Go

I had to watch this film for an university class. I liked how the main character was neither this nor that- He was neither Japanese, nor Korean. Neither South nor North. At the end of the movie he seems to accept that he is a Japanese born Korean, which shocked me. What shocked me more was that he was temperamental to all hell, but he was shown actually applying to schools and whatnot. While this movie does embody some patriarchal strains, to classify it as a "sterotypical Japanese" film would be incorrect as it is a movie told from a teenage boy's perspective. The quirks that the main female character has is a quality that endears her to him. Likewise, it is his ability to act out of context with societal roles that endears him to her. She admits to being attracted to his eyes after a fight- because they symbolized the wildness she sees in him. It's a sweet romantic film. Would I read deeper into it? No. Nice, sweet, fluffy and dramatic, but in the end it illicits the same "aw" if you can overlook the mixed in sadness, anger, and violence that subtly permeates the film.

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!

When I first saw this movie I was kind of turned off by it. It can be kind of confusing the first time around. But as with most good things it gets better with time and familiarity. The movie basically revolves around a Japanese born but fully north Korean teenager who struggles to find his place in society and come to terms with his tough father. As a Japanese-born Korean or "zainichi" he often feels alienated both by Korean and Japanese culture. The movie follows the trials and transformations in his life and his desire to find who he is and where he belongs. I think a lot of people who are the second or third generation of immigrant families will really get this movie. It's like being stuck between two worlds sometimes. But regardless of background people will be able to relate to the story (manic as it is). If you like say fight club, you will probably like this movie. There are quite a bit of action and fight sequences, a lot of introspection, and also romantic elements. The movie tends to segregate these elements to some extent which makes the film seem lop-sided but in the end everything balances nicely. This is probably one of my favourite movies, Japanese or otherwise.

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.

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".