Love is Blind
The movie I have been waiting for has finally come to town.
I did a yattaa when I saw it on the list of movies in the online directory. But it did not state whether it had English subtitles and there was no answer to my countless of calls to Lido. So I took matters into my own hands and headed for downtown even if I was nursing a slight hangover from a despedida last night.
Thankfully there were subtitles. Lido always does this, never stating on the website maybe to trick people like me.
But subtitles or not, I was determined to watch anyway. I just had to have my serving of Takuya Kimura today.
Most of the moviegoers were Japanese and the cinema was half-full which is decent for a foreign movie in a rundown arthouse theatre like Lido. Old, uncomfortable seats, vinyl tacky floors. It reminds me more of Cubao than an arthouse cinema. But I had no choice since it's the only place in town that plays Japanese movies (and Emporium occasionally).
Bushi no Ichibun is a very simple, even bare production, but it does not mean that it does not deliver. It goes to show that one does not have to impress with grand sets and elaborate effects to deliver an effective film whose core is in the heartfelt performance of its actors and I am starting to feel that I sound like a pretentious film critic now.
Takuya aside, I like the film's simplicity and its lack of sentimentality. Yoyi Yamada, the director, in a straightforward way told the story about a lowly samurai (Mimura) employed as a food taster. One day he gets poisoned by eating a shellfish and as a result becomes blind. In the process, he loses not just his sight, but his confidence, self-esteem and his wife. The material, if it wasn't handled properly, has every element of a tearjerker. A three-hanky. I was prepared to shed copious of tears. Heck, this is Takuya. He makes me cry even if he is playing a naive probinsiyano prosecutor or a commitment-phobic hockey captain. How much more in a film that's been hailed as the material that made him shed his matinee idol image.
He made me cry indeed, but not buckets. Largely thanks to Takashi Sasano who played Tokuhei, Mimura's loyal servant. He served as the film's comic relief but that is not to say his performance was not in the least earnest. The cast delivers with flying colors and Takuya, he proves that he is more than just SMAP's pretty boy or Japan's biggest star thanks largely to his charm and looks. Here, he does not look adorable at all as he always does in his TV dramas, and yet, his charm and sex appeal shines through and comes out of his samurai robe and the traditional topknot hair. Of course there were moments, especially in the early parts of the film, that one could see the trademark Takuya. He always brings his charm and humor into his every role. But yes, the guy can act. Years in the business, should people still doubt that?
Yes, love is blind indeed.
I did a yattaa when I saw it on the list of movies in the online directory. But it did not state whether it had English subtitles and there was no answer to my countless of calls to Lido. So I took matters into my own hands and headed for downtown even if I was nursing a slight hangover from a despedida last night.
Thankfully there were subtitles. Lido always does this, never stating on the website maybe to trick people like me.
But subtitles or not, I was determined to watch anyway. I just had to have my serving of Takuya Kimura today.
Most of the moviegoers were Japanese and the cinema was half-full which is decent for a foreign movie in a rundown arthouse theatre like Lido. Old, uncomfortable seats, vinyl tacky floors. It reminds me more of Cubao than an arthouse cinema. But I had no choice since it's the only place in town that plays Japanese movies (and Emporium occasionally).
Bushi no Ichibun is a very simple, even bare production, but it does not mean that it does not deliver. It goes to show that one does not have to impress with grand sets and elaborate effects to deliver an effective film whose core is in the heartfelt performance of its actors and I am starting to feel that I sound like a pretentious film critic now.
Takuya aside, I like the film's simplicity and its lack of sentimentality. Yoyi Yamada, the director, in a straightforward way told the story about a lowly samurai (Mimura) employed as a food taster. One day he gets poisoned by eating a shellfish and as a result becomes blind. In the process, he loses not just his sight, but his confidence, self-esteem and his wife. The material, if it wasn't handled properly, has every element of a tearjerker. A three-hanky. I was prepared to shed copious of tears. Heck, this is Takuya. He makes me cry even if he is playing a naive probinsiyano prosecutor or a commitment-phobic hockey captain. How much more in a film that's been hailed as the material that made him shed his matinee idol image.
He made me cry indeed, but not buckets. Largely thanks to Takashi Sasano who played Tokuhei, Mimura's loyal servant. He served as the film's comic relief but that is not to say his performance was not in the least earnest. The cast delivers with flying colors and Takuya, he proves that he is more than just SMAP's pretty boy or Japan's biggest star thanks largely to his charm and looks. Here, he does not look adorable at all as he always does in his TV dramas, and yet, his charm and sex appeal shines through and comes out of his samurai robe and the traditional topknot hair. Of course there were moments, especially in the early parts of the film, that one could see the trademark Takuya. He always brings his charm and humor into his every role. But yes, the guy can act. Years in the business, should people still doubt that?
Yes, love is blind indeed.