Genome Hazard is a film that was directed by Kim Sung Su and has a Korean/Japanese crossover cast of Nishijima Hidetoshi, Kim Hyo Jin, Maki Yoko, and Nakamura Yuri. The film was released in Japan and then South Korea respectively and is based on the Japanese novel of the same name. I knew nothing about this film until I was looking around the internet for a movie that stared Nishijima.
A man returns home one day to find his wife dead in their home. Candles are all over the floor and the house is silent. The man seeks the help of a South Korean reporter to help him find the truth behind his wife's death as his memories began to slip away.
Reading what I wrote as a short plot summery, This film is a mixture of the J drama Mozu and detective Galileo novel. Science has a part to play in the plot too. You would think any film named Genome Hazard would have to do with science. Right? People who hate science shouldn't groan at this film just yet though. Its pacing leaves no time for you to twiddle your thumbs while watching. The ending result plays out in the beginning of the film so the viewer is left wondering how the characters got to that situation. Things start off gripping you then holding you by the collar for a long period of time. Once the main conflict is established, You along with the characters get constantly taken of detours. These detours have to do with constant memory altering. It really puts you into question whats real and what was something you thought you saw. Then the plot leads you to scenes of high speed chases that consist of our main character on the run from random people who want to capture him. Sometimes, he's running on foot. Sometimes, he's driving in a car. I found myself rooting for him to get away because these scenes bring nail bitting tension. Rooting for the hero is always the right thing to do as well. Plots like these feel like they grab you then shake you around constantly. Whats that saying again? "I give you an inch then you give me a mile." I'm not sure if I used that phrase correctly but this film lets you have a little control to make you think you have the plot figured out before it throws you off balance with those memory loss sequences and the contradicting information the reporter finds.
The film shoot takes the characters from Japan to Seoul, South Korea. I liked the difference in transition from place to place. You just don't have a lot of time to take it in. Every shot isn't really about the scenery at all. Instead the surrounding is used to show to terror that the main character is experiencing. The camera angle does crazy shifts in movement such as spinning around in a circle. I did also really like the set on location chosen for the chase scenes. The director had Nishijima jumping down large flights of stairs or either climbing up a glass roof on a tall apartment building.
I felt that this film was more of a Japanese film than a Korean one. Yes, the director is Korean however other Korean directors have directed Japanese films that still felt very Japanese. It more has to do with the talent of the cast than the film itself. Japanese is the primary language in this film for one thing. Actress Kim Hyo Jin isn't a fluent Japanese speaker. None would ever know from the way she speaks Japanese with confidence of someone who is fluent. Her character is Korean, a trait about her character the is cited more than once during the film. She goes speaks Korean during times that she is frustrated or when she meets other Korean people in Japan. Her personality is sassy, easy to anger, but willing to help as long as she gets a story out of the events that unfold. Nishijima Hidetoshi's character was a mess throughout this film. I felt sorry for him.... really sorry for him. He acts like an Alzheimer's patient thats also on crack. Hidetoshi can act like his life depends on it given the right role. One of the reasons I'm such a huge fan of his. While in character, the facial expressions and actions felt so grieve stricken that I had no choice but to believe his performance. His Korean sucks by the way.[INSERT ME LAUGHING] Still trying to understand how Kim Hyo Jin who learned Japanese for three weeks before shooting sounds almost fluent while Hideotoshi sounds like a foreigner speaking short Korean phrases.(He sounds a little better towards the end of the film.) It was really funny among other things. They had a strange sort of like you hate you chemistry that was included among the other things that were funny to watch. They could have had romantic chemistry but the mood kept getting ruined by problems caused by the appearance of other characters. Maki Yoko and Nishijima Hidetoshi worked together on Mozu the same year of their film's release so their chemistry felt familiar to me. I would like to see Hidetoshi do a lighthearted role in the future. He's been doing a lot of police/detective characters over the years.
Genome Hazard was a engaging film to watch from start to finish. The later half of the film does follow the typical Japanese story route and uses the same old cliches to tie up the storyline. However, the ending leaves room for the viewer to have an open discussion about its meaning. I had a lot of questions after seeing the ending. Very fun film to watch if you like Japanese cinema.
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