Tag: 2021 Reviews

Review: Sinkhole

Sinkholes are terrifying. They occur when the ground beneath the surface shifts and collapses, potentially sucking everything above it into the earth. Hard to predict and popping up all over the world, you could be sitting above one right now. Go on, let that sink in for a bit.

Director Kim Ji-hoon is no stranger to disaster movies, with The Tower (2012) remaining a favourite amongst many fans of South Korea action. In SINKHOLE (싱크홀), a somewhat unique comedy-disaster hybrid, we follow Park Dong-won (Kim Sung-kyun) and his family as they move into a new apartment block after over a decade of scrimping and saving.

After inviting some colleagues over for a housewarming, including co-worker Kim Seung-Hyun (Lee Kwang-Soo), torrential rains result in the titular sinkhole opening up below them and sucking the entire building beneath the surface. With the hole filling up with water, Park must work with neighbour Jeong Man-soo (Cha Seung-won) to find their loved ones — and a way out of the hole — before the elements take over.

Kim’s film has an odd tone. The first 30 minutes of the narrative is frontloaded with squabbles and comic misunderstandings between Park and Jeong, including really strange asides where characters get stuck in automatic doors. It’s all mixed in with a little bit of foreboding about coming events — including the tilting of interiors and the lack of running water — but it establishes a tone one doesn’t typically see in a genre picture.

When the main event occurs, the ₩15 billion budget (about US$13 million) is on full display. The entire building rockets straight down with the use of CG imagery, setting the scene for the survivalist plotting that follows. To the credit of screenwriters Jeon Cheol-hong and Kim Jeong-han, they manage to keep the comedy in line with the drama for the duration. That’s a rare feat indeed.

While the characters are built into a fairly standard mould, Kim Sung-kyun and Cha Seung-won are engaging leads. Cha in particular gets to combine his comedy and act chops, having balanced between the two for the last decade or so of his career.

SINKHOLE is already the fastest film to pass 1 million viewers in South Korea this year, marking it as late contender for one of the highest grossing Korean films of the year. Its unique mix of humour and action will translate easily to international audiences, so make sure you jump in and see this before the inevitable Hollywood remake.

SINKHOLE is the closing film of the New York Asian Film Festival 2021.

2021 | South Korea | DIRECTOR: Kim Ji-hoon | WRITERS: Jeon Cheol-hong, Kim Jeong-han | CAST: Cha Seung-won, Kim Sung-kyun, Lee Kwang-soo, Kim Hye-jun | DISTRIBUTOR: Showbox, NYAFF 2021 | RUNNING TIME: 114 minutes | RELEASE DATE: 22 August 2021 (NYAFF 2021)

August 19, 2021
Review: Midnight

In the grand tradition of Hush or Wait Until Dark, a woman with a hearing impairment becomes the target of a serial killer. That’s the premise of Kwon Oh-Seung’s debut film, one that draws inspiration from Korea’s own I Saw the Devil and through to overt references to The Shining.

In MIDNIGHT (미드나이트), actor Jin Ki-Joo (Little Forest) stars as Kyung-Mi, a deaf young woman working as a sign interpreter in a call centre. After walking out of a client party that’s filled with toxic masculinity, she picks up her mother (Gil Hae-Yeon). Yet their paths intersect with serial killer Do-Sik (Wi Ha-Joon), who is interrupted from completing his latest kill.

Accompanying Kyung-Mi and her mother to the police station, they are unaware that Do-Sik is the killer and is determined to get them both out of the way. So begins a series of gaslighting moments, cat and mouse chases, and so many jump scares.

Stylishly lit and solidly cast, Kwon’s film works best when the audience is one step ahead of the would-be victims. There’s a lengthy sequence set in the police station that’s paced like a stage production. People come and go, suspicions are cast in the wrong direction, and Do-Sik manages to pull the wool over everybody’s eyes but Kyung-Mi’s mother. (Always listen to your mother). Her hearing impairment plays into some of the drama, in that people are unwilling to listen to her frantic attempts at communication. It’s here that the film plays expertly with anticipation and keeps us on the edge for as long as possible.

