I've seen ITS ME ITS ME (2013), now I have to figure out what I think

When Hitoshi steals another person's cellphone he some how manages to cause duplicate versions of himself to appear, or is it that everyone begins to look like him.... Chaos soon ensues as all of the various Hitoshi's are running around and running amok.

Its Me Its Me played earlier this year during the brief cross over period when the New York Asian Film Festival and Japan Cuts were essentially one festival. At that time Mondocurry took a look at the film and found it to be quirky and unique but little more than that (his take can be found here). With the film getting a theatrical release in the US I was given a chance to see the film and week before Halloween I hunkered down and took a look.

I have no idea what to say. I mean that in a good way and a bad way.

Playing like a Spike Jonze or Michel Gondry film on acid this film is the sort of off the wall strange film that the Japanese do so well.  A weird meditation on self, perception, reality and a few other things this is an occasionally heady film that is  frequently just damn weird. There is something about all of the Hitoshis running around that is both really cool on a technical level but really strange on an emotional level. Its the sort of thing that some part of your brain just says is wrong.

I know the film is not what many people expected. Hitoshi is played by popstar Kazuya Kamenashi, and when the film played at the Japan Society this summer it brought a huge number of his fans to the screening. Reports from various people at the screening had many of the young women staring at the screen unsure of what they were seeing. Their initial love of the film and its star getting a bit tapped down as the film went on.

My reaction to the film is some what close Mondocurry's in that I know that this film is truly something unique, but it's not something that I can easily connect to.  My over riding reaction to the film was I have to see this again. I don't mean that in a bad way, rather it's the sort of film that requires you go with it without reservation and without preconceived notions. The talk off and on over the last three or four months about the film has made it difficult for me not to go in without some thought about the film- it was something that proved kind of deadly since I kept expecting it to be something else. It wasn't so now I'm left wanting to see the film again so that I can take it on it's own terms.

Should you see the film? If you want to see something really different from most films yes you should. Clear your mind, clear your expectations and give the film a shot. I have no idea if you'll like it, hell I'm not sure I like it, but I know that at the same time I've seen something unique and special and worth the effort to see it.

The film opens Friday and any true cinema fan worth their salt will make an effort to see it.

Being made speechless by Comrade Kim Goes Flying (2012) New York Asian Film Festival 2013

Okay- your guess is as good as mine.

There are a couple of ways of seeing this film.Either this is a knowing send up of North Korean romcoms or this is a throwback to the rom-coms of the 1950's ala Rock Hudson but filtered through North Korea or this is a train wreck that you just stare at in complete and utter disbelief.

I know I could ask which it is but then it would push the film one way or another and I'm not sure I want to do that just yet. Seriously  if you just take the film head on it's either brilliant or unbelievably awful... or perhaps its both. (Actually in reading on the film it seems there was a battle between the European producers and the Korean writers as to which way to go, the Koreans wanted a rah rah propaganda film and the producers wanted a light comedy)

The plot of the film follows Kim, a young lady in a coal mining town who loves acrobatics and trapeze in particular. When her mine exceeds production she gets it a promotion and she uses it to go to Pyongyang where she can work as a construction crew. She can also use it to go to the circus and meet her idol. Through circumstance she finds herself crossing paths with the hunky head of a trapeze troupe and the two begin orbiting each other romantically, even though they hate each other.

Done in an arch and knowing style that really seems to harken back to bad 1950's TV comedies or what we might have thought a Soviet romantic comedy might have been in the 50's the film comes across as very odd. The actor seem game but they seem oddly out of  sorts with this thing called comedy. Worse,despite the efforts of the producers the film seems to have a strong rah rah comrade line in it. Everything is for the good of the people or if not there is an over done sense of community. The film seems to be trying to be more than a comedy at time and it gets tiring after a while. Honestly I wanted to just jump to the end and see how it all came out.

On the other hand the film has this weird vibe that kind of over comes the flaws and draws you in and forces to watch it. The film screams camp, which I think is why the film has been a hit at many film festivals. I can pick it apart but at the same time it does kind of work

For me seeing the film is  a surreal experience especially in light of just seeing CAMP 14 TOTAL CONTROL ZONE at the Human Rights Watch Film Festival. Having the darkness and the repression of that film hanging around in my head made for a truly whacked viewing of COMRADE KIM. I can't imagine shiny happy coal miners in the world of CAMP 14 certainly not ones that are a step away from I Love Lucy in bright Technicolor colors and always on the verge of songs.

I have no idea what to think.

