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Reviews
D.O.A. (1949)
Fascinating Idea, Poor Execution
It seems that most of the commenter's on this site loved this film, and that makes sense. The ideas behind it are essential to noir - that existential despair which arises when life hits you in the belly, the fear of death and the overwhelming desire to understand why fate has dealt you these cards. Everything in this film is noir to the hilt, and it could furnish a hundred essays with ease.
But it's crap.
That's too harsh, but honestly, no true film fan can watch this without it embarrassing them. Godawful acting by all involved, light characters, poor dialogue, the infamous 'wolf-whistles'. I don't want to be an arsey nerd-hole, but one of the things which is exciting about noir is how well made they are, how they stand up to time as exciting visions of artists rather than mass produced nonsense. The only well produced scene in this is the jazz scene with the fishermen. It's an outstanding vignette which I regularly show to my friends (you can jut imagine the fun we have round my house... kerazy). In all the other scenes you keep getting the unfortunate need to laugh.
Luminous. S***ting. Poisoning. So that's a poison so dangerous it glows in the dark. Come on people!
A premise that would make most directors sweat is reduced to ridiculousness by the fact that every scene is weak. Bad direction, bad acting, bad script. This really could have been a contender; no wonder people have wanted to remake it. I'd do it myself if I had the chance. I don't want to be unfair to this film. If you 'get' old films and have a penchant for film noir then do go and see it. Just don't expect a 'Touch of Evil' or a 'Kiss Me Deadly'. It's all the more frustrating for just falling short.
Wild Life (1997)
Stylish start loses momentum towards the end
I don't want to be to harsh to this movie, yet somehow it's always worse when an inventive, intriguing film can't maintain it to the finish. So whilst this film is enjoyable and certainly worth seeing if you get the chance, I can't honestly recommend you go out of your way for it.
Like a lot of Japanese films, this mixes comedy and mystery (and of course the ubiquitous Yakuza) to good effect, at least in the first half. There's a certain sense of free fall as you try and work out with Sakai san what the hell's going on, as fractured time lines pull disparate scenes together in a satisfyingly 'arty' manner. The mixture of light, slapstick comedy with a darker edge seems just right. The actors have fun hamming it up, and the director pulls all kinds of visual tricks out of the bag.
Yet as things progress it becomes progressively flatter and more conventional. The story disappoints and there seems to be no real points made. As everyone falls about laughing as it draws to a close, you feel this is one joke you've been left out of. It feels like just another director with not much to say, but with lots of ways to say it. If it weren't for the large number of other, better Japanese films out there which are in a similar kind of vein then I would recommend this - but another surreal Yakuza movie? Full marks for trying - I look forward to seeing some of his other films.