Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Too much of an Enigma..., June 10, 2007
BLACK KISS(original title: SYNCHRONICITY) is from Japanese director Makato Tezuka, son of anime legend Osamu Tezuka(Astro Boy, Kimba the white lion). The son has yet to fill his father's shoes, in his previous film, Hakuchi the idiot, he still leans towards rambling, overly long, stylish visuals, unsupported by a coherent plot or substance.
The following may contain spoilers:
The story begins when Asuka(Reika Hashimoto), an aspiring model in Tokyo is looking for a place to stay. Asuka is introduced by one of the production assistants in a modeling firm, Kasumi decides to let her stay with her. Kasumi(Kaori Kawamura) at first is unfriendly, with her own baggage of issues. Across the street is the Bats Hotel, (Bates motel inspired?), from the window she witnesses a man being cut up with a scalpel by a petite woman. (which is actually the climax of the opening sex scene)Upon the police's arrival at the scene, they find a severely dissected man with roses stuck in his eyes. After she witnesses this crime, Asuka's troubles begin, ironically, as well as her popularity.
A series of coincidental murders begin to occur. Mutilated bodies with voodoo symbols gets mailed to the police, stuffed animals with body parts and mutilated heads, all with a black "Kiss mark". The murdered fashion models all seem to hold a link to Kasumi.
Spoilers end here...
The movie seems to lack discipline. I couldn't really figure out which direction it wants to go, is it a dark drama, mind-bender or horror thriller? It was some very gruesome scenes which should suggest a splatter fest, but it loses its effect when beautified by colors and décor, perhaps this is what the director intended, to express a twisted idea. There is also a lack of character development, there are definitely wasted opportunities with the cult expert and the paparazzi(Masanobu Ando, Battle Royale). There is a lot of visual flare and eye candy(the women are hot), but the plot itself is unable to hold your interest for 133 minutes. From its very sexy and bloody opening it continues with a lot of drama, then goes into mild, mediocre thriller, then some more drama, sprinkled with an occasional, brief horror of new-found corpses of irrelevant side-characters. It steals formulas from SE7EN, Audition and Silence of the Lambs. It fails to build on the tension and suspense to hold a viewer's attention on this type of film.
Kaori Kawamura is the saving grace of this film, she is very convincing, as someone who went through a lot of bitterness in life, unfortunately, her character gets lost for a while during the police investigations plot. Cute Reika Hashimoto's acting is a bit bland, while Ken Mitsuishi(Audition) and Masanobu Ando are really wasted.
PICTURE: Anamorphic widescreen (1.85 ratio). The technical aspect is matchless. From its radiant colors, deep blacks(where needed) and sharpness. I have no complaints with the picture, truly top-notched. Kudos to Media Blasters/Tokyo Shock.
AUDIO/SUBTTITLES: 2.0 Dolby digital in Japanese language. I don't think 5.1 channels are needed here, the 2.0 track did sound very exceptional. The subtitles are well executed.
Features: Very much needed Deleted scenes and Director interviews, trailers, Stills/gallery, tokyo shock trailers. (I wished it had an alternate ending)
Tezuka has a good eye for visuals which helps make this film bearable, its his lack of story-telling that kind of makes me grind my teeth. The film itself lacked closure, it has one of the most frustrating endings in Japanese horror-thrillers. Is the identity/motive of the killer revealed? Is it really?!
BLACK KISS remains a mixture of very interesting parts which doesn't coalesce to an effective, at least interesting whole, it is watchable.. but only for its flamboyant style.
Check it out, rent it first if you can, I intend to watch it again w/out my friend's distracting questions.
A weak 3 stars for the film(a bit better than 2, so I'll be generous), 4 stars for the dvd quality.
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2.0 out of 5 stars
Murder Models, July 17, 2008
Director Tezuka Makato is a guy with a lot of ideas. Too many ideas, as it turns out, and he is unable to weave all of his ideas together into a cohesive film. What you are left with is a rambling mess of storylines, none of which is particularly bad, and almost any of which could have been pulled out and stretched into a decent flick. As it stands "Black Kiss" is a frustrating and ultimately unsatisfying film.
The first part of the film is the best. A sexy murder mystery, it has all the necessary components. The victims and victims-to-be are all beautiful fashion models, and Tezuka makes sure they have plenty of screen time to reel you in. To kick things off a brutal and elegant locked-door murder is served up, which introduces us to the rumpled police detective who will hunt down the killer, and a retired police officer with an interest in the occult to serve as his mentor and advisor. Everything is good so far, but then suddenly derails into a class/buddy film, as two of the models, both half-Japanese, learn to live with each other as roommates even though their social conditions are so different. The punker and the princess motif. Kind of remembering that this is supposed to be a murder mystery, the film then further jumps tracks as the killer is revealed, and suddenly everyone is in long leather jackets and we are on the set of The Matrix. At this point, the finale elicits laughs rather than shivers, because the whole thing is just too bizarre. Wrapped around all of these separate parts is an existential discussion on fate, which lends the film its original name, Synchronicity, but doesn't fit into anything else going on.
The killer of the film, a serpentine and preternatural figure called Black Kiss, was visually cool, and could have been a film by himself. The two main girls, Kaori Kawamura and Reika Hashimoto, were both incredible, and could have been a film by themselves. In fact, all of the actors, many of them quite famous and veterans of the Japanese film industry, did a great job, and the fault for this failure must lie solely on the shoulders of the director. One wonders if he was able to assemble and misuse such a tremendous cast based on the respect given to his famous father, the "God of Manga" Tezuka Osamu.
The DVD for "Black Kiss" only helps to show what a failure this movie is. There is a collection of deleted scenes, most of which should have been left in and supply lots of "Ah-ha" moments for the convoluted script. Two interviews with the director show the heights of his hubris, as he explains his intentions and outlines the plot of the film and his vision. Clearly, Tezuka wants to be David Fincher or David Lynch, but he just doesn't have the talent.
And a word of caution to any directors: Any 133 minute film that then requires an additional half-hour of the director explaining what it is you just saw in order for the audience to understand, probably needs to be re-thought and re-edited. In fact, the identity of the killer is revealed in the director's interview, and not in the movie itself. That just doesn't work for me.
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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An interesting tale, December 22, 2007
Summary
A young and budding model (Asuka) is looking for a place to stay and someone at work offers to help. She stays with Kazumi a dark girl who has a chip on her shoulder. While staying there Asuka witnesses a brutal murder and the police need to find out who it is before more people die.
Personal Observations
I was told about this film by a friend and it was hard to find. I finally got found it and I was very impressed. I thought I could figure it out but everytime I thought I had it something else happened. The murders are interesting and you will always be at the edge of your bed or seat. The acting is great and the filming has awesome shots. This movie is a must have for anyone looking for a good thrill. This box also comes with another small disc with small stuff on it. I don't want to give it away.
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DVD ~ Ryuhei Matsuda
DVD ~ Gianna Jun
DVD ~ Masumi Miyazaki
DVD ~ Tatsuya Fuji
DVD ~ Asami
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