Last Week's Movies #47

I watch so many movies that my movie memory is started to overload. So I've decided to start doing short reviews for each film I've watched during the week. Often they'll be movies I'm viewing for the first time, but some may be favourites that are getting their latest re-watch.

Bodyguard Kiba

(Japan, 1993, Takashi Miike)

7/10

Bodyguard Kiba is a very early effort from Takashi Miike and, as you would imagine, it's not quite up to the level of genius seen in some of his more talked about works. It is, however, a fun bit of straight-to-video trash. One of Miike's many collaborations with writer/actor/manga creator/fight choreographer Hisao Maki (Miike biographer Tom Mes hates this guy), Bodyguard Kiba is a weakly plotted story about a yakuza underling that screws over his bosses. He steals a whole lot of money from a drug deal, then hides out in prison for five years. When he gets out, he hires a bodyguard called Kiba to protect him as he attempts to recover the hidden money. Kiba is a tough martial arts man, so a lot of fighting ensues. Ren Ohsugi also shows up as an incredibly creepy yakuza boss. Outside of the decent cinematography, you'd have to do some heavy digging to find any signs of Miike's future brilliance in Bodyguard Kiba. But if, like me, you enjoy sleazy Japanese V-cinema trash then you should get a kick out of this. There is hardly a dull moment in Bodyguard Kiba. There's a lot of martial arts, a lot of cheesy violence and even a splash of awkward sexual depravity. Miike handles his cast well. He leaves the tough guys to the fighting and all the real actors to the acting. Bodyguard Kiba has a nice look to it with its fluid camerawork and its sometimes absurd lighting. Miike was still finding his feet as a director, and he doesn't step outside the limitations of the fairly cookie cutter script. Still, Miike fans should enjoy seeing where Miike cut his filmmaking teeth.  

The Bullet Train
aka Shinkansen daibakuha

(Japan, 1975, Jun'ya Satô)

7.5/10

If you've seen Speed, you will already know the plot of The Bullet Train. It is essentially the same premise, except a bullet train replaces the bus - terrorists plant a bomb on a train, if the train goes below a certain speed, it explodes. However, unlike Speed, the focus of The Bullet Train is on the antagonist terrorists rather than the film's heroes. This is both an asset and its biggest downfall. The well-rounded criminals make for far more sympathetic and likable villains than usual, but annoyingly, the film spends too much time away from the speeding train. The few moments we see on the train - especially early on - are tense and nicely put together. But The Bullet Train goes for long stretches without any return to the passengers or crew, which becomes very frustrating in the film's latter half. Luckily, what we get instead is quite good. A large chunk of the film consists of flashbacks to the meetings of the three criminals involved in the planting of the bomb. These scenes are handled well and the performances are uniformly excellent. The Bullet Train is long for what it is, but it held my attention. The character interaction and back story is enough to keep things interesting, although I can't help but think this film could have been even better with a bit more focus on the train. Also, Sonny Chiba fans beware: while this film comes in a Sonny Chiba box set (here in Australia, at least), he has about ten minutes screen time. In a two and a half hour running time, that's not much!  

Funny Games

(Austria, 1997, Michael Haneke)

10/10

I have a lot of respect for Haneke as a filmmaker. But I find that I don't agree with much he has to say, particularly his moralistic thoughts on violence in films. He does, however, do an unbelievable job of getting his point across in his horrifying masterpiece Funny Games. Funny Games is, on the surface, an evil, nihilistic, pointless movie. And yes, it is all those things. But it is so much more. It is an exploration - I'd rather see it as exploration than Haneke's dogma - of how we perceive and react to violence in movies, and it plays more games with its audience than the antagonists do with their ever-suffering victims. It is a jarring, traumatizing watch. I first saw Funny Games as a teenager while surfing channels late at night. Its aggressive opening titles hooked me immediately. I assumed I was in for a standard Euro-horror, but oh no, I was in for a nightmare that would frustrate me and leave me depressed for a week. Haneke's manipulation of his audience - which would be playful if not for the unpleasant context of Funny Games - is as brilliant as it is cruel. His tampering with conventions and breaking of the fourth wall is something I've never seen committed with such evil glee. Funny Games uses off-screen violence most impressively and when we finally do see violence, it is yet another middle finger to the viewer. See this - or the remake, which I've heard is essentially the same thing - and get ready to feel guilty about your viewing habits.

Like a Dragon
aka Ryû ga gotoku: gekijô-ban

(Japan, 2007, Takashi Miike)

7.5/10

Proof that Miike will pretty much do anything thrown his way, Like a Dragon is - of all things - a video game adaption. And believe it or not, it's good. I'd like to give a coherent plot synopsis, but in all honesty, the plot of Like a Dragon confused the hell out of me. After a bit of an internet surf, I'm happy to report that I wasn't the only one with this reaction. Apparently you need to know the games to understand who half the characters are. This is instantly a sign of a bad movie... well, usually. But I get the feeling this lack of exposition was perhaps part of Miike's grand plan to create a macho world of yakuza madness. To keep things very simple, all you need to know is that Kiryu (Kazuki Kitamura) is a yakuza fresh out of prison, and he is trying to find a young girl's mother. Along the way, money is stolen from a rival yakuza group, an eye-patched madman Majima (Gorô Kishitani) wants Kiryu's blood, a young couple is out robbing stores and Noguchi (Shô Aikawa) - a cop - is keeping watch over a failed bank robbery. Some of these stories interact with one another. 