Still, it never really develops much beyond this. While Kwon is careful not to exploit Kyong-Mi’s impairment, there are very few instances where it serves the plot. Yes, the addition of non-verbal communication gives Kyung-Mi and her mother a one-up on the killer, but everything else is a bit repetitive. Kwon uses sound and its absence for occasional shocks, for example, but squanders it as Kyung-Mi almost runs into traffic at least three times.

While it would have been ideal to cast a non-hearing actor in the lead role, Jin Ki-Joo gives a solid performance. She reportedly did some intensive study of sign language to take the part, and brings an earnestness to the part that makes her something more than a continual victim at the hands of Do-sik. The latter is creepily played by Wi Ha-Joon, who is no stranger to scares in films such as Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum.

The final 20 minutes or so are some of the most tense in any thriller you’re likely to see, even if some of it staggers belief. It’s a chase at its most basic level, but as tables are turned Kwon lets us know he’s got a few tricks up his sleeve. It’s a promising start for a first film and we’ll be keen to see what he has in store for us next.

MIDNIGHT is reviewed as part of our coverage for both the New York Asian Film Festival 2021 and Fantasia Festival 2021.

2021 | South Korea | DIRECTOR: Kwon Oh-seung | WRITER: Kwon Oh-seung | CAST: Jin Ki-joo, Kim Hye-yoon, Park Hoon, Wi Ha-jun | DISTRIBUTOR: FINECUT, Fantasia Festival 2021, NYAFF 2021 | RUNNING TIME: 120 minutes | RELEASE DATE: 5-25 August 2021 (Fantasia 2021), 6-22 August 2021 (NYAFF 2021)

August 18, 2021
Review: Tokyo Revengers

The prospect of a high school do-over is the subject of copious fantasies and nightmares in equal measure. In the case of TOKYO REVENGERS (東京リベンジャーズ), based on the ongoing manga series by Ken Wakui, it’s a little bit of both.

As with the source material, it follows downtrodden 20-something Takemichi (Takumi Kitamura), who feels like his life is going nowhere. Shortly after learning that his first high-school girlfriend Hinata (Mio Imada) and her younger brother Naoto Tachibana (Yosuke Sugino) were killed by the Tokyo Manji Gang, he is pushed onto a train track. Instead of simply dying, he is transported back to his youth.

Finding a vastly different version of events to his memory, the once feisty scrapper Takemichi was involved in constant gang brawls. When he returns to the present, he also finds that his interference has led to Naoto becoming a detective, but they must work together to prevent Hinata’s death. So, Takemichi must continue to quantum leap back and forth, win gang leader Manjiro’s (Ryo Yoshizawa) confidence and change history.

If you think you’ve seen every variation of a Japanese high school drama, then think again. A clever time travel twist on the school gang sub-sub-genre, director Tsutomu Hanabusa (Tori Girl, Kakegurui, Project Dream: How to Build Mazinger Z’s Hangar) is a dab hand at bringing manga to life with a high degree of visual fidelity. He continues that here in this often dark and violent story.

TOKYO REVENGERS leans a little too heavily into the machismo elements at times — even if it is skewering and subverting them as well — by showing constant and bloody scraps between the various personalities. One particularly sadistic Manji henchman damn near beats Takemichi to death on more than one occasion. Keeping in mind that these are school kids, it’s a lot.

Yet the central performances are all top-notch. While I can’t speak to any familiarity with either the source material or the anime adaptation, the energy feels just about right. Kitamura is terrific at inhabiting multiple personas, as evidenced by last year’s body-swapping Our 30 Minute Sessions. Yuki Yamada, as Manjiro’s right hand man, is also worth highlighting.

While compressing a lot of story into a short space — a story that is still ongoing in print and anime form — TOKYO REVENGERS still manages to convey its complex tale in a a self-contained package. Indeed, if this is your first experience with the franchise, you might even be tempted to explore the world a little further.

TOKYO REVENGERS is reviewed as part of our coverage of Fantasia Festival 2021.

