identity crisis seen in Noriko’s Dinner Table.

Love Exposure’s 17 year old protagonist finds his sinful calling in tosatsu, upskirt photography. Yu’s new hooligan friends introduce him to tosatsu legend Lloyd (Hiroshi Ohguchi) who accepts Yu has his student. In Japan tosatsu is reality and a somewhat popular underground phenomena. Photos are taken with most inventive techniques, including the cute puppy strategy, where camera is attached to a dog’s collar. When the victim kneels down to caress the innocent dog, a clean view opens for the camera. In Sono’s hands the art of tosatsu is taken far beyond this, and even kung fu techniques are applied to steal a photo. These scenes present some of the most outrageously amusing footage seen on silver screen in the recent years.

Yu’s plan of committing religious sins is a success to the extent of his father losing his temper and hitting Yu. Yu is only glad about this; it’s the most personal reaction in a long time from his father, who now hides under the priest’s gown and treats his own son like a stranger. However, there is another, even more important reason for Yu’s obsession with tosatsu. Yu believes it’s the only way to find Mary, who is hidden somewhere amongst the millions of people of Tokyo. The signal for finding the right person would be a hard on (you read that right) that Yu has never before experienced. Waiting for that day Yu spends his time with his new friends – shoplifters and perverts – who ironically form a more understanding community than Yu’s real family.

Family is a regular theme in Sono’s movies. In Noriko’s Dinner Table a father was desperately trying to track down his runaway daughter, while Strange Circus dealt with incest. Obviously Sono’s family portraits are quite different from those of Japan’s beloved but Sono’s hated filmmaker Yasujiro Ozu. Sono’s has even gone as far to call Ozu an Antichrist. It would seem appropriate to call Sono an Anti-Ozu. However, Sono’s family-hell depictions are not only angst towards the safe and unexciting Japanese cinema traditions, but also, to some extent, based by the director’s own life. This is also true to Love Exposure, which was influenced by the director’s tosatsu loving friend as well as Sono’s own experiences as being a part of a religious cult.

Drawn together from a 370 page screenplay Love Exposure features such a massive amount of story that the plot summary presented in this review is nothing but a brief introduction. What would seem like the beginning of end – with Catholism and tosatsu already thoroughly inspected – turns out to be only the first phase. Many important characters, such Koike (Eiji Okuda’s daughter Sakura Ando), karate skilled Yoko (Hikari Mitsushima), and mysterious Miss Sasori, disguised in black coat and Meiko Kaji hat, have not even made their appearance in the film by this point. It’s only after their introduction, around 58 minutes, when the film’s title screen appears, and the first of the story’s five chapters is brought to a conclusion.

While the storyline unravels with logic, it also manages to be completely unpredictable on its way to the eventual climax. Adjusting to the varying moods of its characters, the film modifies its style and approach several times. Influences have been taken from classic Japanese exploitation films, art house movies, and even Hong Kong action. Due to the long running time this variety is only welcome and does not make the film less coherent. In shorter form the mix would probably become nonsensical, which was also observed by the director when he prepared the producer-pleasing 2 hour test-version. On the other hand, Sono’s first draft ran six hours and was more explicit. In the 4 hour version, which is Sono’s final cut, for example sexual undertones are constantly present, but there are no graphic sex scenes or nudity.

The film’s most problematic part might be, as reversed as it may sound, the sequences around the 60 minute mark. These scenes represent such audio-visual perfection that anything that follows can’t possibly reach the same level. Especially the film’s soundtrack, part of which was created by the punk-pop band Yura Yura Teikoku, deserves recognition. Religious music is also used to a great extent, sometimes even simultaneously with pop songs. Typical to Sono’s movies, there’s a good amount of handheld cinematography , which fits the film’s style well. Still, as a whole Sono’s vision relies more on storyline than technical credits, and this softens the impact when moving on from the wildest parts to more casual storytelling. Nevertheless, the viewer should be prepared for slower pacing and a bit less outrageous plot turns during the film’s second half.

More than anything else Love Exposure is an experience. As such it may be slightly flawed, but it’s also endlessly fascinating and almost certainly different from anything created before in the history of cinema. The extreme length may put off casual viewers, but the film isn’t boring for one second. When the storyline finally wraps up after four hours the viewer can’t help but to wish Sono had depicted the chain of event even a little bit further. What might have happened next is a good topic for discussion after the film, as Love Exposure is sure to remain in the viewers mind for days if not weeks.