On the other hand (thats a third hand, but that's okay its that kind of a film) the weird WTF quality of it all makes for a unique viewing experience which means that the guys at NYAFF have done their job in programming it.

Second Thoughts on GREAT WAR (2013) NYAFF 2013

And now my more carefully considered explanation of what I think about Great War which I reviewed back in July

I feel kind of bad, for dismissing Great War when I reviewed it way back when but even in the cold light of day I’m of the opinion that if you’re not a fan of Grasshopper or Softhard you’re not likely to fall in love with the film. In order to really clarify what’s wrong with the film I’d like to point out a couple of things.

First the film opens with a black screen and statements about all sorts of things. Who is making the statements and what are they connected to? We don’t know. Many of the statements are political so unless we know the political situation in Hong Kong the statements fall flat. This carries over to several of the sequences which relate to the politics of Hong Kong. There is a discussion with one of the fans that provide a hook for the film, and she talks about the politics of the Pro-Beijing number. Since I, as a Westerner am not familiar with the situation the resonance falls flat. Actually much of the politics falls down since I really didn’t know what the discussion means.

The film’s next problem is that the film is jumbled. It jumps from thing to thing to thing with no sense of building a whole. They are rehearsing, in a studio, we see bits of a number, bits of the rehearsal, an interview, more of a music number, sequences with the fans, back to the interviews with the bands more rehearsal back to the fans , the groups going on stage, rehearsal, costume change fans, interviews…and on and on… you’re never in one place long enough so that if you’re an outsider looking in anything will really make sense.

The foremost problem the film has is that it only has two or three more or less complete musical numbers. We get the one that plays post credits, we get the “pro” Beijing song and I think one other. Otherwise we only get snippets, most fleeting of the songs. What’s so damaging about this is that when we actually see the numbers we get a sense of what a great show it was. When we actually see the show and hear the music the film soars. Seeing the actual numbers I was rather giddy. This was way cool. There simply isn’t enough of it.

To a lesser degree the film falters in that it makes no effort to differentiate the two groups. Almost all of the music we see seems to involve everyone on stage at the same time or each of the performers standing solo. This is fine, except that the groups blur together. Other than Softhard having a political/ joking style at times they all seem semi interchangeable.

The film does work when we see the musical numbers, when we hear the fans talk and when we get to see the various members of the band really be themselves, but on the other hand there isn’t enough of that and what there is is rather poorly organized. I kind of almost wish I had the time to go in and reassemble the film into the masterpiece it should have been.

The Closing Night of NYAFF 2013 including a review of Jay Chou's THE ROOFTOP

La welcomes everyone to the Asia Society and the Closing Night

The final night of this year’s New York Asian Film Festival was an emotional experience. The big moment was not the film, rather it was the awarding of the Daniel Craft Award for Cinematic Excellence in Action Cinema . The award was named after the late Daniel Craft who is still a force behind the NYAFF and was bestowed on Herman Yau’s Ip Man the Final Fight. The award was accepted by Dan’s wife Paige on behalf of the filmmakers. Paige was deeply moved by the award

Sam looks on as Grady gives a speech for the ages

Before the award Grady Hendrix gave possibly one of the best speeches I’ve ever heard. The speech was a powerful explanation of fandom vs hipsterism. It went into how the film festival was created by a bunch of guys who loved the films they were showing, and how that love brought in people like Dan to the fold. It was Dan’s love of the films, of his unabashed fanboyism that drove the festival forward over the last few years despite the fact that there has been a talk of hanging it up because it's such a massive undertaking. Grady added that despite the desire to end the festival, they were no longer planning on doing so because to do so would mean that they would have to give up a connection to a friend that they hold dearly. Grady then went into how the award was created to be given from the fan perspective. It was created to honor films that won’t win thing critically but touch the fans and make them go “Fuck yea.” Grady then called up Paige to the stage to accept the award on behalf of Herman Yau.

Sam gives Paige Craft the award named for her late husband as Grady looks on

Paige’s remarks were a treasure- talking of Dan’s love of the festival, her being okay to being number two to it, and thanking Grady and the festival for eventually paying off her and Daniel’s credit cards.

She was also clearly moved by the award being named for her husband.

Jay Chou’s THE ROOFTOP is a frustrating film. A musical romance set in a magical realistic world where people spring into song and dance at the drop of a hat, the film concerns Wax a young man who is in love with a young girl on a billboard that towers over his roof top community. He along with his friends/brothers are simply getting by by working hard at a clinic run by Eric Tsang which dispenses medicine and has floor shows (yes, really floor shows). Wax’s brother works for the Housing Commission collecting rents. One day after collecting the rent at a bathhouse the guys hear a scream and see a woman being accosted, stepping in to save the damsel they wreck a movie shoot.. and meet the girl of Wax’s dreams. Will romance blossom?