2021 | Japan | DIRECTOR: Tsutomu Hanabusa | WRITER: Ken Wakui, Izumi Takahashi | CAST: Takumi Kitamura, Yûki Yamada, Yôsuke Sugino, Mio Imada, Ryo Yoshizawa | DISTRIBUTOR: Fantasia Festival 2021 | RUNNING TIME: 120 minutes | RELEASE DATE: 5-25 August 2021 (Fantasia 2021)

August 17, 2021
Review: Set!

As soon as you enter a discussion on a documentary about the world of competitive table setting, someone will summon Christopher Guest’s name. Yet where Guest’s mockumentaries take theatre communities, dog show competitors, and mascots to their illogical extremes, Scott Gawlik’s very real SET! does the opposite. Here is a film that takes something outsiders may see as strange and normalises it.

SET! takes place in the lead-up to the Orange County Fair table setting competition, referred to in the community as the ‘Olympics of Table Setting’ events. Contestants can spend months putting together themed tables that are judged on their artistic merit, the placement of the dishes and cutlery and something more intangible for that elusive Best in Show ribbon. All it takes is a fork in the wrong place or an unfolded serviette to knock you out of contention.

As fascinating as the process might be, it’s the personalities that make this such a compelling documentary. There’s Bonnie, the veteran, whose house looks like it might be backstage at Disney’s Adventureland. When we first meet artistic rebel Hilarie, she’s drawing inspiration from a sensory deprivation tank. Tim — an unemployed cosplayer who describes it as the “whitest thing I do as a white person” — is hoping a win can restore his self confidence.

As with any competitive process there are rivals as well. Hilarie is controversial in the community for using (ethically sourced) taxidermy and shocking elements in her displays. It’s not Crystal Young, the defending champ, who earns her ire but the more traditional Bonnie, who has a very different vision of Africa for this year’s display. Meanwhile, Marie and Christel are a mother and daughter team who used to be competitors and are now working together for the crown.

It would be very easy to make fun of this group of people, but the most delightful thing about Gawlik’s film is that it never does. The competitors themselves often recognise the insanity of the situation, or actively work to subvert expectations, but the film allows this group of eclectic but linked people to tell their story in their own words. It doesn’t mean we don’t get deep into bizarre territory, especially when show day and the judging rolls around.

Sometimes its hard to find some bright lights at the end of the last 18 months worth of dark tunnels, but SET! is simply an artifact of unrestrained joy. Even if you don’t get into the actual process of visual placesetting, it’s hard not to get swept up in the passion of the people who make this their singular focus.

2021 | USA | DIRECTOR: Scott Gawlik | CINEMATOGRAPHY: Scott Gawlik | CAST: Bonnie Overman, Tim Wyckoff, Hillarie Moore, Janet Lew | DISTRIBUTOR: MIFF 2021 | RUNNING TIME: 105 minutes | RELEASE DATE: 5 – 22 August 2021 (MIFF 2021)

August 17, 2021
Review: Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko

Ayumu Watanabe, who delivered festival favourite Children of the Sea back in 2019, returns with a new water-based anime. Where his previous film was one that cared little for linear time, and was often driven by a psychedelic sound and vision, FORTUNE FAVOURS LADY NIKUKO (漁港の肉子ちゃん) takes a much more chilled vibe.

Based on a book by Kanako Nishi (Yellow Elephant, Sakura), it’s an observational comedy/drama that follows the titular Nikuko (voiced by Shinobu Ōtake) and her daughter Kikuko (Cocomi) as they live out their days on a boat. The physically large and excessively cheerful Nikuko is easily recognisable in the small town, but Kikuko just wants to fly under the radar.

Not much happens in Watanabe’s film, although the same can’t be said for the titular Nikuko. Having made a series of bad relationship decisions, she now exists largely as a caricature, obsessed with food and puns in equal measure. Despite holding a prominent place in the title, much of the film is concerned with Kikuko’s personal relationships with fellow kids — including Ninomiya, a local boy that she develops feelings for. One of the film’s biggest micro-dramas is a stomach ache Kikuko thinks is from a bad meal, but even this is resolved quickly.

