Distance

Before his more mainstream success, kick-started by 2004's "Nobody Knows", Kore-eda Hirokazu was a documentarian who branched out into an interesting brand of cinema with slow pacing, mood lighting and naturalistic acting. His documentary experience had been put to use, with the use of long takes, improvised dialogue and even clips from previously filmed interviews.

Starting with the mournful "Maborosi", followed-up with the inventive and thought-provoking "After Life", 2001's "Distance" is the third in his initial trio of films that are similar in style and unlike his subsequent films that would see him garner more mainstream recognition abroad.

Obviously based on the Aum cult and the Tokyo gas attack of 1995, the "Ark of Truth" cult attack three years previous on water supplies to the city left dozens dead. As an annual remembrance, four relatives of members of the cult meet and visit the lake where they were based, but the reasons for this act are unclear.

Having their transportation mysteriously stolen, they are left stranded out in the forest with no phone signal for help. It is here their party becomes five, as former cult member Sakata (Tadanobu Asano) - though he abandoned them before the attack - also finds his bike stolen and unable to get home.

He takes them to his former living quarters while he was with the cult to spend the night. Here they discuss their family members and Sakata's recollections of them and muse on how things came to be; before going their separate ways in the morning to meet "same time next year."

With the picnic, day out feel, the film is shot largely in a homemade style, with handheld cameras and grainy footage, adding to the sense of mystery and intrigue. These blurred images are contrasted with the more conventionally shot flashbacks that each of the five have as to their family members as they first started to realise they were members of a cult. Though these images' greater clarity do not make the picture any clearer for those left behind.

The interactions between the five are natural for a group that has little in common other than being relatives of cult members. Perhaps reflecting the fact that Kore-eda saw the film evolve and gave the cast members differing direction, forcing improvisation within the long takes, handled well by the cast of Asano, ARATA, Susumu Terajima, Yusuke Iseya and Yui Natsukawa. Indeed, the film is littered with shots of the five positioned together, but looking in various directions or visibly apart; distant from each other, as well as their loved ones. Though as a double-edged sword, the documentary nature of the filming and dialogue may frustrate some viewers, as he favours naturalism over entertainment.

Perhaps intentionally, much like "Maborosi" before it, there is no concluding answer, as the motivations behind such acts will forever be unexplained. Though if "Maborosi", as has been described, is a haiku, then "Distance" would perhaps be better as a novel: An exploration of mindset, but unable to deliver the rounded conclusions required in the cinematic form. Indeed Kore-eda went on to spend much of the time after making "Distance" writing. One almost feels that if you were to combine "Distance" with the interviews of "After Life" you would have something along the lines of Haruki Murakami's "Underground" on the Aum attacks.

Kore-eda offers something of an ending to a story, though it is one with open ends in-line with the rest of the film. Atsushi (ARATA), the supposed brother of one of the cult members with whom Sakata was close, may not be the man he claims. Some beautiful cinematography from Yutaka Yamazaki to close reveal he is perhaps the estranged son of the cult leader, a man to which the others will no doubt hold some contempt. But this only furthers any confusion that may already be present in a film that asks many questions.

Alongside "Hana" and "Air Doll", "Distance" is in the trio of Kore-eda films to gain most criticism, for being a slow and drudging watch with a lack of satisfying conclusion to justify it all. But with the naturalism, air of intrigue and lack of conclusion as an end in itself, "Distance" has strong elements of good filmmaking and it is wrong to call it a bad film, rather one requiring more form to satisfy a wider audience.

SABUTube Part IV - Drive

'Drive' (not the Ryan Gosling one)is SABU's fifth film, coming two years after his most accomplished film up to that point, 'Monday'. With his first two films, 'Dangan Ranna' and 'Postman Blues', being full of ideas, yet inconsistent in execution, does 'Drive' show a director more in control of his films' final delivery?

A salaryman, parked in his car, minding his own business - apart from eyeing-up the piece of totty with the umbrella - suddenly has three bank robbers jump into his car and demand that he follow a fourth robber in another car. What follows is a comedy moment with the criminals demanding their driver speeds up to catch the car in front, though they picked the wrong car.

