Summary
The One Cut of the Dead director returns with another cheeky insider look at the profession, although this one has a little more heart and is (slightly) less bloody.
Japanese cinema has been given some well-deserved attention in the last few years, with Palme d’Or winning Shoplifters and Weathering With You providing elegantly constructed crossover hits for wider audiences. Then there’s Shinichiro Ueda’s One Cut of the Dead, a micro-budget indie zombie film that won fans at festivals and online venues across the world through sheer force of will.
SPECIAL ACTORS (スペシャルアクターズ) is his first follow-up feature, his anthology contribution to Aesop’s Game and quarantine-inspired One Cut of the Dead – Mission: Remote notwithstanding. It comes with a similar vibe of anarchistic fun and unexpected turns. A more polished affair to be sure, but it’s also another meta-commentary on film and storytelling within a distinctly Japanese context.
Kazuto (Kazuto Osawa) is a painfully frail soul who dreams of being an actor but has one major obstacle: he has fainting spells whenever he’s confronted with strong emotions. After running into his brother, he discovers the eponymous Special Actors – an agency of who hires themselves out to solve real-life problems. Kazuto’s first case involves a cult with nefarious motives. It’s a chance to prove himself if his nerves can take it.
It’s probably too early in Ueda’s career to start talking about formulas, but he’s rapidly developing a self-aware series of motifs. Opening in a middle of an audition, the film is filled with references to Japanese indie cinema, or at least analogues for the kind of zombie films and dramas Ueda and his contemporaries are associated with. Even Hollywood gets a dig with a recurring character of Rescueman, Kazuto’s aspirational hero.
SPECIAL ACTORS has more heart than Ueda’s previous feature, and despite being a tad pathetic as a human being, Ueda and Osawa evoke genuine pathos in Kazuto. While the script may occasionally meander off the beaten path, with an elongated second act that feels a little bit like filler material, a cast of lively actors consistently gives this the boost it needs.
Filled with a largely unknown cast (to keep the costs down presumably), there’s a fun slice of swirling chaos around Osawa’s performance. While the lead always looks as though he’s about to pass out, there’s a near comatose-looking religious leader, shifty business folk and your typical cross-section of Japanese comedy archetypes. A chaotic scene that takes place at an inn is a particular memorable and effective demonstration of their combined talents.
While not as instantly iconic as One Cut of the Dead, the final scenes will no doubt prompt viewers to go back and watch this all over again. Which might be Ueda’s clearest formula, one in which he keeps the wool over our eyes just long enough to keep us guessing.
2019 | Japan| DIRECTOR: Shinichiro Ueda | WRITERS: Shinichiro Ueda | CAST: Kazuto Osawa, Hiroki Kono, Takuya Fuji, Ayu Kitaura, Yosuke Ueda | DISTRIBUTOR: JAPAN CUTS (US)| RUNNING TIME: 109 minutes | RELEASE DATE: 17-30 July 2020 (JAPAN CUTS)