Recently seen movies #164

Kimi no tomodachi (Japan, 2008) – 4/5

Ryuichi Hiroki’s career is certainly not one without development. In the 1980’s one could find his name attached to sadistic pink films, sometimes made under the alias Go Ijuin (also used by Genji Nakamura and Hitoshi Ishikawa). Fast forward two decades and Hiroki has become a pioneer in digital filmmaking in Japan. His masterful 2005 film It’s Only Talk is one of the best Japanese movies from the past 10 years. Now Hiroki has made a beautiful movie about friendship between kids. Kimi no tomodachi follows two girls who become friends at the age of 10. The main part of the film takes place 5 years later, the present day being yet another five years later. Both girls are sick or injured; Yuka (Ayu Kitaura) has a kidney disease, and Emi’s (Anna Ishibashi) leg was permanently damaged in a car accident.

While Yuka and Emi are the core of the film, the storyline almost unnoticeably introduces new characters and smaller branches. It’s not obvious from the beginning, but just like these shorter stories that aren’t always brought to a conclusion, the entire film is more about friendship than telling any specific storyline. This structure is one of the aspects that Hiroki handles well in a film that is relatively conventional, but greatly benefits from the director’s touch. Hiroki doesn’t turn the film into a sad sickness story, or the most typical kind of ”memories of the good old days” offering that Japan is so keen on producing nowadays. There are some unsuccessful parts – such as bullying scenes that play out like All About Lily Chou Chou – but the numerous long takes and beautiful digital cinematography create several terrific scenes. In many ways Kimi no tomodachi is reminiscent of Hiroki’s earlier but inferior film Love on Sunday, which also was a very mainstream oriented screenplay seen though Hiroki’s sharp lens. Kimi no tomodachi is a greatly enjoyable film, even if not as good as the director’s best efforts.

Recently seen movies #163

I usually try to review good or at least interesting movies in this blog. But since readers come and go and I can’t expect many people be very familiar with my taste, it’s good to set the standards every now and then. Even if it happens at the expense of polluting my own blog with movies such as Memories of Matsuko…

Memories of Matsuko (Japan, 2006) – 1,5/5

Kamikaze Girls (Shimotsuma monogatari) was a supercharged JP Pop Culture typhoon that hit the target somewhat often – mainly thanks to the screenplay and actress Anna Tsuchiya – but also suffered from director Tetsuya Nakashima “crazy and cool” visual approach that mostly lacked real sense of style. Memories of Matsuko, an instant cult hit and masterpiece apparently, doesn’t fix the predecessor’s problems but emphasizes them. Matsuko’s life is hip beyond belief, and Nakashima’s 130 minute film doesn’t feature a single frame that isn’t digitally over-processed and full of wild details. The director does deserve some credit for his imagination; not everyone can create a mess as versatile as this. There is also a remotely sensical dramatic structure hidden somewhere under the visuals. The middle third of the film features some entertaining musical sequences and there’s a lot of small cameos from Hiroshi Yamamoto to AV star Sora Aoi. If it wasn’t for the unbearable serious ending that goes on forever one might even forget how appalling the film’s first 30 minutes were.

HIFF 2009

First, I must apoligize. This year’s Helsinki International Film Festival report (aka Rakkautta & Anarkiaa / Love & Narachy) is short and written without too much thought put into it. That’s because I’m in a huge hurry. Later this week I will fly to Hokkkaido to become an exchange student for the next 12 months or so. Because of all the preparations that need to be done I could only go to the festival for 3 days (it’s 11 days in total) and watch no more than 12 movies. I had two more scheduled but something came up and I could’t attend those screening. I gave the tickets to my friend. Now I’m back at my hometown (500 km from Helsinki) writing this post as fast as I can. Sorry for the typos and strange grammar; I don’t have time to read this throught twice.

Friday

I had my first screening at 16:00, although I arrived Helsinki already at 11:30. After a lunch I went to check out my friends place (never visited him in Helsinki before) because that’s something you wanna do when it’s daytime and not after the last film when it’s dark and you get completely lost and then russian mobsters rob and kill you. Another thing I had to do before the films was to get my student visa from the Japanese embassy. That only took 15 minutes, so I had plenty of time to have another meal.You need to eat well before the films start, because my schedule is tight and usually doesn’t even leave room for brabbing hamburgers. Instead I carry some bread in my bag, in case feel starvation death is about to reach for me.

