Hana (aka: Hana yori no maho) movie dvd review

by Chris   ⋅   June 28, 2008   ⋅   Comment now   ⋅    RSS

Director: Koreeda Hirokazu
Starring: Junichi Okada, Rie Miyazawa, Susumu Terajima, Tadanobu Asano
Genre: Japan, Samurai, Drama

Koreeda Hirokazu is the master of the saccharine. The man has managed to tackle such subjects ranging from dealing with the suicide of a spouse (Maborosi) to the prospect of life after death (After Life), and in each instance, rather than depressing the audience, he has somehow managed to lift their spirits. His latest, Hana (Flower), is no do different. With its tale of peace over revenge, Hirokazu yet again demonstrates an adept and skilled director, producing an exceedingly pleasant, if somewhat largely forgettable entertainment.

Set in 18th century Japan, Hana’s basic story concerns a young samurai, Soza (Junichi Okada) tasked with avenging his father’s death. While trained in the ways of Bushido, his experience remains largely limited to the classroom. Soza is terrible at swordplay and acts of violence in general. A pacifist at heart, Soza is more inclined to forgive and forget than put his life on the line to avenge a years old offense. And for the time being, Soza’s able to live in accordance with his philosophy, spending his days teaching calligraphy to the local children, romancing the local widow (a frightfully skinny Rie Miyazawa) and participating in local theatrical productions. However, when Soza’s father’s murderer (Tadanobu Asano) is found to be residing in town, Soza is forced to make a choice: give into both guilt and tradition, or defy his clan by forgiving his father’s killer, thereby promoting peace and allowing him the chance to live out a fulfilling life.

Hirokazu’s argument for peace over vengeance is refreshing, however as exercised within the film’s vengeance framework, seems somewhat misguided. You would think, at the very least, a person whose father was murdered would at least exhibit some sense of anger toward their parent’s murderer. Instead, Soza seems completely unaffected, so wrapped up in his own life and hobbies that he doesn’t even bother to think about what others may have suffered. Because of this, Soza comes across as more a self-absorbed, spoiled adult than a true advocate of peace. To bolster his argument Hirokazu includes a rather amusing subplot featuring the 47 samurai, living in the same row-house neighborhood as Soza, and whose own act of vengeance parallel the protagonist’s. Rather than uplifting these heroes, as most other films and legends have done, Hirokazu chooses the irreverent route, depicting the samurai as a bunch of half-cocked, reactionary paranoids. While funny, this too seems a bit misguided, completely missing the point of the samurai’s collective action. While I would agree that today the need for murderous vengeance has decreased, sometimes you do need to take a stand against those have infringed upon the well-being of your loved ones and associates. A man would not be respected as a man if he didn’t at least say something to another that disrespected his spouse, for instance.

In terms of near everything else, Hana is your usual Hirokazu picture. The visuals are pretty, the pacing pleasant, and the tone exceedingly sweet and surprisingly funny. While the performances were for the most part uniformly adequate, brief turns by Susumu Terajima, as one of the loyal 47, and Yuichi Kimura as the lovable village idiot truly stood out. Tadanobu Asano, although featured prominently in festival promotional photos, is near absent in the picture. Lastly, the film’s score, evoking Celtic-festival tunes, was exceedingly catchy.

Something of cinematic cotton-candy, Hana is not a picture you will remember weeks, or even days after you’ve seen it. However, it is one that provides a fair amount of enjoyment during its runtime. I can’t I right mind recommend this as a purchase, but it will more than make a worthwhile rental.

The DVD.
Funimation’s DVD release of Hana is, like the film, perfectly adequate. The picture and sound quality are nice, while the translation seems a bit more fleshed out than most. The DVD includes a brief extra documenting the film’s “Opening Day Stage Greeting,” as well as trailers for both the film and other Funimation releases.

All in all, an okay disc for a pleasant film.

About the Author

Chris Nelson has been a film fanatic for as long as he can remember. A former film and English major, he is now a Software Engineer and contract Technical Writer living in the Silicon Valley.