Mandei

Salaryman Takagi wakes up fully clothed in an anonymous business hotel and attempts to recall how he got there. A series of flashbacks reveal how the events that led him to this place escalated out of control. As the audience is drip-fed information on Takagi's weekend from hell, a series of hilarious set pieces ensues, along with a stinging social commentary of Japan's repressed, alcohol-dependent work-obsessed culture.

Tsutsumi is masterful as the mouse that roars, ranging from cowardly in a bar scene where he opts to drink down a fag dowt, to darkly heroic in his execution of an out-of-control chinpira and his moll. The supporting cast give strong performances, especially Yasuko Matsuyuki as a femme fatal, seducing Takagi like a siren call to hell. Interestingly, Matsuyuki does not have one line in the film, but is a clearly defined character. Character actors such as the ubiquitous Naomi Nishida shine in their epigrammatic appearances.

The film will have you smiling in memory of many scenes long after viewing. Takagi writing his will, prolonging the moment, was dryly amusing. Tsutumi's dance in the yakuza bar is simply hilarious. The final third, unfortunately, drags on far too long, as Sabu's sensibilities and timing seem to fail him. The moment is somewhat redeemed by the 'reveal' that is has all been a daydream, but that final stand-off flags and ultimately spoils what was shaping up to be a perfect film.

Not perfect then, but better than most. The first ten minutes, especially, are a masterclass in the set-up area of screen writing. Numerous questions are posed in the sequence, with the pay-offs arriving as the film progresses. For anyone interested in contemporary Japanese fimmaking, this is simply unmissable.

Wakarimasen deshita....

Any Japanese movie involving alcohol, beautiful Yakuza brides and guns will be a funny ride into the Asian subconscious, and this movie is no exception.

It amalgamates plot elements such as drinking Whisky, hands-free peeing, Yakuza bashing, pacemaker bomb defusing, drinking Whisky, lynching street muggers, Devils, Sprites, an obnoxious but finally sympathetic girlfriend, drinking Whisky, Japanese twist dancing, smoke grenades, drinking Whisky, palm reading, fake laughter and moronic TV talk shows into an adventure of the absurd. A ride into the cesspools of one man's private hell. A blatant appeal against alcohol and weapon abuse, or a devilishly clever satire about modern day Japan and its underworld. Oh...and did I mention drinking Whisky?

If you're a fan of Takeshi Kitano's movie, you will like "Monday".

If you are a fan of Bruce Willis and expect a Japanese "Die Hard", you won't find it funny! But if you're open minded, can appreciate satire for what it really is, then you will enjoy this movie thoroughly!

Monday is an existentialist movie. For those who are comparing it to Tarantino, please stop reviewing movies. This is more like an anti-Tarantino movie, if it is anything. It questions the use of law. It questions the use of weapons. It questions alcohol. It questions justice versus moral. It questions things that went over my head as well. Does that sound like a Tarantino movie? No, not at all. Please give Sabu the right to call this his own movie, and let this compare-everything-with-Tarantino-nonsense slip away.

Its about a person waking up in a hotel room, not remembering who he is or how he got there. Gradually he remembers more and more, and it kind of goes way over-the-top, but in a way that is both funny and thought provoking. It also has quite a surreal laugh-at-life quality in some scenes that should be mentioned.

Its kind of an intelligent action movie. Let there be more of these!

Without these "enlightening" fifteen minutes (at the very end) this movie may seem quite hopeless, though. It may seem too simple, too odd, too surreal... phony even. But make no mistake: MONDAY is plotted out much more clever than it appears.

It is about a guy waking up in a hotel room with bit of a cloudy memory. Things start to come back to him as he bumps into all kinds of leads he find in his pockets. I imagine that the main thought behind it was, what the human mind capable is of doing with the means it has, and how it could be shown in a film. I can say that the creators have come a long way in showing the answer to this.

As said, it will takes time to see there is more to it than it seems. Fortunate enough, the retrospective march of events that made the guy end up where is now, makes it perfectly clear that the unrolling celluloid is to be sure of revealing a well-thought-out plot. Second, the whole story raises enough questions about the sanity of the characters as well as the people who wrote the story, that one will sit it out no matter what, if only excited with hope for a plausible explaination for it all.

It is unlikely that MONDAY (by Hiroyuki Tanaka) will be a boring experience to anyone. To many, especially those unfamiliar with Japanese cinema, it will be something different than usual, perhaps less exciting, a bit clownish, here and there the surrealistic texture will be a bit hard to swallow, but it surely will keep one curious. And that is the only thing this film needs.

This is a movie, and, I think, Japanese directors, Tanaka in particular, have well understood what this means. It isn't real life and it doesn't have to appear this way. Even though some characters and their actions seem to be right from out of a comic book, this movie is as real as (a movie) can be.

I heard someone comparing aspects in this film with Tarantino. I'm not entirely sure about that. Frankly, I believe the approach Tarantino uses in his work isn't that unique to begin with. I think it was to be expected that directors would make films the way he does some day. As for Japanese movies like that of Tanaka, I think it has little to do with Tarantino. I actually think we should speak of it as the 'Japanese approach' than the 'Tarantino approach', anyway. Was "Reservoir Dogs" not a remake of an underrated Japanese gangster film??? I think is was.

Well. Tanaka is nowhere near Kurosawa yet. But surely no less than Miike, Kitano or Nakano. I therefore rate it 7.5!

Watch it and be patient, enjoy it and be astound ;)

Two thirds of the movie are filled with grotesque humorous scenes, whereas at end the tone of the movie changes completely and you get a dead serious message delivered. But the good news are: this somehow works. This is brilliant movie and it got to me form the first scenes. I only wished that the two parts where stronger connected. Was there any indication in the first two thirds, that the movie has the subject: "is self defense justified?". No. It was all about palm reading, laughing endlessly and drunk dancing/shooting. I watched the movie now four times, because I can't get enough of the bar scenes. The laughing sequence is the best since Laurel and Hardy's "Fra Diavolo."