Reviews

The best Anti-Samurai film to be ever made...

Unemployment has always been a tragic consequence of change and modernisation. What if this situation occurred at a time when there was no pension, no unemployment benefits and the moral code was not able to keep up with the times?

To me Harakiri had elements of a job interview gone horribly wrong. Considering the past two pandemic years where a lot of people became jobless, this movie hits close to home and makes me feel really thankful that we live in different times.

Story:
The time is 1630 - Japan. We have a ronin (wandering unemployed samurai) Tsugumo, who goes to a clan house and requests permission to kill himself i.e commit Harakiri. The clan elder Saito tells him a story designed to discourage this but the tables are turned when Tsugumo skilfully humiliates the leader in front of his retainers.

This is an anti-establishment film that portrays the flawed bushido code hiding behind a facade of honour and morality. It depicts the tragic circumstances surrounding ritual suicide and provides a potent message which I think is relevant as long as authoritarian regimes exist in this world. We are all born into a system that influences our thinking and behaviour. Be it cultural or political, the system defines our actions and when we are faced with an ethical dilemma it can challenge what we think to be right or wrong. A similar situation forces Tsugumo to give up his ideals and deal with it in the only way he knows - sepukku/ harakiri.

The story is poignant and the thought evoking screenplay by acclaimed screenwriter Shinobu Hashimoto is brought to life by Kobayashi in an extremely mesmerising narrative structure with some beautiful stills and graceful cinematography by Yoshio Miyajima.

Acting:
Tatsuya Nakadai as Tsugumo delivers a flawless performance. His calm demeanour in the initial sequence really brings in the sombre mood of the film.
Mikuni Rentaro does a splendid job as Saito. The acting in this film overall is superb but the direction by Kobayashi elevates this film to brilliance.

Overall:
There are a lot of symbolic shots during the opening and closing sequences that reflect the tarnished glory of feudal Japan. History is written by the victors and the ending shot of the samurai armour sears it into the minds of us viewers as it brings forth the hypocrisy of feudal Japan.

With a brilliant screenplay, an amazing director and the wonderful acting of every cast member, this is undoubtedly one of the most thought provoking samurai film to be ever made!
A solid 10 from me.

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Don't get your hopes up and you'll be fine

You know that thing you can't say it's bad but you can't say it's good either? That's exactly what this is.

The problem is mainly the plot. It tries to get sci-fi but if you came for the sci-fi stuff, you'll be disappointed. It's very shallow, as the whole story honestly, cause they tried to squeeze too much in little time. The acting wasn't the best either - the villain was cringey and Yamazaki Kento was a little off.. and that comes from the person who watches ANYTHING because of him (like this exact movie).

Overall, I wouldn't recommend this movie, but if you're a Yamakento (or other cast) fan then it's an ok watch.

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Nonsensical and over-the-top

I get the appeal of an alpha FL/beta ML dynamic but this was not the way I wanted it to be done; the power dynamic was just way too one-sided and it made the relationship seem more physically and emotionally abusive than funny. Despite the ending (which was a nice touch) I felt like the female lead's personality was air-headed and high-maintenance to the point of being just downright unlikeable and annoying.

The plot was actually quite fun for most of it (especially the way they met) but as the plot progressed it kind of lost me; it felt like there was no plot, and sometimes things happened that felt either nonsensical or unnecessary.

This is a light-hearted watch for sure but I'm not sure it aged well.

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Short films are usually say 45 minutes. Although it is 45 minutes short film it is incredibly great that Koki Kimura did an amazing job for somebody who have no acting background, but only modelling background.

She is huge in Asia these last 3 years and her market in fashion modelling grew in Europe and US.

Mitsuki Kimura was born on February 5, 2003 in Tokyo, Japan to actor Takuya Kimura and singer Shizuka Kudo.[2] She had taken lessons in piano and flute,[3] and won the Excellence Award at the 23rd Yamano Junior Flute Contest.[4] She attended The British School in Tokyo and is fluent in English

She model for SamSung, Gucci, Valentino, ELLE, Channel, etc.

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Everyone should watch this

I am watching this on 1.1.2022. I mention this because it was wonderful to start my year off with such a powerful, profound movie. It is basically a story about whether reunification is a possibility. On one side you have people who have surmounted the propaganda issued on both sides of Korea, and realize that people are people, and the other side, who have been so indoctrinated with the propaganda that all they can see is an enemy.

In using the term “side”, I am not speaking particularly of North or South Korea, but of people in general. Although we mostly attribute this discussion to North and South Korea, still in 2022 it is applicable here in the U.S. Will we eventually become just like the Korea’s….some people so entrenched in hate that they have chosen to typify anyone who does not match up to their own agenda….as enemies? It is a real possibility here…and in this movie it shows the ramifications of such thinking.

I was moved to tears…seeing that the end game of this type of divisional thinking….leaves lives scarred so traumatically that they can not move on emotionally. Then survivors, ones who could move on…..often pass their hatred on to further generations and so it never ends.

It is beyond my capability to understand how South Korea has allowed the U.S. government to tear apart a whole country; that they would give allegiance to another country who literally slaughtered millions of their countrymen, instead of embracing their own peoples, their own culture. To me, it isn’t as simple as choosing communism or so-called democracy - that is just an excuse, a rationalization. Millions died during the Korean War and yet South Korea chooses the U.S. as their father instead of embracing the rest of their country. It saddens me no end. There are families on both sides that have not seen their families in decades.

Watching this movie will perhaps remind you of the important things that are really at stake in this situation.

