REVIEW: AKARUI MIRAI
REVIEW: BRIGHT FUTURE
REVIEW: KIYOSHI KUROSAWA [ 2003 ] 115' / 92'
REVIEW: KLOCK WORX CO./
REVIEW: UPLINK CO.
CAST: JOE ODAGIRI, TADANOBU ASANO,
CAST: TATSUYA FUJI, TAKASHI SASANO
WTFFILM RATING:

"I've always had lots of dreams when I sleep. The dreams have always been about the future. The future in my dreams was always bright with hope and peace. So I've always loved to sleep. That is, until just recently..."

With this brief narration by Nimura (Joe Odagiri), Kiyoshi Kurosawa's enigmatic film AKARUI MIRAI (literally BRIGHT FUTURE) begins. After reaching his zenith for the horror genre with 2001's KAIRO, Kurosawa's latest films (keep in mind that I have yet to see LOFT [2005] or SAKEBI [2006] as they are not yet readily available) have wandered still further from any genre expectations. Alienating his films from 2003 still further is the fact that they were both shot in either high definition or standard definition digital video (DOPPELGANGER, the second of the two, was filmed strictly in HD while AKARUI MIRAI was filmed utilizing a combination of them), giving each of them a unique visual edge not present in the films produced prior to them.

While CHARISMA [1999] may be the most confusing film yet produced by him, AKARUI MIRAI is definitely in the running for second place. Considered by many to be beautiful but meaningless, by others to be beautiful and allegorical, and by still others as nothing but pretentious trash, this film may be even more divisive and inaccessible than the previous and arguably more nonsensical one. Much of this divisiveness is in reaction to the narrative of the film which flows in a very organic manner but not towards any specific place. The ending, as well, is certainly in the running for being one of Kurosawa's most cryptic. In the end, even with all of these potential issues, Kurosawa has crafted another thought provoking and beautiful film that is bound to have viewers debating for decades to come.

Nimura is existentially lost - having lived within his dreams up until the present he now spends his days working at an industrial laundry for moist towelettes with his only friend, Mamoru (Tadanobu Asano). Mamoru takes a brotherly interest in Nimura and attempts with an amount of futility to keep him out of the trouble that seems to plague him. Nimura spends his nights playing at a local Tokyo arcade and bowling, while Mamoru spends his tending to his other companion - a deathly venomous red jellyfish that lives in a small tank in his living room. Mamoru develops a secret system for communicating with Nimura and keeping him out of trouble - a simple motion of his thumb towards his chest means 'wait', while pointing with his index finger means 'go'.

Inexplicably, the two young men's boss decides to take on a more paternal role for them. At first he simply asks them to help move his daughter's desk upstairs, then moves on to ask them to dinner and to borrow CDs. After dinner, Mamoru eerily states, "Could be there's a storm coming." While he and Nimura are hanging out in his apartment, their boss stops by in an attempt to spend quality time with them. He soon loses interest and resorts to watching games of ping-pong on the television. Just before leaving he notices Mamoru's jellyfish - before long the boss is putting his hand in the tank and his life in danger. Nimura begins to warn him, but Mamoru quiets him. The next morning the boss discovers that the jellyfish is deathly venomous and, upon calling Mamoru on it, the young man quits - leaving only a signal to 'wait' for Nimura.

Mamoru contacts Nimura shortly there after and offers to give him the jellyfish. Nimura accepts and is given specific instructions to remove a cup of saltwater from its tank every day and replace it with fresh. Later on Nimura remembers that his boss still has one of his CDs, so he sets off to get it back. Growing more infuriated as he walks he picks up a large pipe and begins swinging it recklessly - its obvious at this point that he wishes to kill his boss. Upon arriving at the boss' house he discovers that both he and his wife have already been brutally murdered. Nimura, in shock, runs back to his apartment and attempts to call his friend - it isn't long before Mamoru is apprehended and imprisoned for the crime. He continues speaking with Nimura for a few days, but eventually casts him out of his life. Enraged, Nimura accidentally knocks over the jellyfish's tank and its inhabitant slides beneath the floorboards.

