| Language: Japanese Director: Tomoyuki Takimoto Running time: 133 min Release year: 2008 |
| Cast: Shota Matsuda, Akira Emoto, Takashi Sasano, Hitori Gekidan, Yuta Kanai, Takashi Tsukamoto, Sansei Shiomi, Kazuma Sano |
Movie Review:
Geez talk about your uneven movie! “Ikigami,” based on a manga by Motoro Mase, is set sometime in the future with an oppressive big brother like government randomly killing off citizens in the name of bettering the nation. So far so good right? The film produced by television studio “TBS.” and like a lot of their movie productions, aims for the masses with the lowest common denominator. In a way, “Ikigami” takes parts from “Battle Royale,” “Sweet Rain” and “Death Note” and shakes it all together to make a film that easily draws you in, but just as easily makes you step back from the wretched stench of excessive cheese. The film does star popular young actor Shota Matsuda (from the TBS “Boys Over Flowers” drama series) and he’s flanked by well known co-stars like Takayuki Yamada (”Train Man”), Riko Narumi (”How to Become Myself”), and Takashi Tsukamoto (”Midnight Sun”). |
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In “Ikigami” new government employee Kengo Fujimoto (Shota Matsuda) begins his job as a civil servant. After passage of the “National Prosperity Law” the Japanese government has randomly injected one out of every 1,000 children with a lethal injection. Once the children reach the ages of 18 to 24 a capsule will then erupt inside of them killing them instantly. This is all done to make citizens value their life and work more productively. Now, Kengo Fujimoto sets out to deliver his first ikigami – a letter that informs the recipient that they have 24 hours left to live …
Well, the first 5-10 minutes of the movie seems promising. The film starts out with a brooding dark feel and a premise that piques your interest instantly. Once the movie introduces the first of its three main segments (the movie’s narrative style is similar to “Sweet Rain” where Takeshi Kaneshiro acts as the constant within three separate stories). the movie quickly goes into cheeseball territory and then some. During the first segment, concerning a street musician on the cusp of stardom who receives the ikigami, the movie quickly shows its television lineage by cranking up the melodrama to excessive degrees. The second segment, involving a mayoral candidate and her manic depressive son, gets even worse. Kazuma Sano who plays the disenchanted teen is just awful and the story doesn’t help with unbelievable lapses in logic. The worst moment occuring after the first gunshot is fired, where security guards are rushing towards the teen but suddenly vanish. Fortunately, the movie saved the best for last and the final segment, involving Riko Narumi & Takayuki Yamada, was the most affecting. Coincidently, this segment lacked the excessive cheesiness of the first two segments.
I have a feeling teens into anime and Japanese dramas will enjoy “Ikigami” a bit more than I did. The film did have appealing performances by Shota Matsuda, Takayuki Yamada, and Riko Narumi, but I just couldn’t get past the excessive cheese found in segments #1 & #2. I’m fairly certain I’ll have nightmares tonight of Takashi Tsukamoto crying uncontrollably while he strums his guitar and sings along with the TV. |
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| { Recommended Japanese Movies } |
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Battle Royale (Batoru rowaiaru) |
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Director: Kinji Fukasaku; Cast: Takeshi Kitano, Shin Kusaka, Ren Matsuzawa, Gouki Nishimura, Shigehiro Yamaguchi, Taro Yamamoto |
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Princess Mononoke (Mononoke Hime): Animated feature film |
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Director: Hayao Miyazaki; Cast: Yôji Matsuda, Yuriko Ishida, Yûko Tanaka, Kaoru Kobayashi, Masahiko Nishimura |
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Cafe Isobe (Jun kissa Isobe) |
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Director: Keisuke Yoshida; Cast: Hiroyuki Miyasako, Riisa Naka, Kumiko Aso, Mari Hamada, Toshihiro Wada |
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Love Exposure (Ai no mukidashi) |
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Director: Sion Sono; Cast: Takahiro Nishijima, Hikari Mitsushima, Atsuro Watabe, Makiko Watanabe, Sakura Ando |
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Memories of Matsuko (Kiraware Matsuko no issho) |
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Director: Tetsuya Nakashima; Cast: Miki Nakatani, Eita, Yusuke Iseya, Teruyuki Kagawa, Mikako Ichikawa, Asuka Kurosawa |
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Still Walking (Aruitemo aruitemo) |
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Director: Keisuke Yoshida; Cast: Hiroshi Abe, Yui Natsukawa, You, Kazuya Takahashi, Shohei Tanaka, Kirin Kiki |
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Tokyo Sonata |
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Director: Kiyoshi Kurosawa; Cast: Teruyuki Kagawa, Kyoko Koizumi, Yu Koyanagi, Inowaki Kai, Haruka Igawa |
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