Asakura is a man that sticks to the rules, having never stepped out of line in his life. Shots of traffic lights turning red and road signs for speed limits flash on screen to show the cause of passengers' anger, as Asakura follows them by the book. Having now lost the car they were pursuing, the three insist Asakura keeps driving as they have now taken him hostage.

Following an amusing moment culminating in a biro to the neck, the four flee the scene, and it's from this point onwards that things get a little bizarre. Arai, Susumu Terajima's Buddhist monk, winds up on stage with a punk band, spouting scriptures to the band's music to a young crowd. This is a very odd scene, feeling very clunky, with Terajima's words just not feeling natural as they come out.

Arai now a filly-fledged member of the band, the remaining trio get back in the car, stopping for food at Asakura's aunt's, before Masanobu Ando's young Makato has car sex with his girlfriend before getting talent spotted with some baseball batting, in what can only be described as an Aston Villa-esque rash decision from the scout.

And then there were two, but not for long: Ren Osugi's Nishi taking his sick daughter home from hospital. Asakura then finds the fourth bank robber they had previously chased, lying on the floor after having got his arm stuck in the ground, having hallucinations throughout the film as he tries to break free. A bizarre fight scene with a samurai ghost, Asakura then returns the money to the bank from which it was originally stolen, minus his expenses for its return, of course.

As you can tell, there are lots of unusual scenes in this film, throwing in strange and rushed conclusions for each character along the way. Again, there are some good ideas on display here, but again they maybe don't completely cohesively work together when trying to make a coherent film. The use of cutaways and flashbacks works well here in building the characters' stories, but things just don't feel as well thought out. 'Drive' is another interesting film from SABU, though a slightly bumpy journey.

So, courtesy of Rare Movies on YouTube, I have now seen four of SABU's first five films - his third film, 'Unlucky Monkey', of course getting a Region 2, English subtitled DVD release, and thus cannot be considered rare. So, I am now fully educated as to his earlier works, almost. So what of them?

Well, there is no doubt that SABU is a writer and director of interesting ideas, looking at the struggle of the everyday man. I would almost say there is some Kafkaesque satire of modern society, if I really felt I had the authority to describe something as 'Kafkaesque'. Man's motivations are explored, with Shinichi Tsutsumi often cast as the everyman  fighting against forces beyond his control. Though in each film, all the characters have the opportunities to make better of their lives or avoid the situations that befall them before tragedy sets in: perhaps SABU's biggest satire of all.

Though these strong ideas are not always fully polished and well-formed in their execution. 'Monday', probably the strongest of his early films is the best made, though there is a feeling that any of these films could go in any direction at any moment.

It would be fair to say that this is quite a 'raw' period in SABU's filmmaking career, therefore. Having not seen any of his subsequent films, I cannot confirm if this trend continues. But as Trevor Nelson said of Dr Dre's production - or well to paraphrase something I've made up he said - when it becomes too polished, it loses some of its fun.

SABU's early films are quite wild and all over the place; often clunky, sometimes almost cringe-worthy in the direction they take. But, they are no doubt interesting, thought-provoking and always with a nice sense of humour. We are none of us perfect. 

SABUTube Part III - Postman Blues

SABU's second film perhaps doesn't learn from some of the naivety of his debut. 'Dangan Ranna' starts off with an interesting premise, though as the film gets towards its conclusion, it starts to fall off. Like 'Monday' coming after it, the idea is a satire of modern life, though by 'Monday', SABU had matured into a more rounded filmmaker, whereas with this 1997 effort, there were still some areas that required some work.

Sawaki is a postman, hence the title, bored of his life and his role as society's servant. Working late, he unwittingly stumbles across his former classmate, now yakuza, Noguchi as he performs that age-old yakuza ritual to atone for his errors. Noguchi tells Sawaki of how his yakuza lifestyle gives him daily excitement, which Sawaki has long since lost. Taking heed of Noguchi's words, Sawaki then drinks himself into a drunken stupor, tearing up undelivered letters, stealing any money he finds and reading people's most personal letters. Though unbeknownst to him, Noguchi snuck a brick of naughty powder into his postman bag, causing the police to follow him, believing him to be a drug runner. It's from this point that Sawaki's life gets a little daily excitement back in it.

