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Suzume no Tojimari (2022)
The door I opened to my destiny (or The Girl who Leapt through the Doors of Time)
The key that opens the doors of our life. To our past or to our future, and that determining action can forever mark not only our own, but also of others, the global, of those who we care about or don't.
When Suzume turns that doorknob, fate is already decided...
Perfect example of today's Japan heroine, her adventures have leave a mark on the audience and therefore at the box office, which recently swept away with a cyclone force to later continue in the rest of the world...and no one, or very few, have been able to resist her. And also her creator, Makoto Shinkai, one of the animation messiahs of the last 20 years, to whom, like all his fellow countrymen, the Tohoku earthquake of 2011 opened a wound that seemed impossible to heal. Inspires by Murakami's literature, the feeling blooms from the tragedy again, as the intention to propose an alternative to that still bleeding wound, to reach a state of hope.
Another wall, the coronavirus pandemic, gets in the way of the production as those mountains in his Nagano hometown that forbid him see beyond when he was a child; but his promise to his country could be well paid off. "Suzume" is also the compendium, with all the bad and all the good things, of his entire career; yes, there is something here that we have already seen and heard, but for some reason we never want to leave that unique universe created by him, and that includes colors (the blue of the sky and the green of the landscape particularly), very special sounds and sensations, gathering points very far from each other...
If before we had Itomori and Kozu, now is the distant Kyushu, and if before the action focused on two couples (Mitsuha and Taki, Hina and Hodaka) now it happens again. But before that we approach the girl who gives the film her name, another student, and without delay the magical meeting between her and Sota happens; the "akaito" of fate begins to tighten when suddenly we go to the ruins of that forgotten part of the city where the adventure really begins. Suzume, ignorant about the risk, leaves open the door that stood there, just like the black monolith of "A Space Odissey"; the director cleverly uses this metaphor: if people would be more careful and don't leave certain doors open, Humanity wouldn't suffer so many misfortunes.
The meet, already from fantasy and the most frantic action we can imagine, comes from the premonition of the disaster, that only Suzume and Sota can see. The plot is split into two long acts, the first displays adventure, fantasy, action, and strokes of that natural humor that Shinkai loves; we have the best example in a romance that destroy the archetypal romances (and that was because the producers didn't consider appropriate to talk about a lesbian love story). The girl also "sets free" a cat-shaped spirit (the mischievous and malevolent Daijin) who "introduce" Sota's body in a chair, really treasured by her because is a very important part of her life.
We are then thrown into this journey, where the influence of the Ghibli style stands out the most, not only from Miyazaki (apparently everyone believes that he is the only director), but also from Hiroyuki Morita, Yoshifumi Kondo and Isao Takahata above all, and with a very concrete intention: not to avoid the present, as Hodaka did in "Tenki no Ko", but to keep the future. The film, filled with the colors of the different real locations that the director recreates with great love in a visual display that can melt our eyes, must deal with the handicap of an episodic plot in which Suzume has to take the ropes of the mission of Sota, the fairytale hero whose role has been destroyed.
In fact, the male role is reduced by the strong female presence, even too much. Meeting after meeting, city after city, Suzume, a modern combination of prince Ashitaka and Kazuko Yoshiyama, must defeat the "worm of the earthquakes" of unknown origin (explanations are superfluous), behind many doors, on ruins that are symbols of the memories forgotten by society, of that piece of the collective past condemned to the dark obliviousness, leading to the mistake of be replayed. This is the hard fight of the director to show his nation, so punished throughout History by both natural and human cataclysms, don't deny its past and, as Sion Sono preached in "Himizu", knows how to face it with the same bravery as the characters do.
And through the journey another doors open, those inside the heroes. Sota, a young man marked by his family dynasty (the way of playing with the japanese History and tradition is something genius) to make the greatest of the sacrifices for a community that lives ignorant of the dangers it causes, from here comes the perpetual melancholy that his steps drag; Suzume, an orphaned girl with a past torn to pieces by traumatic memories linked to the pain and loss and who rebuffs her present, suffocated by the arms of an overly protective aunt (Tamaki). So we have two spirits already cornered by their lives before they meet.
Then when the film also seemed doomed by repeating (go to another place, meet new second characters, close another door, etc.), the script turns with that amazing arrival in Tokyo where animation techniques mixing 2-D and 3-D and give us scenes of great tension, pictorial beauty in its strictest conception. We must let ourselves be dragged by the show without limits that Shinkai unleashes, is easy as offer our hearts to an emotional breaking at the service of pure and hard sentimentalism.
'Cause at this point Sota stays and Suzume must go on alone. However, by twisting the stereotypes of romance, what the director shows is taken to another level; we are not only going to see the tough fight where a woman goes to rescue the man she loves, but also to rescue something else, her own past, inextricably linked to Sota. That chair that keeps everything that Suzume is, before tragedy smash her spirit in that catastrophic tsunami; the feelings of love, effort and passion were carved by her mother in every inch of wood. How to accept such a loss?