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“You said you wanted to turn back the time”

‘Love Buzz’ is one of those short films you happen to come across once every blue moon that makes you want to scratch your head in confusion—not because there is anything inherently wrong with the plot but because it’s baffling how a plot like this only received the green light for a 29 minute film.

☞ PLOT

‘Love Buzz’ starts off with a wacky premise. A boy travels back in time to help his ‘mom’ meet his ‘dad’ and eventually fall in love. I was a bit worried when I started this but as the film goes on the plot started to unravel. I was very much reminded of the 2019 Taiwanese drama ‘Someday or One Day’ and the 2019 Korean drama ‘Tomorrow with You’ as I watched this. I’m trying to make this as spoiler free as possible so I won’t dive into the details but it definitely is reminiscent of those dramas. Despite its short length, it does a good job of mixing the time travel element with the romance and comedy. The only true compliant I have about the plot is that I wish it was longer because it was rushed in the last 10 minutes. I’m surprised that ‘Love Buzz’ did not get a sequel or, at the very least, a 12-16 full length follow up. If an A List all star cast was included in this film than it definitely would have garnered more attention. The plot is solid but the time constraint makes it hard for it to actually flourish. Still, this was one of the better paced short films I have seen.

☞ CAST
No complaints from me. Choi Ji Hui had a certain charm that made Ji Woo captivating. Lee Han Ik as Woo Jin was just as captivating, as was Bae In Hyuk (it was fun seeing his earlier works since I last saw him in My Roommate is a Gumiho).

☞ PRODUCTION
I did have a problem with the editing. There was a lot of quick cuts and cut aways which I was not a fan of. Surprisingly, despite the weird editing the pacing and plot was cohesive. If the editing was sharper I would have given this a higher score

☞ OVERALL
‘Love Buzz’ was a solid short film that i immensely enjoyed. I’m kind of bitter there was never a follow up sequel or a full length drama because there is still so much to explore plot wise. If you have 30 minutes free and want to watch a cute, heartwarming, and funny time travel film than check this out! I’ll probably end up rewatching this fairly soon just to see if I missed anything the first time around

☞ 8.5/10 ★’s

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Yikes, didn’t expect it to be this disturbing

Came across this movie because of LJS, and wanted to see him in a negative role and wow I got ore than what I bargained for. VIP is an unsettling movie that makes you question if this much gore was really necessary. The plot is fairly decent, a little bit confusing in the beginning with respect to the timelines but once you figure out the characters there clarity. The cast does a pretty good job and Lee Jong Suk takes it to another level with his feeling less stares. I appreciated the fact that they didn’t glorify him or his actions which could have easily happened. At various points we get to see him as someone pathetic who deserves to be punished for his sick actions. Overall a decent movie, there’s lots of trigger warnings but (rape, murder, torture) so watch it if you can put up with such heavy content.

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Meaningful Overall

This is a very slow moving movie. One thing I will say, is the acting is the best I’ve seen, especially the child. The story, although slow, had a deep meaning that involves acceptance of yourself, and how much it means to you. It left me with mixed feelings. I didn’t particularly like the ending, although I read it as the characters moving on in their life. Like of a re- birth, so to speak. It is worth watching it for the superb acting. But as I mentioned at the outset, it is VERY slow moving, with many conversations and scenes that should have been shorter. I would call it a BL, but more implications of a BL. But if it was more physical, it wouldn’t have fit the story.

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Gripping, emotional storyline.

For over a year I battled to see where to watch this movie, until I eventually stumbled on it in Dramacool and gave it the attention I'd wanted to give it for long. And honestly, this movie is a BOMB. The love triangle is intensely captured. Imagine, chief and the king, with the former growing up under the latter and the latter loving the former from their formative years...and Chief, even as a kid, saying the best person is one who would lay his life down for the king. Reading through comments here I can see people berating the king and hating on him, but in this instance I feel he did what he had to do given the circumstances. I do not applaud it, but I understand it, and him. Furthermore, with the introduction of sex between the Chief and Queen, we see Chief opening up to a new, strange love he'd never witnessed and also being sad about it; he did go to the queen, then sleep next to the king and cuddled him, with tears leaking from his eyes. That was a sign that he loved this man, and he felt sad and confused about loving another. Then the anger, the sense of betrayal, the brutal punishment meted out, are all mind blowing. For me, chief did really love King, even though he told him otherwise in his last moments, to deeply hurt him. I know I would say the same, in the same circumstances... But the love remained there, as, even as he lay dying, he turned to King, in those very last, dying moments he had. That, dears, was love right there.

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Would it have?

This was amazing to watch this was heartwarming and bittersweet at the same time

I enjoyed listening to all the songs and the last one especially was probably the saddest song. My favourites would probably be stand by me and sayonara. When sota joined with the last two lines they both sounded amazing.

The ending has me in tears a whole river. i watched it today and rewatched the ending about twice already and it always ends up with me crying.

Especially since the song I kinda feel like when aki was singing it was about sota before they switched back. I feel like when aki was singing sayonara it was about sota and him after they met and all their journeys they had together.

I feel so bad for aki. I was hoping for him to be standing at the end but in the end he wasn’t it’s as if he finally found peace and could let go.

I feel like when sota’s spirit ( when they switched) was in the crowd I could see that he could see him fading away even though they barely knew each other or even met they had grown a beautiful friendship. It looked like sota quite didn’t want him to go.

I still can not get over his spirit leaving in the end when he was singing. The last song will always make me cry honestly it’s amazing but quite sad at the same time

I wonder if sota met aki earlier would that have changed things? Would it have ended the same way? Would it have ended differently? Would aki still end up dead?

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