Tag Archives: Toronto Japanese Film Festival

A Tale of Samurai Cooking – A True Love Story

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3.5 stars (out of 4)

Released 2013 (Japan) – Opening night film of 2014 Toronto Japanese Film Festival

A talented young woman named Haru is recruited to marry into a renowned kitchen samurai family so she can help teach the “incompetent” heir to improve his skills. Not only a historical tale of cooking and developing love, there’s also a fair amount of drama, sword-fighting action, political unrest, and even some light-hearted humour at times.

It’s almost worth the price of admission just to see the gorgeous Japanese scenery and beautiful costumes. And of course there’s the food too. It would be wise to eat something before going to see this.

The story developments flow naturally in a well-paced manner. The movie elicits feelings in a way that touches you, rather than hitting you over the head.

Likewise, while the score is noticeably beautiful on several occasions, it fittingly complements the action without being overly dramatic.

If I were to complain about one thing, it’s that the theme song at the end sounds too weird. The female vocal is strangely shrill and just doesn’t sound good. But that’s really a teeny tiny blemish on an otherwise remarkably enjoyable film.

Key of Life

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3 stars (out of 4)

Released 2012

Sakurai’s got it rough: friendless, hopeless, unemployed… even his suicide is a failure. While visiting a public bathhouse, he witnesses an accident in which a fellow bather is knocked unconscious. Having nothing to lose, he impulsively switches locker keys with the man and steals his belongings as well as his identity.

Sakurai soon discovers that he is impersonating an underworld assassin, while the victim, Kondo, suffers amnesia from his fall and has no choice but to believe he is a failed actor with no family and no money.

This is another one of those films that I missed out on when I had to skip TIFF last year. Key of Life is both funny and smart and I’m really glad I got another chance to catch it on the big screen.

In addition to Sakurai’s story and Kondo’s story, there is also a sub-plot involving a business woman named Kanae who is looking for a man to marry, preferably in time for her wedding.  The various plot threads get a little complicated, but they come together satisfyingly by the end.

I have seen Kagawa Teruyuki, who plays the part of Kondo, in many other movies in the past (including RUROUNI KENSHIN most recently). From what I’ve experienced, he tends to often play one-note characters. This is the first time I’ve seen him in such a varied and sympathetic role. Kondo seemed to be the true lead in this production, so I was actually a little surprised that Kagawa did not get top billing. Well, maybe they didn’t think his “thug face” would sell the film…

RUROUNI KENSHIN

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3.5 stars (out of 4)

Released 2012 (in Japan)

Himura Kenshin was once a feared assassin during the Meiji restoration period of the 1860s. A decade later, he now carries a reversed-edge sword to prevent himself from killing again. In Edo, he meets Kamiya Kaoru, the impassioned head of a kenjutsu school which teaches swordsmanship for saving lives, rather than for taking them. The school’s idealistic philosophy appeals to Kenshin, who has vowed to atone for his previous sins by protecting others. However, it won’t be easy for Kenshin to just live a peaceful life. He has many enemies from his violent past, and they all want a piece of him!

Thanks to the Toronto Japanese Film Festival, I was finally able to see this live action adaptation of my all-time favourite manga series. Going in, I tried to keep my expectations low; 2-hour film adaptations of long-running series necessarily have to cut a ton of material, and often, the end result is an empty shell of the original story. Also, the trailers we had seen left us questioning whether Takei Emi had the acting ability to portray Kaoru properly.

Happily, I found the film to be very enjoyable; the many action sequences were spectacular and the important themes were left intact. In the end, I was fairly satisfied with Takei Emi’s performance as well, considering the material that she was given to work with, Kaoru’s role having been significantly underwritten for this adaptation.

There was never any doubt, on the other hand, that Sato Takeru was perfectly cast. True to expectation, he turned in a flawless performance in the lead role, capturing Kenshin’s strength, when forced to fight, and more restrained gentleness at other times.

The movie deconstructs about 4 of the early story arcs and combines parts of them back together into a mostly coherent plot. It worked well for me since I was already very familiar with the original manga and seeing the story told this way felt fresh.

Of course there are casualties: lots of good stuff was cut, not the least of which was that Kaoru and Yahiko didn’t get any chance to show their talents and both of them came off looking rather weak. And as a result of the narrative cutting and pasting, some parts of the movie don’t completely make sense if you stop to think about it. Fortunately, there’s so much going on and the action scenes are so intense, that you’re not really given an opportunity to dwell on the minor details.

Another quibble: I found the scenes with Kanryu and his gang to be a bit jarring compared to the rest of the film. They tended to be more goofball and play-like and the accompanying music was too exaggerated.

I think the director and screenwriter made the correct choices in what must have been a daunting task to create this film. I might sound like I’m unhappy with the ruthless edits that have been made, but that’s what the manga is for! All told, the movie succeeds at being entertaining the way it is and I would love to see it again. I believe it is a worthy addition to the franchise. So yes, despite my complaints, I am giving it 3.5 stars!

Tenchi Meisatsu (TENCHI: The Samurai Astronomer)

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2.5 stars (out of 4)

Released 2012 (in Japan)

This biopic is based on the true story of Yasui Santetsu, a professional go player and recreational mathematician/astronomer, who was appointed by the Shogun to reform the calendar in 17th century Japan. It was becoming evident during that time that the Chinese calendar which had been in use for 800 years was inaccurate.

The film chronicles the various obstacles that Yasui faced in his decades-long quest; scientific challenges, to be sure, but also political opposition to change.

The story was pretty straightforward, nothing earthshaking, but I enjoyed it. I enjoyed seeing the costumes of the period and being immersed in the historical setting. There was also enough levity to keep the movie from being just a dry retelling of what is essentially a tale of math and politics.