There's something about a slow, black comedy about society's less-than-productive
members shot in black and white. Jim Jarmusch's 'Coffee and Cigarettes'; Kevin
Smith's 'Clerks'; other ones, which brings me to Kiyohiko Shibukawa and his
role in 'And the Mud Ship Sails Away...': the black and white debut from
Hirobumi Watanabe about a low life in a small town which ends as a psychedelic
art piece. Shibukawa has been keeping himself busy of late, and again takes to
a black and white screen to play a small town low life in Akira Osaki's second
feature 'Obon Brothers'.
Takashi is the director of one film - seemingly, not much has gone his
way since. Self-unemployed, failing to get any scripts funded and kicked out by
his wife, he uses his brother's colon cancer and the need for a live-in carer
as an excuse to put his life on hold and move back to a small town in Gunma.
Spending his days cooking for his brother, he tries to claw back his old life,
pitching weak film scripts and trying to talk his wife away from divorce
papers.
His brother, Wataru, on the other hand, seems not to care for Takashi's
car, mocking him for losing his wife, seemingly wishing he'd leave him in peace
with his record player, piano and artificial anus. Takashi's life soon becomes
one of falsehood, rejecting the advances of Ryoko, whom his best friend, Fujimura,
set him up with. Living in hope that his old life will return, he quickly
resorts to alcohol to avoid the reality of his present.
All good comedy needs a bit of soul, and much as Dante realises that he
'needs to shit or get off the pot' (not via an artificial anus, of course) at
the conclusion of 'Clerks', Takashi is soon put in his place by those around
him, realising that the ones he loves can no longer bring themselves to see him
in such a funk; crushed alcohol cans following him wherever he goes.
Director Osaki stated that the film was 'about 60% autobiographical'
when he appeared at the UK Premiere, dressed in a yukata and hat. He then
subsequently went on to reveal how much of the film is similar to his own life:
Osaki, from Gunma, directed one film previously a decade ago, sharing his
writing with a close friend, with a family member that suffered from cancer. 'Obon
Brothers', as a result, doesn't simply fit in a genre such as a comedy, but is
more a piece of realism.
The black and white take any 'movie gloss' off the film, with long
takes of harsh and honest dialogue. Everyone around Takashi's lives, no matter
how seemingly bad, take better shape than the healthy and 'successful' life he
believes he can return to. There are not too many huge revelations here, or
happy endings like in the movies; but more the need to get on with life rather
than living in the past. 'Obon Brothers' is a comedy in the sense that life is
a funny ol' game.
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