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 Eiji is sent to Ishikawa Island workhouse for a crime that he didn't commit and while there he is "subjected to the harsh realities" of prison life. His friend Sabu tries to help him. 2002, 122 minutes, Widescreen DVD
When Artsmagic asked me if I would be interested in reviewing their release of Takashi Miike's Full Metal Yakuza, I figured that a free copy of what's been described as Robocop meets a Yakuza movie would be right up my alley. Sort of like Robotrix, but hopefully less stupid and much more violent. Then they informed me of a slight mix up at the factory where the MonsterHunter review copy mysteriously went AWOL. I didn't sweat it too much, since it wasn't me that would be missing out on all the publicity that exposure to approximately twenty million rabid MH fans a month would get you. But to their credit, they tried to make it right (well, as much as any part of "where's my free DVD?" needs to be made right, I suppose) and offered to send me another of their flicks called Sabu.
Sabu? You mean to tell me that that Indian actor from the forties who appeared in The Jungle Book, The Thief Of Bagdad, and Arabian Nights had a movie made about him? Sure, he died young and was a pioneer for Indian actors in the forties that wanted to break into adventure films, but who would have thought someone would have gone and made a movie detailing what it was like to work with Jon Hall and the infamous Maria Montez? The communique from Artsmagic indicated that Sabu was another film by Takashi Miike, but that it was a little bit of a change of pace from his usual stuff (Dead or Alive, Visitor Q, Audition) and might not necessarily be my cup of tea. That sounded exactly like the sort of movie I wanted to see! Change of pace that might not be the usual kind of flick we see here? I could practically see the seams on that fastball as it crawled across the plate right into my wheelhouse! Plus, the biggest change of pace, was it's best asset: it was going to be free!
Well, the first thing you need to know is that this movie is about a guy named Sabu, not the guy named Sabu. I also cringed a little bit when I noticed that this particular Miike movie was a made for TV affair. Those of us in the States know first hand that the last thing you would ever want to spend any money on is a DVD of a TV movie. Women in jeopardy, disease of the week, Kenny Rogers Gambler outings, all similarly paced for commercial breaks and all one hour and thirty-six minutes long. It's not exactly a medium that encourages you to plunk down twenty-five bucks so that you can watch it over and over (especially when Lifetime, The Hallmark Channel, and ABC Family run them all for free repeatedly). Some of you may be thinking that perhaps it's a different animal overseas. And my experience is that you are right. They're even worse.
Admittedly, I'm coming from a rather jaded position since all the foreign TV movies I've seen have been Italian horror ones. I think we're all still trying to forget that unfortunate run of work that the late Lucio Fulci did for Italian TV. The titles of these smelly small-screen affairs come rushing back like the unwelcome stench of an ex-wife's body odor. Touch Of Death, The Sweet House Of Horrors, and The House Of Clocks all send the mind reeling with how nauseatingly amateurish they were. Even worse were the things that Lucio couldn't even be bothered to direct, but only sold his name to such as The Murder Secret, Massacre, and The Red Monks. (And if I'm wrong about any of those being TV movies, it only makes them worse!) It's precisely because of those experiences with boob tube ignominy that I feel compelled to report that Sabu couldn't meet those dismal expectations. You see, it was actually a good looking, well-made, period piece that while flawed in spots managed to hold my attention for much of its two hours.
Sabu and Eiji are buddies from way back when they were just kids and stealing money from the local eel food stand. After being introduced to them in their younger days, we flash forward to when they're all grown up and Eiji is getting himself framed for stealing a swatch of gold fabric. The guy that runs the store where the gold fabric was shoplifted blames Eiji, mainly because the fabric in question turns up in Eiji's bag. Despite his rather vociferous protests of innocence, Eiji is hauled off to an island work camp where he would spend the next several years trying to survive the brutal environment there, all the while nursing his desire to get revenge on the people that falsely accused him of the theft. This is one of those movies where having your friends frame you up and getting you sent to a tough prison is actually a character building experience. If I was Eiji's friends that he was pissed at, I would be telling him that we had done him a favor and that he should be getting on his knees and thanking us for making him the thoughtful soul he is today, instead of alternately staring vacantly at us and punching us out. It's just like an ex-con to be an ingrate.
