Screwed (aka: Neji-Shiki) — dvd movie review
If you’re a fan of Tadanobu Asano (and who isn’t?) you know he likes to pick some oddball projects. Likewise, if you’re a fan of Teruo Ishii, you know to expect anything, from the depraved to the profound, and potentially a mix of the two. But when the two team up to bring an influential manga artist’s tale of awkward love and loss to the big screen, you know you’re in for a treat.
Adapted from Yoshiharu Shiga’s Wind-Up Type, Screwed (aka: Neji-Shiki) stars Tadanobu Asano as Tsube, an unsuccessful Manga artist locked in a sexless relationship with an unfaithful woman (she likes to keep their partnership a secret). As she is the breadwinner Tsube puts up with her request to allow an old flame to stay the night as “a guest.” But, when she becomes pregnant with the child of a one night stand, a man with whom she had no prior relationship whatsoever, Tsube attempts suicide. Thankfully the attempt is unsuccessful, and Tsube embarks on a strange journey of destitute wandering spiced with sexual repression and gratification, culminating in a surreal patchwork of lust and despair that has to be seen to be believed.
Shiga’s original story (included as a DVD extra on the disc) detailed nothing more than his own experiences as a lovelorn loser, however in the hands of Ishii it becomes a carnival of the surreal and absurd. There’s an absolutely hilarious scene involving copious amounts of a bodily fluid, nods to old cinematic Freudian conventions, and more boobs per minute than in an hour of Fox News. The film is heavily filtered (possibly too much) with amber tones for the less exotic sequences, and heavy reds for the all out spectacles, featuring the performance art troupe featured in Ishii’s two subsequent films, Japanese Hell (Ishii’s Jigoku remake) and Blind Beast vs. Killer Dwarf. To be honest, Ishii’s embellishments to the story in the latter third of the film really defy any logical explanation, but nevertheless prove good fun.
Asano handles the film’s delightfully deadpan narration with ease. Despite the rather sad goings on in Tsube’s life you can’t help but laugh at his observations. Furthermore his physical performance is awkward, loveable, and absolutely hilarious. The other actors in the film do a decent enough job, though none come close to stealing attention from Asano. A few Ishii alum do make appearances, including Mutsumi Fujita, here in the role of a sleazy restauranteur, looking ten years younger than she did in Killer Dwarf, filmed a mere three years later.
When all is said and done, Screwed is an interesting diversion for the cult enthusiast, a midnight ride filled with offbeat laughs and tongue in cheek titillations. It may not be Ishii’s best film, nor is it quite “The Ultimate Japanese Cult Film,” but it is worth a look.
The DVD
First and foremost I have to say something about the cover. While the original Japanese poster for Screwed may have been a little to Rock Star cool, the DVD’s collage of images from the film is rather…ugly. Sure, I understand it was most likely an effort to evoke a more Ishii-like vibe, in tune with the color scheme of the film, but nevertheless it serves to make the picture appear more weighted toward its “Horror film” visuals than its oddball comedy vibe.
The video is presented in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio. My Sony system tends to bleed displayed reds, so the amber and red tones were a little harsher than normal. I subsequently checked the disc on my computer, where the visuals were noticeably crisper. Being filtered as heavily as it is, you’re not really going to notice either way.
The disc is presented with optional English and Spanish menus, and corresponding subtitle tracks (in brilliant blue yet again). As with the Blind Beast vs. Killer Dwarf DVD, the trailer gallery includes previews for Blind Beast, Tokyo Psycho, and Screwed. The production notes are pretty much the back cover text, and the Teruo Ishii bio is the same from the Blind Beast vs. Killer Dwarf disc. The additional bios this time are very informative pieces for star Tadanobu Asano, and artist Yoshiharu Shiga, the undisputed father of Adult (not-hentai) manga. The addition of the original comic art (albeit fused with visuals from the film) as a DVD extra was an inspired decision on the behalf of PanikHouse, and definitely helps to clarify some of the goings-on in the story.
And, as with all PanikHouse releases, the film includes a collectible sticker of the DVD cover, and extensive production and poster galleries (the latter featuring the original poster for Screwed) though as with Killer Dwarf a commentary track is mysteriously absent. A little lighter than the average PanikHouse release, but still a decent disc.
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