There’s a lot to love about this movie. Almost everyone can relate to the angst of being embarrassed by the parents in public, or feeling like they came from an entirely different family. The carefree, waterfront setting is a idillic playground, filled with familiar sparks of enjoyment. There’s the almost obligatory summer festival sequence, and at various time characters sit around sharing the communal joy of food. Indeed, some of the running gags are around ‘meat’ — a combination of the film’s constant puns, the fact that the character ‘肉’ (meat) is in Nikuko’s name and, unfortunately, because of her size.

Which is where some of the humour becomes very one-note, a constant series of jokes that aren’t just body-shaming but insulting. When this aspect of her character is peeled away in a genuinely touching flashback sequence, we get a glimpse of the nuance possible. Yet constant references to Nikuko’s size, her binge eating, frequent comparisons to Totoro or her comparatively enormous girth are excessive — and really need to be called out here.

It’s a shame, because the film is otherwise gorgeously animated. The opening sequence is told in an inventively exaggerated style, with all the men in Nikuko’s past presented as faceless shadows. With the team at Studio 4°C, Watanabe focuses on the little things: bugs, lizards, the sunrise or a grumpy cat. There’s a place overlooking the harbour that Kikuko shares with Ninomiya: coupled with the constant sound of crickets and some beautiful lighting, this could just as happily be lensed for a Hirokazu Kore-eda film.

With FORTUNE FAVOURS LADY NIKUKO, Watanabe presents something that is more straightforward and universally accessible than Children of the Sea. It’s a shame that the caricature issues mar what is an otherwise delightful slice-of-life film that gets to the heart of that feeling of youthful displacement.

FORTUNE FAVOURS LADY NIKUKO is reviewed as part of our coverage of Fantasia Festival 2021.

2021 | Japan | DIRECTOR: Ayumu Watanabe | WRITER: Satomi Ooshima | CAST: Cocomi, Natsuki Hanae, Shinobu Otake | DISTRIBUTOR: Asmik Ace (JPN), Fantasia Festival 2021 | RUNNING TIME: 97 minutes | RELEASE DATE: 5-25 August 2021 (Fantasia 2021)

August 16, 2021
Review: Ninja Girl

Not to be confused with the Ippei Endo film of the same name, director Yu Irie’s outing is a much quieter film. Despite the low-key facade, it deals with a the massive issues of xenophobia and local government corruption. Sounds like a job for NINJA GIRL (シュシュシュの娘).

The titular girl is Miu Komaru (Saki Fukuda), who lives in a small town on the fringes of Fukuya City in Saitama. Despite working for the council organisation that is introducing a new anti-immigration bill, she is an outcast due to her bedridden grandfather Goro (Shôhei Uno) vehemently opposing the proposed legislation. Only Miu’s coworker Koji Mano (Arata Iura), who went to school with Miu’s dad, is able to get close to the cantankerous Goro (Shôhei Uno).

Yet when Mano suddenly kills himself following a visit with Goro, implying a cover-up at work, Miu’s grandfather reveals their family secret: they come from a long line of ninja. Tasked with uncovering some incriminating files that Mano has secreted away, Miu embraces her legacy — and her innate skills of being very quiet and blowing darts.

Irie has come a long way since his early erotica, not least of which is the Memoirs of a Murderer remake. There is nothing so overtly dramatic in NINJA GIRL, a film which decidedly marches to its own beat. While no shurikens are thrown, Irie’s film lives up to the title through Miu’s black cloth outfit and a penchant for sneaking up on her ‘targets.’ (They are primarily the green-jacketed xenophobes who are ostensibly promoting the new bill, but also violently target business owners for hiring foreign employees).

Fukada embodies this downbeat vibe, reacting her way through a series of seemingly random encounters that sort of all lead to Rome in the end. When she’s not skulking about and listening to conversations, she’s having random boogie breaks and trysts in the back of a van with her co-worker. Despite rarely moving from his bed, Shôhei Uno (recognisable from countless series) plays a character who is a surprisingly dab hand at computers.

NINJA GIRL may not have anything revolutionary to say about the issues it tackles in its brief running time, but it does at least peel back a few layers on small town racism and government corruption in a lighthearted way. The chaotic ending is a barrel of fun as well, with the film living up to the title and giving our diminutive hero a minor victory.