Sabu discovers that Eiji is missing and is determined to discover what happened to him. Once he discovers that his buddy is on a prison island, he sets off to visit him. Eiji is having some difficulty adjusting to his new character building life though. He refuses to speak or even give his name. He's always getting into fights with everyone and to top it all off, he won't even see Sabu when he's there to visit! Sabu continues to go and try to see Eiji, even at great personal cost to himself since he loses a job that was conditioned upon him forgetting Eiji and not visiting him.
There's a bunch of women mixed up in this as you surely have guessed (no decent guy is going to end up wrongly imprisoned without a broad milling around somewhere nearby). I'll confess that half the time I couldn't keep straight who was who, even with the additional concentration I had to give the movie due to its subtitles (it's next to impossible to read Entertainment Weekly and watch a subtitled movie simultaneously). The movie didn't do itself any favors by naming three of the women, Onobo, Osue, and Osono. How in the world am I suppose to keep them straight if I don't even have different hair colors to go off of like I usually do? One of these gals is the narrator. I'm not entirely sure that she had much else to do with the story, though she may have been mixed up with a cruel pimp that redeems himself once he gets tossed onto the same prison island as Eiji. Another lady is Eiji's true love while the third one eventually becomes Sabu's wife (in a rather sketchy, underdeveloped subplot). There's also a woman named Naboku or something and Eiji's girlfriend thinks that Eiji loves her, but he really doesn't.
There's the expected drama at the prison where you've got new prisoners coming in and looking to make a name for themselves. Eiji ends up embroiled in a feud with this gang, but also begins to exhibit signs of maturity and selflessness when he risks his own life to save another prisoner from certain death. There's still more than enough of the old Eiji in him though to engage in final brutal show down with this gang that sees him taking on two guys at once with his cherry wood crutch. Inexplicably, it all leads to the rest of the prisoners signing a petition to have his sentence commuted so that he can be released. I'm guessing that they just have no interest in being on the receiving end of things the next time he hulks out on someone with his crutch (what kind of prison movie uses a crutch instead of a shank anyhow? Or a shiv?)
Eiji makes it clear to Sabu that once he's out, he's going to devote his time to getting revenge on the people he holds responsible for his stay in prison. Sabu thinks this is a bad idea and that Eiji should move forward with his life and not throw it away settling up some grudge. This is the part of the movie that I had a problem with. Sabu makes sense of course, but Eiji doesn't want to hear it. In fact, Sabu goes so far as to falsely confess to being the person that framed him up so that he would vent everything on Sabu. Sabu figures he can save Eiji from forfeiting his freedom again that way. But wasn't all this prison time supposed to be a time of personal growth for Eiji? Why is he still muttering on about revenge? Why is he explicitly saying that he has not changed at all? Sure, we could chalk it up as just an act, but could someone explain to me the scene at the end of the movie where Eiji punches out Sabu even though he knows who the real culprit is? I'm also not entirely show why I was supposed to believe his time on the island changed him when he was still beating the piss out of everyone. If anything, the closing scenes show that Eiji has grown into a doormat for his old lady.
Despite being somewhat underwhelmed by the payoff in this one, I found the movie compelling enough due to the combination of Miike's technical prowess at mounting this historical production as well as the appropriately restrained effort of the guys that played Sabu and Eiji (you'll recognize Eiji as the guy that played Shuya in Battle Royale and Battle Royale II). Sabu's devotion to his friend is clear, while Eiji at least attempts to cope as the movie progresses, if not go through that life-altering change the movie would have us believe was taking place. It's a beautifully shot film and there's no way you'd ever guess it was a TV movie (the DVD is in crystal clear widescreen) and there's nothing cheap or slapdash about the end result.
The DVD is packed with a decent amount of supplements including a subtitled "making of" featurette (you can see schoolgirls ogling the stars as they shoot their scenes in front of tourists on the studio's back lot!), interviews with the principals, trailers, director and cast bios, and promotional materials that features the ability to translate selected text from the various movie posters and such. All in all a very nice package. Those going into this expecting the Miike of Audition are going to be bored to tears and the movie can be slow going, but if you buy into the movie's central concept that harsh situations can sometimes reveal character we didn't know we had, you'll come away satisfied. Frankly though, the movie never sold me on that, so I'd have to call this one an ambitious and skillfully shot, but ultimately disappointing feature.
Reviews © 2004
MonsterHunter
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