Of course it will and of course complications will come.

Chou’s film frustrates me. There is so much good in this film, it borders on being one of the best musicals I’ve ever seen, but it annoys me when it stumbles throughout and then crashes at the end into a huge WTF.

I have no problem saying that if you take THE ROOFTOP on a purely moment by moment basis it’s a wonderfully joyously happy film (until the end). It’s a film with great music, great dance numbers and heartfelt romance. If you don’t look forward or back and just dwell in each glorious moment it’s as good and as wonderful as any movie you’re likely to see. The moments are as good as movie musicals get.

The trouble is that the film doesn’t always connect things up. Yes, the film is a kind of memory play, but at the same time things are left out, other things are not fully explained and more things just happen. It’s not fatal, it’s just that it keeps the film from truly soaring.

However what is truly damaging is the final 15 or 20 minutes. As the film races to its conclusion the film doesn’t go dark, it goes black, as we get murder, rape (real rape), bloodshed (in an otherwise bloodless film), a car chase that will boggle the mind of those who were annoyed with the unreality of the ones in another NYAFF film, Confession of Murder. And then there is the conclusion which is by turns out of left field, heartbreaking and WTF. Where does this shift come from? Who’s idea was it to turn “real” after 90 minutes of fantasy? Worse who’s idea was the WTF bookends? As the film ended the audience was laughing but not with the film but at it.

On the other hand if you view the film as pieces its place of magic that I want to revisit several more times- hell the musical numbers are often mind blowingly cool. As pieces Ilove the film.

As much as it will annoy several people who hate Chou and others who really didn’t like the film , I heartily recommend it assuming, of course, you know that it’s flawed.


Lastly I have to say that as with every screening at this years festival it was full of friends old and new. One of the best parts of this year’s festival was that other than an Inaccurate Memoir every screening I attended was also attended by a friend or two. Who said movie going was a solitary business? Its never the case at NYAFF.

Last night the evening began with meeting Mondocurry for a quick bite. This was the first time in several months where just the two of us simply sat down and just talked. We got some slices from Two Boots and just were talking movies and music. It was a nice change. We talked until we had to leave, then headed off to the Asia Society and the movie.

After the film I finally met Dwitt Davis. Dwitt is an imposing figure who seemed to be at almost every screening I attended. I had wanted to make my way and introduce myself to him at couple of screenings but circumstance defeated me. Last night on the way out of the movie we struck up a conversation and he, Mondo and myself ended up walking and walking for a good while before we all hopped trains/subways and headed home. I can completely understand why he was always surrounded by people at the festival, he’s a cool guy.

And with my entry onto the subway NYAFF was officially done for me. Another one down and all that left to do is get ready for the next one in some 50 or so weeks… perhaps a dip into the Japan Cuts pool... or even the Asian American International Film Festival…. Or better yet just some sleep its been a crazy couple of weeks.

Until next year I need to thank everyone connected with the festival, it was a blast.

The Daniel Craft Award at the closing night of New York Asian Film Festival 2013

Just in from the Closing Night of the New York Asian Film Festival I'll write about the night and the movie later but right now I just want to post a picture from the awarding of the newly created Daniel Craft Award for Excellence in Action Cinema "fan" award. It was named for the late Dan Craft one of the driving forces behind Subway Cinema and the New York Asian Film Festival. The award goes to the best action film at the festival. It went to Herman Yau's IP MAN THE FINAL FIGHT and because Herman Yau wasn't there Dan's wife Paige accepted the award.

Briefly : Warped Forest (2012) New York Asian FIlm Festival Japan Cuts 2013

My final trip to the Japan Society for a New York Asian Film Festival screening was for WARPED FOREST. I was also supposed to stay for Ruroni Kenshin but because of trains I headed home.

The screening was low key. I met Alec inside and kept a seat between us because I had to put my Criterion Collection haul somewhere other than under foot (hey 50% off at B&N).

The introduction was largely a discussion of how tired everyone was and how they had just woken up.

The film itself involves a dual story of sorts, of a several people having weird experiences around a hot spring. And another story, set in a dream like world with weird fruit, strange guns, trees that are women and other odd sights.

Its a kind of sequel to FUNKY FOREST, made by one that films directors...