My festival program opens with violence, black suits, good music. Just Walking (2008) is Mexican crime thriller that introduces two storylines that will later merge. In Mexico a handsome and extremely cool hitman Gabriel (Diego Luna) is mafioso Felix’s right hand man. They are planning a big drug deal with an Asian gang. At the same time in Spain four women attempt to rob the Russian mafia. They fail and one of them is captured and sent to jail. Some time later one member of the group, now living in Spain, becomes Félix’s wife. It doesn’t take her long to get bored , and come up with a plan steal his husband’s money. Just Walking’s (titled after a song, not the film’s tempo) best twist is to set likable characters on both sides and this way avoid a simple good vs evil setting. Audio-visually the film is mostly good, but occasionally leaning too much on intentional cool (the director is an admirer of Quentin Tarantino, but thankully not a talentless copycat and does have his own style as well). The film’s biggest short coming is the ending, which misses many opportunities in terms of characters, and also lacks real punch. But all in all, it’s a stylish film.

Also known for visual style is director Park Chan-wook, who misfired with the miserable comedy I’m a Cyborg But That’s Ok (2006). His new vampire film Thirst (2009) however is a positive surprise. Song Kang-ho (The Host) plays a Korean priest, who volunteers in medical experiments. He walks out as the single survivor, but soon discovers he has developed a new kind of taste for blood. Thirst received some additional publicity during the casting process when Park was reported to have great difficulties in finding an actress for the sexually explicit leading female role. He did manage to cast the role eventually, but it’s not hard to guess what type of actress would accept such a role. But there’s a surprise; Parks finding, Kim Ok-vin, is by far one of the most attractive actresses in Korea. Besides, the fuss appears to have been heavily exaggerated; even if Kim may not quality as an idol after this mixture of sex and religion, none of the content is of very graphic in nature. Her performance is also good to certain extent. During the second half of the film melodrama takes over, but that’s mainly the screenplay’s fault. Some of the scenes in the beginning even reach the level of excellence of Park’s best films. Violence, eroticism, and absurd comedy are in good balance. On the negative side the film is a bit too long can’t quite hold up till the last scene. Nevertheless, Thirst is quite an enjoyable film and an interesting take on the vampire genre.

I’m very glad Park succeeded with Thirst because the price I had to pay for being able to see it was not only the film ticket, but it also meant missing the Russian film Morphia (2008), which was screened at the same time. I saw director Aleksey Balabanov’s previous film, Cargo 200 (2007), at last year’s HIFF, and found it quite good. But after Thirst thankfully didn’t have to feel sorry for the decision I made, and I really wouldn’t have had time for self criticism either because the next screening, Kinatay, was scheduled to begin only 2 minutes after Thirst was to end. And of course it was playing in a different theater. I stole myself additional 2 minutes by rushing out from the cinema as soon as the Korean ending credits hit the screen, and then made a Shuffle (1981) esque sprint to the next theaters. I arrived on time, managed to exhaust myself for some reason. Maybe it was because I had too much stuff to carry, and I was over-dressed as well. In any case, the next 15 minutes I wasn’t sure if someone sitting behind me was kicking my chair, of if it was just in my head. Go figure…

There was a bit of kick toward the audience in the film as well. This spring Roger Ebert apologized Vincent Callo for calling The Brown Bunny the worst film in the history of Cannes film festival, because he thought the honor belonged to phillipino film Kinatay (2009). The Cannes jury replied by awarding Brillante Mendoza as the best director of the year. Kinatay follows a normal man’s one night journey into the heart of darkness. And it is dark; 75% of the film takes place night time, and there’s no ”movie lighting” or steady camerawork. The director aims at documentary style, or perhaps even snuff style, some exaggerator might say. Many have also compared Kinatay to Gaspar Noes’s films such as Irreversible. It’s hard hitting story and may be easier appreciated as an experience than genuinely enjoyed while watching. But it needs to be seen from a good print, because this is perhaps the darkest films ever made. In the festival screening I attended we got to enjoy a terrible digital projection that made it completely impossible to see what was going on most of the time. No wonder approximately 10% of the audience walked out during the film. However, a far superior presentation for this film is possible. For this reason I have not given a rating for the film (in the form I saw it, it would be a 1).

