Jipangu

Very odd Japanese, fantasy movie, that mixes up a lot of fun Martial Arts and comedy, with some really strange supernatural goings on. Difficult to rate because there is not much to compare with, past or present. As far as originality goes it's certainly 'Out There'. sort of like that popular TV show 'Monkey' but not quite.

My review was written in June 1990 after a screening at Japan House in Manhattan.

"Zipang" is a tongue-in-cheek samurai fantasy whose best U. S. chances would come in a dubbed version for action audiences.

Director Kaizo Hayashi scored with art film enthusiasts via his "To Sleep so as to Dream" (1986), followed by "Circus Boys", but this time has adopted too cutesy an approach to appeal to serious-minded Japanese film buffs. It's analogous to Joseph Losey's comic strip film "Modesty Blaise" as applied to the revered tradition of period samurai epics.

Already trimmed from its Japanese release version of 118 minutes to a better paced 100-minute cut for international distribution, pic is ripe for dubbing in its unusual use of flippant English subtitles. Characters are translated with vulgarisms and anachronistic hip expressions that lampoon the action.

Film proper includes anachronisms as well: infrared binoculars, morar shells and even a slide projector figure into the action set several centuries ago as a shogun seeks a legendary island kingdom of gold known as "Zipang" (which turns out to be Japan after all).

Hokey group of characters makes Kenneth Robeson's "Doc Savage" troupe look serious by comparison. Handsome swordsman Masahiro Takashima is painfully hip in his styling, with an okay gag (suitable for ripoff by "Saturday Night Live" or Mel Brooks) of him using numbered swords like golf clubs. In battle he calls out to his squire (or caddie) for "number 7" and the appropriate club is soon skewering hundreds of baddies one by one.

This comical mayhem creates an anticlimax early in the film in a bravura single-take overhead shot of him decimating over 50 warriors merely to cross a bridge.

Overload of subplots feature a shogun questing not only for gold but the meaning of love, a ridiculously modern girl (replete with Louise Brooks hairdo) named Yuri the Pistol who sparfs withbutsoon becomes enamored of Takahima, a ghostly ancient warrior helped by the heroes to finally unite wih his lost love, a queen, and a silly papier-mache type baby elephant.

The specter of Steven Spielberg hangs heavily over the proceedings, ranging from a "Raiders of the Lost Ark" sequence in a caver to a final gag lameduckedly spoofing the music and sharkfin image of "Jaws" En route Hayashi provides entertainment via speeded up camera action, nimble ninja cavortings (led by the comical Yukio Yamato) and some interesting special effects. The musical score, which owes more to Ennio Morricone than traditional Japanese samurai pics, is sprightly and effective.

Acting is over the top; and won't be seriously impeded by dubbing, especially the unconvincingly sentimental "timeless" love story.

Art director Takeo Kimura, in whose honor Japan Society hosted this U. S. premiere in Gotham., has used Aztec and Incan Monuments as his design inspiration to impressive effect.

Set in a fantasy futuristic medieval Japan, 'Zipang' is a deliciously quirky action movie following the wacky adventures of outlaw Jigoku-goraku-Maru as he is pursued by a band of bounty hunters led by Teppo Oyuri otherwise known as Pistol Lily. During their escapades they meet a half naked guy and decide to help him recover the legendary sword thought to be the key to 'Zipang' – the city of gold where his lover is held hostage by the evil king.

The characters are interesting, requiring no real development due to their comic book style appeal. Director Kaizo Hayashi does a great job paying a tongue-in-cheek tribute to an era of classic martial arts characters including a not-so-blind samurai and a ninja displaying amazingly ability. The style over substance element means the film does slow down at points and the ridiculous plot doesn't give the viewer enough to cling on to. But who cares? The action scenes are excellent and the humour is great, remaining buoyant even when the plot spirals into absurdity.

I saw Zipang on midnite madness TV the other day. Fun little film, the Japanese equivalent of a 70's Shaw brothers production. The same cast of hundreds, same lame wigs, same cheap/charming production values and tight shooting schedule.

The plot is simple a sword master and his group of friends; a midget, a bomb expert (who blew his nose off), a geek (with glasses so you know the filmmakers aren't striving for historical accuracy), and...a small rubber elephant (no joke you have to see it and then maybe you can explain it to me) must get a golden sword before a gang of ninjas, a rival gang of thieves does the same. The sword has magical powers and belongs to a Golden King who lives in a Golden Kingdom. The plot isn't all that important, the set piece battles are. These are done with great flair even if the swords do wobble rubbery from time to time. Thrown in some cheap SFX (the matte painting looks like a Betamax pause still), a lot of references to other movies and video games (actually the whole movie is a lot like a video game come to life) and you have a lovable, scruffy little mess that doesn't take itself too seriously.

Well worth seeing if you like old kung-fu movies, definitely great in its category.

ZIPANG (1990) is a rather strained Japanese costume fantasy about a group of characters seeking a magical golden sword on a journey that takes them to Zipang, a mythical sky kingdom. The main character is Jigoku, a wanted criminal traveling with a band of outlaws. His chief rival is Yuri `the gun,' a female bounty hunter who carries a two-shot pistol. The two eventually fall in love. (The lead actors are Masahiro Takashima and Narumi Yasuda.)

They meet a seemingly primitive man in loin cloth, dubbed `the Prophet,' who originally came from Zipang and was trapped on earth many long years earlier. Up in Zipang is a Princess in white trapped in a white stone hut waiting to be rescued by the Prophet. Jigoku and Yuri find that their destiny is to help the two reunite. But they first must confront an evil ninja with some high-tech weapons.

Director Kaizo Hayashi mixes swordplay, historical drama, slapstick, romantic comedy, fantasy and science fiction, but the film never finds the right tone nor do the story elements ever quite gel. An early battle between Jigoku and the bounty hunters is clearly a parody as Jigoku fights such famous Japanese swordsmen as Zatoichi and Tange Sazen and a famous French swordsman, Cyrano de Bergerac! The whole story of the Princess and the Prophet and the island of Zipang in the sky is not even told until more than half-way into the two-hour film, so for the first half we have no idea where the story's going.

The high technology used in some scenes is amusingly far-fetched. The ninja villain has a pair of binoculars with a zoom lens that takes pictures on a little metal chip that is then transported via guided flying throwing star to the castle of the Ninja's lord who then projects the photos from the chip with some kind of slide projector apparatus. Fans of gimmicky Japanese fantasy will be interested but others may find the movie's charms somewhat fleeting.