Summary
A fine examination of bullying in Japanese high schools takes a series of dark turns, stays bleak, and becomes relentlessly cruel in the final act.
Bullying in Japanese schools is endemic. According to some reports, it’s distinct from other countries due to it being a “group phenomenon” rather than a few bad apples. From All About Lily Chou-Chou (2001) to the impressionistic animated tale A Silent Voice (2017), Japan’s cinema has tried to examine the problem from a variety of angles.
Yet none of them have been like LIVERLEAF (ミスミソウ). Haruka Nozaki (Anna Yamada) is bullied by Taeko Oguro (Rinka Otani), who has turned the entire class against her. From physical abuse to leaving dead crows in her desk, the little psychopaths have even sent the teacher (Aki Morita) into a vomitous catatonic state. The only person who sticks up for her is Mitsuru Aiba (Hiroya Shimizu).
Based on the manga series “Misumisou” by Rensuke Oshikiri, director Eisuke Naito’s adaptation uses the principal of escalation. Following a particularly dark turn of events, Nozaki’s bloody vengeance is less Confessions and more Lady Snowblood. Quite literally in some cases, with spraying blood, spilling guts, flying arrows, slashing blades, and snapping limbs against the crisp whiteness of the surrounds.
In a narrative that is very much a film of two halves, the initial violent turn comes at the midway point of LIVERLEAF, a shocking apex to a sometimes gruelling climb. Yet there’s truthful beauty (or a beautiful truth) to the telling, especially in Hidetoshi Shinomiya’s photography. Filled with crisp winter landscapes, there’s other novel shots too, such as split-frame shot of the similarly tortured Rumi (Rena Ohtsuka) and her mother standing on opposite sides of a door.
Cutting up the bullying and retaliation, Naito’s film at least takes the time to show some of the home life of the bullies. Brief shots of Oguro and her gang at home show abuse or dreams unfulfilled. Photographer and sometimes ally Aiba has a whole set of problems of his own, and they come to light in the final act. When Nozaki finally gains her sense of agency, her response isn’t so much revenge as an act of merciful justice.
LIVERLEAF is a shocking and important examination of a genuine problem in Japan and around the world, although one hopes this level of bloodletting is not a regular occurrence. It only really falls down structurally when it has escalated to a point where it has nowhere else to go but more of the same cycle of violence, becoming relentlessly cruel in its form and vision. Then again, perhaps this is art imitating life and the most accurate commentary of them all.
2018 | Japan | DIRECTOR: Eisuke Naito | WRITERS: Miako Tadano (Based on the manga by Rensuke Oshikiri) | CAST: Anna Yamada, Shimizu Hiroya, Otani Rinka, Morita Aki, Otsuka Rena | DISTRIBUTOR: T-Joy (JPN), New York Asian Film Festival (US) | RUNNING TIME: 114 minutes | RELEASE DATE: 8 July 2018 (NYAFF)