2021 | Japan | DIRECTOR: Yu Irie | WRITERS: Yu Irie | CAST: Saki Fukuda, Mutsuo Yoshioka, Ryoka Neya, Shohei Uno, Arata Iura | DISTRIBUTOR: NYAFF 2021 | RUNNING TIME: 88 minutes | RELEASE DATE: 6-22 August 2021 (NYAFF 2021)

August 15, 2021
Review: Pompo: The Cinéphile

When we first meet Gene Fini (voiced by Hiroya Shimizu), he’s a film obsessive. He lives and breathes movies. He’s known for sitting in darkened screening rooms while taking notes. Have you ever felt completely seen by a movie?

Based on the manga by Shogo Sugitani, the animated film from director Takayuki Hirao and studio CLAP is made for film lovers. Set in the fictional Nyallywood, Gene works as a production assistant for the titular Joelle Davidovich “Pompo” Pomponett (Konomi Kohara), a prodigy and producer of “uncomplicated B-movies.” In fact, her idea of a perfect film is one that clocks in at 90 minutes.

After impressing Pompo and the legendary studio head (and Pompo’s grandfather) J.D Peterzen with his trailer editing skills, Gene is given the chance to direct Pompo’s prestige picture. Terrified to be thrown in at the deep end of directing, a path that he never planned for himself, he soon becomes adept at eliciting outstanding performances and shots from Martin Braddock (Akio Otsuka) — the ‘best actor in the world’ — and young ingenue Nathalie Woodward (Rinka Otani), one of Pompo’s discoveries.

POMPO: THE CINÉPHILE is a simply wonderful treat. From the opening mockumentary sequence, it’s clear that this is speaking directly to people who understand both film language and the culture surrounding it. One of Gene’s first tasks is cutting together a 15-second trailer for the web — because it’s the one most people see and directly impacts revenue according to Pompo. Gene’s inner world is filled with edited frames as he works, spilling over into his real life as he replays conversations in a screening room.

Yet far from just being a tribute to the best of what live action and animation has to offer, POMPO is an impressive piece of animation in its own right. While the character designs are deceptively cartoony, based on the simple line art of their manga counterparts, there’s some sophisticated style at play here. When they arrive in Europe for principal photography on the film, the level of background detail is astounding. Non-specific European cities carry all the markers of Paris or Zurich in equal measure. When scenes from the film-within-a-film are shown, the whole thing switches to a letterboxed mode. (It should be noted that there’s currently a producer led crowdfunding campaign to enhance the photographic film style even further).

Filled with references to everyone from Disney to Satoshi Kon, here’s a film that’s ultimately made for a specific audience in mind. While Gene comes to the realisation that the film he is making is for himself as a young filmgoer, then Takayuki Hirao have made this just for you. Plus, it comes in at almost exactly 90 minutes. Even Pompo herself would love it.

POMPO: THE CINÉPHILE is reviewed as part of our coverage of Fantasia Festival 2021.

2021 | Japan | DIRECTOR: Takayuki Hirao | WRITER: Takayuki Hirao | CAST: Tomomi Kohara, Akio Otsuka, Hiroya Shimizu | DISTRIBUTOR: Fantasia Festival 2021 | RUNNING TIME: 90 minutes | RELEASE DATE: 5-25 August 2021 (Fantasia 2021)

August 15, 2021
Review: Fighter

Films about the relationship between North and South Korea have become increasingly prevalent over the last few years. From historical dramas like The Spy Gone North and this year’s Escape from Mogadishu to blockbusters like Ashfall, occasional ire is earned on both sides of the DMZ for perceived misrepresentations. TV’s Crash Landing on You has been praised for its research while also being criticised for its depiction for its softly positive depiction of the North.

Yun Jéro’s FIGHTER (파이터) avoids some of this minefield of issues by focusing less on ideological differences and more on a general feeling of societal disconnection. Unlike Yun’s documentary work, such as Mrs. B, a North Korean Woman (2016) — which depicts a woman who smuggles people between North Korea, China and South Korea — this film introduces us to Jina (Lim Sung-mi) as she emerges from a few months of social rehabilitation training in the South.

