★ 1 / 10
When the pretension of an art film is your first, second, third, fourth, and fifth priority
I_Ailurophile
I suppose Toyoda Toshiaki thought he was being VERY clever and VERY artistic and VERY thoughtful when he made this. Why, gosh golly, this is an art film…
I suppose Toyoda Toshiaki thought he was being VERY clever and VERY artistic and VERY thoughtful when he made this. Why, gosh golly, this is an art film, didn't you know? Just look at how we shift from disparate scenes, none of them bearing any specific substance! First we softly fade in and out each time, wow, then we start cutting abruptly, double wow! Listen for how the song to greet us in the opening minutes - a slightly less obnoxious and more refined take on the nu-metal of 1999 - bears reflections on the nightmare of the modern world with lyrics that will in their own way be echoed with subsequent dialogue! Look at that one guy, oh my, he makes things happen by snapping his fingers and pointing! Jeez, Louise, the pointing! Wait to see how a monster in a mine is equated with a virulent disease that infects everyone, spreading madness; this was made in 2020, do you get it? Do you get it? Do you? Oh yes, Toyoda has things to say about the world and humanity in 2020, he sure does, and he's going to say them artistically! He'll even tell us something about ourselves, hoo boy!We can say that there is a story here. We can say it, and it's almost true. No, maybe "concept" is a better word; this is an art film, remember, and art films have concepts, not stories. I applaud Toyoda for making a thing, and for writing words, and for thinking that he was doing anything important and substantive. For the record, by this I mean to extend the same praise to Toyoda that we give to kindergarten kids whose crayon picture of their cat kind of has eyes, ears, and a mouth, and we can maybe discern lines meant to be legs and a tail. Oh, and just wait until you see how Toyoda sort of but not really associates this with his prior short film 'Wolf's calling' by revisiting the key filming locations and select imagery. What an auteur!All joshing aside, I like the score that was assembled for this tiny flick: one part haunting soundscapes, one part post-rock. Maki Kenji's cinematography is quite nice. And actor "MahiToThePeople" sure is committed, above all when he decides to scream and flail his body around. There, I said some nice things (three!) about 'The day of destruction.' Now I don't have to pretend to feel guilty about hating this self-indulgent bluster, I can just hate it openly and freely.
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★ 6 / 10
Resurrection Trilogy
politic1983
Making cinema to communicate a political statement can be a tricky business, with the time involved in getting the end film to an audience potentially making…
Making cinema to communicate a political statement can be a tricky business, with the time involved in getting the end film to an audience potentially making the it already irrelevant. Wong Kar-wai went to great lengths to ensure "Happy Together" was released before the time of the Hong Kong handover, but it is a lot of work to get there.
Toshiaki Toyoda's "Resurrection Trilogy" made from 2019 to 2021 is made up of three shorts all based on events happening at that time, and so the need to get them out quickly is key. Starting with an almost music video relating to a personal situation for Toyoda, the trilogy expands into the wider impact and handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as nods to the Tokyo Olympics which hung over the city.
With music, particularly heavy guitar thrashes with a hint of the traditional, always a key part of Toyoda's films, the dialogue-less "Wolf's Calling" (2019) certainly relies on its soundtrack. A woman, clearing out some old possessions, discovers a gun from years gone by. Accompanied by an image of a wolf, this transports us to Mount Resurrection Wolf with numerous samurai, played by actors including Kiyohiko Shibukawa, Kengo Kora and Tadanobu Asano and the band Seppuku Pistols, climbing the stairs to the shrine where they congregate. Here, Shibukawa's samurai unveils the gun now in possession of the woman in the present day. Unleashing her samurai spirit, she grips the weapon as if to use it. To close, Ryuhei Matsuda in samurai attire struts out on the roof of a Tokyo building overlooking the new Olympic Stadium.
With Toyoda arrested in 2019 for possession of a non-working Second World War gun he inherited from his grandmother, the inspiration for the short is obvious; the arrest awaking a dormant anger in Toyoda. Toyoda's trademark slow-motion shots as guitars blare are used throughout as each samurai introduces themselves. It could be deemed a little unnecessary, but with the line-up and music with the right attitude, the old meets the new in what ends a stylish and clever extended music video to communicate Toyoda's inner-frustrations.
"The Day of Destruction" (2020) is the second, and most challenging, of the trilogy, being that it is more a scream of rage than a coherent comment on the COVID-19 pandemic, though perhaps that is the point.
Shinno (Ryuhei Matsuda) is granted permission to enter a cave where a monster has been uncovered. He is let in by local Teppei (Kiyohiko Shibukawa) who becomes the central character in the loose narrative. Years later, a pandemic has swept through the area, driving many to madness. A young man, Kenichi (MahiTo ThePeople), encases himself in a tomb to mummify himself at Mount Resurrection Wolf. Failing, he recovers with Teppei and Crescent Jiro (Issei Ogata), before unleashing his screams on Tokyo.
The longest of the three shorts, it is the most complex in that it is the one with the least clearly defined purpose, and perhaps requires an additional viewing. Abstract in its concepts, even with more of a script, it is less clear, but again allows for Toyoda to indulge in slow motion shots to its angry soundtrack calling out many elements of modern society, notably digital assistant technology, as people call to them as if in prayer.
Here, there is more of a general angst at the modern world, with digital technology and COVID-19 targets, but again closes on the Tokyo Olympic Stadium and how this has also contributed to the screams of those wanting to escape the madness.
What is clearer is the message behind the closing "Go Seppuku Yourselves" (2021), where wandering samurai Raikan (Yosuke Kubozuka) is ordered to commit seppuku at Mount Resurrection Wolf. Meeting it with acceptance, he insists on offering his final words in a monologue against the authorities and their handling of the situation, insisting that they must follow him in the ritual.
This is a clear shot at the government and its handling of the pandemic, where corruption has seen the poor take the brunt of the punishment. Raikan is their scapegoat, and Kubozuka delivers the final monologue with a steady tone covering the rage within, to be unleashed. Essentially this is about his performance and the delivery of the final message towards the government: the translation a humorously clumsy dig, but also damning in its intent.
Three shorts essentially made in response to sources of anger, Toyoda has effectively been able to turn his this to art while it is still relevant. Giving the trio central signposts, such as Mount Resurrection Wolf and the Olympic Stadium, it has given him the base to build upon. The opening and closing segments amount to a single scene to convey a message, giving Toyoda a platform to express himself.
Working alongside a strong central cast across the trilogy, as well as close collaboration for the soundtracks, there is a consistency that runs through, with all onboard for the central messages. This also makes the Resurrection Trilogy greater than the sum of its parts and can be watched as one feature. While each has its key motivation, collectively they serve as a general anger towards modern Japan and its authorities.
Filmed in his trademark style, Toyoda has shown himself to be a political filmmaker, as well as stylish, making effective use of the traditional in combination with an angry modern Japan, as he proves himself a master of the cinematic music video.
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