Writing about the film is extremely hard. Part of the reason is that the film is an almost random series of connected scenes which kind of come together at the end into something that is worth trying. The other reason that the film is hard to write about is that the film is ultimately an amusing trifle and nothing more. Don't get me wrong, its really good film, It just doesn't produce a great amount of words on my part beyond saying I liked it.

After saying good bye to Alec I headed out and headed home. I ran into Lee who was taking a break from the festival, she had seen Kenshin, and was going off to get something to eat and kill time. We talked about the films over the last couple of days as we walked away from the Japan Society. Two blocks over I parted ways with Lee- I went home and she went to hunt for Criterion films.

At The Crossroads of the New York Asian Film Festival and Japan Cuts

This weekend, taking in some of the selection screened at the crossroads of the New York Asian Festival and Japan Cuts, feels like a survey of a year’s worth of the best indie and repertory Japanese releases condensed into a couple of days. Although a desire to be there in Japan consuming these films at a casual pace definitely arises, it wouldn’t include the luxury of subtitles. Plus, as even some of the individual screenings have proven, there is something to be said for occasional excessive indulgences in visual stimulation.

I’ve written about the opening night party screening of I’M FLASH! here and Miike Takashi’s saucy hor d'oeuvre THE LESSON OF EVIL here, as it was shown at an earlier screening at the Walter Reade Theater.

Friday was a double feature powerhouse of Sono Sion’s 199- stillbirth debut wrenched back into life BAD FILM, and hilarious comic sendup HENTAI KAMEN.  Saturday would find me watching 3 of the day’s films: DREAMS FOR SALE, IT’S ME IT’S ME, and HELTER SKELTER. On Sunday, things would let up a bit with me taking in only 1 screening – THE KIRISHIMA THING. Here is a brief look at each.

BAD FILM (Sono Sion) is a roughly shot behemoth populated by amateur stage actors and assorted ‘characters’ that is s crudely compelling…not in spite of but because of its incessantly brash and offensive dialogue. It’s  a Shakespearian melodrama set in the near future pitting warring gangs of nationalistic Japanese and immigrant Chinese against one another, whose biggest target is pigheaded intolerance in the name of nationalism. There are ridiculous characterizations of the Japanese gang members, the leader of which has an intimate relationship with an actual pig head. This diamond in the rough does not have to be so long, but a large part of the auteur Sono’s appeal is his insistence on presenting his madcap visions undiluted…which here includes baseball games between he ethnic gangs, a laundromat debate of civilly spoken yet thoroughly racist epithets timed so that the participants switch from Japanese to Mandarin every 3 minutes, and gangs using old school propaganda vans equipped with microphones to preach on the detrimental effects foreigners’ penises pose to Japanese females’ equivalent anatomy. A bigger mess of such high intrigue is unlikely to exist.

HENTAI KAMEN (Yuichi Fukuda) is a pitch perfect hilarious manga adaptation of a comic story that sends up superhero stories and Japan’s notorious fetish subculture all in one shot. A junior high school student, born of diametrically opposed fetishes (his dominatrix mom and the latent submissive cop dad whom she ensnared), finds superhuman strength in presence of one of Japan’s most notorious and shameful fetishes: a preoccupation with used underwear. Whereas some superhero parodies put an audacious wrapping on an otherwise straightforward story – to stick with a Japanese example, Yatterman has pitch perfect costumes but a no surprise good vanquishing evil progression – HENTAI KAMEN keeps a sly and cheeky face throughout.  

DREAMS FOR SALE (Miwa Nishikawa) set Saturday afternoon ablaze with a slow-burning brushfire. It’s not the first Japanese film to explore he notion of people escaping harsh reality by deluding themselves with fantasty, and those who help  expand on those fantasies for their own selfish gain – past Japan Cuts alumni Motel 66 comes most readily to mind – but it is by far the best. A hot and cold couple working various temp restaurant jobs become emotional grifters with the end goal of earning enough money to build their own restaurant and hence financial security. Kanya reluctantly plays the foreground when it is realized that women are attracted to a sense of ease and security he gives them. Satoko finds sadomasochistic pleasure in brokering him out, taking pleasure in the way they part money from the insecure and desperate marks, but wounded by the attention Kanya pays them instead of her.

The drama is pillared by two strong female forces in Japan’s film industry: director Miwa Nishikawa (who has paved the way for this film with other restrained and slowly revealing moral dilemma dramas Sway and Dear Doctor), and Takako Matsu who plays Satoko, known for her near legendary performance of a revenge driven teacher in Confessions. In contrast to Matsu’s ice cold portrayal in that film, here she plays her character burning hot. Notable is the all too natural sudden flashes of violence she is capable of – whether brandishing a glass or literally cooking Kanya in a bath of hot water while pressuring him to carry out their scams. The facades hold up all too well until a final slippery mess brings illusions crashing down.

