Sumagurâ Omae no mirai wo hakobe

"Please laugh if you're not sure whether it's disturbing or funny," says director Ishii Kazuhiro at TIFF.

"Smuggler" is based on a single-volume manga about a failed actor who becomes an underground mover to pay back $30,000 (non-inflated exchange rate) in fraudulent debt to a Chinese gang. This is the type of movies where the plot is driven by quirky dark humor rather than logic, as the protagonist Kinuta gets deeper and deeper into trouble in the most unlikely turn of events imaginable.

It was the two "legendary assassins" Vertebrae (Andou Masanobu) and Viscera (Teiryuushin) who stole the spotlight though. There's quite a bit of action scenes throughout the film by those two in the most wacky form of violence. Vertebrae in particular was among the coolest, baddest villain ever. "Smuggler" is in no way for the faint of heart though. The lengthy torture scenes reminded me of Ichi the Killer (2001). In fact, it would've been an even more gory nerve wracking film if it wasn't for the camera angle censoring out the torture.

Matsuyuki Yasuko (beautiful as ever) also delivers a strong performance, though Tsumabuki Satoshi as the protagonist was quite a miscast as he never seemed convincing in his role. Mitsushima Hikari who was decent in Shion Sono's "Love Exposure" (2008) was comically bad, almost reading the script the whole time.

Despite the shortcomings by part of the cast, "Smuggler" is an entertaining dark comedy / action as long as you don't think too much and just enjoy the ride. And of course, don't forget to have the "teehee, his face got smacked by nunchucks" type of mindset when watching this film.

Smuggler is a live action movie based upon a Japanese manga series by Manabe Shohei that stands out with an eclectic genre mixture and a fusion of extremes that is quite particular for Japanese cinema.

The movie follows three main plots that complement one another. The most detailed one focuses on an indepted former young actor who accepts to work with a tough man that could be his father and a weird elder that could easily be his grandfather. They work for an organized crime syndicate and clean up crime scenes, dispose of the victims' bodies or transport prisoners from one place to another. The second story line revolves around two pitiless extravagant contract killers who get betrayed by a partner and end up being the hunted instead of the hunters. The third story line tells the story of a woman who is married to the boss of a Yakuza clan who decides to betray the family in order to become more powerful. The three story lines get intertwined rather quickly and the viewer follows them from three different perspectives.

Just like many other live action movies, Smuggler is a quite vivid genre mixture. It could be categorized as a coming-of-age drama as it follows a young man dealing with constant failure who desperately tries to hold on to his dreams. It's also an action film with slasher elements as the two contract killers are quite pitiless as they are working with both passion and precision. The torture scenes in the last third of the film are quite tough to watch, so don't watch this with your kids. Smuggler is also a black comedy, including many absurd scenes with strange situation comedy and weird dialogs, for example when the trio who is transporting the bodies of yet another massacre gets controled by the police. In a certain way, Smuggler is also a thriller as one tries to figure out who backstabs whom and especially who orders the different murders.

The movie has quite a few shifts in tone but its vivid weirdness actually keeps it together and reminds of Japanese V-Cinema of the nineties and early millennium. The protagonist is depicted as a naive loser, becomes a lowly estimated criminal meandering between cleverness and clumsiness and ends up being tortured and torturing in a very graphic way. This character development exemplifies this vivid movie perfectly.

Obviously, this type of cinema isn't for everyone but those familiar with Japanese cinema will definitely like smuggler. The story is so complex and rich that one could easily watch this movie on several occasions. It's an energizing ride that keeps getting better and better. It's difficult to give it a higher rating because the movie is all over the place but I enjoyed watching it and would definitely recommend it to those who like directors like Miike Takashi or even Quentin Tarantino.

Smuggler suffers from poor scriptwriting as it is hard to tell whose story is being featured for the viewer. The failed actor Kinuta, Vertebrae the assassin, the truck driver, or even the yakuza wife Ms. Tanuma could each make a good protagonist. But not all four at the expense of a coherent story line and finale.