The first half of Like a Dragon reminded me a lot of Miike's middle (golden) period of the late 90s and early 2000s. The film's opening reeks of Dead or Alive and the film has a smattering of Ichi the Killer's masochism. But this is - as with all newer Miike films - a far more commercial outing than Miike's work from a decade ago. This does not mean, however, that this film follows its conventions too strongly, and we get characters that could only exist in a Miike universe - commercial or not. Graveyard of Honor's Gorô Kishitani is absolutely brilliant as the very likable antagonist Majima. He really steals the show with his grumbling yakuza intonation and drunken movements. We are also blessed with the presence of Miike regulars Ken'ichi Endô (who spends most of the film with his face hidden) and Shô Aikawa. YosiYosi Arakawa - a guy that seems to pop up in every modern Japanese film I watch - is also very funny as the masochistic gun seller. Miike infuses Like a Dragon with his typical visual insanity. Like his older films, fight scenes are brutal, yet no one seems to get seriously hurt. (Something I always loved in his work.) The film also has a great score that suits its tough guy posing perfectly. This is a minor event in Miike's catalogue, and I have to take a few points off for its convoluted plot. As much it may have been Miike's intention, I had to pause this one too many times to ask "what is going on?" Miike fans will dig Like a Dragon, and I'm guessing so will fans of the game. 

Metropolis

(Germany, 1927, Fritz Lang)

10/10

How is it possible that Fritz Lang made so many perfect and important films? What an amazing filmmaker. Metropolis is perhaps his most influential film, and it is with good reason. Metropolis is a sprawling, epic film with not only mouthwatering sets, but a wonderful screenplay too. It is a film with effects and filmic techniques that are still incredibly impressive today. It's hard to believe something so huge, yet so intelligent, could afford to get made in 1927... or any time for that matter. I don't think Metropolis has a match for pure spectacle. This is one of the greatest science fiction - although it is far more than just that - stories ever told, and it must be seen in its brilliant new "complete" (or almost complete) cut.

Schoolgirl Hitchhikers
aka Jeunes filles impudiques

(France, 1973, Jean Rollin)

4.5/10

The problem with obsessing over individual filmmakers - as I do - is that every now and then you have to sift through their garbage. Schoolgirl Hitchhikers certainly belongs in Jean Rollin's trash, but it is not totally worthless for die hard Rollin fans. Schoolgirl Hitchhikers - I think - is somewhat of a comedy. Its genre leanings are hard to decipher, but the characters' actions - both villains and heroes - are so mindless that I have to assume it is played for laughs. We have the anti-story of two schoolgirl hitchhikers (I guess - they don't look like schoolgirls and they don't do any hitchhiking) that stumble across a house where they take a nap. A jewel thief shows up and they have sex with him (and each other). The jewel thief's pals show up and they realise their jewels are gone. They blame the schoolgirl hitchhikers and more sex scenes and (possibly unintentional) comedy ensues. Schoolgirl Hitchhikers is bad. Most of the film - especially its final act - consists of guns being pulled out and pointed at people, then those with the guns pointed at them turn the tables and pull guns on those that are pointing guns at them. Honestly, that's all that happens in the last twenty minutes. It's infuriating. The only aspects that reveal this is a Rollin film is the appearance of his regulars (and himself) and some decent cinematography. Schoolgirl Hitchhikers is not a total wash out. The film picks up in its middle section when the girls are captured (before the gun swapping silliness) and Joëlle Coeur is fantastic as always. It is also a must see for Jean Rollin's extended cameo in the film's finale. This is not Jean Rollin's greatest moment - it's close to his worst - but with a running time of under eighty minutes, it's not too painful. 

Silver

(Japan, 1999, Takashi Miike)

6/10

Silver has a pretty bad reputation among Miike fans. And yes, it is a pretty rancid affair. Silver has a horrible plot that sets no goals and achieves nothing. We have the - admittedly exciting sounding - story of a female karate champion who's family has been murdered by a Leatherface clone. She is hired to join an investigation bureau and becomes somewhat of a crime fighter. Her boss makes her become a female wrestler (costume and all). She does this by day and then by night fights crime (costume still on). Well, she goes after one criminal in the film - a business woman who is into S&M and peeing into cups - I'm not sure what her actual crimes are. Written by dodgy Miike collaborator Hisao Maki, Silver makes almost no sense. But if you can accept this and go along on the ride, it's actually quite entertaining. Miike is a talented man behind the camera, so at least the film looks good (especially for a shot on video flick). The film has some pleasing outrageous rubbish that kicks into high gear whenever our creepy S&M business lady is on screen, and the wrestler stuff is reasonably hysterical. Silver is played by Atsuko Sakuraba, whose performance has been criticised by most. She is quite terrible and plays the part with almost no emoting whatsoever. But her performance slips into the so-bad-it's-good category, so I enjoyed it. Silver is probably the worst Miike film I've seen, but I have to admit, as dumb as it is, I felt satisfied as the credits rolled. Yes, even with its stupid open ending that begs for a sequel (and never got one). It's hard to believe that Miike's next two films would be Audition and Dead or Alive.      

Spider Baby

(USA, 1968, Jack Hill)
9/10

My blog deleted - for no fucking reason whatsoever - my giant review of Spider Baby. I really can't be bothered writing it again. In short:

- This movie is hilarious and disturbing.

- It is a near perfect b-movie and horror-comedy.

- The cast is one of the best ever assembled for this type of film (Lon Chaney Jr. and Sid Haig being the cherries on top).

- It has an unbelievably hilarious protagonist, who is particularly amazing in the film's bizarre bookends.

It is great. See it. 

The Vengeance of She

(UK, 1968, Cliff Owen)
3/10

It's a shame my review of The Vengeance of She got deleted along with the above non-review of Spider Baby. I spent quite a while on it, spitting out some nasty bile about how awful it is. I can't bring myself to write it again. All you need to know is that this is the worst film Hammer ever produced. The end.