IT’S ME IT’S Me (Satoshi Miki) is a rambling, colorful, absurdist dream brought to life. Wrought with quirky exchanges of dialogue set to an even quirkier bleeping electronic score, it follows the path of Hitoshi an electronics store employee and photography enthusiast, who on a whim, grabs another person’s cell phone and engages in some mischievous exchanges with people at the other end of the line. A matter of steps finds Hitoshi in an alternate reality populated by numerous Hitoshi’s all with their own personas that seem to be different shades of the one true one.  While it’s an interesting riff on the idea of seeking out one’s true self, it is only occasionally engaging. At it’s best, images come to life to create a cubist fantasy of towering angular structures and a final movement that is filled with panicked escape through claustrophobic spaces. Far too often, though, conversations are more confusing than anything. It’s enough so that I have become growingly wary of films built around the presence of a pop idol, even one as offbeat as this. Although I could hang with it and appreciated its uniqueness, it’s the sort of film that if I’d brought a friend along, I’d probably feel compelled to apologize for it afterwards.

HELTER SKELTER directed by designer Mika Ninagawa is pure blissful visual anarchy. A hundred thousand pop art projects strung together and animated in sequence. Despite talk of it being a plastic surgery horror film, it’s more about a fame monster destroying everything in its path before eventually devouring itself. Forget story and just let the visuals stun you into submission. Starting with an opening sequence with swirling red and white stripes reminiscent of the work of Yayoi Kasuma and building too a an all out animatronic bad acid trip.

About a year ago I read about this film online and in an instance of life seeming to imitate art, found news of lead actress Erika Swajiri missing appearances and behaving erratically. Her onscreen counterpart, fashion model Lilico, is an embodiment of celebrity behavior out of control, holding a personal assistant and her boyfriend hostage sexually when not destroying herself with overdoses of pills.  Meanwhile, Dr. Frankenstein-like plastic surgeons vindictively slash up their patients.

Its extravagance makes HELTER SKELTER arguably the closest thing to a Japanese equivalent to The Great Gatsby.  And thinking about the excess of both HELTER SKELTER and BAD FILM, not too mention Sono’s more recent work, a grandiose collaboration between the two is the stuff of wishful fantasizing.

THE KIRISHIMA THING (Daihachi Yoshida) is a subtle film that took Japan by surprise. Focusing on the interactions of students in a typical high school, we watch events of a few days unfold from multiple perspectives. Much is shown about how students’ every word and move is an integral part of forming their identities and navigating relationships. A very prominent aspect of KIRISHIMA is a film club’s endeavor to make a b-movie; their pursuit of movie magic is a delightful reflexive aspect of the film. Much appreciated is the nod to Tetsuo: The Iron Man, which is shown with a wink and a nudge as a symbol of movie geekdom.

As the New York Asian Film Festival closes its iron clad doors for another year, Japan Cuts continues for another week of vibrant, challenging films. Stay tuned for a few more reviews of what’s to come.  

Me on twitter = @mondocurry

Some Taiwanese Black Films at NYAFF 2013

Last Saturday was Black film Saturday at the New York Asian Film Festival. Actually one of the sidebars at the festival was a screening of several of the so called Black Films from Taiwan in addition to the excellent documentary on the subject by Hou Chi-Jan. Last Saturday they ran the documentary and two films by the father of the genre Tsai Yang-Ming. It was a mind blowing afternoon and evening with a genre that I really knew very little about.

Actually I knew a little about it having heard of some of the titles and I believe I’ve seen some of the films (don’t ask which) previously.

The day began with Chi-Jan's s excellent documentary on the subject. Running an hour the film deals, briefly with the history of the films with clips of several of the surviving films.

The Black Film genre or movement started in 1979 with the release of Yang-Ming's NEVER TOO LATE TO REPENT. This film was based on the memoirs of its star Ma Sha who fell into a life of crime, first as a whore house look out, then as manager of a brothel, all before killing a man at 18. The film was raw, violent, sexy and in your face. It’s clear from just the first fifteen minutes why the film spawned copy cats- it’s simply riveting. The film, which was shown last on Saturday, is a bruising film, and even if it now has some unintentional humor it’s still a tough film. The film is open and up front with the dark side of life, hell it’s a true story. It’s a film that makes you sit up and go “hello”. Seeing the film was a real treat (I hope it eventually makes its way to DVD)

After NEVER TOO LATE the floodgates were opened and some 117 similar films were produced. Most of them were based on true stories, and were set in places other than Taiwan which helped them get the nudity and graphic violence (even by today’s standards) around the censors because it was about some where other than here. How even being based on a true story the films still had to battle the censors who demanded changes and crime doesn’t pay ending (ala WOMAN REVENGER).