And then, the award for the year’s most mentally insane motion picture goes to… Yatterman (2009). The year’s best film on the other hand… well, that just might be Yatterman, too. Based on a 1970’s anime series Yatterman is an over-the-top adventure in which Yatterman 1 (Sho Sakurai from Arashi) and Yatterman 2 (Saki Fukuda with blond hair) battle evil Doronjo (Kyoko Fukada) and her two dumb helpers around the world, usually destroying half of the city in the process. Also included are all kinds of robots from mecha dog Yatterwoof to Doronjo’s various battle tanks. Yatterman is basically two hours of non-stop, high energy insanity. The maniacal musical scene in Jackie Chan’s City Hunter’s would be the best comparison. There’s dancing and singing, huge explosions, robots trashing the streets, clumsy villains usuing Fukada’s breasts as air bags, and a mountain of schoolgirls (literally). The tempo is amazing, and, apart from one scene at the end, never runs out of fuel. The leather dressed Kyoko Fukada is the film’s real star, playing a role somewhat similar to Chiaki Kuriama in Miike’s previous family fantasy The Great Yokai War. She’s not quite on par, but the film is ever better. However, it must be said that the amount of sexually crude jokes inserted into a family film here is mind staggering. Yatterman is Takashi Miike’s craziest film by a mile. It’s also his best.

Saturday

Since the Russian mobsters failed to get me last night, I was ready for another load of films on Saturday. I begin my day by writing notes about the films I saw yesterday (how else could I write mini reviews with even the slightest accuracy) and then walk to the city centrum with my friend. I believe owe him a pizza, because he allows me to sleep on his floor. Actually, he even had an extra matress, so it softened my festival experience nicely. Usually I don’t have and don’t even ask for such luxory. But still, I should have taken use of the luxory transportation that the local buses offer. Now I left a bit too late and almost had to run to make it on time to pizzeria and the film that would follow.

That film wasn’t just your average festival filler. United Red Army (2007) is one of the movies this decade will be remembered for. 1960’s / 70’s pink rebel Koji Wakamatsu has made a 190 minute film about student activity that lead to the formation of the extremist group United Red Army in 1972. The film begins almost as a documentary, filling the firts 15 minutes with narrated news footage and cutting in short scenes with actors. After the opening this composition is flipped; the archive footage becomes supporting, and actors take over. Wakamatsu depicts the birth of the movement, and shows how common sense and good intentions get lost and become insanity when the passionate youngsters begin their armed training at the mountains. This part of the film goes on for a bit too long, but it doesn’t weaken the film’s incredible impact. Wakamatsu’s approach is admiring, critical and intelligent. This has been a very personal project for him; Wakamatsu financed the film himself, and can no longer even return to his home. That’s because the limited budget forced him to use his own house in the film and burn it. But it was worth it. United Red Army is a masterpiece.

That can’t be said about Tony Manero (2008) I’m afraid. Instead a word of warning is needed here; this Chilean film about a low life killer obsessed with John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever is not quite exotic film finding some audiences may be expecting. Instead Tony Manero is a naturalistic drama about the most repulsive leading character in recent memory. He’s a killer and thug who beats defenceless elderly people to death and steals their money. Needless to say, he doesn’t treat his family much better. The main character is intended as an allegory for the country’s state in the late 70’s.There may be an audience for this kind of misery-cinema, but I’m not among them. Casual viewers will find little else to enjoy than the two Travolta dance scenes. The lead actor Alfredo Castro’s face looks like a mix of Al Pacino and Christopher Walken.

Now, according to my original schedule, I was to see The Hurt Locker and North next. But since Quentin Tarantino’s new film Inglorious Basters also interests me, I decided to go see it instead outside the festival program. Inglorious Basters isn’t playing in my hometown yet, and I don’t want to see it in Japan either because the film’s dialogue is 30% English, 30% German, and 40 French. My kanji reading isn’t even close to being up to following Japanese subtitles in a film. But I return to the festival alter in the evening to see another Takashi Miike film.

