Weeeelllllllllllllll, seems like the big ol Daddio of the Deceased, Father Death, was being cool as could be reporting in from the big Sundance film fest. Two films he sends in... A Japanese film called POSTMAN BLUES and a French film called A BROTHER. Looks like he really loved POSTMAN BLUES, cooooooool.
Father Death here reporting from Sundance Film Festival...
well last night I saw Postman Blues, a Japanese import translated by Kevin McGowen. It was directed by Hiroyuki Tanaka under the pseudonym "Sabu". He's best known for directing "D.A.N.G.A.N Runner", a fast-paced chase comedy that received allocades at the Japanese festival last year. Sabu, a clean-cut Japanese guy with dark gray sweatshirt and black jean, introduced his film with the help of a translater. He told us not to miss the final scene after the credits rolled. Here we go...
What can I say about this movie? "The Postman" it ain't. It's very much in the same vein of Masayuki Suo's tamer "Shall We Dance?" (GOD, I loved that movie!) except with the dose of plot twist, violence, tender love story, and comedic elements combined. This is one of the best foreign movies of the entire Sundance fest. Why am I saying this in a positive way? Because it's truly the most entertaining foreign movie in years, that's why!
The plot begins with a Japanese 'everyman' Sawaki (remarkablely performed by Shinichi Tsutsumi) living out his boring life working as a postman until he ran into an old friend Noguchi who's involved with yakuza (and chopped off his own pinky, very Tarantino-esque), and trouble ensued. Police tracked down on the innocent Sawaki and were convicted that he was a drug dealer. After a traumizing experience with an old friend, he began tampering with mails and found the letter that intrigued him. Eventually, Sawaki found a beautiful lonely girl who wrote the letter in the hospital. The girl Sayoko has terminal cancer and was afflicted with suicidal tendacies. There he met the almost retired hitman who wears brown trenchcoat and a pair of dark sunglass named Joe (I assume Sabu was a fan of Duke Togo of "Golgo 13" anime) who told the story of qualifying for the "King of Killers", an assassination contest in which assassin entries vying for the top rank. There are VERY hilarious cameos by a Japanese guy posing as Leon from Luc Besson's "The Professional" and that blonde woman with red sunglasses from Kar-Wai Wong's "Chungking Express" that I immediately recognized along with movie geeks! Joe shares the relationship with the dying woman, and they were made friends heading for an unexpected sensation of violence and edge-on-the-seat suspense. The convoluted plot twist unfolds with unusual mix of fast-paced action, comedy, and drama that left me exhilarated and stunned. (SPOILER) Near the end Noguchi, Joe, and Sawaki raced towards the police barrade and eventually the postman was killed as a result of mere human error. The ending credit continued as Sawaki came together with Sayoko in "Ghost"-esque sequence that was incredibly moving.
Afterwards the audience REALLY loved it, and Sabu answered questions in a Q&A session with the translater and the audience members had a great time conferring with him despite language barrier. I even have questions with the homages to "Professional", "Chungking Express", and other influences of anime and movie directors in mind, but unfortunately a few of our fellow movie geeks already asked them. Even though "Postman Blues" has enough content to qualify for an R rating, Sabu has said he has a U.S. distribution deal but he wouldn't reveal who.
I also saw "A Brother" which was mistaken for an Italian movie because of its Italian cast, but in fact speaks French. A female director Slyvie also introduced the movie to a crowded audience, and then the lights went dim. Well,"A Brother" isn't what I expect to be a feel-good movie, and I'll explain the reasons. First off, it was set in Paris with the main character Loic who looks like an Italian, but he works as a photographer for a modeling agency but at night he's inflatuated with screwing girls, party, and booze. He has a baby-face younger sister Sophie (Emma De Caunes) who pursues her dream to independence and womanhood and together they debate over the matters of choices and commitments. Even more unusual, Loic was sexually attracted to his sister, which is another tad obscure taboo only conveyed by the chemistry between them. The plot was pointless- it was somber and grim with no real character development and accompanied with obscure, shaky cinematography. The only thing to keep the story paced was unneccessary amount of sex (only intimate relationships) and heavy profanity meshed together to entertain the audience which doesn't seem thrilled. After the movie ended the audience applauded anyway, but were a little disappointed with the result of a repetitive French farce. I couldn't give a shit about either of these characters and the whole movie, and it's just another movie that left me depressed that deserves to be damned. I stand by my opinion.
Father Death