The legacy to preserve love in the future is what makes Suzume continue fighting to preserve the memory of the past, and coincidentally now Sota is part of that past. Perhaps the director wants to teach the younger generations on what it means to sacrifice oneself's past to guarantee the global future; well, Suzume could be selfish by not listening Daijin's words ("If you release the seal (the chair) the door will open again").
Or maybe not since her desire is to sacrifice the present (herself) to save the future of others while keeping her own past pure and intact. This conflict of thoughts will be shared in a final act with Tamaki, a much darker character than we initially believed (she has a chilling and unforgettable moment where the corrosive wounds are revealed). In the final act Shinkai takes us once again to impossible worlds of fantasy; what an epic moment of Suzume crossing the Beyond on the back of the cat-spirits against the terrible "worm" in an undisguised homage to "The Neverending Story" and Miyazaki.
And just when we thought our emotions couldn't be pushed to the limit any more, the experience, the evolution that this journey has been for Suzume ends in an unexpected climax of communion between past and future with such a psychological and emotional power that can rip our guts out and emphasizes how essential is to preserve the first in order to preserve the second. The tears doesn't fall in another anime as it happens in Shinkai's one.
"Suzume" knocks on the door of our minds and hearts to keep inside us with her warmth, hope and good lesson about survive fighting against adversity tirelessly. It's also responsible to break my 10 years without be in a movie theater (the truth is...I had been reserving myself for this moment...).
The more than 20000 souls that the Tohoku earthquake took away have received a great tribute. May they also find the gate to paradise and may others strive to remember them...
Ginchô wataridori (1972)
Ginza's Bloody Butterfly
The story opens in a prison and a woman enters a cell crowded with them, intimidating their fellas with the manners of a mob guy.
However, it's clear that she's not the main character when Nami Higuchi appears before her and us, with a solemn serenity that makes the hair stand on end...
And she couldn't be other than Meiko Kaji; just her presence has stolen all our attention, and her penetrating gaze pierces our liver. At this moment of her career, the Tokyo native had recently left Nikkatsu due to the horrible decision of its executives to move into the fields of pornography, so she thought about start on television but a call from Toei changed her life forever; back in 1972, when action and "jidai-geki" veteran Sumiko Fuji was going to retire forever, they thought of Kaji to replace her as the new heroine of the company.
Enjoy her popularity at the time, she showed enough courage and audacity to choose the project-vehicle they wanted to create for her, a violent period "thriller" which was given to Kazuhiko Yamaguchi, responsible of the successful saga "Delinquent Girl Boss" (the one that Nikkatsu fought with "Stray Cat Rock "). Instead of that, and after being fascinated with "The Hustler", she convinced the producers to put the story in such current context; the point is she gets her way, a good example of her firm determination to make films that she feels comfortable with.
The interesting beginning of "Gincho Wataridori", reminiscent of "Blind Woman's Curse"'s as well as foreshadowing the future saga of "Joshu Sasori" (where Kaji would played another Nami), shouldn't confuse us; after one of the most absurd and incredibly silly meetings ever seen in cinema, we' ll follow the ex-convict in some kind of big journey of atonement and redemption that soon will be signed with tragedy and blood, a journey through the rotten and tainted entrails of the bright and dirty Ginza, whose essence the director captures really well.
The appearance of the nice Ryuji, who can solve all the problems of Nami, is an example of the endearing nonsense of these cheap productions, where the visual style always overwhelms the narrative. Kazuhiko Yamaguchi and Isao Matsumoto begin to add support characters with their own plots, like Saeko (the reason that Nami has ended in the city), Shin (a con man with a dramatic past who is chased by the yakuza and sometimes appears...to disappear again) and Owada, his hunter.
Owada is the leader of the powerful gang that controls the territory, the main headache for Nami and the boss of the pub where she's temporarily working, so her ruthless acts of threat and blackmail will be little by little more important than the entire history of her past. And while Yamaguchi like the harshness and gritty violence, with some comic tone, in the style of Yasuharu Hasebe or Sadao Nakajima, Matsumoto prepares the fight of Nami and Owada, two essential sides in gangster stories at the time.
Because she's the classic heroine in search of redemption, and despite her toughness, she acts according to her honor; likewise her male allies, honest and melancholic, don't have the traits of the yakuza criminals, here shown as absolute antagonists and somewhat inframental whose psychology doesn't concern the script. It's not strange the little success of the film, 'cause the people began to be tired of the "ninkyo eiga" ideals, that soon would be killed by Kinji Fukasaku with its brutal and sick tales of yakuzas, more realistic and less romantic.
Thus the plot is driven by Nami's confrontation with these obnoxious gangsters, between two key duels. Next to Kaji we enjoy the decent Tatsuo Umemiya like a deliberately romanticized rogue, Koji Nanbara, who fits perfectly in his role of unscrupulous villain, and especially Tetsuya Watari's little brother (and Kaji's former Nikkatsu partner), Tsunehiko Watase, amazing thanks to a melodramatic interpretation with a lot of details that make his character the most interesting.
