Review copy provided by Third Window Films.
Yakuza’s, bathhouses, love, and to top this weird cake there’s also comedy. All of these things shouldn’t mesh well together and in some ways it doesn’t, but parts of this film really do work. I love all of the yakuza plot lines and some of the action is decent. I think the main romantic relationship between the main character and a girl is believable and engaging. But the rest of the film just lacks in being engaging. For a film that is 2 hours long, it felt like it was going on forever. I really do think with a tighter edit and maybe only being 90 minutes long it could have led to a good or even great film instead we got a so-so film that I will eventually forgot about.
The film is extremely low budget, from the behind the scenes footage I’ve seen they filmed the whole film on Sony a7’s which is a high-end consumer camera. I feel like they did the best with what they had, and I can’t really criticise the film for that. Let’s start with what I liked about the film; I think the acting is solid. For a lot of the actors this was their first feature and they all did a decent job. The film was also well shot and some of the effects looked pretty good. My biggest issue with the film is the script and it being 30 minutes too long.
I thought the film was so-so, maybe on a rewatch I’ll appreciate it more and overcome some of its flaws. I do recommend watching this film as we should support smaller film makers and who knows you might enjoy this film. But to end on a positive note, I can’t wait to see what the director does next, he has a talent that hopefully he can improve his talent with future titles.
