Shall we Dance?

B-

Directed by Mayasaki Suo

Masayuki Suo's “Shalle we Dance” is a respectable though underwhelming rom com that benefits greatly from the work of its stellar cast.

On his way home on the train from work, salaryman Shohei Sugiyama spies a beautiful ballroom dance instructor looking out from the window of her dance school. Spontaneously, Sugiyama decides to sign up for a class, only to find out that his classes will be given by a different instructor. Afraid to admit his real reasons for joining, Sugiyama ploughs ahead and begins to actually enjoy the experience. His newfound passion, however, is highly shameful for a conservative man like himself, forcing him to go to great lengths to hide his hobby from his coworkers and family.

The idea of a Japanese rom com can seem puzzling seeing as how the Japanese aren’t exactly known for displays of affection, emotion, and passion. Director Suo acknowledges as much in the opening frames of “Shall we Dance” as the narrator conveys the stigma surrounding dancing in a buttoned up society like Japan. In "Shall we Dance", ballroom dancing works both as a means of escape for Sugiyama from his restrictive lifestyle as well as a metaphor for the rigidity of modern Japan which, even as it blows away the rest of the world with some of its weirdness, remains a fairly restrictive society. Despite its social commentary, however, “Shall we Dance” stays light and breezy, relying mostly on its underlying premise to provide the laughs and introducing a variety of absurd supporting characters to provide some comic relief when the novelty of watching Sugiyama awkwardly stumble around the dance floor wears off.

Although “Shall we Dance” has its moments, its character development (the cornerstone of any rom com) feels surprisingly shallow for a film that lasts close over two hours. The tense relationship between Sugiyama and his wife gets far too little screen time and too much time is spent developing peripheral characters or watching said characters participate in various dance routines. As a result, the conclusion feels rushed as do the denouements of the various romantic intrigues that unfold throughout the film. Despite its faults the film is saved in large part due to fantastic casting, most notably the starring role of the always excellent Koji Yakusho as Sugiyama.

Ripley's Game

C

Directed by Liliani Cavani

Liliani Cavani's take on Patricia Highsmith's popular sociopath Tom Ripley is way less fun than it should be, a tame and rarely interesting film that wastes the potential of Highsmith's character.

Ripley (John Malkovich) is back, this time in Italy where he is playing his trade as an art dealer/criminal and living in a vast but incredibly tacky villa with his wife Luisa. After being insulted by his neighbour Jonathan Trevanny (Dougray Scott), Malkovich decides to recruit the poor chap to perform a hit for gangster Reeves (Ray Winstone). After performing the hit, Trevanny falls deeper and deeper in with Reeves and Ripley, even as Ripley tries to keep the coming fallout from the gang war out of his (villa’s) backyard.

“Ripley’s Game” reminded me a lot of “The Tailor of Panama”. Not that the two stories are similar—they aren’t in the least bit—but rather in that the film adaptations of both are rather boring. I’m not sure what it is about the adaptation of thrillers but many of them seem to translate poorly to the big screen. It may be that building the type of suspense that novelists like Highsmith are famous for is easier over 200-300 page novel than it is in a 90-100 minute film. Regardless, “Ripley’s Game” left me feeling fairly cold, much like Ripley himself, just without the murderous tendencies.

Malkovich’s Ripley is probably truer to Highsmith’s original character than say, Dennis Hopper’s was in “The American Friend”, but it isn’t any more interesting, that’s for sure. The rest of the cast didn’t do it for me either. Dougray Scott’s dramatic turn as the cancer stricken family man Jonathan Trevanny clashed harshly with Malkovich’s low key, effeminate Ripley. The best casting move in “Ripley’s Game” was picking Ray Winstone for the role of Reeves, Ripley’s hapless partner in crime. If there had been more of Winstone and less of Malkovich, Scott, and basically everyone else it might have been a better film. Or maybe it would have just been more like “Sexy Beast”, which would have been fine with me.