The documentary is the sort of film that you really need to see more than once because it’s so filled with information you're certain to miss something unless see it a second time. Actually the film is the sort of thing that it enhanced the films it played with by giving you just enough information to put what you are seeing into context. And like many great documentaries it is the sort of thing that you’ll want to see again once you see it’s subjects because you’ll now have a context for what the film is telling you. It’s a daisy chain sort of a film.

The Black Films ran their course over a brief period of four years or so, dying out due in part to government annoyance at the films and the audiences being sick of the films. There simply was too many films and the genre died. Hou Ch-Jan says the genre is pretty much completely dead in Taiwan with the films completely forgotten and discarded.

How unloved are the films?

Most of the films are considered lost after only 30 years. Almost none of the films are on home video, except perhaps on old VHS tapes or VCDs if you can find them. Jared from Bullets over Chinatown said that a few can be found on torrent sites or if you’re really persistent from collectors on EBAY selling a home made DVDR or from a place that has an odd VCD- but be said then the number of titles is incredibly small.

For further proof of how unloved the genre is consider that the recent archival restoration of the NEVER TOO LATE that the Twainese Film Archive did was financed by Subway Cinema.

During the Q&A that followed the documentary someone asked director Chi-Jan if the rise of the Black Film was something that influenced the rise of the Hong Kong New Wave which happened at about the same time. He said he didn’t think so. He think that what happened in Hong Kong was the result of its own series of events.

He might be right, but I’m damn sure that Never Too Late to Repent and the films that followed in its wake were directly responsible for the rise of the mean and nasty crime films that sprung up in the mid to late 80’s and ran until the British left. Call them the result of fear and paranoia at the return to China, but the way they were expressed was something that was seemingly learned from the Black Films. I’m serious here. Take any number of the bleak Hong Kong revenger or police films and mix in some of the Black Films and I think other than some of the endings, you couldn’t tell them apart.

And if Black Films influenced Hong Kong then they also influenced the rest of the world as Hollywood and the rest of the world started stealing things from the likes of John Woo and others.

Rarely can you trace as clearly the course of one film influence .

Screening right after the documentary was a later film by Tsai Yang-Ming WOMAN REVENGER.

Shot largely in Japan, with the help of the Yakuza, the film tells the story of a woman who travels to Japan to find out what happened to a friend who disappeared into a life of prostitution. There she runs into the Yakuza who think she knows where some missing heroin is. It isn’t long before all hell breaks loose. Nominally based on a true story, this was what was happening to some girls who went to Japan to look for work, the film does take off on flights of fantasy as a turn of events results in an army of bikini clad women wielding swords. It’s a blast and a half who’s only flaw is a long sequence at a crowded street party.

I think it’s a shame that the films are essentially orphaned. I really think that someone needs to step up and gets these films out on home video so they can be rediscovered. I say this not so much because of their historical importance, rather because the films are just so much damn fun that you want to curl up on the couch with some popcorn and some beers on a Saturday night. Perhaps a box set of a few titles and the documentary?

Bad Film and Hentai Kamen — Japan Cuts 2013 / New York Asian Film Festival 2013

A few quick words concerning last nights screenings at the Japan Society.

When I arrived I found Alec from Flixist at the head of the line. He had been waiting for an hour or so, not because he wanted to be first, rather because it was too damn humid to be sitting outside. We talked for a bit and then, when the line went in, I went to see if I could find Mondocurry outside. When I didn't see him near the Japan Society I went back in and grabbed a couple of seats by Alec.

When Mondo arrived I had the pleasure of listening to them comparing notes on some of the Korean Romantic Comedies at the the festival. It was proof that we really have to get the podcast up and running. I'll keep my mouth shut and just let people like Mondo and Alec talk for an hour or so.

The first film was Sion Sono's BAD FILM. Shot on Hi-8 video almost 20 years ago with a performance group called Tokyo Gagaga playing all the roles, the film sat unassembled waiting for money for the post production. When it finally came through Sono assembled the 150 hours into an 162 minute masterpiece.

