Fuchi ni tatsu (2016) Reviews

• The Consequences Of Violence

  aghaemi2016-09-14

  Cross-referencing the name Tadanobu Asano, while walking into the theatre at TIFF to watch his latest, tells me that his films and I have crossed paths fifteen times. He is hardly my favourite Japanese actor with names like Hara Setsuko, Chishu Ryu, Sugimura Haruko, Yu Aoi, Kase Ryo, Ayase Haruka and Mifune Toshiro‎ taking precedence, but he is arguably the best-known Japanese actor in Canada, and elsewhere outside Japan, given his role in the Thor movies and the nonsensical American version of 47 Ronin. He is a good actor nonetheless whose impassive mannerism is likely his trademark by now. These facts are coincidental given how he starred in another premier at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2015 in a film called Journey To The Shore and that he is again strong and impassive at another premier at TIFF in 2016 with Harmonium (Fuchi Ni Tatsu in Japanese or 'Standing On The Edge' a name which has a literal meaning here). This is why the above is interesting because he fits his role here quite well. The film germinated in the writer/director's mind in 2006 and began to become reality three years ago. Whereas in Journey To The Shore Asano intruded upon his own family, this year in Fukada Koji's North American premier the actor does the same to a friend's family. The said man, with whom he shares a past, the attention-starved clueless and Christian wife and their daughter are average and unwanting until the arrival of the impassive new character sows the seeds of change and shatters the still. As audience members we are primed for a surprise of course and it does arrive, albeit clocking at two hours and being characteristically Japanese of a film the turn is not upon us ever too swiftly or completely. Shot mainly in Tokyo, Harmonium - which won some kind of an award at Cannes if anyone cares - is as eccentric a family drama as the bedlam that is Tokyo Sonata and, given all its coincidences, as unlikely as the aforementioned Journey To The Shore, but still leaves one interested in the here and now for itself and for other works by Fukada in the future. Before the film began rolling the director was on stage hoping the audience would still be there once the movie had ended and he would be back on stage again for Q&A and deservedly his wish came true. Nonetheless, he is Japanese and those looking for definitive conclusions may be disappointed - not to mention how the director himself claimed to be unaware of the solution to the intriguing ending.

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• The Lodger

  reidandgenene2017-04-30

  This is definitely a movie where you are better off not knowing much ahead of time. I recommend caution in reading reviews of this one. The focus here is on a family: young daughter, overprotective mom, distant disengaged husband. The husband takes in a mysterious lodger without consulting his wife. That's really all you should know in advance. If you particularly appreciate a movie that goes in unexpected directions, this film is for you. If you are interested in how relationships change under stress, this film is recommended. It is perhaps a bit long and occasionally a bit repetitive, but it is definitely worth seeing. You'll think about it a lot afterwards.

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• daring family and crime drama

  dromasca2016-10-29

  The principal flaw of Harmonium directed by Kôji Fukada may be its length. At more than two hours the film is by 20 to 30 minutes longer than the standard, and the extra time is not necessarily best used. Yet, this stylish combination between family drama, thriller and crime story has enough interesting elements in the story, and is so well acted and filmed that it eventually justifies itself and needs not make too many excuses. We can admire from opening scenes the mastering of the art of describing the characters and the background with very little means, in a few beautifully filmed takes, with even fewer words. We see a family in Tokyo working hard for their living. The father has a metal shop and seems to be an agnostic. The mother is deeply religious and she drives the education of their daughter around ten years old, who tries to learn playing the harmonium. A stranger shows up, he is well mannered, accepted by the father and then by the rest of the family. There are secrets in the relation between the two men, and these secrets of the past will take over the situations that follow. There are two different parts in the story separated by a jump in time which is one of the several techniques of story telling that are being experimented and combined in a well dosed mix. The story telling is built in a very interesting manner. Two acts of violence happen out of the screen, and viewers as well as most of the characters do not know exactly what happened. The first took place eleven year before the story starts. The second wraps up the first part and triggers the events of the second part, with another gap of eight years. None of them is represented on the screen, the story is not about violence but about its consequences. The final is also open ended, we see what happens, but the interpretation is left to the viewers. I liked more the first part, with its more constraint setting and only with the four characters present on the screen. The development is necessary in the logic of commercial film making nowadays, the jumps and gaps are intentional, but they lack balance. There is wonderful acting from Mariko Tsutsui in the role of the dedicated mother but also of the feminine presence that triggers passion, and from Tadanobu Asano as the dignified and yet mysterious stranger. This film is not flawless, it lasts too long and its changes of direction may not be on everybody's taste, but it's a good example about how the Japanese school of cinema continues its great aesthetic tradition, how it combines it with the popular culture genres (like thriller and horror stories) and how it looks carefully to new means of expression in an evolutionary rather than revolutionary approach.

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• It's OK, but predictable

  criticalmass0482017-11-21

  I don't write many reviews, but when I do, they're short and to the point. I don't consider myself a "film aficionado", and I'm certainly not an expert. I'm merely going to give a review of a normal, working class guy with a slightly above-average IQ. I've seen many Japanese and Korean films, and so I am used to the slow pace of the movie. For those who don't know, picture 60 seconds of watching a family eating a meal while not saying a word. With that said, I feel that it was too similar to other movies of the genre, and to me it was predictable. I knew what was coming around the corner. While I wasn't really amazed that my predictions came true, I was amazed that my predictions came true within 30 seconds of my making them. Just ask my wife -- she can't stand watching movies with me. While a typical American movie watcher who only watches junk that comes out of Hollywood (a movie based on video games, comic books, or a remake of something from 30 years ago) might have been shocked by some of the things that happen, I think someone who indulges in Asian films will also see what's coming, and where things are going. While, as another reviewer mentioned, the ending leaves you scratching your head and screaming, I was a little lost about the ending. I won't go into details, but I'll just say that I didn't understand the turn of events, and wonder if it is even physically possible for the movie to have ended that way. All in all, very good acting, and was pretty enjoyable, but if you're looking for a feel-good movie, don't watch this one.

