Nov

23

2007


Movie: Talk, Talk, Talk | Shaberedomo shaberedomo
Release Date: May 26, 2007
Country: Japan
Director: Hideyuki Hirayama
Starring: Taichi Kokubun, Karina
Runtime: 109 Min.
Editor Rating: 7.0
Users Rating: 7 1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars6 Stars7 Stars8 Stars9 Stars10 Stars (5 votes)

Loading ... Loading …



“Talk, Talk, Talk”, based off of a novel by Takako Sato, centers around Mitsuba (Taichi Kokubun), who stubbornly works to become a successful Rakugoka. The Rakugoka is a storyteller/comedian, who performs alone on stage, with just a fan as his prop. The Rakugoka must have a gift for the gab, as well as having a keen sense of humor and memory. They must depict multiple characters, as they recite their stories, with just changes in pitch, tone, and movement of the head to signify the different characters. What makes it even more difficult is that the Rakugo is somewhat of a dying art. With just a handful of Rakugo theaters in Tokyo, but hundreds of Rakugoka performers, work is increasingly difficult to come by. Nevertheless, Mitsuba is determined to make it work.

He’s not particularly good at his craft, often having people walk out on his performance. His Maestro (teacher) refers to him as an idiot. His friend encourages Mitusba to try something more modern. Mitsuba responds by pushing his face into a wooden table. He steadfastly refuses to perform anything but the classics.

Meanwhile, Mitsuba suddenly finds himself as a teacher of Rakugo. A lady by the name of Ikuko, asks Mitsuba to teach Rakugo to her nephew, Masaru. He has just moved to Tokyo from Osaka and gets ridiculed by his classmates for his Osaka accent. Although Mitsuba doesn’t feel qualified to teach Rakugo, he agrees to do so anyways. Before his first class starts he picks up a another student named Tokawa. Tokawa is an attractive 20 something female, that always carries a brooding look. She has problems carrying on simple conversations and believes learning Rakugo may help her problems. After a few lessons Mitsuba picks up a third student. The third student is a scary looking fellow, extremely tall and wears a surgical mask. Yet the little boy, Masaru, recognizes the guy immediately. He’s Yugawara, a well known former baseball player. After retiring from baseball he worked as a baseball announcer, but found it difficult to say anything. Now, Mitsuba uses Rakugo to bring out life in his listless students. Furthermore, Masaru must prepare to perform the difficult “The Flaming Drum” for an annual event with his Maestro and three disciples.

Taichi Kokubun, who stars as Mitsuba, has performed in many Japanese television shows but makes only his second performance in a full length feature film. He’s also well know in Japan as a member of the J-Pop band Tokio. Taichi gives a wonderfully nuanced performance, able to draw viewers in and make the idiosyncrasies of his difficult to like students palatable. Karina played the brooding Tokawa, who was written as a one dimensional character. Yet, towards the end of the film when she finally let out a natural smile, the warmth of her smile said as much as any of the Rakugo performances.

When you watch “Talk, Talk, Talk” you may well expect a feel good comedy, centered around a particular niche. Something like “Waterboys” and synchronized swimming or “Swing Girls” and jazz music. But, shortly after the introductory scenes Rakugo takes a backseat as the characters in “Talk, Talk, Talk” take center stage. The problems that affect the lives of the students (Masaru, Tokawa and Yugawara) and Mitsuba’s own difficulties, brings out a compelling character driven movie. The movie doesn’t have the wild swings in dynamics that you may expect, but just flows along in gentle manner. There’s a budding romance between Mitsuba and and Tokawa. There’s little Masaru and his difficulties with his classmates. There’s also the enigmatic Yugawara and his reluctance to take part in the classes. All these bits and pieces work wonderfully to give a compelling lesson on life and its peculiar ways to achieve happiness.

buy Talk Talk Talk (Shaberedomo shaberedomo) From YesAsia

Cast:
Taichi Kokubun - Mitsuba
Karina - Tokawa

Tomekichi Himuka - Sankaku Konjyakutei
Shiro Ito
Kenzo - Rokumon Konjyakutei
Yutaka Matsushige - Taichi Yugawara
Shuzo Mitamura - Yugawara’s step brother
Yuki Morinaga
Shirô Shimomoto - Iwao Togawa
Bunmei Tobayama - Suehirotei
Fusako Urabe - Ikuko Jitsukawa
Kaoru Yachigusa
Hiroshi Yamamoto - Chiamaki Kashiwaya

If you like this movie you may enjoy: Hana yori mo naho (More Than Flower), Linda Linda Linda


[Slashdot] [Digg] [Reddit] [del.icio.us] [Facebook] [Technorati] [Google] [StumbleUpon]

2007 Movie Reviews, Japanese Movies, Movie Reviews |

Comments

Name (required)

Email (required)

Website

Leave a response

3 Comments so far

  1. 3 luna6 Says: December 8, 2007

    glad you liked shogakun..enjoyable flick indeed. cheers…

  2. 2 shogakun Says: December 8, 2007

    wouldn’t have watched it without your review and i would have missed a hell of a good time. Enjoyable all the way!
    Thanks again!!!

  3. 1 Radicalpatriot Says: November 30, 2007

    Nice review. Interesting material.