Rage(怒り) Japanese Film Thoughts(2016)

   Rage or Ikari( literally meaning Anger is Japanese) is a 2016 film directed by Sang il Lee. The film is based of the 2014 novel by Yoshida Shuichi, who also wrote the novel, Story of Yonosuke that also spawned a live action film. This film is the second time that Sang il Lee has directed a film based off of Yoshida's work. The first being Villain(Which also stars Tsumbuki Satoshi.) back in 2010. An all star cast consisting of Miyazaki Aoi, Ayano Gou, Tsumbuki Satoshi, Watanabe Ken, and Matsuyama Kenichi highlight Rage.

  A man commits a murder in a family's home then writes "Anger" on the wall in their blood. The murder then gets plastic surgery and runs away. Police are looking for the killer as three different men appear in different locations in Japan. People in each location think that the man in their area might be the killer.

   Rage opens with a lot of promise. The plot's method for creating a disturbing mystery murder was done well. After that the plot slowly starts to lose momentum. The viewer gets introduced to three sets of different characters that live completely different lifestyles only to have a mysterious man enter their lives. You are suppose to try to figure out which man is the kill but the plot isn't exciting enough to make the viewer even care enough to make the effort. So you just watch the film drag on until it gets to the middle point of the film. The maximum peak of conflict happens here as most of the characters go into fearful disarray at being involved with their mysterious man. Other little shock events happen before this time. Its just that the film is like a car that stops and goes. It's plot will gain momentum then slow down into boredom again. What's even worse is that the film pretty much gives you who did the killing before the ending, Making the conclusion fall on deaf ears. I was expecting a murder mystery with dark twists and turns. Instead I got a regular drama hidden by the aspect of murder. I would also like to state that I understood the central meaning of rage that this film was conveying. The actors and actresses did the best job bringing this idea to the forefront of the film. People do things based on their own selfish emotions and don't take other people into account. Murders do this all the time when they take someone's life. It really stems from issues inside of them that they need to resolve. Same goes for people that try to hurt others physically or mentally when the person being hurt hasn't done anything to them.

  I watched this film more so for the cast since I watched this film not knowing anything about the plot. Satoshi takes on a gay role as a man in a relationship with Gou's character. Sometimes is was hard to tell if they where friends with benefits or in a legit relationship. That whole step up was really strange but they acted well together. Satoshi more so than Gou to me. He was the driving force in a lot of their scenes together. I also felt an emotion connection to the his character wherein Gou's character gave little to no emotion for me to go off of. Probably because his character is supposed to be mysterious. Gou did well in trying to convince the audience that he might be the killer though. Kenichi pretty much goes back to playing a basic character that's introverted. There's not too much to say about his character except that he acts suspicious throughout the film. Aoi and Ken as father and daughter have way more screen time that eventually overshadows Kenichi's character presence. Good thing most of the dialogue between them after the midway point in the film is about his character. Both of them took it home with their talent. A few of their scenes really impressed me with the amount of raw emotion that was presented. Same goes for the other actors and actresses that I didn't name. Its a really emotional ride for every character involved in this film. You don't get the PG rated version of their experience either. Just a unfiltered performance of despair that causes rage.

   Rage was shot in threes different locations to meet the storyline of the novel. These places are Tokyo, Chiba, and Okinawa. Okinawa was the most interesting to look at solely because of the scenes when two of the characters go to a deserted(?) island. The island looks like something was there once upon a time but the area feels freaky now. Tokyo looks like the same city that appears in every single Japanese film. Nothing in the way that it was shot makes it look any different. Chiba looks like a country hick town compared to Tokyo. The difference in the two places is defiantly noticeable. The camera does a great job capturing the characters in their times of anguish. Circling around them and panning in on their face for strong emotional effect.

  The best things about Rage is it's cast and the fact that Tsumbuki Satoshi took on a gay role. Rage story wise, is a painful boring experience without the cast. I would say watch it if you like any of the cast but don't expect to be blown away. You won't be.