Lorelei (2005) Reviews

• A Japanese mix of historical fact and supernatural fiction

  michaelstudte2005-03-05

  Lorelei can best be described as a Japanese version of "Das Boot" with a supernatural storyline thrown in. The setting is the last week of WWII, Hiroshima having just been bombed. A Japanese veteran captain is given command of a German-surplus submarine with a secret weapon, the "Lorelei System". As viewers of Japanese movies will know, scenes with English-speaking characters usually end up very awkward, with the English-speakers often being cheap local "talent" grabbed off the street, in most cases with very questionable English credentials. But this movie was just about on-par with the classic Tora Tora Tora, using professional Hollywood and local English-speaking actors that portray their roles to near perfection, making the whole movie flow smoothly. Without giving away spoilers, it's difficult to review this movie. But the advancement of computer graphics has made for some really visually stunning submarine battle action. If anything, the surface vessels come across as being a bit lifeless, as the effort was spent on the underwater sequences. At 140 minutes the movie is long, and by western standards probably somewhat talky, but there is a lot of political maneuvering going on in this movie, plus the diverting from history as we know it, that requires the additional dialogue. All actors put in very decent performances, the soundtrack is fittingly orchestrated and the cinematography excellent. While not being the classic that "Das Boot" was, this movie is very enjoyable, and with subtitles could potentially get a decent western cult following.

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• Review of Lorelei: The Witch of the Pacific Ocean

  UberNoodle2005-09-02

  A fun Sci-Fi World War II film! Sci-fi WWII film you may ask? Well even if you didn't, pretend to be intrigued and shocked by the concept. The set up is simple: Having received a highly advanced submarine from Germany, the Japanese deploy it, just days after the Hiroshima A-Bomb, to seek out a transport ship carrying the 2nd bomb. The sub has a secret weapon, called the Lorelei System, and all of the crew are drawn into the mystery of what exactly it is. Needless to say, you've probably worked out that Lorelei itself is the Sci-fi element, and it works well, even though it feels at times like a device to push forward the partially allegorical storyline. "What do you fight for?" is the question asked by this film, and by exploring the answers given, it has something to say to us about war and life. The film is not any where near as heavy, or thematically dense as seen in Casshern, so it thankfully also delivers a thoughtful, drama with some cool action, to balance out the inward reflection. Lorelei is a "What if?" film. If the World War 2 ended differently, what would that mean for Japan? There is a large degree of dialogue in the film; expositions from various heroes and villains about the past and future of Japan. In this way, the film reminds me of anime. It's not just the philosophical speeches, it's the action scenes, the characters, and the style. Anyone who has seen Captain Herlock, Yamato, or even Blue Submarine No. 6, will feel it. I for one think it is a strength, though many will see it as a flaw. If you are looking for Das Boot, then watch Das Boot. Lorelei is about pure escapism. The acting is all well enough and there a few veterans in there that give credibility to the story. In fact there are many familiar faces in there, and it's a fun just to count them. The CG is also very good for a non-Hollywood film - or should I say, non-ILM film. The graphics look generally realistic, but the compositing looks surreal at times. There is a dreamlike nature to the sfx that reminded me of the aforementioned Casshern, though some viewers demanding photo realism may cringe. On the whole, the SFX, when not on par with some higher budget offerings, is at least as good or better than some of the cut-scenes seen in video-games nowadays. And the music is atmospheric and suitably militant and heroic when it needs to be, bring this overall package together. The haunting song of the Lorelei System is notably used in a few scenes to great effect. Of course the sound design is great, with all of the "submarine" sounds you expect. Can we ever get enough of that sonar sound? The DVD comes with THX certification, and Dolby and DTS tracks. SO is Lorelei a good film? Well look at it this way: not all films are meant to be picking up "best film", and while this film is certainly one of that category, it's a fun romp. Plus, since Fatherland, I am a sucker for Alternate History films. In all, the film can be quite cheesy and contains a plot twist that I still don't fully understand, and I hope someone can enlighten me one day. However, even when Lorelei is overly sentimental and trying too-hard to pull your heartstrings, it is enjoyable. With great anime inspired undersea battles, and an interesting and involving story, its is an worth watching. 3/5 stars, or whatever unit you prefer ...

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• Great Production - Problematic Story - Recycled Philosophy

  ChungMo2006-12-08

  Excellent direction and acting highlight this WW2 fantasy which build upon a film genre that doesn't get much play outside Japan, the Japanese WW2 drama. Hundreds of war films have been made since the US occupation after the war. Most of the films are about the human tragedy of the war instead of glorifying the effort to create a racist empire. As a side note which relates to this film in an way, Eji Tsuburaya, the special effect mastermind behind the Godzilla films, never thought much about his monster effects. He was always the most proud of his work recreating WW2 battles and we in the US never have seen this work. The plot is well described elsewhere here so I'll skip to other points about the film. The production is very well done and realist-looking most of the time. I am sort of sorry that they introduced a number of fantasy elements to the story that just upset the atmosphere for me. Somehow the Nazis managed to create a holographic radar system and made only one which they gave to the Japanese instead of using for themselves. On top of that the system requires a psychic/empath to be attached to it by tubes. On top of that they somehow have a beautiful Japanese girl who was sent to the concentration camps before she was experimented on and attached to the system. On top of that somehow her operatic singing has the ability to pass thru walls, seawater and broadcast itself over the radio. The idea that the US was preparing to bomb Tokyo with a third atom bomb wasn't much of a problem although the historical record indicates that the two bombs were all the US had at the time. As mentioned here already also, I felt like I was watching an episode of Leiji Matsumoto's Space Pirate Captain Harlock during a rousing speech about free will. Believe me it's much more convincing coming out of the anime character's mouth if you have the luxury of comparison. The CGI effects were mostly video game cut scene quality and the depiction of sea battles were unrealistic. The sub-plot about military commanders taking over is based on actual events at the same time but what happens in the film is a very strange comment on the opinions of actual Japanese war veterans who agree with the US decision to drop the atomic bomb. OK film not for heavy thinking.