Nominally the film is the futuristic story (it was set in 1997 and shot in 1995) of how Japan has fragmented into warring ethnic gangs. The interaction between a Chinese and Japanese gang (as well as gays and straights) forms the story which spins off to discuss racism,tolerance, gangs and romance.

There is no way to briefly do the film justice. A free form poem that is pretty much unlike anything you've ever seen. It does look like some of the weird films that come art collectives turned out in the 60's and 70's mixed with a cheap production, and infused with intelligence and life. Saying that is misleading, this is instead a film that transcends its origins and limitations to instead become something greater. Its a film, as the promo material says you don't rate you wrestle with/

Watching this film is like falling into a pit of too much: too much plot, too many characters, too many ideas. Its like talking to the smartest person you know and have them throw all sort of wonderful ideas and thoughts at you in rapid succession. You simply can't take it all in. Its a film that is impossible to predict or know what it is until its done(I dare Rex Reed to try and make sense of this from his usual twenty minute viewing).

I have to think some more on this film before I can really write on it but the short form expression of my feelings is that this is one of the cinematic highlights of the year and one of the best films. Alec said he felt sorry for anyone in the world who wasn't at the Japan Society last night, and while I wouldn't want to include the people who only want Hollywood crap (I wouldn't want to hear them whine and complain)I think I would agree when it targets any film fan worth their salt.

A must see because even if you hate it you'll know you've seen something.

The second film was HENTAI KAMEN a delirious adult comedy based on a comic book about a high school kid who turns into a super hero when he puts panties on his face. While I've posted some pictures from the introductory strip tease, I do want to say a few words on the film itself.

For 80 of the films 105 minutes this is a balls to the wall unashamed joy. Its a smutty, but never base or vulgar look at how perversion can be good for the soul. Nominally the story of how a high school kid, who's mother is a dominatrix and father was a cop, finds the strength to dispense justice when he uses a pair of panties as a mask to save the girl he loves. Running into a bad of guys who want to destroy his school to find a hidden treasure he's forced to balance crime fighting with getting a date with the love of his life.

I and the rest of the audience roared for the whole film. Personally I had been planning on ducking out after the intro to avoid a late night but instead I stayed to the end because I was having too good a time.

The film is a joy and if the film just misses going on my favorite of the year list it's only because somewhere in the last twenty minutes it goes off the rails with out hero's battle with an impostor going on much too long (as Hubert from Flixist said it's like the perfect comic mini-series that goes on one issue too many) Reservations aside it's a must see and a perfect example of the madness that only the Japanese ever mange to get right.

The movies done and my faith in films restored (Secretly Greatly the night before really did kill my desire to see more festival films) Mondo, Alec, Hubert and myself booked out into into the rain toward Grand Central and trains home.

More reports to come, with a longer piece on BAD FILM coming soon.

NYAFF13 Mondocurry Report: The end becomes the beginning part 2 Japan Cuts

When we left off, I was giving Db a cheery wave just as I was saying hello. He was lined up for the final movie to screen at the Walter Reade Theater, SECRETLY GREATLY from South Korea, which he talked about here.

I hopped on a Citibike and started pedaling for the Japan Society, in what turned out to be a nice, brisk ride. And thanks to a docking station right across from the building and the delayed start times due to all the hectic activity, not a moment of the introduction or film was missed. (note: to organizations interested in endorsement deals, product placement, etc please feel free to contact me as indicated below – MC)  

The evening began with Samuel Jamier, who for the second year in a row has been singlehandedly programming Japan Cuts while contributing significantly to the New York Asian Film Festival, introducing Toshiaki Toyoda as a daring director who’s made many films that were shown during previous years’ festivals (Hanging Garden, Blood of Rebirth, Monsters Club among them). He then presented Toyoda with an award for essentially being an unrepentant ‘bad boy’ of Japanese cinema.

Toyoda introduced the film as a byproduct of the tragic 3/11 earthquake and tsunami, although the film itself has no direct connection. Right before it began, we were treated to two PSAs direct from Japanese movie theaters warning against recording, downloading illegally, and behaving rudely in movie theaters. One of them featured Hentai Kamen himself.

Better to leave most details of the film for another time. For now, I’ll mention how it was very cool to see elements that were exciting about Monsters Club continue to be present in I’M FLASH!. Somethings or Somebodies led me to believe this would be a more straightforward conventional film, but only very slightly. Set in Okinawa, it takes on the sense of lazy drifting that some of Takeshi Kitano’s early yakuza films did. Think also of a feature from the NYAFF of yesteryear, Plastic City for a similar sense of gangster violence meeting philosophical ponderings in an exotic locale.