Labelled a ‘North Korean refugee,’ Jina is assigned a social worker and given an apartment in Seoul. Although she has some subsidies given to her, Jina wants to to bring her father from China to South Korea, so she needs money. She starts working at a boxing gym and soon becomes fascinated with the tight-knit group of female boxers there. Initially met with some aggression, Jina begins to find a de facto family unit that’s in stark contrast to life outside the ring.

Yun’s script doesn’t dwell on the culture shock of moving from the North, with the tone generally being one of a slow and relentless malaise. There’s two major knocks that Jina takes: her social work begins making inappropriate advances towards her, and there’s still a pall hanging over the relationship with her hitherto estranged mother who left her for South Korea years before. Yet Yun peppers Jina’s world with masses of micro-aggressions, from casual comments about North Koreans to slurs about her social status.

Lim delivers an understated excellence in a the lead role, one where she keeps her cards pretty close to her chest for the majority of the film. There’s a quasi romantic sub-plot, and the relationship with her mother of course, but it isn’t until late in the piece that she finally breaks. “Don’t hold your tears,” her sympathetic boxing coach tells her. “In life, there are times when one needs to cry.”

Not a lot happens in FIGHTER, but that’s kind of the point. There are no major revelations about the nature of Korea’s geopolitical future. This is a personal journey of a single woman and finding the strength to move forward in a new environment. Ending at the same point the film started, on a beach in the near light, both Jina and the audience feel hope for the first time.

FIGHTER played at both the New York Asian Film Festival 2021 and Fantasia Festival 2021.

2020 | South Korea | DIRECTOR: Yun Jéro | WRITERS: Yun Jéro | CAST: Lim Seong-mi, Baek Seo-bin, Oh Kwang-rok | DISTRIBUTOR: NYAFF 2021 | RUNNING TIME: 103 minutes | RELEASE DATE: 6-22 August 2021 (NYAFF 2021)

August 14, 2021
Review: The Book of Fish

Jeong Yak-jeon, who lived between 1758 and 1816, is acknowledged in Korea as a scholar of some renown. While not reaching the culture significance of his UNESCO recognised brother Jeong Yak-yong, his work and story fascinated director Lee Joon-ik. Blending fact and fiction, he conveys something here that is part biography and also an exploration of two opposing philosophical points of view.

THE BOOK OF FISH (자산어보) takes place during Jeong’s exile to Heuksando Island during the Catholic Persecution of 1801 under King Sunjo of Joseon’s reign. Despite Jeong (played by Sol Kyung-Gu) being branded a traitor by the local magistrate, he soon finds a home with the kindly Gageo-daek (Lee Jung-Eun).

Standing in contrast to the highly educated Jeong is Chang-dae (Byun Yo-han), an incredibly intelligent fisherman who is only held back by his inability to afford the required texts. Jeong’s initial offers to mentor him are rejected due to his ‘evil western teachings.’ Yet with Chang-dae’s keen interest in Neo-Confucianism, and Jeong’s growing fascination with the island’s marine life, the stage is set for a meeting of minds.

Although the character of Chang-dae is mentioned in the scholar’s writings, his personality is entirely a creation of director Lee and writer Kim Se-Kyum (Sunset In My Hometown). It’s a fascinating way to demonstrate Jeong’s connection with the land. Jeong wrote volumes during his period of exile, and the titular Jasaneobo — a treatise on marine life that identified over 200 varieties of creatures around the island — is argued to be the most fascinating. While the book itself is real, his semi-fictionalised relationship with Chang-dae serves the important story purpose of connecting Jeong with both the islanders and modern film audiences.

The two central performances carry this, with long stretches of the film effectively acting as a two-hander between the versatile star Sol Kyung-Gu and the much younger Byun Yo-Han. The latter’s journey to the mainland, and his discovery that nobility isn’t all that noble, is both heartbreaking and poignant. Yet the supporting cast is also charming and effective, especially Lee Jung-Eun’s homespun and frank portrayal of a very modern woman transplanted into 19th century Korea.