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• Excellent production, but a flawed story.

  rsaintj2005-08-26

  I found LORELEI entertaining with some great performances and production values (especially for a big budget feature, by Japanese standards), but felt the story was lacking in a number of ways. Shinji Higuchi (special effects director for GODZILLA-MOTHRA-KING GHIDORAH and Shusuke Kaneko's GAMERA series) shows great promise here to be an excellent director. His talent and originality really shines in this film, and it's obvious he has a big future ahead of him. I'll be looking forward to his adaptation of NIPPON CHINBOTSU (JAPAN SINKS) next year. Despite his background, Higuchi shows in LORELEI that he knows how to balance SFX with the drama. Koji Yakusho as Captain Shinichi was wonderful. I'm so used to seeing him play laid back, morose characters in things like Kiyoshi Kurosawa films, and I didn't think he could be as animated as he was in LORELEI. Tokusatsu fans will also appreciate a good performance from Jun Kunimura (Major Komuro in GODZILLA FINAL WARS) as Dr. Matoi Tokioka, and one of my favorites, Masato Ibu (the Old Controller in GFW) shows up as Admiral Narazaki. On the other hand, the "young leads", Yu Kashii as Paula and Satoshi Tsumabuki as Origasa left me rather cold. The western cast was one of the best I've ever seen in a Japanese film, delivering their lines and reaction shots on a much more convincing level than anything I've seen recently in Japanese SF/F film. Special effects heavily dominated the movie, and although great (unprecedented?) for a Japanese film, they still looked like special effects more often than not. I was surprised (and a little disappointed) how much of it seemed to be CG as opposed to miniatures work. Very few shots looked "real". There was an almost dreamy "unreal" nature to many of the shots that may have been intended. But I think Japanese SFX crews still have a long way to go with compositing. Having said that, water is said to be the most difficult thing to work with in CG, and they did an admirable job with exciting dramatic shots that supported the story rather than detract from it. As I mentioned, though, the story itself felt weak in spots. LORELEI was written by Harutoshi Fukui, based on his bestselling novel "Shuusen no Lorelei". Based on what I've read of the original storyline, there were many changes made in the transition from print to screen, and the film probably benefits as a result. The storyline is tighter and faster, and jumps right into the action. But there are, in my Western-informed opinion, some mixed messages here that are a little hard to swallow, much of it related to how the Japanese tend to address their own perceptions of Word War II. Fukui certainly makes his politics known in the story. This is not to say that the Americans or Allied POV is treated poorly in the story, not at all. I just felt that there was a somewhat skewed "Japan as victim" angle that perhaps requires a Japanese background in order to truly empathize. As a result, it makes it difficult to understand some of the character motivations and twists in the story. As far as the sci-fi element of the story (MILD SPOILERS FOLLOW), I was surprised by how little of it there was. The I-507 itself is a very advanced German-built sub that has a detachable minisub that is towed by cable. The minisub is operated by one crewman and occupied by Paula. Paula has been engineered by the Nazis to be a living sonar, and is delivered to the Japanese as a component of the "Lorelei System". She's wired and tubed up to the minisub, and the whole device basically provides the I-507 with a super-advanced 3D visualization system with a reach of 120 nautical miles. This makes the I-507 incredibly accurate, but the deadly side effects take their toll on Paula. It's an interesting concept, but it's really just a plot device, sort of "What if Japan had a modern day weapon in WW2?" In the end, it's only used to position against more "What ifs" such as "What if the US had a third atom bomb at the time?" and "What if there were Japanese who had a hidden agenda towards the end of the war?" Nevertheless, LORELEI is an exciting look at what can be done by modern Japanese filmmakers with a big budget, quality talent and time. It takes the best of big-budget American thrillers, and fuses it with a more thoughtful Japanese approach to human drama that is, more often than not, lacking in its western counterparts. It remains to be seen whether the politics of the film will prevent it from wider exposure to audiences in the U.S..

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• Great action/drama film

  aerolbj2006-07-20

  A bit simplistic but it's fast paced and well directed. The CG scenes are stunning. Music was wonderful. And Yu Kashii was cute!!! Characters are a bit cardboard but this is an action film, for gods-sakes! A few plot holes of course, but nothing that can be ignored. A bit vague at times, especially the ending, but I blame the translation from book to movie. An excellent little movie if you want to turn your brain off a little - unlike American action films were you turn your brain _totally_ off.

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