It doesn't matter the plot inconsistencies, there are many, because the unique presence of the actress and the intense direction of Yamaguchi, also those endearing and sordid "pulp" style, make "Gincho Wataridori" a candy for fans of japanese 70s action thrillers. Although it spawned a sequel shortly thereafter, the film's grossing was poor (one of the biggest mistakes of the producer's decision was show their actress, with a peal of trumpets, as a mere replacement of Sumiko Fuji).
Kutabare akutô-domo: Tantei jimusho 23 (1963)
Hideo Tajima against the yakuza empire
In a society governed by the tyranny and greed of the mob, the police don't do anything nor want to do anything.
Then the best thing is leave the dirty work to a detective, but one who's as tough, cunning and brave as Hideo Tajima.
1.963 becomes a new period for Seijun Suzuki, who has spent six years working at a frantic pace for his company, Nikkatsu, enduring limitations and poor budgets. He's well-adapted to teen melodramas and his wit stands out in the exotic "borderless action films", especially in "noir".
When the previous year ends with the nerveless "Ore ni Kaketa Yatsura", the producer, who wants to turn Jo Shishido into an action star, prepares his jump and Suzuki, with whom he worked as a support actor (he never wanted to give him a leading role...), has to take care of it; this event marks a series of collaborations between both that will conclude in the memorable "Branded to Kill". Iwao Yamazaki adapts a novel written by Haruhiko Oyabu, specialized in criminal and detective stories, and the result seems to be infallible.
In the line of exoticism and desire to adopt the american imagery of that kind of "exploitation" cinema that Nikkatsu carried out, the beginning of "Tantei Jimusho 2-3" cannot follow this trend with more determination. A black man silently watches in an American base two yakuza gangs (some of them shooting from a Pepsi-Cola truck) fighting over a cache of weapons; shots, explosions and a "pop jazz" soundtrack set the tone for this film, which introduces us to the adventures of Tajima, a detective in the tradition of "hard-boiled" anti-heroes, to unmask the yakuzas who have stolen the weapons.
Suzuki has already dealt with these characters, but now he adds a note of absurd humor, and that in addition to the self-confidence and swagger of the main character, is given by the intervention of supposedly cartoonish secondary characters (such as Tajima's assistants, come from a comic). Far from being a handicap, the filmmaker balances it perfectly with the violence, intrigue and action of the plot, which starts after the arrest of the young Manabe, a member of the organization that has stolen the weapons and is threatened by other yakuza gangs.
The sequence where we see all the savage gangsters in front of the police station waiting for Manabe is a clear example of Suzuki's technique skills. Tajima takes advantage of the situation, and interferes, saving the boy's life with the help of Inspector Kumagai to work as undercover on his group and recover the weapons...and taking a good sum of money, since opportunism and deception guide the story; together with the detective we immerse ourselves in an atmosphere violent and dark, suggestive and exotic, according to the director's vision, who begins to bet on visual and aesthetic risk instead of obey the traditions of the genre.
He would break'em very soon, but there's a taste for the strangely enthralling and "avant-garde", always inspired by european and american cinema. While Tajima tries to avoid being unmasked, we can see the police (here showed in a pathetic and incompetent way) involving in any side of society, and melodrama comes through the intervention of Chiaki, the girl of chief Hatano; inevitably this tragic character will conquer the heart of the tough and cynical detective (although nothing matters for the plot), who strives to stand out whenever he can, either by facing villains or seducing women.
John Carr, Elmore Leonard and Don Siegel mix with Umetsugu Inoue, Jean-Pierre Melville, Jean-Luc Godard and the James Bond universe, and the final cocktail is fun, fast-paced and exciting, 'cause Suzuki knows something: combine the pure entertainment with the charm of its characters, which oscillates between cliche and the comically grotesque; at the end "Tantei Jimusho 2-3" is a "noir fiction" pocket edition and aims to move quickly between lies, betrayals and fatal romances while the director takes a look at japanese society of the moment, tainted with the enthusiasm of youth, that adopts the american models (the sequence in the disco exemplifies it).
The tart and carefree essence of Oyabu's text is perfectly captured. Shishido, who operated his cheekbones to have a more star appearance, surprises with his vitality in a role that seems entirely a parody of the Hammett's Continental Op, showing he has a talent for action and spectacle (unforgettable when we see him dancing in the club with Naomi Hoshi); his character and physical energy will be his hallmark. He's supported by Nobuo Kaneko, the great Kinzo Shin, Tamio Kawaji (again as an obnoxious asshole) and the beautiful Reiko Sasamori.
The success of the film, where stands out the Takeharu Sakaguchi's talent in artistic design, was really big that soon after Nozomu Yanase would direct a sequel, and gave Suzuki the definitive lead actor for his "thrillers", being "Youth of the Beast" (the next project also based on an Oyabu's novel, with a very similar plot) the best example of this union.
This would be the turning point in the director's career, as he would begin to risk much more in his style and aesthetics, which didn't please the Nikkatsu executives at all ...