★ 5 / 10
If you eat, drink, breathe, and live punk, this film is for you. For anyone else, take it or leave it.
I_Ailurophile
Sometimes pictures possess value beyond the story they tell, the themes they explore, or the people who are involved in making it, or how it was made.…
Sometimes pictures possess value beyond the story they tell, the themes they explore, or the people who are involved in making it, or how it was made. Sometimes there's an ephemeral quality to a production that makes it a snapshot in time, capturing or representative of a particular cultural moment, or a mood, or a look at something that thereafter ceased to exist in the same manner. It quite seems to me that viewed forty years on, 'Burst City' is a title that can be described in the latter terms more than the former - not exclusively, but with heavy predominance. There are aspects of this that are very appreciable in and of themselves, but at the same time, unless one has a major interest in the cultural moment being spotlighted, or was involved in its creation, it doesn't necessarily hold up in the same way that other films do years after their release.
To wit: in both Norimichi Kasamatsu's cinematography and the editing of filmmaker Gakuryu Ishii and co-editors Naoto Yamakawa and Junji Sakamoto, we see a wild, inventive freneticism that inherently adds some spice and vigor to the presentation. It's a style that would inform and be adopted by Shinya Tsukamoto within a few years, and perfected. Within these two hours we're also given a setting of sci-fi dystopia (although, it's not really sci-fi any more, is it), and a story of fights by ordinary people against corruption, oppression, and state violence. Alongside these aspects we're treated to outstanding art direction - and costume design, hair and makeup, and stunts and effects - that blend together punk aesthetics, urban sprawl and decay, industrial environments, and a certain post-apocalyptic madness. Of course, there's also the fact that various contemporary Japanese punk bands were involved in making this, and were centered in various capacities. Yet the latter is quite specifically the key to the whole production, isn't it? Between songs used on the soundtrack, performances rendered in a music video style that are woven into the active narrative, and performances that are allowed to transpire more akin to a straightforward concert film, punk music is the lifeblood of 'Burst City'; for as much as punk aesthetics and attitudes influences the craftsmanship and storytelling, the entire vibe can be neatly summed up as simply Punk.
There's substantial value here in that alone, and the approach to the cinematography and editing bolsters it. I do hope you like Japanese punk circa 1980, however, because the thing is - beyond the music, which I do love and which I wish were featured more completely, there's not much of a movie here.
I said the entire vibe can be "neatly" summed up. Given the stated overarching ethos in the film-making and storytelling of Punk First, I suppose it's appropriate that the description of the vibe is the only thing about this flick that is "neat," but it does make it harder to engage with and enjoy. Sometimes the editing and especially the cinematography abandons reason altogether, and the slightest sense of order, and becomes so frenzied that the best points of comparison are found footage flicks where the camerawork is so sloppy that we as viewers can't even see what's going on. Sometimes even Ishii's direction, his orchestration fo shots and scenes, inhibits visualization of whatever it is he wants to show us. There is a story here, as I've noted, and distinct themes, but the narrative is extremely loose in the first place, and is furthermore told in such an extremely disjointed fashion that the best we can do is to vaguely guess at the course of events even such as they are. If you're here for the inevitable spectacle of violence to follow when rebellious youths clash with brutal state agents, well, you'll get it, but even the action sequences are undercut by the most wild, overzealous flailing that characterizes the camerawork and editing. The result is that in much the same way as the overall vibe can be chalked up to Punk First, trying to give an earnest, full description of what 'Burst City' is an represents is not just difficult but almost impossible, and I'm reduced to offering exactly three words, expressed just so: "Punk! Dystopia! Violence!"
Like some other films that have been made over the years, I'm sure all involved had a blast making this and can look back on the experience with fondness. For anyone that had especial ties to the punk scene of Japan in the late 70s or early 80s, or for whom it was very important, there's no doubt in my mind that this holds a special place in their hearts, just as would be true if the production had been American or English and centered bands and music from the United States or United Kingdom. Yet there comes a point where even the discrete descriptors I used above start to break down, and all that's left to say is that, well, they sure did make a thing. I see what Ishii intended, and what he really did make, and I admire the effort and the notion. The simple fact of the matter is that the choices that were made in telling this story (insofar as there is one), and in bringing it to life with Punk First, render the total affair so scattered, muddled, disordered, incohesive, and even downright incoherent that its lasting value is as a snapshot of the contemporary music scene and the folks involved, and nothing more. And if that in and of itself has no major meaning for a viewer, then one is just kind of at a loss.
I don't dislike 'Burst City.' I just think that, removed temporally, geographically, and culturally from The Moment, there's not really anything to be gained from watching. I'm glad for those who do get more out of this. I'm inclined to believe, however, that one is better served by just finding the soundtrack to listen to as one will, and appreciate the music all by its glorious self, rather than try to sit with a picture that almost seems like it doesn't want to make any sense at all. And as far as the punk values of nonconformity, resistance, etc - well, either you're out on the streets fighting the good fight instead of watching movies in the first place, or you're someone who can't make the bodily sacrifice and supports from the sidelines, in which case my assessment remains.
Read full review
53%
AUDIENCE
· 100 ratings
6.0/10
1.1K
•••
Thanks a lot FREEMAN!!! (Y)