The first half an hour is relatively dark with brief moments of laughter, creating the negative portrait of Sawaki's life and the role of the postman in society. It's all very bleak. Though when the police become involved, with their over-the-top and unfounded suspicions regarding his dull life, the film has a more mainstream feel, part-love story, part foolish comedy. It's here, much like 'Dangan Ranna', with the introduction of further characters that the film starts to become a little confused and, at times, a little silly.

I always find that the funniest films are those that are largely serious, though throw in light moments here and there to show that they're not taking themselves too seriously. 'Dangan Ranna' and 'Monday' are successful in being humorous in this way. Though in 'Postman Blues' there are more deliberate attempts to be funny, and as a result, the film is less funny overall, in the way that Kitano's 'Hana-bi' is more humorous than his comedy 'Getting Any?'

'Postman Blues', therefore, isn't quite as charming as SABU's other early efforts, though it clearly tries to be. His love interest in cancer patient, Sayoko, has moments, but also feels a bit clichéd with musical montages. The bumbling police and their over-imagination as to Sawaki's life, are a satire of modern society's jumping to conclusions without any evidence, though perhaps become a little too much, as criminologists are brought in to suggest sexual perversions and a possible history of murder. Their actions then start to become inexplicable towards the end.

Perhaps I'm being a little down on 'Postman Blues' though. Again, this is a film based on good ideas to explore, with moments of sadness about how the modern world works, as well as the odd funny moment and references to 'Leon' and 'Chungking Express'. 'Postman Blues' shows a filmmaker with ideas galore, though maybe needing a little more tightening in certain areas. From what I've seen of his subsequent works, lucky SABU is a director that can deliver.

SABUTube Part I - Monday

I hate streaming. 'Netflix n bollocks,' as far as I'm concerned. I want to watch things on a proper screen, without any buffering, loading or nonsense; tilting your bloody laptop screen to get an angle that makes darker scenes momentarily visible. But without distributers releasing films that I actually want to see, either at cinemas or on DVD/Blu Ray, I do have to seek things out online.

Typically, my YouTube feed is bad Japanese hip hop, bad Japanese football and worryingly bad 'vlogs' of Japanese men putting Coca-Cola (actual Coca-Cola) up their nose in their bedroom. But every now and then I'll get a suggestion - that isn't 'just kill yourself now!' - a suggestion to watch slightly grainy versions of full length Japanese films from yesteryear, with English subtitles.

Typically, it goes against my principles - I'm Jeremy Corbyn, me - to watch things for free online, knowing that these are made by lowly directors working with small budgets, putting a lot in for little reward. But sometimes there just isn't any other way of seeing them: These are films that are close to two decades old, would have received little attention on original release, and now serve only for film nerds like me to hark on about when filmmaking was more raw.

Recently, the 'Rare Movies' YouTube page has been offered to me in the form 'recommendations' of 'Monday (2000) full movie english subtitles', 'Postman Blues (1997) Eng Subtitles' and 'Drive (2002) eng subtitles'. All of these 'rare movies' have the pleasure of having been written and directed by none-other-than Tanaka Hiroyuki: the man known as SABU. You remember SABU, he was the ex-cop-turned-yakuza-bodyguard in 'Ichi the Killer'. He also directs his own movies, rare movies apparently.

So, given that I was being offered the opportunity to see his hard-to-come-by films for free (excluding monthly broadband costs, electricity bills and buying a laptop), I decided to make my way through his early offerings offered in slightly dodgy form.

Being that it was the first day of the working week, I started with...

Monday (2000)

Takagi is your everyday (especially on Mondays) Japanese salaryman. Yet on this particular Monday, instead of heading to the start of the working week, he finds himself waking in a strange hotel room at the conclusion of a manic weekend. But there's one problem: he has no idea how he got there. Going through his personal artefacts, he gradually starts to piece together the story of what happened.

