Article 9 Review!
I watched this last Wednesday and oh man this is exactly what I wanted and what I was expecting to get! And it was better than expected! By the way; does everyone like my new icon? Cos I do! xD
Official Site Here
Trailer Video Here
Cast
Minami Keisuke
Baba Ryoma
Tamoto Soran
Matsumoto Hiroya
Aramaki Yoshihiko
Sotaro
Ogasawa Ken
Plot
The year is 20XX and 12 20-something year olds have been picked randomly through My Number (it's like the social security system) and will dicuss whether Article 9 should stay in motion, or if it should be completely scrapped. What THEY don't know is that their decision will officially decide the answer for the government.
If you don't know what Article 9 is then... seriously?! But I'll tell you anyway:
Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution came into effect on May 3, 1947, following World War II. It stops Japan from having an official army and cannot go to war unless (as of a recent interpretation) an allied country is the one being attacked.
That's the quick jist of it anyway. Go and do your research if you wanna learn more. OR just watch this film because...
The Concept
This film does a VERY good job of detailing what Article 9 is in detail! Which really impressed me. Even though my degree involved discussing this Article (along with many other things and issues brought up in this film), it was nice to see how much depth the scripwriter and director had put in so that people who had no idea could understand what it is.
In fact there's one girl IN the movie who's completely oblivious and doesn't understand a thing about it, so for her sake and for people who know nothing about this; are fully and completely informed ^_^
The Arguments
Once it's explained to all the people in the room what the Article is and why it's so important, we get down to the main point; should it stay or should is be dissolved?
The arguements Against this Article were GOLD in the movie. Baba Ryoma plays a university student who is VERY informed and VERY against the Article and he brings up a LOT of good points:
1. Why is Japan following a law that AMERICA (and other countries) but not THEY themselves, made?!
2. The whole reason Japan became Imperialist in the first place was because they saw the White (as they call it) countries invading the Yellow (as they called it) countries and ruling them, and Japan had to act before it became another country made victim to the Whites, thus leading to Japan becoming Imperialist.
3. They bring up the point about North Koreans abducting Japanese citizens back in the late 70s/early 80s, and if it wasn't for the Article, Japan could've gone in and forced those people back who we pretty much will never know if they're alive, dead, well or even hear North Korea fully admit they took them (though I think they did release 1 or 2 right?)!
4. Japan needs to start being able to protect itself rather than relying on it's allies like America.
The For arguments for the Article were absolute shite:
1. We need to keep the law in order to keep the appeal of Japan being a safe country.
2. Because of this law, Japan is see as safe and therefore that's why terrorism never happens here (to this point I for one call bull shit and Baba Ryoma's character says 'what about the internal terrorism in the 90s we had' good point man! It's got NO relation as to why Japan isn't attacked).
3. One of the women is a mother and says 'I don't want my child to go to war' and that's why she wants the Article to stay. This one REALLY riled me up. If Japan do get rid of the Article is does NOT mean your children will be forced to join the army. They will have the CHOICE to join the army just like every other country (besides those dodgy few like North Korean xD). AND if there is another world war then NO ONE has a choice whether they join the army or whether they fight or not. Everyone will get involved against their will. So this argument is completely invalid. Sit down woman.
The final argument, which is the climax of the film, is probably the most ridiculous but it's also the most Japanese answer I've ever heard. I had to laugh at how predictable to the Japanese mindset and reason is here.
4. Japan should keep the Article and act as the Leader of Peace with the help of the Article and one day it will lead other countries to create a law for their own country and it will start a catalyst of countries around the world becoming peaceful.
What a load of shite. But unfortunately and predictably this was the climax argument of the film to which everyone else in the room was like 'yes... we should think about peace not war.'
The Characters
I already spoke about a few characters but now I'll go in depth. I'll use the actors names because I can't remember the character names (sorry!):
Minami Keisuke - plays a lawyer who is Against the law the entire time. I love how he explained the Article and the laws to everyone and he was very calm and he controlled the conversation and was the chariman of the discussion. It was nice seeing him play a character that DIDN'T have glasses xD But he was still playing the same type of character he always plays: an elite with a damn good brain. Which I ain't complaining about ^_^
Baba Ryoma - I already spoke about his character. Uni student who's very intelligent and he's mainly the one spouting the against arguments. He's a very heated and very aggressive character who is strong and stands by his argument to the bitter end and I loved Baba's performance as this character. He made it all so tense and his switch to yelling was perfect. I also loved towards the end when he takes Tamoto's cell phone (a character who For the Article) in order to show everyone that even for a cell phone, people will get violent to get something precious to them back. << I wish I could explain this scene properly because it was an amazing scene... I'll do it below! But I did feel sorry for Baba cos he gets pushed over and onto his chair and I'm like 'don't break a bone old man!' xD
Tamoto Soran - The main spokesman for those For the article. I wanted to punch this guy SO hard in the face. He's a NPO volunteer and because of his experiences of helping those in needs during and after a wa, he wants to keep the Article in the name of keeping the peace and for keeping Japan safe. You know my opinion already; the For arguments are so weak in comparison to the Against ones. He's the main guy who goes head to head against Baba and it's a constantly shouting match against them. He's so stubborn and so set on his own opinion without even acknowleging the others opinion (I guess you could say that about Baba's character too but... shh!) But obviously he gets the shock and realisation that he's just proved Baba's point towards the end with the cell phone (more info later).
