KFL

Japanese laquerware must rank as one of the most well-known of traditional Japanese crafts, and likely has the oldest lineage, extending back some eight or nine millenia. No surprise then that it is surrounded by various customs and traditions; add to these the male chauvinism that is typically present particularly in rural Japan, and set these features in Tsugaru in the far northern province of Aomori at the top end of the main island of Honshu, and one has the background in which the story of "Bakanuri no Musume", aka "Tsugaru Lacquer Girl", unfolds.

23-year-old Miyako helps her father Seishiro with production for his lacquerware business, but he relies on her help only because her brother Yuu, who would ordinarily take over the family business, shows zero interest in same. As such, Miyako is adrift; she can find no place for herself--she clearly doesn't belong behind a register at the local supermarket, but her gender evidently prevents her development as an artisan in a craft that she loves above all else.

Thus far, it's a story we've seen many times in many different settings. Miyako's unanticipated bid to break through the impasse she faces is however bold, breathtaking even, and obliges the viewer--this viewer, anyways--to overlook cliches in the storyline.

It's worth considering the meaning of the Japanese title. "Baka-nuri" roughly translates as "idiot-painter", referring to craftspeople who must apply countless coats of lacquer to a bowl or other piece before it is regarded as completed; enormous patience and perseverance are required to produce high-quality works. The self-deprecation belies the Zen-like total immersion required to produce works of such otherworldly beauty.

Well, that was dark. Very dark.

An escape room premised on a serial killer is of course going to be dark. But then it moves to another level completely....as devoted IN9 fans should expect. There are the usual misdirections, the typical asides, and the clever red herrings. Oh, and Pemberton has an entire family--wife and children--whom he loves and cherishes! I can't think of many other such eps....

Even so, this one was, well, let's call it special. It begins with the usual escape room dramatics, then gives hints of something else, and then, ....

I liked it. But I'm not sure I will be recommending it to my escape-room-fanatic sister.

It is a nice little mystery. A woman disappears. Some people know some things about her, and tell the police. Others know about her, but don't say anything, to the police or to anyone else. That she has disappeared at all is very strange. What's going on?

Well, no-one except the viewer knows the whole story. Which is already somewhat unique. And the fact that what the different principals know provide us, the audience, with the complete picture by the end of the film, is bound to add to the viewer's satisfaction.

Nonetheless, there are two major coincidences...what one could call plot holes, although strictly speaking, they are not impossible.

The bigger and more consequential one has to do with the geographical location of the Marion character. She happens to be *precisely* where and when she can have the greatest impact. How likely is that? In a country of 68 million, to be hitchhiking and be seen by only a few dozen people...one of whom happens to be the one person on earth who is obsessed with her????

The second coincidence is less consequential, indeed is added on in the last few seconds of the movie as an afterthought. It can be disregarded...except in that it tells us that the filmmaker really doesn't care about such things.

Such a pity. Rather wonderful in many ways. I would still recommend it, but.