Aragami

Aragami is Ryuhei Kitamura's film which was shot with a few rules in some sort of Japanese Director's Challenge (The other was Yukihiko Tsutsumi's 2LDK). Some rules were that the films must be of feature length and shot within one week (Aragami was filled in 8 days). The movie must take place within one room with 2 competitors fighting to the death.

Originally, I found out about this movie after watching 2LDK and found out about this challenge. I thought it was an interesting concept and would like to see how some of today's American directors could tackle such a project. Although I liked 2LDK, Aragami was simply the better movie. At times, the style and dialog (or lack of) reminded me of something from Quentin Tarantino.

The very basic plot is that Aragami (Masaya Kato), who, incidentally, is the God of Battle, challenges a samurai (Takao Osawa) to a fight to the death. Aragami is tired of living and can not commit suicide nor die of old age or other natural causes. He must be killed in battle, as he is the God of Battle. He immortalizes the samurai by feeding him his deceased friend's liver and the fight was on.

Surprisingly, this basic plot did not seem to drag on for too long and was just about the right length. The fight scenes, mostly involving swords, were pretty good and at times, the dialog was humorous. This is a good recommendation if you know what you are getting yourself into.

Made in one set, with three principal actors, and over seven days, Aragami impresses far more than the more immature Versus. Setting himself the task of shooting an action movie in one room (itself a possible contradiction in terms) the constraints ultimately make for a much more satisfying and engrossing experience than his previous, overrated breakthrough film - which was too carelessly off the wall and derivative to impress this viewer. As a project Aragami also contrasts strongly with the much more opened out Azumi (another personal favourite), which replaced the gloomy interiors and philosophising of Aragami with something much more kinetic and light hearted.

At heart Aragami is a film about knowing who you are, and both Osawa (who has since appeared in the less concentrated Sky High) and Masaya Kato are excellent in roles which, like chamber music, leave every flaw in performance likely to be exposed. Obviously written at speed, the film's pay off could have been more enlightening (but perhaps a touch of obscurity in this sort of thing is a benefit, especially at a time when Hollywood genre efforts typically feel obliged to spell everything out), but fans won't argue too much and interpretations are easy to make. The wonder of the film is that the director was able to stage and direct two action scenes - one short, one more extended - with such gusto and convincing moves, given the tight shooting schedule and limitation of the set, while still allowing himself time for empathetic set ups during slower moments. It requires the ingenuity and confidence of a Roger Corman to bring this thing off, raising such stuff above straight-to-video fodder, and Kitamura succeeds magnificently.

Ignore those who claim the film is 'too talky', for none of the chat is wasted (there's none of the narrative indulgence seen in the recent Sky High, for instance), the actors have enough presence to carry it off, and time spent with them never palls. Over 79 minutes nothing drags, and the changing relationship between the samurai and the goblin provide constant interest. The developing duel between the two principals neatly reflects back to the friendly rivalry between Kitamura and his fellow director Tsutsumi which originally initiated the film. If you are tired of bloated Hollywood mega-buck productions and want to get back to the basics of purposeful dialogue, imaginative stageing and thought-through editing - in short, lean, popcorn pumping cinema - then this is a film you need to see.

I have to hand it to producer Kawai Shinya, he had a brilliant idea. It's the sort of unconventional if not outright innovative challenge that modern cinema desperately needs more of: giving filmmakers a small prompt and a tight set of conditions by which to make a full-length feature. In the case of Kitamura Ryuhei, that challenge - two actors, one setting, one week to shoot and wrap - resulted in this chanbara contribution to Kawai's "Duel Project," replete with elaborate costumes, set design, and even hair and makeup. That's certainly in keeping with what I've seen of Kitamura's other Japanese films, connoting a propensity for being Extra (see also 'Azumi,' and 'Godzilla: Final wars'), and surely extends even to the man's direction, and to choices of lighting and cinematography, and definitely to considerable post-production embellishments and use of pathetic fallacy. As the minutes tick by the indulgence only becomes more apparent, not least as dialogue alone fills a surprising amount of the length, and further includes Morino Nobuhiko's music of electronic beats and electric guitar, the editing, and the script that Kitamura penned with Takatsu Ryuichi.