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• Haunted Family

  politic19832017-07-01

  "Harmonium" isn't the first film about an intruder on domestic bliss - it isn't even the first Japanese film; it isn't really even Fukada's first - so what has made Koji Fukada's fifth feature win praise as being widely regarded as the best of Japanese cinema in 2016? Like many films before it, "domestic bliss" is not strictly true. Suburban living is not quite all it's cracked up to be for Toshio (Kanji Furutachi), his wife Akie (Mariko Tsutsui) and daughter Hotaru (played by two separate female human actors). The repeating side- view of their kitchen dining table paints a picture of their family life: Toshio reading the paper, in a detached manner, while the overly cautious Akie mothers Hotaru. Here is a family that seem bored of each other and their roles as part of a standard family. Until - initially against Akie's middle- class sensibilities - Toshio allows his old friend Yasaka (man with teeth, Tadanobu Asano), recently released from prison for murder, to work for him in his workshop and move into their home. It was then that everything changed. Takashi Miike's "Visitor Q" has an equally bemusing starting point. Not the dad trying to pay his daughter for sex while he films it bit, but the inviting a random man whom attacked him in the street to come and live with his family part. There is something unnerving about the way Toshio allows Yasaka to simply walk back into his life, seemingly under the spell of the ex-con, giving him what he needs. Obviously, there is more to it than simply helping out an old friend. Naturally, Akie is apprehensive and nervous of this stranger being in the house around her young daughter. But Yasaka seems charming enough, efficient in his work and eating habits, helping Hotaru with her learning to play the harmonium. For the film's first half, Yasaka dresses in the purest white, unbefitting a man with his past, though he acts as a guardian angel over the family, bringing them to life: Toshio more relaxed and enthused; Hotaru over-excited about her upcoming harmonium performance; and Akie overly excited in the trouser area by his presence (hmmm, Tadanobu Asano). As in "Visitor Q" and many others before it, the stranger introduces a new life to the family. But unlike "Visitor Q" (and I'm sure others), this positive impact on the family is not the story here. This is not solely a satire of the soap opera family unit, but has as much in common with the calculated revenge of Park Chan-wook's "Oldboy" (and I'm sure others, beyond my limited echo chamber of nothing but 1990s onwards Asian cinema). Fukada is very blatant in his depicting of Yasaka removing his pure white (not once did he get them dirty) work overalls to reveal a deep red T- shirt underneath as he introduces his true intentions. Eight years on, we see the long-lasting impact that Yasaka's "visit" had on the family. Beyond Hotaru's obvious physical change, Toshio reveals himself as relieved by the whole event, clearly nodding to his past with Yasaka and why he was so willing to take him in in the first place. For him, years of uncertainty have seemingly been answered. Akie is much more emotionally impacted, her overly- cautious nature furthered, repeatedly cleaning her hands and not wanting anyone near her daughter. The couple have become more communicative than before as a result of the events, but the difference in their coping strategies highlights clear differences between the pair. The Japanese title "Fuchi ni tatsu" ("Standing on the Edge") is perhaps more fitting for the film's conclusion with Yasaka's revenge on Toshio complete, leaving the latter scrambling to try and stop the inevitable. A film of two halves, this starts gently and leaves you wondering where it is going, much as Toshio does Yasaka. The sudden act brings the film out of its slumber as the story is revealed and the pace picks up, resulting in an end that cleverly sees things come full circle; harmony now restored. Fukada handles the film well throughout, keeping the atmosphere dark, forever hinting at what lies beneath. But it is by no means perfect, with the character's reactions at times understandable, at others bemusing. Not a lot is packed into the two-hour running time, and a lot of what is brings to mind many other films. Apart from those previously mentioned, Shohei Imamura's "The Eel", a 1990s Hirokazu Kore-eda and anything by Kiyoshi Kurosawa come to mind in terms of both style and themes of isolation within the family. Whether this is a bad thing or not depends on your personal preference. Sadly having spent much of the last decade in poor Hollywood films (his lauded performance in Scorsese's "Silence" aside), this is a welcome return for Asano to the indie scene, where he always delivers, as the externally calm but deeply raging Yasaka. Everybody's new favourite, Kanji Furutachi - used largely in bit- part roles - is interesting in his more leading role as Toshio, seemingly indifferent, becoming more relieved, before finally angry and scared, developing the character with the film. Mariko Tsutsui, however, is perhaps the strongest here as doting housewife falling into grief and madness. This is dark and brooding throughout, switching from mundanity, to lust, to violence, to anger, to grief, to searching, resulting in pain and suffering. But one constant remains clear throughout. While trying to lead a normal life, Toshio's past continually haunts him, however much he tries to conceal it; the angelic demon Yasaka constantly watching over him, ensuring that Toshio's true sense of relief is only earned when Yasaka can at last smile.

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