Unfortunately Crows Zero (2007), an adaptation of a high school action manga by Hiroshi Takahashi, is 30 minutes too long, and more often dull than exciting. It’s obvious from the terribly edited, flashy opening action scene that many of Miike’s stylistic choises don’t work this time. Manga haired tough guys beat each other and form alliances in the notorious ”School of Crows”, but it’s mostly the comedy bits that manage to entertain. Another asset is punk; the brilliant opening credits scene echoes of Sogo Ishii. Unfortunately it’s followed by Meisa Kuroki’s R&B, something that shouldn’t even be in a film that should be rage and anarchism from the start to end. Miike also fails with the yakuza content; there is only bad cliches on offer. While clearly a mainstream film, it’s the violence that sets Crows Zero apart from similar style American productions that would probably aim for the pg-13 category. Miike has given up on his old gore shockers, but the kicks and punches in Crows Zero feel and look like they could make a hole in one’s face. The final fist fight, which is the only truly exiting action scene in the film, is the best example of this. Not dance-like soft-martial arts scene, but a genuinely masochistic beat the shit out of each other match.

Sunday

Last night I succeeded in something that I’m slightly proud of. I managed to return to my friends apartment without waking him up. Even though I hit the same chair three times and also has some disagreements for the closet door that was on my way…. Yes, it was very, very dark, and I didn’t want to wake him up by turning the lights on. The time was around 2am. The film ended after one, but not being familiar with the night busses of Helsinki, it took me some time to find the right one. I discovered half of the bus drivers don’t even know the major streets in Helsinki…

In any case, the Sunday opens with a very positive surprise. The British film The Tournament (2009) is one of the several recent Battle Royale soft variations… although ’soft’ is not exactly the best word to use when describing this ultra violent old school actioner. 30 of worlds deadliest assassins gather to play a survival game; the last man standing wins. A normal (fully populated) city in England serves as battle ground. The premise is delicious, and outcome is just as great…. and messy. Head explode and bullets rip off arms when 9 assassins find themselves at the same strip club at the same time in one of the film’s numerous action highlights. The budget appears to have been unsually big for such honest violence entertainment; there is no obvious cgi but real cars blown up to the sky, and of course genuine fake blood splattered all over the walls. The most memorable characters include Chinese kung fu killer (Kelly Hu), amazing french parkour expert armed with double pistols and sniper rifle (Sebastien Foucan), and Ving Rhanes the general bad mofo. And of course Robert Carlyle as a drunk priest who becomes a player by accident when someone throws a tracking device in his coffee! The Tournament is Rambo for 2009.

More action ahead, this time from Thailand. It may not become a huge surprise, but Ong Bak 2 (2008) has a problem with its story. But this time it’s a serious problem. A lot of people complained that earlier Tony Jaa films like Tom Yum Goong didn’t have proper story, even though these films had a good flow and sometimes even a greatly enjoyable ”who stole my elephant” storyline. But people would have preferred some bullshit cliche collection storyline to be inserted. The 16th century set Ong Bak 2 actually takes one very small step to that direction, and it immediately becomes a drag. Anything related to characters and storyline only slows Ong Bak 2. The entire first hour is quite miserable actually; not even the fight scenes manage to impress (not counting a couple of great stunts). But it’s the ending that makes Ong Bak 2 worth seeing. The 20 minute action finale comes pretty close to being the best martial arts scene ever captured on film. It doesn’t make the preceding hour any better, but it does make the ending worth seeing once, twice, maybe thrice. It will be interesting to see how Ong Bak 3 continues from here. One new trick the filmmakers have learned is mure fluent but also faster editing. It’s not entirely a good thing.

After two violent action films a change of tone on at place. During the past 10 years director’s like Ryuichi Hiroki, Shunji Iwai and Hiroshi Ishikawa have re-invented Japanese drama film by making more intimate, often digitally shot films that move away from the classic Ozu style. Hirokazu Koreeda’s Still Walking (2008) on the other hand is more old fashioned film. Koreeda marches characters from several generations in front of the camera for a family meeting. The middle aged son (Hiroshi Abe) and his new wife and son visit his parents and siblings in the old family house. There is no clear storyline, but rather 24 hours of one family’s life captured on camera. Koreeda’s idyllic images and slow tempo have won the critics over, but without the actors Still Walking wouldn’t stand on its feet. Hiroshi Abe and Yoshio Harada’s (the father) performances are a pleasure to watch. Some of the other actors, or rather their characters, do not get much room and make the first half of the film quite poor and uninteresting. The film improves later when there are fewer characters left. Another reason for the film becoming better during its second half is the director’s dry approach; there is little else than the characters, and they only become interesting once you get to know them better. In Koreeda’s hands that takes time.

