Survive Style 5+

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: No
Watched With: Ali, Dan

I do love my crazy japanese films. This one also makes a great christmas film. It follows 5 different stories of people all struggling in various way to define who they are and what they want to do in the life. There's a guy who just can't keep his wife dead, 3 street kids trying to go straight (in more ways than one), an advertising executive with concepts no-one appreciates, a family dealing with a permanently hypnotised dad who thinks he is a bird and, oddly enough, Vinnie Jones as an International hitman with his hilarious sidekick/translator.

As the title might suggest, style is everything in this film. It is beautiful to behold, immaculately framed a filled with some interesting design concepts from set to costumes. It's no surprise the director worked in commercials first before making this his first feature. The editing and use of music is also great. It's a very slickly produced production.

The actors are all great in their roles and the various stories, although all funny, each have their own little conflicts that let us connect to the characters and their dilemmas, as strange as they are. Sometimes hilarious, sometimes violent, sometimes sad, most times absurd and usually always enjoyable.

My one real problem with this film is the pacing. I can understand a slower pace at the start, but after things pick up the film stop dead again just before the end. I can feel it trying to get to the punchline at the end but at this late in the game the pace dying out like it does can make one impatient. The stories are for the most part separated form each other but they do connect in some unusual and hilarious ways at the very end that make it much more satisfying than if they remained apart.

So if you love that absurd, sometimes abstract, sense of japanese humour, check this film out. It's been a favourite of mine for a few years and has now finally just been released on DVD in Australia.