All this is to say that even under the boundaries suggested by Kawai, 'Aragami' undeniably remains Kitamura's brainchild. To be honest, in this case I could have done with a build that was more direct and to the point, significantly cutting back on the excess and giving the filmmaker and his style even stricter guidelines. It's not that there aren't worthy thoughts in that surprising amount of dialogue that fills a full two-thirds of the runtime, but with all due respect, Kitamura isn't a director who can achieve success with the ostensibly ruminative drama of straight conversation. What might theoretically be more pensive, or at least more interesting, and carry more weight under the auspices of a master like Kobayashi Masaki, Inagaki Hiroshi, or Yamada Yoji, instead feels cheeky, playful, and far less than serious, more closely resembling Miike Takashi, or - dare I say it - the 'Mortal Kombat' flicks of the 90s. There's nothing wrong with that, nor with trying one's hand at something different, but as the majority of this small movie is one of dialogue and not action, or more generally something well suited to stylization, a director who almost exclusively operates in genre fare struggles to make that dialogue work.

And the simple fact of the matter is that while the notion set forth by Kawai is very clear, Kitamura's concept nevertheless withholds satisfaction of it for an awfully long time, without much to truly show for it up to that point. With all this said, the long-awaited duel to come in the last third is pretty swell, with sharp stunts and choreography, and some nice little touches throughout and even leading up to it. I don't know if the final moments at the end were necessary, but they are also well in keeping with what Kitamura has done elsewhere. I can't say that 'Aragami' isn't duly well made, with fine contributions from all all involved, cast and crew alike. I appreciate what the filmmaker wanted to do here. I'm just not convinced that he was the man for the job; either his screenplay needed to be more trim and action-oriented to suit his strengths, or another filmmaker should have undertaken direction in his stead. We get what we came for, ultimately, and I do like this title. For something light and fairly short, I'd happily give it a soft recommendation. I just also easily recognize its shortcomings, however, and given the nature of Kawai's challenge, maybe those shortcomings are all the more glaring in turn. Check it out if you like, and have fun with it, and I especially commend all those who specifically lent to the action - but don't go out of your way for it, and in saving it for a quiet day with tempered expectations, maybe that's the best way to get the most out of 'Aragami.'

The director of VERSUS is back, and this time he gives us an old-school samurai sword-fighting flick. ARAGAMI was apparently made in 7 days as a challenge with a fellow director. Its minimalistic to the extreme: 3 actors, one big room as the only location, a plot structure as simple as it gets: dialogue - fight - dialogue - fight - dialogue - fight. And what fights! They're as hyper-kinetic, exciting and fun as the dialogue is bizarre & funny. ARAGAMI is 100& crowd-pleasing action. This one deserves to be a big international hit.

The greatest scene you can have in any movie is the final showdown. That last moment, when all the events that have happened throughout the entire film (or films) come together in one glorious climatic battle between the hero and the villain. As a great lover of the final showdown I am disappointed that so few films actually get it right. Films like "Yojimbo", "Dark City", and "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly" are among those rare exceptions when the level of build-up is more than matched by the moment of confrontation.

Then there's Aragami, which is essentially one long final showdown. And what an incredible showdown it is. I loved Kitamura's previous film, Versus, for it's none stop excitement and entertainingly over-the-top violence. But Aragami is simple, two characters in a room who must and will fight to the death. This

scenario may not seem compelling, but Kitamura somehow manages to keep

the energy buried just beneath the surface of all the character's actions. I felt tense throughout the entire film. I wanted to see the two men fight. But Kitamura kept me waiting for as long as possible, until it was almost to much to take. Then, he delivered on his promise and created one of the most exciting and

thoroughly satisfying showdowns I know of. Much like when I saw Versus, I left the theater energized, unlike most American action films, which just leave me feeling exhausted and worn-out.