The story finds a trio of gangsters hired to babysit the guru and public face of a religious called the “Life is Beautiful” group. Of course things are fishy. Rui, the guru, likes to go out on the town and liven up the local bar scene with his charisma. A foul mouthed sister threatens him to get his act together while he just wants to go spear fishing in the ocean right out back behind their slightly dilapidated mansion/compound. Everything about the hired yakuzas’ job is uncertain. This alternates with flashbacks to a hazardous encounter between Rui and a girl whose family member was involved with the cult religion.

Set to constantly thundering psychedelic rock, the film gives plenty to think about with dialogue that is used economically, but always with interesting ideas. I’M FLASH! Along with Monsters Club has me confident in believing Toyoda makes films that are deeply personal but also deal with questions about individuals and their interaction with society, being isolated but longing to be a part of something more.

After the screening, Toyoda answered questions from Samuel and the audience, clips of which are below. It was then time for a burlesque themed party with a few women…in cages…dressed for the theme. Don’t worry, they were let out and seen partaking in the Sapporo beers and yakitori made available to everyone else.

All in all a great start to the Japan-centric final run of the New York Asian Film Festival, and start of Japan Cuts.

Toshiyaki Toyoda introducing I'M FLASH!




Samuel kicks off the Q & A, asks about music in his films



Toyoda on the existence of lonely and isolated figures in his films



On the setting of I'M FLASH!

Me on twitter = @mondocurry

When a Wolf Falls in Love With a Sheep (2012) New York Asian Film Festival 2013

Waking up with a sticky note on a his forehead saying that his girlfriend had gone off to cram school, our hero, waits patiently by the phone until he’s thrown out of his apartment. Chasing after her to Nanyang street where all the cram schools are, he takes a job at a photocopy shop in the hope of running into her. Instead of his girlfriend he begins to meet the various people living on the street and working in the cram schools, including one quirky young girl who adds sheep to the practice tests she prepares. One day he adds a wolf commenting on the sheep and a potential romance is born.

Quirky romance that is based on the director's time on the street where the film takes place and the people he met there, this is a film that will either warm the cockles of your heart of annoy the piss out of you with it’s carefully constructed nature and occasionally forced quirkiness.(Yes I know I used quirky twice but it’s that sort of a film). Told largely live action the film occasionally shifts to stop motion and 2D to reflect the mind spaces and flights of fantasy of the characters.

This is a film that I admire more than I like. While its clear the two leads are perfect for each other the film falls down in that it’s so perfect, so expert in construction, that much of the life in the film is as real as the Disney audio-animatronic creature. Watching the film I found that while I was enjoying the film in a completely non-think sort of away, I was also never fully engaging with the film on any level except in the moments with the side characters-the crazy money loving girl or the priest with lots of hobbies. It was for the most part a nice diversion, which cleared the mind after some nasty revenge films at the New York Asian Film Festival.

In fairness I do have to say that the film did almost win me over in it’s closing sequence. Somewhere at the start of the final bit (it’s the airplane sequence) I suddenly found myself being moved. Had director—managed to make the grand emotionally moving ending that he was aiming for? It looked like he did and he had me hooked for a while, until a last minute appearance out of left field derailed the momentum and completely sent the film crashing down for me. While some people needed to see the choice, its really a non-choice which is why the sequence fails.

(An aside- the whole issue of who do we belong with and who do we really love is more expertly handled in The Last Tycoon, which also played at the NYAFF. While the choice in Tycoon may plays with a certain level of emotion the first time through, the second time through it kicks like mule when you see the path to that moment)

For my money Wolf is a good film, but far from a great one, at least emotionally. Will I watch it again? Oh most certainly, but at the same time it’s like any number of other films I like but don’t love and can watch over and over again.

Worth a shot if you like romances.

Photos from the introduction to HENTAI KAMEN at the Japan Society or James takes the crown from Grady NYAFF 2013 Japan Cuts 2013

I'm too tired to write up today's films. It was five hours and two films of mind bending madness.

BAD FILM is Sion Sono's 20 year long project that is a unique indescribable film requires more words than I can give it.

HENTAI KAMEN is a film about a high school student who turns into a super hero when he puts panties on his face. Its mostly a very adult blast... James did the introduction which is game set and match for his managing to steal the title of best host at the NYAFF... I mean would Grady get in the spirit of a film by putting panties on his head and stripping? I think not.

Here's proof it happened....



Introducing the movie



Panties

Time to start the movie