Liverleaf

"Liverleaf" could have been a whole lot better. It just goes on for so much longer than it needs to that you completely lose interest, and the violence, which is probably the film's main draw, just gets tiresome.

The movie makes you wait quite a while for its first foray into amateur surgery, and it is truly shocking. But after a while it just becomes dull. Material that should pack more of a punch does not, because you get so used to the blood and guts that you stop taking it seriously.

The plot is about a girl who attends a small rural school in Japan, where she is sadistically bullied by the other girls. Even her father is assaulted by boys at the school when he meets with one of her teachers.

The movie COULD have been a kind of meditation on bullying and revenge, and at times it feels like it's trying for that. But it's far too long, and far too violent, to really take seriously, and whatever moments of seriousness are fleeting.

Before the movie even gets 15 minutes in, it is already difficult not to feel bad for Haruka. The bullies are relentless, and the teachers do nothing to help as the school will be closing in one year, and they want to "maintain the peace".

Her parents are absolutely disgusted by this, and try to console her, and keep an eye out by going to look for her if she doesn't get home at her usual time. They even tell her she can quit attending the school as the burden has grown so intense. Haruko's parents are very loving, as is her sister who always keeps an eye out for her. When offered the opportunity to quit going to school, she accepts it, but this only ends up shifting the bullying to another person.

After a few days of being away from school, Haruko and Mitsuru, the only person who stands up for her at school, go out together. During which time, the person who has now fallen victim to the bullying sets her house on fire, killing her beloved parents, and injuring her sister greatly.

That is essentially the synopsis and beginning fleshed out, after that, the story truly begins. As you can imagine, the rest of the movie is a complete revenge flick once she truly snaps.

When she does snap, it is something that makes the viewer think, "you go Haruka!". The antagonists were written for us to hate them, for us to side with Haruka. Morals go out the window when you are dealing with things this intense, and that is probably why the writers wrote the antagonists to be such easy to hate characters.

While she was essentially a very caring, compassionate, and strong young woman prior to this all, once this happened she became a truly intense force with no intention of stopping until she has exacted her revenge.

There are a few surprises in the movie to say the least, despite how straightforward the plot is. One of the twists is a bit smaller, but still interesting and explains some things, and the other twist is much bigger. This twists ends up leading to an even more unexpected ending. These kinds of movies obviously don't have happy endings, so don't expect to be smiling after this is over!

Revenge horror films are not uncommon in any country. There are plenty of them made in many countries, but Japan can really take it to the next level with revenge flicks usually. I mean, realistically many J-Horror are revenge flicks in a sense given that even in ghost movies it is for revenge. Revenge and vengeful spirits plays a major role in Japanese horror and psychological movies.

Gore wise, it does get fairly gory at some parts, but nothing too intense like certain another movies...

As for the acting, most of the actors did pretty good.

Cinematography wise, the element of snow and blood went quite nicely together, but the snow in general made it more atmospheric.

There could have definitely been more atmospheric setup if some music was implemented...That part in particular is a let down, because some unsettling music would've really helped to make the atmosphere more intense. The music is very subtle and almost nonexistent. Honestly, I'd probably give this 9 stares if there had been a more of a soundtrack. Like I stated, it really has very little music, and none really serves to highlight the intensification of the story.

It is a good movie, but I'm not sure how soon I'll be re-watching it! As you can imagine, such films are ones you have to be in the mood for, or just checking out, or showing to someone else, etc. If I am ever in the revenge flick mood though, this will probably be on the list of what to watch!!

It's extremely upsetting to see how few people have reviewed this movie. I only recently watched it due to seeing a certain scene with a camera. I was extremely happy to see the depth this plot went to with juts shear violence

llike literally if you enjoy seeing blood gore and all that jazz like you literallly NEED to watch this movie. The lack of people reviewing this movie is kinda dissapointining though like ym yes like i wish more people like um reviewed it because like not enough of you are like review this film because it's user reviews are like TOO low for how good it is like wth are yall doinbng.

I haven't read the graphic novel on which this film is based so I am judging on its own.

The film contains the usual Japanese-style over-the-top bordering psychotically cruel bullying. Until one day the little cretins tormenting main character Nozaki cross the line and payback time comes around.

While the movie is graphic and gory enough to prevent a slip into boredom, viewers not used to Japanese cinema will have to really grit their teeth to stick with it, as the characters' reactions to violence and pain is characteristically Japanese: whether poked, prodded, or stabbed, they react with mute astonishment and passive inaction. Who stands and screams when they know they're next up on the chopping block? Answer: only people in Japanese movies. The only thing that saves it is the unrestrained gore.

But even the bloodbaths in the movie don't prevent it from testing your patience. At this running length, it really overstays its welcome. I had to repeatedly jump through snooze-inducing parts where a character is walking in the snow or reminiscing over good old times or just having a pointless conversation.

Japan horror movies never been associated as ordinary. They came with a sense of twisting mind and often involved violence in blood, graphic, and some others in stylized way. Liverleaf follows an easy narrative that has been implemented in numerous revenge horror movies, with some twists to give some depth unlike Hollywood movies in that subgenre (ex. The Last House on the left, I Spit on Your Grave).

Liverleaf told a revenge story from a bullied teenage girl named Nazomi when her family is burned alive in their house. The story takes simplest of premise you could take, but in 2 hours of the movie, this movie also give the characters a story, something that seldom happened to a revenge film. The humanization of the characters, including the homeroom teacher's odd behavior, the silence of a girl who just witnessed the bullying, and the backstory of some bulliers, reveal much about a life full of hardships in the small town. Some of them are quite petty, but the backstory gives a sense of reason to the plot. Honestly, some of them are quite forced, because at the same time it feels weird to know that the class is filled by corrupted minds. Who must take the blame? This question probably can't be answered correctly by us, or by the characters.

In a way, this movie gives a new fresh addition to a revenge story. Sometimes it is good to have a revenge movie that only involves blood, but I never expected that gives a prolonged sequence of background gives a reality and reason that I never know needed by the subgenre.