Taiyô wo nusunda otoko

Kazuhiko Hasegawa is a great film director.

Though I have been an enthusiastic fan of Kazuhiko Hasegawa's, in the beginning I've had no connection with him, and moreover, I am an ordinary office worker. One day I heard a sad news, "Kubrick is dead", which made me decide to establish Kazuhiko-Hasegawa's website. That's because I believe it is only Hasegawa that can make films like Kubrick's works. After a while, I got a connection with him through the cyberspace, and exchanged opinions each other with e-mails, which we called "e-sessions". One day I suddenly received his phone call. He just said to me, "I want to begin my project on your site"........ Thus I have built up the website to let people submit their scenarios for his new film.

Very well make... there are car chasing, gun shooting and even more... after watching this movie you may know how to make an atomic bomb!! Try to pick up this film in Video or Vcd.

A high school science teacher steals plutonium and builds his own atomic bomb. A game of cat and mouse arises between him and a hard-nosed police detective.

Utterly preposterous stuff, but has moments of great fun, and an unusual East-meets-West sensibility, presumably because of being made entirely in Japan by Japanese folks but written by Paul Schrader's brother Leonard, who inserted some peak-1979-Hollywood car chases and action scenes.

It's not a great film, but it's got a lot going for it, and if you like strange Japanese films you should definitely check it out, as it's hard to think of anything else quite like it.

6½/10.

It doesn't make the strongest impression from the outset, or at least, it comes across rather curious. Flavorful as Inoue Takayuki's music is, like Hasegawa Kazuhiko's direction it says "TV movie" or even "cheeky exploitation flick" at least as much as "70s drama or thriller." The lead character of Makoto suggests a B-movie with his mannerisms, further borne out in Sawada Kenji's spirited performance and other odds and ends. Promising as the premise is, for too long the actual brainchild of Hasegawa and Leonard Schrader is generally interesting more than it is specifically compelling. And while the pacing isn't altogether bad, the plot development takes its good time, such that the first hour passes kind of unremarkably. Add an initial and lingering playful edge that suggests satire, and of everything that 'The man who stole the sun' could have been, one way or another it's not completely what I expected.

None of this is specifically a mark against the film per se, though some animal cruelty does nothing to help earn my favor, nor fleeting, unnecessary touches of homophobia. And nitpick as we may, it's well made, including the production design and art direction, cinematography and editing, props and costume design, hair and makeup, absolutely the stunts and effects, and even Hasegawa's direction. The cast do give capable performances, including not just Sawada but also Sugawara Bunta and Ikegami Kimiko; I like Inoue's score, and the other songs we hear on the soundtrack. Even as tidbits raise a skeptical eyebrow, I think the writing notably gains some strength once Ikegami's character Zero enters the narrative, adding another interesting angle with her gleeful fascination - or maybe it's that a broad sense of escalation in the course of events provides some needed vitality for the picture.

But then, even still, in a runtime of nearly two and one-half hours, it's not until we're within about the last hour that this starts to be earnestly thrilling, and emotionally investing. There's a pretty clean line of demarcation as to where the greatest strength lies in 'The man who stole the sun,' where it is tightest in both writing and execution, and where it seems to best meet its potential. It's not that the preceding length is unworthy, but as it seems evident where Hasegawa, Schrader, and all others most focused their energy, it seems fair to wonder why they didn't do so up to that point. I think this is very enjoyable and deserving on its own merits, and I also think it would be far more so if the entirety were as carefully considered as the back end tends to be. One could even argue that all the title really needed was to trim some excess so that the plot - action and dialogue, thrills and drama alike - and the feelings it invites, could be lighter on its feet, and more impactful all told.

When all is said and done I think this is very good, and anyone with an appreciation for the violent thrillers that proliferated in the 70s will surely find it to be a solid viewing experience well worth their while. I wish only that the whole might have been crafted as shrewdly as much of the latter half, for if it had then I would be more enthusiastic. Don't go out of your way for 'The man who stole the sun,' but so long as you're amenable to features that may slightly miss the mark, this is quite excellent overall and earns a fair recommendation.

The Man Who Stole the Sun treads the finest of lines in trying to balance its subject matter and tone, but Kazuhiko Hasegawa's controversial movie about nuclear terrorism is a darkly comedic and thrilling satire on a subject once considered unsatiriseable annihilating any form of genre borders in the process. Holding particular resonance for Japanese audiences, as while the country does use nuclear power, it has long held against amassing a nuclear arsenal due to the devastating effects that ended World War II. The movie doesn't stop dead for any form of long-winded nationalistic or philosophical speeches and instead insists on a conceivable reality with seemingly no motivation.

One of only two movies directed by Kazuhiko Hasegawa, which in turn feels like a crime in itself, Hasegawa rewards the viewer with some utterly sublime direction and excellent framing, with plenty of thrilling action set pieces to command his viewer's attention at all times (the car chase feels like it was ripped right out of a Ringo Lam movie). It balances the unorthodox nature and tone of the movie exceptionally well, juxtaposing the shifts with unnatural ease. Complimented by funky and often ill-fitting music by Takayuki Inoue to glorious success.

The performances are all excellent, with Kenji Sawada playing the everyman gone rogue with an endless amount of animosity slowly succumbing to the effects of radiation poisoning making him more and more unpredictable as the movie goes on. But it's the award-winning performance from the stoic and hardened Bunta Sugawara that really captivates me as he normally does in his roles, single-minded and exceptionally driven.

Overall, The Man Who Stole the Sun, even at two and a half hours long, never feels overly long or bloated. The film absolutely refuses to limit itself, and that's why it's so entertaining and impressive.