Shissou ~ Dead Run
I've known about this movie for quite a long time, but only watched it now cos i've been watching Troubleman (and loving it) and this movie is by the same director. It turned out to be a rather good movie and probably more profound than i can comprehend. I think this because of the strong emotional response that it draws out.
The story is about Shuji, who lives in a seaside town. His parents love his smarter older brother more than him, but he seems pretty content with just being his brother's shadow. He encounters an aloof and rebellious girl, Eri, when he visits a new church in the town that is run by a priest who was rumoured to be a murderer. Eri turns out to be his classmate in middle school and he gradually gets attracted to her. Meanwhile, yakuza backed construction companies want to redevelop part of the town into hotels and are forcing people out of their homes. There are a series of fires that happen in the town, and it is discovered that the culprit is not the yakuza, but Shuji's brother, who suffered a breakdown after being caught cheating.
Gradually, things go downhill for Shuji as his brother is caught and he is ostracised by others. His father goes missing and then his mother leaves home, leaving Shuji all alone. By then, Eri had relocated to Tokyo because of the redevelopment and, unable to commit suicide and wanting to meet her, Shuji sets out on impulse to look for her. Along the way he looses his virginity to a prostitute whom he met when he was younger, he is abused by her yakuza husband and aids in his murder. In the end, he finds Eri and they are reunited, but he stabs her uncle who was abusing her and they go on the run back to their hometown.
The main thing that struck me about this movie is how sad it made me feel. You can't help but sympathise with Shuji and all he goes through. He reaches the point of such great despair that he seems to lose the feeling of being alive and does things without much thought. I think Tegoshi did a good job of bringing across the sadness and hopelessness of Shuji.
I don't know much about filming and so on, but i think it was rather well done too. Like i mentioned above, i watched this mainly cos it was directed by SABU, who did Troubleman. I like how he uses ambient sounds and silences to create impact and emotion and bring you into the environment of the film more. I also liked how some things are left to the viewer to infer and not directly stated. I think this respects the intelligence of the viewer and engages them more since they have to think a bit.
I don't really like how things seem to jump a little bit, though. It's like one scene shows something, but the next scene is suddenly set a few months later and so many things have happened in between. I had a bit of difficulty trying to figure out how much time has passed. But this wasn't a big issue and generally the story flowed quite well. I also liked the music at the end of the movie. I am totally not musically inclined, but it seems to be apt for the movie.
People tend to remember the emotions they felt rather than the things that happened. Even after i have forgotten the details of the story, i'll probably still remember how it made me feel. The greatest impact is achieved through emotion, which is why i think this movie is so good.
The story is about Shuji, who lives in a seaside town. His parents love his smarter older brother more than him, but he seems pretty content with just being his brother's shadow. He encounters an aloof and rebellious girl, Eri, when he visits a new church in the town that is run by a priest who was rumoured to be a murderer. Eri turns out to be his classmate in middle school and he gradually gets attracted to her. Meanwhile, yakuza backed construction companies want to redevelop part of the town into hotels and are forcing people out of their homes. There are a series of fires that happen in the town, and it is discovered that the culprit is not the yakuza, but Shuji's brother, who suffered a breakdown after being caught cheating.
Gradually, things go downhill for Shuji as his brother is caught and he is ostracised by others. His father goes missing and then his mother leaves home, leaving Shuji all alone. By then, Eri had relocated to Tokyo because of the redevelopment and, unable to commit suicide and wanting to meet her, Shuji sets out on impulse to look for her. Along the way he looses his virginity to a prostitute whom he met when he was younger, he is abused by her yakuza husband and aids in his murder. In the end, he finds Eri and they are reunited, but he stabs her uncle who was abusing her and they go on the run back to their hometown.
The main thing that struck me about this movie is how sad it made me feel. You can't help but sympathise with Shuji and all he goes through. He reaches the point of such great despair that he seems to lose the feeling of being alive and does things without much thought. I think Tegoshi did a good job of bringing across the sadness and hopelessness of Shuji.
I don't know much about filming and so on, but i think it was rather well done too. Like i mentioned above, i watched this mainly cos it was directed by SABU, who did Troubleman. I like how he uses ambient sounds and silences to create impact and emotion and bring you into the environment of the film more. I also liked how some things are left to the viewer to infer and not directly stated. I think this respects the intelligence of the viewer and engages them more since they have to think a bit.
I don't really like how things seem to jump a little bit, though. It's like one scene shows something, but the next scene is suddenly set a few months later and so many things have happened in between. I had a bit of difficulty trying to figure out how much time has passed. But this wasn't a big issue and generally the story flowed quite well. I also liked the music at the end of the movie. I am totally not musically inclined, but it seems to be apt for the movie.
People tend to remember the emotions they felt rather than the things that happened. Even after i have forgotten the details of the story, i'll probably still remember how it made me feel. The greatest impact is achieved through emotion, which is why i think this movie is so good.