A lot of time must also be reserved for my last film, which is a 5 hour double screening. Red Cliff (2008 / 2009) was John Woo’s return to Hong Kong and it wasn’t a modest one; all time highest budget in an Asian film, and approximately 100 000 men borrowed from the Chinese army to avoid the use of little cgi soldiers. And yet, there is a fair bit of cgi in the film, and not nearly all of it is well done. Another problem is characterization and supplementary story bits that aren’t very engaging. This kind of period drama has been seen before and done better, and without a clumsy love scene that Woo has for some reason left in his final cut. However, the epic scale and highly interesting war scenes keep even the first half of this film entertaining, and it’s Part II that truly shines. Once the dry set up is done, it’s hard core war tactics were brains matter more that manpower take over. Part 2 also introduces plenty of humour and it works far better than expected. Even the cgi is better done, although an overused ”ripped screen” transition effect is introduced. The final war scene is probably the most impressive war sequence even shot on film; kind this of sequence movie theaters were build for. Still, Woo remains honest to his old trademarks; heroism is emphasized more than realism, and white doves fly above the battle grounds.

Verdict:

Just Walking (Spain / Mexico, 2008) – 3/5
Thirst (South-Korea, 2009) – 3,5/5
Kinatay (Philippines, 2009) – ?/5
Yatterman (Japan, 2009) – 4,5/5
United Red Army (Japan, 2007) – 4,5/5
Tony Manero (Chile / Brazil, 2008) – 1/5
Crows Zero (Japan, 2007) – 1,5/5
The Tournament (UK, 2009) – 4/5
Still Walking (Japan, 2008) – 2,5/5
Red Cliff: Part 1 (HK / China 2008) – 3/5
Red Cliff: Part 2 (HK / China 2009) – 4/5

Recently seen movies #162

G.I Samurai (Japan, 1979) – 3,5/5

Business genius, narcotics crimimal, and the reformer of Japanese entertainment industry, producer Haruki Kadokawa took rule of his father’s company Kadokawa Heralds in the mid 70’s. Haruki Kadokawa’s strategy was to produce large scale, Hollywood type films and support them with aggressive advertising campaign and simultaneous supplementary releases. For his 1978 Ken Takakura film Never Give Up Kadokawa borrow military equipment from the US army. G.I. Samurai (aka Timeslip), based on a hit novel by Ryo Hanmura, continues on the same path. Shinichi Chiba plays an army commander whose platoon that is thrown back in time to the 16th century. With no way back to their own time, the men must fight for they life and ally with warlord Nagao Kagetora (aka Kenshin Uesugi) (Isao Natsuagi).

G.I. Samurai is a slightly uneven but unique action film. Kadokawa has put enough money into the project to cover three Street Fighter trilogies. The investment shows; the climatic 25 minute battle scene featuring trucks, a battle helicopter, and hundreds of extras is possibly the most massive action piece created in the history of Japanese cinema. It’s also one of the most intense scenes in any war movie; a few dozen heavily armed men fighting an enemy of thousands. The film’s tone is rather dark at times; power corrupts one character after another, and when stripped of their responsibilities the modern soldiers turn into savages. Still, G.I. Samurai is primarily an entertainment film and should be reviewed as one. There are some weaknesses such as overlong ending, and use of music that varies between clumsy and brilliant. Supporting roles feature loads of brief appearances by current and upcoming stars; idol Hiroko Yakushimaru, action star Hiroyuki Sanada, karate villain Masashi Ishibashi, producer Haruki Kadokawa himself, and many others. The film also takes the opportunity to re-write history. Many characters appearing in the film are real 16th century warlords. The viewers will finally get to discover the real cause of death of Shingen Takeda!

G.I. Samurai has had quite history with varying edits. The original Japanese version runs approximately 139 minutes. However, for its original US theatrical release the film was cut for below 90 minutes. Almost all characterization, effective modern day flashbacks and darker psychological themes have been removed from the film. It leads to several continuity problems. For example the helicopter vs. boat scene is entirely missing the sniper (Koji Naka) and has been edited to look like Chiba is the only man fighting the villains. As a result, the some bullets come from the wrong direction. Also, some decisions made by the characters become nonsensical since the preceding scene has been removed (one example would be the ending, which features no footage of Kagetora meeting the other warlords). Strangely, the sex and rape scenes from the original film are missing as well, although one would assume grindhouse distribution to favour sexual content. But even this hurts the film; the renegade soldier’s (Tsunehiko Watase) worst crimes are never seen, and he becomes an enemy merely for stealing some equipment. Aside from this heavily cut US version a 117 minute print also exists, and it has been screened at least in Norway and Finland.

