Go

Go was a surprise at Berlin FilmFest. A wild - at times bloody - story about a guy from the North Korean community in Japan, who tries to find out what his roots are and where he belongs to. Sugihara speaks Japanese, he looks like an ordinary Japanese punk and has Japanese friends - but he is different. He feels alienated from his parents and his background, he hates the rigid rules at the North Korean college he is attenting (chanting, marching and being beaten up by a strictly communist teacher included), but he's got no clue how to meddle into Japanese society. So he does best provocating others much to the anger of his father a former boxer, who has very special methods of education. What most people don't know, there are strong reservations in Japan against the Koreans in the country, so in the course of the events Sugihara hits some walls, especially when he fells in love with a Japanese girl, and doesn't dare to tell her the truth. A strong example for "New Japanese Cinema". Watch out for this director!

It's not as fast-paced as you'd expect a movie called GO (remember ALL CAPS when you spell the film name) to be, but it's definitely effective as a mostly grounded coming-of-age drama with a few slightly surreal/heightened scenes here and there. It unpacks a type of prejudice you don't often see in film (or at least I haven't seen before), and I think it feels appropriately empathetic and is also pretty well-acted throughout.

There were some great moments throughout - just enough to keep my interest, even though I didn't find it to be the most absorbing thing 100% of the time. I think if you find yourself in the mood for something a little slower than most other movies out there, and like a good character-focused/coming-of-age drama every now and then, GO should scratch an itch; you should almost certainly GO ahead and watch it.

I love this movie. Not only is Yusuke Kubozuka the man but this movie is just done really really well. It is a very good combination of stylistically surreal scenes such as the basketball scene and the race against the train, along with a plot that delves into issues that are very prevalent in Japanese society. A good friend of mine has experienced quite a bit of this prejudice in Japan being of partially Korean descent. It's actually been a little while since I've seen the movie so I can't really comment on too much of the specifics, but I just remember it as being a very intense experience that came through on a number of levels, combining an interesting love story, cool action sequences, humor, social commentary, and a coming of age story all into one amazing movie. Also it was great to see the actor who played the father again because he was so cool back in "Tampopo".

I liked this movie, although I didn't love it. The film centers on the prejudice experienced by a Korean teenager living in Japan; he doesn't fit in with Koreans or the Japanese. But he utters many times in the film, "This is my love story," and while he does have a love interest, it is a rather small part. I liked how this film looked at the different tensions of race, life, and love.

The acting was pretty great. The lead actor was very convincing as the teenager who is conflicted between two identities. He overacted the last scene, but there is this one very beautiful scene where he just sits and talks to a police officer. It's pretty awesome: very simple and beautiful. Kou Shibasaki as his love interest is pretty good as well, and she won the Japanese equivalent of the Oscar for her role in this. She makes the most of the relatively short amount of screen time she has, and we can see why the main character would fall in love with her.

Not the best Japanese movie I've ever seen, but still pretty good. Worth your while. 7/10

It was rather good and I'm sure everyone has some idea of prejudice especially at school. Perhaps more in some countries and maybe especially in Japan that I know of. Unfortunately this rather happens in many Japanese films and this one is a bit too long. Yosuke Kubozuka is rather good as the bullied boy and his father Tsutomu Yamazaki who seems to like hitting lots of people and particularly his son and as with many films in this country much shouting as well. Kou Shibasaki is splendid as the young girl and is interested in the poor guy while we wonder if there will be something between them even if he is not of "pure" Japanese blood.