My Summer of Love

A

Directed by Pawel Pawlikowski

Pawel Pawlikowski's makes magic on a small budget in "My Summer of Love", a riveting, tense and exceptionally well acted story of friendship and deception, both of others and oneself.

Working class Mona meets Tamsin, a spoiled daughter from a wealthy family, by chance over summer vacation. The two girls, neither of whom is particularly stable, embark on a passionate relationship that threatens to swallow them both. Meanwhile, Mona’s brother Phil, recently released from prison, claims to have found Good appears to have turned his life around, leading a worship group from inside his old pub.

When a movie is referred to as “hypnotic” (as “My Summer of Love” boasts on the DVD cover) I rarely expect to actually be riveted to such an extent. Much to my surprise, however, I found myself quite literally hypnotized by Pawlikowski’sfilm. Indeed, I made the poor decision of starting the film right before I should have headed to bed and was immediately riveted, so much so that I literally had to force myself to quit watching an hour past my usual bed time. “My Summer of Love’s” Svengali like grip is due to a number of factors, but cief among them is the tight direction of Pawlikowski who masterfully builds up tension between Mona and Tamsin, as well as the acting of Emily Blunt and Nathalie Press which is fantastic throughout.

Although at its core “My Summer of Love” is about the twisted relationship between Mona and Tamsin, the religious “rebirth” of Mona’s brother Phil is also an important underlying theme. In this regard, “My Summer of Love” seems to take a rather cynical view of religion (in this case a sort of revivalist Christianity). I can understand where Helen Cross, the author of "My Summer of Love" was coming from in her vision of Christianity as a religion riddled with hypocrisy and her portrayal of Phil’s “followers” is not entirely inaccurate, unfortunately. But Cross is no doubt attacking the fringe here, painting a picture of insincere and immature believers whose “faith” is little more than an attempt to escape the difficulties of their past lives. I thought it was a bit of an ugly and unfair portrayal of Christianity but discerning viewers should be able to come to their own conclusions about Cross's treatment of this subject.

Adrift in Tokyo

B+

Directed by Satoshi Miki

Satoshi Miki’s “Adrift in Tokyo” takes an odd premise and makes it work thanks to breezy humor and the charisma of its two male leads.

Fumiya (Jo Odagiri) is a university student woefully behind on some debts owed to local loan shark Fukuhara (Tomokazu Miura). Seemingly without reason, however, Fukuhara promises to forgive Fumiya’s debts if he’ll take a walk with him through Tokyo to the city’s main police station where he plans to turn himself in.

I'd heard plenty of good things about "Adrift in Tokyo" while it was doing the tour of the festival circuit a few years ago and came away quite satisfied with Miki's offering. "Adrift in Tokyo" hits viewers with a rapid fire of absurd situational humor, some of which works, some of which doesn’t but I found myself laughing out loud at a lot of Miki’s sly gags enough that I gladly overlooked the set pieces that didn't work so well. Any film that tries to throw so much comedic material at its audience is bound to be hit or miss anyways and “Adrift in Tokyo” hits more often that it misses overall and for that, I salute it.

“Adrift in Tokyo ” tries to work at a deeper level as well, reflecting on loss, loneliness, and the importance of family and it does so quite well, mostly because it doesn’t try to go too deep or detract from its comedic raison d'être. There are nevertheless still some poignant moments and Miki’s choice to take a ponderous approach to exploring some weightier themes goes over very well, keeping the proceedings light but still tinged with a wee bit of melancholy. The rapport built between Odagiri and Miura is also surprisingly believable, giving the absurd opening premise some much needed credibility as the film moves forward, even though the father/son motif of their relationship is pushed a bit too far by Miki.

The Tokyo Fumiya and Fukuhara drift around in is, of course, a defining aspect of Miki’s film. Rather than showing the bright lights and big skyscrapers of Shinjuku or Ginza Miki sends his characters walking through the back alleys and tree lined side streets of Japan ’s mega-city. The uniqueness and charm of Tokyo comes through quite well but for audiences who only know the city through movies, it’s a welcome change and an introduction to another side of the city that isn’t seen as often.