Kinuta's intro is so brief that the advertised plot line "failed actor deep in debt" is hard to sense. A mobile phone ad campaign, not in the film at all, showing Kinuta going through failed casting calls sounds like the prelude that might have helped. Ishii has one or two brief flashbacks that make Kinuta appear like a failed singer instead of an actor (even the set looks like a night club); were it not for English subtitles that should not be needed at all to get this idea across.

The first yakuza scenes, supposedly scripted for comedy effects, elicited a few very short chuckles at the Hawaii International Film Festival showing I attended. After that the HIFF audience, who seemed mostly there anticipating the all star cast, sat in complete silence. They left as the credits were rolling.

The ramen meal breaks and the night truck driving scenes could have been the making of a well-rounded portrayal of Kinuta, but Ishii devotes as much time to these scenes as can be seen in the film trailer! And indeed these scenes are edited like TV commercial breaks in the middle of the feature story. He zips through them to make time for the very extended violence he is aiming for. The very final scene is set in an incongruous setting for ending the tale of a failed actor. Ishii is credited as Writer, Director, Editor, and Storyboarder of this film. I suppose that is why successful films have an expert in each.I have seen the cast in many other films and this one is near their collective bottom.

I go to TIFF every year in search or exciting, crazy, innovative new movies to watch that I would normally not have the opportunity to do so. Well I am glad to say that this is just one of those films. the story, mixed with the script, the acting and of course the fight sequences left me breathless. I have yet to see one Asian movie at TIFF that has disappointed me. But like I always tell people you better have a strong stomach and be prepared to see some things on the screen that might make you queezy. besides that grab a big bag of popcorn take your date and be prepared to be shocked till your hearts content. At the screening I was at a few girls did ave to leave the theatre so be prepared and don't say I didn't warn you.

Kinuta (Satoshi Tsumabuki) is a down on his luck loser. An out of work actor, he sits at a slot machine wasting away his final change in hopes of hitting a jackpot. When Kinuta is offered a chance to win at a 'fixed machine', he jumps at the opportunity, only to have events unfold that lave him with a large yakuza debt. Kinuta then seeks help by a banker who offers him cash in turn for working with a tough guy, Joe (Masatoshi Nagase) in transporting human cargo for good paying clients.

In a story that will intersect with Joe and Kinuta, an assassin by the name of Vertebrae (think Ichi the Killer) has just killed a crime boss and is being hunted by a crime family determined to seek revenge. Vertebrae is a master at both kung-fu and in using his trademark numb chucks to pulverize his victims. But his killing of the crime boss might be his undoing and soon him and his partner are cornered by Joe who has been hired to transport Vertebrae to the yakuza bosses alive. Directed by Katsuhito Ishii, Smuggler is an uneven mix of comedy, drama and scenes of intense torture. Based on the comic book Sumagurâ by Shôhei Manabe and unfortunately the animated pages don't translate as well onto the big screen.

The acting and humour are present, but more in a dumb Three Stooges kind of pattern. Watching Joe and Kinuta's small dim-witted cohort might have read well in the book, but it is buffoonish on the screen and took us out of the film.

Smuggler then goes into full comic mode with the capture of Vertebrae. He jumps and runs like road runner and his scenes of capture and escape were something that belonged more in Kung Fu Hustle than they did in Smuggler.

So before you jump on us for 'not getting it', let me inject that we appreciated the comedic elements and the action sequences (which were really good). But when the film became a torture movie after Kinuta is asked to impersonate the escaped Vertebrae, it went to a place that didn't feel right with the rest of the film. Kinuta is subjected to intense torture involving a table of pain inflicting devices and these scenes didn't seem to fit into a film that had a character running faster than the wind just one chapter prior.

That leaves Smuggler as an uneven, but interesting experiment. We cannot discount the coolness of the Vertebrae character (spinoff please!) and the action sequences make us thankful the film was not in 4D. However, the sum of the films overall parts just didn't gel enough to make a coherent and enjoyable movie and for that reason, we cannot recommend it.

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