REVIEWS HKIFF IN BRIEF
SCREENINGS, PAGE 18 Reviews edited by Mark Adams
mark.adams@
screendaily.com
Roadside Fugitive Reviewed by Mark Adams
White Deer Plain Asian Premiere/Closing Night Film. Dir: Wang Quan’an. Chi. 2011. 177mins Picturesque saga White Deer Plain (Bai Lu Yuan), adapted from Chen Zhongshi’s novel that had been banned by the Chinese censors for years for its overt sexual content, deals with the confrontations between two predom- inant families in a village, set over a number of years. But despite all the conflicts, violence and political upheavals, it is delivered with such academic tone that non-Chinese viewers will probably never feel part of it. An over-rich plot twists and turns as it tries to be on the one hand a faithful historical pageant and on the other hand a powerful personal drama. Dan Fainaru
CONTACT DISTRIBUTION WORKSHOP
dw@distributionworkshop.com
Postcards From The Zoo Asian Premiere/Young Cinema Competition. Dir: Edwin. Indo-Ger-HK-Chi. 2012. 96mins A Jakarta zoo is the setting for a slow and dreamy magical-realist romance in Indone- sian film-maker Edwin’s follow-up to his well- received 2009 debut Blind Pig Who Wants To Fly. Sweet and playful as a baby monkey but with the lumbering pace of a hippo, the film has a more linear storyline than Blind Pig, and it tones down the shock factor that made parts of that film difficult to watch. Cinematic poetry of this nature is often a slow-build affair, though the patient will be rewarded by what is a work of striking originality. Lee Marshall
CONTACT THE MATCH FACTORY
www.the-match-factory.com
Go! Boys’ School Drama Club International Premiere/I See It My Way Section. Dir: Hanabusa Tsutomu. Jap. 2011. 85mins Bright, colourful and breezy, Hanabusa Tsu- tomu’s teenage romp Go! Boys’ School Drama Club is a freewheeling pop-culture romp blending Glee and High School Musical as it follows student Genki Ogasawara (Aoi Naka- mura) who joins the theatre club at his new school. A visit to a female high-school drama club provides an excuse for a little cross- dressing and love interest. Japanese pop sen- sibilities drive the predictably sentimental story, and while unlikely to travel much over- seas it is enjoyable in its silliness.
Mark Adams
CONTACT SHOWGATE INC shibata@
showgate.jp
Japanese director Yu Irie continues to document the tragic-comic stories of suburban wannabes whose dream of gangster rap fame comes crashing down around them in Roadside Fugitive, the third instalment in his 8,000 Miles series of films. Irie’s disenfranchised anti-heroes are regional rappers struggling with minimal talent and a lack of oppor- tunities, but the challenge facing them is if they can stay true to their musical passions. The film, which has its world premiere at the
Indie Power section of the Hong Kong Interna- tional Film Festival, is slickly made, favouring bright colours, raw dialogue and a hand-held cam- era style, and while a tough sell for overseas audi- ences who might see it as derivative and resolutely downbeat, Irie’s films strike a chord with young audiences in Japan. His first theatrical film, 8,000 Miles, won the
grand prize at the 2009 Yubari International Fan- tastic Film Festival, and while he followed it up with 8,000 Miles 2: Girl Rappers the following year, it is with Roadside Fugitive that Irie returns to the characters from 8,000 Miles. The first film dealt with three wannabe rappers
from Saitama — the suburban area that links Tokyo and the Kanto countryside — chunky Ikku (Komak- ine), skinny Tom (Mizusawa) and bedraggled Mighty (Okuno), who together with three other local slackers form a rap act called Sho-Gung. Roadside Fugitive opens with the final scenes
from 8,000 Miles, as Mighty leaves Ikku and Tom (as well as his broccoli farmer mother) behind and heads to Tokyo to make his fame and fortune. The story then skips two years to reveal Mighty (sport- ing checked flared trousers and permanent sun- glasses) is an errand boy for rap act Gokuakucho by night and a labourer by day.
