Kagi-dorobô no mesoddo

Writer/director Kenji Uchida's newest film, KEY OF LIFE, is a crisply written, adroitly directed, beautifully acted little story that is a comedy on the surface, but does not fail to show the other side of the infamous masks of comedy/tragedy. Though it is long (in excess of two hours) the story is presented in such a fine overlapping episodic way that it seems to whiz by to the final moments.

The film opens with a business meeting in which we meet Kanae (Ryôko Hirosue), a 34-year- old magazine editor who announces boldly that she is getting married in two months. Without a candidate for a husband she engages the help of her fellow workers to help her search for the right man during a rather narrow time frame. We next meet Sakuari (Masato Sakai), a 35- year-old aspiring actor who is jobless, living in squalor, and has just failed a suicide attempt. Then we meet Kondo (Teroyuki Kagawa), a wealthy successful hit man carrying out his latest hit. After their simultaneously acts Sakurai and Kondo end up going to the same public bathhouse: Kondo slips on a bar of soap, sustains a concussion, is taken to a hospital where he discovers he has complete amnesia. The somewhat desperate Sakuari switches locker keys, and in effect switches identities with Kondo, of course not realizing that he is stepping into the identity of a hit man. Kanae visits the hospital where her father (who expects his daughter to marry soon) is gravely ill - the same hospital where Kondo is recovering. Fate is such that the two meet. How a failed actor takes on the role of a hit man without much success, and a hit man gains employment as an actor who can convincingly play gangster parts, and how the lovesick Kanae connects with Kondo and helps him try to regain his memory forms the rush to the surprise ending of the story.

There is enough social commentary on relationships and what is love, what is acting, and what is ethical that makes this little film gleam. It is an excellent film from Film Movement and should enjoy success in the art houses. It is a breath of fresh air from the current clutter of over the edge CGI 'dramas'! Grady Harp, December 13

Ever since I saw Kenji Uchida's "A Stranger of Mine," I became a big fan of his. When I knew his work would be shown at the Summer Festival, I dashed to get a ticket and looked forward to watching it.

It turned out to be better than I expected. When/if it is publicly released here, I will definitely watch it again. Behind the laughs and sadness, there is some sense of compassion for the modern men and women which made you want to munch on the plot and scenes days after the movie.

A superb plot and great observer of daily life. In many ways, a killer's life is quite similar to an actor's when he had to pose as many different people. Except in our movie, the actor is a lousy one: Sakai Masato's plays Sakuari, an attempted and disorganized actor who fails to make ends meet, let alone realizing his dream in acting. Sakai seems such a different person from "My SO has got depression" although in both movies he plays a weak character who tends to have apologetic smiles. Sometimes I wonder if he is really a bad actor or he is playing the role of a bad actor because some scenes were bad when he held one facial expression for probably too long. Or was he just playing dumb?

Opposite the spectrum is professional killer Kondo (Kagawa Teruyuki) who is organized, thoughtful and serious even when he has got amnesia. He tries very hard to regain his memory, only to find that he is twirled into a mishap involving the Yakuza gangsters. Kagawa is not very good looking but somehow the killer's personality makes him quite attractive with a little comical trace.

The full comedy comes into place when their identities are switched, as in "The Prince and the Pauper," except here the swap is not voluntary. The laughers are guaranteed to intensify when kind and sensible Kanae (Hirosue Ryoko) steps in to help Kondo regain his memory while looking for her husband to appear in a pre-arranged wedding.

The art direction is excellent: the numerous fake IDs, detailed hand- written notes, elaborated and well-stocked wardrobes all contribute rich accents to the story and is crucial to the final scene.

An intriguing but very interesting plot. Very witty lines and superb performance by the cast. You can see human compassion here and there which makes the movie very enjoyable and makes you have more faith and confidence in life. Highly recommended.

There are some aspects of films that we tend not to notice unless they're specifically strong or specifically weak. Pacing goes unnoticed unless it's too swift or too slow; tone goes unnoticed unless it's too charged or too soft; and so on. Though I recognize that it is regarded well, I regret to say that I find 'Key of life' to be a title that struggles with both pacing and tone, as they are notably dull. It's a bit of a wry dark comedy, yes, so such sensibilities may theoretically work in its favor, yet even at that the situational humor requires timing and energy, and this picture has neither. I see the wit in Uchida Kenji's screenplay and the vitality that's waiting to be drawn out from the performances. With rare exception that vitality is kept endlessly waiting, however, without a chance to flourish, and all the brimming potential of the screenplay is like air being blown into a balloon that will not inflate without the right technique - or in this case, the precise necessary spark in the direction.

So for all the skill I recognize in stars Sakai Masato, Kagawa Teruyuki, and Hirosue Ryoko, neither they nor their co-stars especially get a chance to demonstrate it. The clever plot and scene writing, and keen dialogue and characterizations, are not given the wings that they need to be able to fly. Those operating behind the scenes turned in fine work, and Uchida's direction is capable in the most fundamental terms of orchestrating shots and scenes. But even with some livelier or smarter moments scattered throughout, and certainly more so in the back end as events come to a head, as it presents the feature has been robbed of far, far too much of its strength. Did I laugh once throughout these two hours? Did this ever earn more than a warm smile? Well, yes - once, more than 80 minutes in.

I don't dislike 'Key of life.' Yet if I say that I like it, that feels a step too far. Under these circumstances it feels overlong well before it's over. How could a movie so neatly primed for success, with some sequences that are particularly ingenious, fail so hard to make a mark? It all comes down to pacing and tone. Bereft of the zest that would allow the narrative or its comedy to land, the viewing experience is flat, unimpressive, and almost altogether tedious. I see what it could have been, and it's not bad. Such verbiage, however, is not what recommendations are made of.

...and that relies the problem of this movie; you know; to have a good plot but let it towards the Comedy side instead of a drama. Nothing wrong with a Comedy but the subtleties of that genre are difficult to show to other audiences involving written translation (you need to read subtitles) etc As a Drama, could be better no doubt.

What is it about?

A young man attempts to kill himself. After failing and realizing he is sweaty and smelly.. he decides to take a bath (in a traditional Japanese Bath house, which are open to the general public). There he sees how a hired Assassin (unknown to everyone there) has an accident. The young fellow takes the opportunity to exchange Locker keys with the killer.. taking his suit, lots of money and car. The murderer finds himself in the hospital with amnesia, and changes identity with the thief! At this point, the kind of movie I wanted to watch.. presented itself. How interesting would it be to show the methodical Assassin fixing the crappy life he finds himself in? And so it did.

... To be honest, I found it because I REALLY like Ryoko-san. And I'm glad I did! After all I've seen, I'm impressed I can still find good movies I know nothing about.

For a comedy, it's a bit "serious" and "dry".. but that's precisely why it works, for me at least. It's not ridiculous (as people have come to expect from Japanese content), but it's also a bit out there, with unexpected turn of events. Still, it is VERY well made and competently written. Even more so the acting by all leads (there was no role I disliked, on the contrary). The plot is rich and impressing (for the 2 hours it lasts), as it develops a lot of characters and threads in different directions. I'm more than pleased.

Credit's song : Tenbyou No Shikumi (by Kazuya Yoshii).