Survive Style 5+

Survive Style 5+ actually has nothing to do with anything otaku, but it is Japanese and an incredibly entertaining movie.

    This full length feature film was in theaters in Japan in 2004 and is incredibly hard to classify.  The movie is five separate stories that end up interacting with each other over its course.  The first story deals with a man who kills his wife, only to have her return from the dead to kick his ass.  He keeps killing her and she keeps coming back.  The second story deals with a woman who works as a commercial developer whose eccentric ad ideas don't please her clients.  She is married to a cocky magician whom she loathes, so much so, she hires an assassin to kill him.  The third story deals with said assassin, a thuggish Brit with a panache for existentialism.  The assassin is played by none other than Vinnie Jones (Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels & Snatch).  Along with his unwound translator/agent they ruffle the feathers of everyone they come across with their brashness.  The fourth story deals with three petty crooks who seem to be more like stoners that only break into peoples houses when they have the munchies.  The fifth story deals with a nuclear Japanese family that runs into trouble when the father is permanently hypnotized to think he's a chicken by the ad execs magician husband.

    This film is funny, off the wall and unlike anything you have ever seen.  It is incredibly well shot and the detail put into it is unbelievable.  Aside from the fact it takes place in Japan, was filmed in Japan and is mostly in Japanese you would swear it was American.  From an American style suburb to the rusted out station wagon the man in the first story drives to one of the burglars love of the NFL team the Packers.  At times the movie feels like Pulp Fiction or Snatch or even A Fish Called Wanda.    The director has an amazing sense for symbolism.  I try to avoid the word stylish...but this film really is pretty damn stylish.  The movie does seem to lose its luster in the second half, with most of the really fun scenes taking place in the first hour.  The end turns to an introspective tone and just ends.  There is no epic revelation or massive climax.  The stories close; the brief chapters we are allowed to view and its done, no fanfare, just a point to stop telling the stories and go about with something else.

    Part of the quality of the movie is in the actors themselves, all of which are memorable and standout.  My favorites would be the assassins interpreter and the man trying to kill his wife.  There are long moments in the film were there is no dialog but the choreography and the actors fully immersed in their characters rolls make these segments some of the best.

   All in all this is an excellent film.  It is clever,entertaining and beautiful.  I would argue this as being one of the best pieces of cinema to come out of Japan ever...it is unlike anything else.

    The movie though is a bit hard to come by.  It was never released in North America and subtitled copies are hard to come by.  If you can find it, pick it up and enjoy.