WORLD PREMIERE
Jap. 2012. 110mins Director/screenwriter/ producer/editor YuIrie Production companies Amuse, SR3 Crew Pictures, Norainu Film International sales PicturesDept, yuko. shiomaki@picturesdept. com Co-producers Hitoshi Endo, Mizue Kunizane Cinematography Kazuhiro Mimura Production designer KikuoOhta Music Taisei Iwasaki Main castEitaOkuno, Ryusuke Komakine, Shingo Mizusawa
After getting into a fight with the arrogant
Gokuakucho guys when they refuse to give him a chance to perform, Mighty heads to the regional town of Tochigi, where he slides into criminal activity. He is forced into helping set up a music festival that also attracts the interest of Ikku and Tom who still cling to their musical ambitions. But Mighty has pretty much lost all hope, and
after his girlfriend Kazumi is forced into prostitu- tion, he spirals off into a string of violent acts as he tries to steal from his crime bosses, with the music event the place where the former friends are reu- nited (albeit briefly) amid bloody reprisals between Mighty, his bosses and the Gokuakucho rappers. The film favours raw drama over dark humour
— which is a shame as this oddball bunch could also be played for subtle laughs — but Yu Irie main- tains a consistent tone and peoples his film with intriguing characters. Look out for 8,000 Miles 4.
Ken And Mary Reviewed by Mark Adams
Breezy and glossy comedy romp Ken And Mary (Ameagari No Yozora Ni) is a raucous road trip that relishes its story of culture clashes and cross-gener- ational conflict, and while never less than obvious it offers up genial entertainment that veers between sentimental and slapstick. The film, which had its world premiere in the
Hong Kong International Film Festival industry section, stars Naoto Takenaka (whose credits include Shall We Dance?) as Ken Katakura, a har- assed Japanese salaryman who heads to Malaysia planning to stop the wedding of his daughter Yukari (Kie Kitano). He does not know who she is marrying, but objects in any case. When a storm forces his plane to land at a
remote airport, he has just 48 hours to make it to Kuala Lumpur to stop the event. He ends up accepting a lift from Chinese truck driver Maurice Mah (Hu) — who seems to be called ‘Mary’ in the English translation, though perhaps this should be
n 6 Screen International at Filmart March 20, 2012
WORLD PREMIERE
Jap. 2012. 87mins Director Kenta Fukasaku Production company SedicInternational, Dreambusters Malaysia, Gofu Films International sales Shochiku,
www.shochiku.
co.jp Producer Toshiaki Nakazawa Cinematography Kazuhiro Suzuki Music Shun Someya Main cast Naoto Takenaka, Hu Bing, Kie Kitano, Zizan RajaLawak, Mandy Chong Yea Min
‘Maury’ — who happens to know Yukari. The driver speaks enough Japanese to get by, and so the pair head off across country (used partly as a pro- motional video for the delights of Malaysia) in his ramshackle truck, which he calls Little Dragon. They become involved in a series of scrapes
along the way, ranging from a drunken session at a truck drivers café and a detour to deliver emer- gency medical supplies, before eventually reaching the wedding at the very last moment. The by-the-numbers script offers little in the way
of surprises, and with Naoto Takenaka playing his role for wide-eyed laughs, there is no room for sub- tle humour. Hu Bing is a charismatic and charming lead, while Kie Kitano is given little to do except be wistful and try on her wedding dress, and director Kenta Fukasaku tends to favour slapstick comedy moments when the pace starts to lull. Oddly enough, though, it is easy to see how the
story could hold remake potential for a lazy Holly- wood producer. A comedy about a father stuck with a rough-but-charming truck driver in a race against the clock to stop his daughter’s wedding… sounds like a perfect vehicle for Martin Lawrence and Ashton Kutcher.
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