Customer Reviews

9 Souls

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

9 Souls is truly a beautiful film. The film is reminiscent of the director's previous Blue Spring, yet is much larger scale and is a much more mature and personal piece of art. This is what makes the film so touching and captivating. It blends humor and drama skillfully, weaving emotions of happiness, nostalgia, regret and sorrow throughout. This is done in a very effective manner and makes the film stronger because this makes its emotions truer to life. For this reason, it is easy for the audience to relate to the film and its characters. Overall, this is a truly wonderful and mesmerizing film. Artsmagic DVD has done an excellent job with the transfer and sound quality, so this is also a high quality DVD which does the film justice.

There are many different MODERN types of films coming out of Japan today. Many viewers find these to be uninteresting, or maybe even a little bit pretentious. However, I like a lot of what I see in modern Japanese films. Some, in fact many, are not for everyone; but there are certain qualities that I like in much of modern Japanese cinema that I find lacking in most American films. Take for instance this film in question. I lent it to 10 friends, who like myself, love Japanese cinema. 5 liked the film, the other 5 did not. We basically all have the same tastes in common concerning are likes and dislikes in Japanese films. Therefore, while I found this film to be outstanding, as a word of caution, rent it first.

Quite frankly, I was not sure what to expect when I purchased this film when it was first released. I happen to buy a lot of Japanese films this way. Some are a hit, while others are a miss. This one was a 'grand-slam' to me. The film centers on 9 prisoners who have just escaped from prison. They are determined to find a stash of money hidden away by one of the inmates known as the 'counterfeit king.' Due to his unruly behavior, prior to the prison escape, he is left behind, as he has been taken away to solitary confinement. They are determined to find the stash of money that they believe will set them on their new path in life: Just one more chance, so the saying goes. But can they escape their own past deeds? Is there hope for redemption? Maybe, and maybe not. One views the run down neighborhoods and poverty in Japan that we in the west rarely see, or hear about.

As the films narrative proceeds in the begining, the viewer is given a little bit of slapstick comedy. Not too outlandish, just a bit of goofing off, and joy of these 9 escaped prisoners new-found freedom. But this is not meant to be a film without some retribution: as director Toshiaki Toyoda has driven a sharp divide right down the films center. What begins as a new life for these escaped prisoners, will eventually spiral into a dark abyss. The film gives the viewer great character development in the first half of the film. You get to know each of the characters: and they all give superb acting performances in their respective roles. Setting out together in their stolen red van, each of these characters meet up with their destiny: A destiny I might add that they themselves have chosen, for life is about choices. Right or wrong. As a warning, there is some violence and disturbing scenes in the film. However, I highly recommend the film.

While I love many modern Japanese (and other Asian) films, especially horror films, I did not care much for this one. The scene is set for us to know that each one of these nine souls is a violent and/or disturbed individual, with the sole exception of the doctor, and so the final path they take may not be so surprising. Without adding any spoilers, though, I must caution viewers that while the first half of the movie has many comic moments, the final half has many brutally violent and bloody scenes. While it makes perfect sense in the context of the movie, the overwhelming picture I would be given by the other reviews, including the lead review by Amazon, is that this is basically a comedy at heart. This movie is a tragedy in essence.

On that note it must be said, what is the message here? Sure, there need not be an overt message for a film to be enjoyable -- but it is evident that the director is attempting to convey a message of sorts. Unfortunately for me that weakens the film, because the comedic and warm moments of the story are shown to be a sort of mirage. Such moments will not last. Consequences to your actions are harsh, just like life.

The cinematography and music score are outstanding. I wanted very much to like the movie, but it's certainly not my cup of tea. If you enjoy the more violent modern movies, like those of Miike Takashi, you may like this one. If you prefer movies to be a little less so, as with those films by Kiyoshi Kurosawa, you may want to pass on this one.

I just finished watching 9 Souls just minutes ago and I must say this is an amazing movie, anybody who even remotely enjoyed Blue Spring's NEEDS to see this movie.

Stunning.

9 Souls (Toshiyaki Toyoda, 2003)

The premise of 9 Souls will sound familiar to many Americans over, roughly, twenty-five years old, as it's very close to the premise of Michael Keaton's 1991 comedy The Dream Team. The differences are that the escapees come from prison, rather than from a mental institution, and that, as the title would suggest, there are nine of them rather than four. The movie also wants to play this conceit as straight drama rather than screwball comedy, and in many ways that's its biggest failing. After all, there are many parts of this movie that border on the humorous, and had they slipped over the edge, it might have turned this mediocre offering into a really enjoyable film. It never gets there.

Toyoda (Hanging Garden) takes nine prisoners who find themselves in the same cell, has them plot to escape, do so, and then try to get back to something resembling normality while evading the cops. "Normal" differs for each of them; one finds solace in visiting a stripper for whom he'd performed an organ transplant some years before. One wants to get back to his fiancée. Another simply wants to find employment in a dumpling shop. There's a subplot about one of the prisoners, a counterfeiter, promising the group untold riches after he leads them to the "key to the universe", but while that seems to have been the original driving force of the movie, it takes a backseat to the lives of these characters.

I'm not saying 9 Souls is a bad movie. I'm just not sure it knows what it wants to be. It doesn't help that every major comparison I can come up with for it (all Japanese road movies, for example, put me in mind of the immortal Kikujiro) is a comedy, and so I keep coming back to the idea that this could have been a lot more lighthearted than it was. It's obvious Toyoda saw the potential for this, and a lot of the more dramatic scenes in the movie seem as if they would have had more weight had they been surrounded by a bit more humor. (I also don't want to make it sound like the movie is entirely humorless; it isn't, but it definitely aspires to high drama.) It's a decent movie, but one which feels like it could have been so much more. ***

9 Souls: 3 out of 10: Here is another great film critics will love. The problem is that it is not a very good movie.

The films premise is simple. 9 convicts escape a prison after the tenth one goes crazy and tells them where the treasure is. The first half has a lot of slapstick some of it very broad while the second half is a character driven descent into fantasy and melancholy. The two halves simply don't mix.

Individual scenes do work very well (The guys crashing a friends house who has a new Filipino bride is hilarious While a later scene with the big guy working in the restaurant tugs at the heartstrings.) They simply don't mesh together.

The movie is for one thing missing entire set-ups. One scene shows the guys desperately looking for change under a deserted vending machine to buy a snack. The very next scene has the whole crew in drag sitting down in a restaurant. Where did they get the dresses and wigs? (The crew includes both the big guy and a midget) How did they get all the clothes and money to buy the meal? And most puzzling is why are they in drag? They are clearly guys in drag and lets face it is there anything more memorable to witnesses than a big guy and a dwarf eating a meal dressed as women? I mention the big guy and the dwarf because besides the old guy everyone else seems to blend into each other. (In fact they wear matching white jumpsuits throughout most of the movie)

The movie has very little character development in the first half and as a result the second half really lacks an emotional punch. As we are often trying to figure out who is who in their individual payoff scenes.

Speaking of a drag the second half has all those wonderful sweeping camera shots and big emotional moments and great symbolism that makes a great film. It is also excruciatingly slow which makes for a boring movie.

9 Souls is a big disappointment, the reviews gush about a great film and it's in there somewhere, good luck finding it yourself.