46 Billion Years of Love (2006)

I have to start with that I absolutely love this movie. It might not be for everyone, because of its art style and highly highly symbolic visuals. However, if you are into art cinema or just want to see something different, give it a go. Purely for the shirtless tribal dance sequence it is already worth it ;)

The story is set in a prison with a murder/suicide investigation its focus. It focuses on the two main characters Jun the potential murderer and Shiro, the victim, their background and possible relationship, and the mistery surrounding the case.The whole movie is constructed as a theatre play with stage sets and loaded symbolism. As such, it is rather trippy in parts with pyramids and rackets appearing in the middle of the prison representing where the main characters would like to go after death (outer space with the racket or ascending to heaven on the stairs of the pyramid), or prison cells being just numbered squares drawn on floor with chalk.

I found the story really interesting and engaging to watch to the end with surprising and funny moments as well. Especially memorable was the old sensei telling the young Jun to go and give a blowjow to the miserious tattoed stranger as coming of age ritual at the very beginning of the movie.

I give the acting a 9, extra points to the prison ward. Minus 1 to some of supporting actors, but overall great.

The music is sparse, it only there when it serves a purpose like a dance sequence, otherwise mainly just a church bell here and there.

Leia Mais

Between Metaphors and Symbols: Dreams and Death

In an unknown future, the introverted young man Ariyoshi Jun (Ryuhei Matsuda), who works at a gay bar, is one day arrested for killing one of the bar's customers after being sexually assaulted. What baffles the police is that he mutilated his rapist's corpse in a fit of absolute violence, and this reaction doesn't allow him to avail himself of the right to self-defense.
In prison, he meets Shiro (Masanobu Ando), a striking young man with unusual tattoos who has known violence since his earliest childhood and is now back in prison for murdering a young man, for no apparent reason.
In prison, Shiro, a strange young man with a dark past, who served time for raping the prison director's wife, quickly demonstrates his brute force and becomes the leader of the other inmates. The shy and defenseless Jun is drawn to everything his strange companion embodies. Jun is the only person Shiro opens up to, and they accept each other as they are. This situation leads them to understand that they cannot be without each other. Together, they will establish an intriguing and intimate relationship that will only be interrupted by a mysterious crime.
Imprisoned for murder, and despite their apparent differences, at the end of their empty and destructive lives, the two young men with exactly opposite personalities share only their instincts, but this is enough for them to discover the emotion of love.
However, at the end of their love lies another murder, with Jun as the accused and Shiro as the victim. 'Big Bang Love, Juvenile A' (Japanese: 46億年の恋, 46-okunen no koi?, literally translated in English: '4.6 Billion Years Of Love') is based on a posthumous manuscript by Ikki Kajiwara, titled "Shōnen A ereji (少年Aえれじぃ)" and written by his younger brother Hisao Maki under the joint pseudonym Ato Masaki.
The film, which has a script by Masa Nakamura, follows two detectives who attempt to uncover the culprit of the murder and the cause of the crime through interviews with inmates and prison employees about events in the lives of Jun and Shiro. Among the suspects in the crime is the prison director, who may be interested in wanting revenge for the rape of his wife and subsequent suicide.
The use of the technique of interspersing testimonies throughout the film is striking, as the viewer themselves can participate as an investigator.
Premiered at the 56th Berlin International Film Festival in February 2006, the film tells the story of how the two inmates form an intensely close bond, in which Shiro protects Jun with fanatical intensity and violence from the other inmates, although his intentions toward his fellow inmate are unclear.
The highly symbolic images and dialogue contrast with the routine nature of the police investigation, creating a somewhat surreal commentary on the nature of violence and salvation throughout the film.
Viewers and critics at various film festivals, such as the Hong Kong Film Festival and the Sitges Film Festival, were quick to praise its director, Takashi Miike, for exploring an experimental and poetic path with the film. There's nothing real in this film, but the truth of the human condition crawls and scratches at the surface, in this claustrophobic fever dream.
Takashi Miiki brings together a highly professional cast, including Shunsuke Kubozuka (as Yukimura Sumio), Kiyohiko Shibukawa (Tsuchiya Makoto), Ryo Ishibashi (Warden Tsuchiya, the Prison Warden), Kenichi Endo (Assistant Inspector), Renji Ishibashi and Jai West (Deranged Prisoner), Kanamori Jo (Hero), and Mitsuishi Ken (Prison Warden), among others, to create a cinematic spectacle.
Also noteworthy is the work of Matsukuma Shinichi as Lighting Technician, who collaborated on the creation of this strange and sad film, full of memorable visual images, in which Takashui Miike examines abuse, domination, violence, and determinism in an experimental style, in which all that remains is destruction and shattered lives.
The symbols anchor the viewer in their seat, the metaphors cloud the senses, the lighting is out of this world, and the visual design surprises us by being both theatrical and abstract.
"What kind of man do you want to be?" This is the big question and the impression the film leaves me with. The two protagonists are caught up in a cocktail of provocative generic influences, ultimately speaking about the impulses that keep us alive: love, the madness of desire, violence, jealousy, truth, and lies.
To help us understand what kind of people they are and the feelings they are experiencing, the director uses metaphorical symbols and eccentric external views, such as the butterfly in mid-flight around the protagonists, the image of an Art Nouveau CGI rocket about to launch into outer space, the gigantic and ancient Mayan pyramid, the colors, the tattoos, the ghosts, the timelessness, and the spatial minimalism, all serving to physically express Jun and Shiro's inner world.
While the rocket portrays the world of reason, science, and rationality, based on its use as a way to explore the stars beyond human reach, and as a clear proposal to leave this world together and move forward, the historical precedent of the Mayan temple points toward a more intuitive and contemplative realm of the heart and spirituality, the possibility of heaven, and the fact that this attraction they feel is neither new nor exclusive to them, but rather stems from an affection dating back to human origins. Hence the film's title, which is the approximate age of the Earth.
Takashi Miike carefully and intelligently intersperses these poetic and philosophical scenes throughout the narrative, once again breaking the formal expectations of what a cinematic narrative should be.
While deliberately cryptic and at times confusing, the film overcomes the self-imposed difficulties of its narrative thanks to brilliant staging, a disturbing dramatic pulse, and a cinematic conception that is entirely revolutionary within the context of its director's artistic proposal.

Leia Mais