Recently seen movies #161

Yellow Fangs (Japan, 1990) – 4/5

Sonny Chiba’s largely self financed directorial debut nearly destroyed his career. The film played for empty theaters. In order to compensate for the million loss Chiba was forced to sell his personal property as well as Japan Action Club – cold irony considering the film was dedicated to the 20th anniversary of JAC. It’s also a shame because Yellow Fangs is a stunning adventure film. It’s loosely based on real evens that took place in Hokkaido in 1915. A bear attacked and killed seven people in the village of Rokusen sawa. It dragged some of the female victims into the woods where it ate them or buried them in snow. It was believed that the bear was targeting women on purpose. The film takes some artistic freedom from the facts – spreading the events into larger area and longer time span – and also adds its own theories and fictional characters. The storyline follows 5 men trying to hunt down the bear. Chiba himself has stated it was his aim to create the ultimate action adventure. In some respects, he even succeeds in it. Rather than man versus bear the film is the ultimate battle between man and nature. The snowy mountains of Hokkaido provide breathtakingly beautiful yet merciless setting for the adventure. One can only imagine how difficult the shooting process must have been.

In many ways Yellow Fangs is a very masculine movie. It’s easy to see Chiba’s admiration for these strong men that survived in extreme conditions and made their living by hunting. But then, one of the strongest characters in the film is a young girl (Mika Muramatsu) who goes after the bear alone; living long periods of time in the mountains all by herself. The leading male roles are played by Bunta Sugawara (the leader of the hunting group) and Hiroyuki Sanada, who is one the main contributors to the film’s quality. Not only does he give a charismatic performance, but he’s also responsible for the film’s score. While some the music goes a bit over the top, most of it is magnificent. The film’s minor problems include a couple of less than believable bits, an unnecessary sequence related to gold mines (Chiba’s commentary on modernization) and in a few scenes the bear itself. While most scenes feature real animal, the opening and ending sequences rely on the good old man in suit method. This footage looks more like classic kaiju than National Geographic like the rest of the movie, although the good editing and cinematography lessen the problem and keep the beast outside the frame most of the time.

Recently seen movies #160

The Beast Must Die (Japan, 1980) – 2,5/5

Toru Murakami and Yusaku Matsuda’s last collaboration is an adaptation from Haruhiko Oyabu’s novel, which has been brought to silver screen a few times before. Changes were made to the original story, and the director and star also had their disagreements about how the topic should be handled. Matsuda plays a man who murders four people and robs a casino. But he’s planning something else, too. The approach to the story is interesting, on both Matsuda and Murakami’s behalf. Matsuda’s acting – despite his superstar status – is minimal, weird, and he hardly speaks at all (his first lines don’t come until 15 minutes in). Apparently the actor was quite deep into the role. Murakami’s directing is partly in the same alley. The storyline moves slowly and doesn’t reveal its motives until later on. This makes the film more intesting scene by scene, as it’s building up for something bigger. A high level of intensity is ultimately reached, but the ending is a let down. Matsuda’s underacting becomes severe overacting, and Murakami explains in great detail and constant flashbacks what should only have been vaguely suggested. Even then the final scene is slighty notorious for being difficult to interpret. In this wild mix supporting star Hideo Murota’s policeman performance stands out as being one of the few even elements in the film.

Stray Cat Rock Redux

No, Nikkatsu is not planning to remake their classic girl gang / youth film fusion. Thank God for that. Instead it’s me who’s apparently running out of topics to write about. I recently rewatched the entire 5 film series, and decided the remake my reviews. I left the review of the first film relatively intact, but the others should now provide a bit more information, plus corected ratings since – seeminly affacted by some nihilist critic syndrome – I managed to underrate many of them last time.

Stray Cat Rock: Girl Boss (1970)
Stray Cat Rock: Wild Jumbo (1970)
Stray Cat Rock: Sex Hunter (1970)
Stray Cat Rock: Machine Animal (1970)
Stray Cat Rock: Beat ’71 (1971)