Here’s another round of horse capsules, this time for Rokuro Mochizuki’s Mobsters’ Confessions, Banmei Takahashi’s New Love in Tokyo, and Hirouki Nakano’s Red Shadow: Akakage. Enjoy. Note: I should be back later in the week with real capsules for Vacancy, War, and Rush Hour 3.

Mobsters’ Confessions . This film’s been on my shelf for nearly a year. Now that I’ve seen it, I can only wonder as to what took me so long. Mobster’s Confessions is the story of a con-man whose ultra-successful fleecing of unscrupulous businesses leads him to the forced employ of a yakuza crime boss. As his jobs become more daring and the takes more impressive, the mob continues to increase their cut. In order to get out from under their thumb, our protagonist plans one final job: to scam and take down his own boss. The film sounds serious, but in reality it’s the first example I’ve really seen of Yakuza Comedy. The film has a fresh, carefree vibe which I quite enjoyed, and there’s quite a nice thread of dysfunctional rock-star love to complement the whole scam plotline. Yakuza film fans will appreciate the numerous homages to classic yakuza films, as well as the running gags involving discussions on the merits of classic Yakuza actors (I’d have to put my vote in for Kobayashi). This is the first film I’ve seen by Rokuro Mochizuki, but I’m eager to watch more. Mobsters’ Confessions boasts great performances, a clean visual style, a fast moving plot, and a whole lot of laughs. It’s a fun little film that’s definitely worth a look. Check it out.

New Love in Tokyo (aka: Ai no shinsekai). This is one of those films that serves only to reinforce the notion that festival judges are a bunch of sex-starved pervos. Inspired by the true confessions of Tokyo sex workers, New Love in Tokyo details the lives of two such women, a dominatrix and a regular call girl, and their exploits about town. Aside from being the first Japanese film to show pubic hair (no mosaic or blur to cover it up), there’s really no reason to watch the film. There’s nothing in the way of story or character development; nothing in the way of worthwhile human drama. Just a series of sex-work vignettes, some comedic (involving pathetic and perverted men), but most simply boring, with the occasional diversion into day to day pursuits such as acting class. The film takes a sort of documentary approach to the material, but even that can’t make the rather vacuous, two-dimensional characters depicted the slightest bit interesting. Seriously, the only real defining traits for either character are that one dreams of acting, and the other marriage. The former is a moron who can’t close her mouth (even when dancing), and the other is a timid fool with ears like Dumbo. New Love’s one notable feature is the rather odd insertions of nude photography of the actresses by Japan’s most (in)famous photographer, Nobuyoshi Araki, but this is rather gimmicky and imparts no real benefit to the story (and frankly, as stated above, the girls are far from attractive.). There is one saving grace in the form of a cameo by Aya Sugimoto, but it’s not worth watching for the three minutes she’s on screen. Thank God for 3X fast forward. Skip this one at all costs.

Red Shadow . We at Dreamlogic love Hiroyuki Nakano. His Samurai Fiction and Stereo Future are two of our favorite films of the past ten years. They’re so incredibly stylish, fun, and kind hearted, they completely infect you with their optimistic charm and good nature. As a viewer, it’s impossible not to be moved by their message of peace, love, and environmental activism. However, Red Shadow does not share these traits. Sure, it’s stylish, beautiful, and peaceful, but it’s also wooden and uninteresting. The film took me at least six attempts to get through, and in none of those tries did the tale of carefree Ninja twenty-somethings ever grab me; never once did I care about their situation, their desires, or their motivations. I just wanted to get through the film to say that I had made it through to the ending. I’m not sure that I would place the blame for this on Nakano, as the acting seems fine, the fights well choreographed, and the visuals music video pretty. Instead, I would assume the problem lies in the editing. Like an orchestra drummer lacking rhythm, the beats are off from the start, and throw everything relying on that rhythm completely off. But again, the film is a pretty one, and if it is your introduction to Nakano you might not notice the problems as much. Still, I cannot in good conscience recommend it. Watch Samurai Fiction or Stereo Future instead.

About the Author

Chris Nelson has been a film fanatic since age six. A former film and English major, he is now a Software Engineer and contract Technical Writer living in the Silicon Valley.

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