|
 pparently
Takashi Miike is capable of more than just throwing gobs and gobs of blood,
bodyparts, S&M, and the senseless brutalizing of women at the screen. Go
figure. "Sabu" is absolutely nothing one would ever associate with the
master of splatter. It's a quiet and at times contemplative film about people,
and not how many arms and legs they can rip out to showcase Miike's latest
"geyser of blood" effect. In short, "Sabu" is as un-Miike as
you will ever get from, well, Miike.
The film stars Satoshi Tsumabuki ("Dragonhead")
as the titular Sabu, a passive, ineffectual young man who lives in a small town
with his friend Eiji (Tatsuya Fujiwara), who is the exact opposite of Sabu
personality-wise. Aggressive and stubborn, Eiji has looked out for Sabu ever
since they were kids. They are also friends with Osue (Kazue Fukiishi), but it's
obvious both have feelings for her, although neither knows it. One day Eiji is
accused of theft and sentenced to an island prison, even though he claims to be
innocent.
"Sabu" is a period film, taking place in the time
of the Samurai, not that it matters because the film is about everyday people in
small towns. Eiji's incarceration is quick -- we don't see a trial and the film
immediately jumps to Eiji being transported to the island as soon as the opening
credits dissolve away. We don't even see, or know, what Eiji has been convicted
off until later on. This leaves Sabu and other friends of Eiji, including a
working girl, looking for answers. They are simply told Eiji was
"fired" from his job.
There
are a lot of things to like about "Sabu". It is visually pleasing to
the eye, with a number of moody, atmospheric scenes that look like landscape
paintings. Our first image of the film is a woman hanging from a tree, but the
frame composition is so haunting you almost forget you're looking at a dead
woman. As Eiji struggles to adjust to life in prison, Sabu stumbles about their
small town trying to find answers. The stark difference between the two friends
come through -- Eiji in prison, going about life perfectly fine using his fists,
while Sabu can barely defend himself in the free world.
At its core, "Sabu" is about Eiji's life in
prison, with the side visits back to the village and Sabu little more than
diversions. Uninteresting and dull diversions at that. It's not that Tsumabuki
is a bad actor; it's more that the Sabu character is tedious and annoyingly
pathetic. Watching him try to piece together Eiji's current fate barely
registers as worthwhile. On the other hand, watching Eiji maneuver through the
political and social hierarchy of the prison makes up the film's more
entertainment moments.
"Sabu"
was a made-for-TV movie, but don't fret. If "Sabu" is any indication,
the Japanese have completely different ideas about what constitutes a "TV
Movie". This is feature-length film caliber filmmaking here, not a
throwaway 2-hour Lifetime special. Much of "Sabu" looks purposely like
a surreal set on a soundstage, with the drab colors in stark contrast to the
choice selections of primary colors sprinkled about the scene. It's a nice film
to look at, even if one may find the narrative to be just a bit plodding at
times, and the plot to be uninventive.
At almost two hours, "Sabu" is probably a little
too long, offering up an ending that seems, on the surface, to contradict the
film's contention that hardship can change men for the better. It's not a
shocking revelation, of course, which seems to point to the film's lack of real
resonance. Then again, I willingly preferred this gray ending to seeing
bodyparts being hacked to pieces and female characters ending up on S&M
tables being raped or ripped apart, as Miike is wont to do. Even so, the women
in the movie seem interchangeable at best, even though one of them provides
voiceover narration.
But "Sabu" has done one thing very well, and that
is convincing me Takashi Miike is not a one-trick pony. This means, of course,
that the man is now officially off my hit list. Time will tell how long he stays
off it...
|