Starting off at a funeral where he inadvertently causes the corpse to explode, he then alienates himself from his girlfriend with some strange behaviour, before ending up at the wrong bar. Alcohol soon proves to be his downfall with each additional drink seeing his situation grow worse and worse. Turning on the television, he sees the reality of what happened to him, finding himself the centre of attention with no way out.

'Monday' is a stylish film, with good camerawork for some tasty angles, but is laced with humour throughout, particularly Tsutsumi Shinichi's dance scene as the drunken Takagi descends into drunken madness. Jaunty editing blurs the line between sophistication and stupidity nicely. This is a satire towards the film's conclusion, questioning the right to murder, hold a gun, but most importantly, the right to use being drunk as an excuse - one I am particularly fond of.

There are some clunky moments throughout the film. The speed of the descent, the slow-acting police at the film's conclusion; though these do add to the sense of surreal humour in the film, in a slow-paced, distinctly Japanese brand of cinema, where unbelievable scenarios are met with a very everyday sense of disbelief.

Tsutsumi Shinichi - often the lead in early SABU films - gives a charming performance as Takagi, who goes through every emotion going on his weekend rollercoaster, with cameos from everybody's favourite supporting actors in Japanese cinema, Susumu Terajima, Ren Osugi and the beautifully named Tomorowo Taguchi.

Drinking like there's no tomorrow will only lead you to not like what the morning will bring, and this is what SABU explores in 'Monday'. Stylish and satirical, this is one Monday you won't not like.

Whose Film is It Anyway? Contemporary Japanese Auteurs

Another year, another Japan Foundation themed film programme. The theme this year is that of narrative creativity, looking at various Japanese auteurs and how their work is very much a reflection of their own personal vision. 9 films made up this year’s programme, though due to my commitment to watching Millwall-Derby (a shitcunt of a 0-0 bore) and Villa losing again, as well as comedy watching commitments, I only made it to two of the films on offer, with the ones I saw more down to schedule than preference.

The Dark Harbour

Sad and lonely fisherman, Manzo, finds that his usual pulling technique of putting on a leather jacket and sniffing a rose has failed one time too many, and so tries an organised party with city women in which introductory videos of local males are shown to entice knicker-dampening. His video fails, though leads him to discover a strange woman and young boy that have been hiding out in his house. Out of loneliness, he invites them to stay, leading to an unusual relationship developing between the trio, though ends as abruptly as it was started.

Largely a comedy about the patheticnessness of men seeking sex, the first half of the film is mainly laughing at poor Manzo as he looks for love. The second half, however, is a sadder period as the unusual relationship begins to break, though never dwells on things for too long. Takatsugu Naito’s film is largely gentle, never winning huge laughs nor shedding too many tears, though does enough to win itself a second date.

All Around Us

An ambitious piece, ’All Around Us’ charts a couple of a ten year period as they come to terms with the death of their infant daughter. Along the way, various major events that took place in Japan are featured in an attempt to show how the couple’s journey reflects that of Japan’s over the years. While her husband remains relatively stoic, keeping his feelings very much to himself, Shoko struggles to cope with the death at times, falling into a state of depression, though eventually they overcome their troubles as time passes.

Himself having suffered from depression, Ryosuke Hashiguchi looks at the various ways in which different people cope with loss while those around them get to grips with the changing times in the nation. This requires some strong performances and the cast do enough of a job to deliver, as well as the always reliable Susumu Terajima in support; and shades of Hana-bi feature towards the end, as Shoko uses the flowers surrounding her to inspire artwork in overcoming her depression.

‘Sleep’, another film featured, I had previously seen in another festival, looking at another strange family set up as the mother seeks revenge over the man who raped her. Though sadly I missed the remaining six films, including the supposed highlight ‘I Just Didn’t Do It’. The programme now moves on to Sheffield, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Belfast and other such places you would never wish to live.