Mamoru's father has been having similar luck conversing with his son, who is scheduled for execution. Shinichiro (Tatsuya Fuji) is quickly given the boot as well. Mamoru soon takes his life into his own hands and hangs himself in his cell, leaving Nimura with one final signal - 'go'. Nimura meets up with Shinichiro and the two quickly connect, with Nimura following his friend's father home. Later it begins to rain - as though by instinct Nimura begins to rip up the floorboards in his apartment. There, iridescent and floating in a hitherto undiscovered pool is the jellyfish - alive. Mamoru's plan to acclimate the creature to fresh water has been successful. The jellyfish soon makes its way into the canals criss-crossing Tokyo - with no clear reasoning in mind, Nimura begins mass producing brine shrimp and dumping them into the water. Within weeks Tokyo's canals are full of deadly red jellyfish.

This is the first of two Kurosawa features to be shot on digital video and, when compared with the aesthetic of DOPPELGANGER, is definitely the cruder looking of the two. That in mind, the film is still quite beautiful and full of the same type of fantastic photography that has made his other films so aesthetically unique. The color scheme of AKARUI MIRAI appears to be rather muted when compared to these other films, however, with the consistent gray of urban sprawl taking over many of the images on screen. In direct contradiction to this is the soundtrack (a big thank you to Pacific 231 for producing it) which is quite bouncy and, with the exception of one or two cues, relatively uplifting. It's hard to describe it here, aside from to say that it fits the film at hand perfectly. Also adding a bit of lift to the otherwise dull color scheme is the portrayal of the bright and beautiful luminescent jellyfish. Whether it's just one or millions, these always stand out from the rest of the scenery without ever looking really out of place.

As with many other recent Kurosawa efforts, many viewers have issues with the nature of the characters that populate AKAURI MIRAI. They are shy, ambivalent, and generally uncommunicative with no clear differentiation between those who are 'good' and those who are 'bad'. Even Mamoru, who kills his boss and boss's wife, doesn't come off clearly as a villain and the motivation behind the attack - secret as it is - could well make him out to be an odd sort of hero to Nimura. That said, the characters in AKARUI MIRAI - for whatever they lack in definition - are completely natural. Were you to crosscut Japanese society and take a closer look the odds would be high that you'd find very similar people with very similar problems reacting in very similar ways. The realism that Kurosawa often pursues in regards to personal relationships on screen reaches its peak with this film, in my opinion, even if those relationships can be difficult to watch at times.

One thing that should please audiences who were generally put off by the cryptic nature of CURE [1997] and CHARISMA [1999] is that the meaning of AKARUI MIRAI is, quite possibly, the least hidden of any present in Kurosawa's films from 1999 to 2003. The film is, in essence, a commentary on the disconnect between the younger generation and the old due in no small part to the seeming lack of direction of the youth culture of Japan. Constantly juxtaposed are Nimura and the pet jellyfish - both living their lives in completely aimless ways until something (Mamoru's death for the former, Nimura's frustration for the latter) comes along to make them take action. The spawning of the horde of jellyfish in the film coincides with Nimura meeting up with a group of young rebels. The two groups make an attack on Tokyo at that time - with Nimura's destroying his sister's boyfriend's office and the jellyfish stinging any unlucky enough to cross their paths. Authority figures put an end to both in short order as well, by arresting Nimura's friends and ordering an extermination of the jellyfish.

The conclusion of the film is quite enigmatic, as I mentioned towards the beginning of this review. The jellyfish begin a march out to sea, which Nimura sees as less of an abandonment than an escape, and his friends, apparently freed from jail, make their way down the street - at first causing trouble as usual but eventually settling in as other people begin to join the crowd. While the rest of the film is relatively easy to follow by Kurosawa standards, this ending has always puzzled me. The most obvious interpretation is that the jellyfish (youth), having discovered that they cannot coexist with the rest of society, are simply taking off to make their own way in the world. With that in mind it's still safe to say that the ending of this one (just like those of CURE, CHARISMA, and any number of other of this director's films) is still very much open to interpretation.

This has been another difficult film to review and, given the nature of it, the only way to really get a feel of what it's all about is to sit down and watch it. Whether you get the Cannes cut of the film [92'] or the lengthier original cut [115'], I recommend this one highly as an entertaining entry from Kurosawa that proves to be considerably lighter hearted than most of his previous efforts.