Equal amounts of praise are to be heaped on cinematographer Lee Ui-tae who casts the island in gorgeous monochromatic hues. From the endless skylines to the high contrast faces, Lee captures this story as if it’s somehow shot half a century ago. They allow themselves one splash of colour during a pivotal scene during the final act, and the comparison only highlights how consistently great the photography has been at sucking us into this world.

With THE BOOK OF FISH, South Korean cinema continues its celebration of their culture history, and this film will no doubt have even more impact on home soil. Yet while there are some specific culture touchstones here, they are not really a barrier to entry. Lee’s film is a beautiful and engaging portrait of a human, and a reminder of the connection that we all share through the common language of nature.

2021 | South Korea | DIRECTOR: Lee Joon-ik | WRITER: Kim Se-Kyum | CAST: Sol Kyung-gu, Byun Yo-han, Lee Jung-eun, Min Do-hee | DISTRIBUTOR: NYAFF 2021 | RUNNING TIME: 126 minutes | RELEASE DATE: 6-22 August 2021 (NYAFF 2021)

August 14, 2021
Review: The Fable: The Killer Who Doesn’t Kill

The image of Junichi Okada’s titular hitman with a parrot perched on his head quickly worked its way into the hearts and minds of Japanese film lovers a few years ago. Building on Katsuhisa Minami’s manga of the same name, the offbeat 2019 film navigated several styles to worm its way into our hearts with its anti-hero and his band of regulars.

Director Kan Eguichi’s sequel confidently steps in as a ready-made and self-contained entity. Akira Sato, the legendary altruistic killer known as Fable, now lives in relative peace with his partner Yoko (Fumino Kimura) as siblings. Yet when non-profit worker Utsubo (Shinichi Tsutsumi) sets up shop, Sato suspects something is up. He’s right, of course: Utsubo works for rival contact killer Suzuki (Masanobu Ando) and is extorting their victims.

Opening with a massive car chase, one in which a vehicle goes careening off the top of a building, THE FABLE: THE KILLER WHO DOESN’T KILL (ザ・ファブル　殺さない殺し屋) wastes no time in establishing the parameters of its own scale. Where the first film occasionally lost the balance between the intrinsic humour of the material and the set-piece action, Eguichi seems like he wants to get the big stuff out of the way so he can focus on the character based plotting. This is an incredibly welcome development.

In fact, the whole film’s structure seems to be geared a little differently this time around. There are some amazing top-loaded sequences, including one that gives Fumino Kimura a chance to impressively kick some ass. There’s an explosive apartment scene, with a series of chases along scaffolding that mixes all the best bits of throwback Asian cinema and contemporary Hollywood. By contrast, the ultimate denouement is relatively low-key, with Eguichi sticking to the character focus right to the very end.

Yet the real joy is in watching this eclectic group interact. The socially awkward Sato continues to evolve under Okada’s skilled range, once again adding layers through non-sequiturs and a pop-culture fuelled sense of humour. Kimura makes a decent case for her own spin-off series, while hapless co-workers Takoda (Jiro Sato) and Misaki (Mizuki Yamamoto) ground the whole affair in a comedic version of reality.

While the film can be happily enjoyed as a separate entity to the original, it’s clear that knowing these characters is learning to love them. Indeed, judging from the final credits scene, there are plans afoot for a third outing in the franchise. If Eguichi manages to maintain the intensity and fun of this sequel, then we’ll gladly welcome the Fable Cinematic Universe onto our screens.

2021 | Japan | DIR: Kan Eguchi | WRITER: Kan Eguchi, Masahiro Yamaura, Katsuhisa Minami (manga) | CAST: Junichi Okada, Fumino Kimura, Ken Yasuda, Shinichi Tsutsumi, Yurina Hirate, Masanobu Ando, Koichi Sato | DISTRIBUTOR: Shochiku (JPN), New York Asian Film Festival (US) | RUNNING TIME: 133 minutes | RELEASE DATE: 2 July 2019 (NYAFF)

August 14, 2021