Matsumoto Hiroya - He plays a very normal guy. He's not completely sure about the Article in the beginning but he has some brains about him and brings up some valid and real points during the conversation. He's not forceful with his opinion but he's definitely one of those that throws out ideas that cause the rest of the group to take a moment to think. He too is on the Against team.
Aramaki Yoshihiko - He plays an army otaku and his knowledge shines through when he talks about how big the other armies in the world are and how much percentage that is and stuff. He also gives the details of the Japanese 'defense force'. He is obviously also on the Against team and he and Baba's opinions tend to mix and coincide with each other. I really like Maki's performance because it felt so naturally. His character kept moving as he spoke and he kept flicking his eyes around to look at everyone while he explained which is actually what he does when he does like curtain calls; he never keeps eye contact with anyone as he's too busy trying to make eye contact with everyone <3 and it's weird hearing his normal voice - does this make sense? I'm used to hearing his high singing voice or his very one-tone samurai voice, so hearing him speak normal and explaining with some expression was new to me. I've always liked his voice whatever... now I sound creepy right? ANYWAY! I also loved how if (for example) Matsumoto was speaking, he'd nod his head and react to whatever was being said. This is very similar to Tomo's style as well as Tomo has the acting style of reacting to whatever is happening or being said around him. I guess this is the reason why MakiChan caught my attention if their acting styles are similar. I'll stop gushing over him now xD love how cute he is.
Sotaro - I wanted to punch this man in the face also. He's SO flipfloppy and doesn't have any opinion. He's very clueless and doesn't know what to do so he 'counts' that sessions points on his hands and based on that he goes 'For' or 'Against'. OMG I wanted to kill him myself. I really did not like him.
Ogasawa Ken - He didn't really leave much of an impression on me but he was very much just a supporter of Against who would help back up whatever argument was being put forward at the time. He kept fanning himself which I remember the most clearly xD
Haneyuri - She kindly plays the character who's is completely oblivious and doesn't know anything about Article 9 and therefore acts at the person who allows the other characters to explain in detail what it's all about so that those in the actual audience aren't really lost. I quite liked how, once she was in the know, she did have some cogs working in her brain and she made some very valid comments as to why she would switch to For or Against (which she did about 2 or 3 times).
Mori Reiko - She's playing the only character who has children so her For argument is very based on worrying about her children's future and wanting them to live in a safe and peaceful world. She's also the one who came up with the For argument Point 3 (see above in the arguments section) and we all know why that ticked me off.
Tsunashima Erika - She is the second most outspoken when it comes to the For arguement and I LOVED how she wouldn't back down and would very strongly yell against Baba's arguments. She had some balls! And I respect her for that!
Suiren Midori - This woman is shown several times through out the movie as someone who looks like she wants to speak out but doesn't; until the very last moment. You could tell from the editing and the pacing and the times they chose to show her that she was going to be the climax argument of the movie, which is unfortunately predictable but I'm glad I was right? xD She is very For the article and explains Point 4. Which unfortunately persuades most of them to lean against For at the end...
The Cell Phone Scheme Scene
I just want to comment on the structure of this movie before I explain this actual scene: this movie is essentially split into 3 sections. Because after every 20 minutes or so, they call for a break where the characters go off to the bathroom and it fades to black. So you could see this as a 3 act movie/production.
At the end of the 2nd act as the characters are going out (to the bathroom or to smoke or whatever) Tamoto leaves him phone at his desk, to which Baba sneaks over, takes the phone and puts it in his pocket.
At the beginning of the 3rd act, everyone comes back in and immediately notices that his phone is gone and asks everyone if they'd seen it. At this point Baba leans back in his chair and says, "I have it." he takes it out and says "I'm going to break this phone" as he goes to 'break' it Tamoto comes over to Baba and pushes him and his chair over. This causes Baba to laugh "You say you want to do things peacefully but look at how quickly you turn to violence when it comes to something you want. Imagine if it was your lover or your family and imagine if they'd been killed. You've just proven the human basic instinct; we fight." and I was SO impressed at this scene!!! I literally, words cannot describe how much I loved this scene and I was TOTALLY on board with the Against argument all the way through and then this final moment, I wanted to stand up and clap and be like 'TOO RIGHT!! THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT WE DO!' I was so impressed. And Baba's performance was solid here too! <3
The Ending
While I already mentioned the climax argument of the film, the ENDING is one I was freaking rooting for, and as I saw it approach I was like 'yes!!! this is what I wanted!' the ending is a cliffhangar. It ends with Minami Keisuke, facing the camera and saying 'Are you For or Against?' and black out. YES! This is what I wanted for the ending! Perfect!
One Downside
I wish this had had like another hour to it. It's only like 80s minute and I wish it had been at least a 2 hour movie. You could've expanded so much and added so many more amazing moments and scenes <3
Goods
Surprisingly they were selling goods! So I took them! MWAHAHA but I do still want the making...
His hair looks so short in this xD And HE looks young in this! This was probably filmed last year right? So he was 24/25ish depending on when they did it. Awwww so cute!! xD
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And that's my review! I'm mostly likely and most definitely gunna get this and it's making on DVD xD
Overall: I was so impressed with this movie! If you don't know what Article 9 is then don't worry because this movie explains it in great detail. I really liked the arguments that came up in this movie and there were some amazing performances and some amazing scenes, especially from Baba <3 I freaking loved the ending too and what so impressed with many things that happened in this. I'm definitely Against Article 9 though and this movie definitely solidified my view of this. Everyone should watch this; whether it be educational reasons, political reasons, historical reasons or just because you're interested in Japan!
Rating: 9/10