Saddled with a somewhat ungainly flashback structure, SHYLOCK'S CHILDREN takes as its central conceit the legacy of a debt - even if the money is returned, can the obligation ever truly be repaid?
Opening - rather on-the-nose - at a production of THE MERCHANT OF VENICE, just as the play's central usurer demands his pound of flesh, the film flashes back to follow the employees of a small Japanese bank, struggling to stay afloat against its competitors. Spying an opportunity for both himself and his company in a chance to land a big loan with a local businessman, a hapless employee ends up dumping more and more money both from his own coffers and the bank's into what turns out to be a ponzi scheme - built on fraudulent financials, the business is a sham, and the "owner" quickly absconds with the borrowed money. As the loan agent's face-saving book-cooking and other financial chicanery sucks in a succession of innocent bystanders, another trio of workers begins to seek out the source of the rot - and perhaps a way to set things right for the innocent.
All this proves fitfully entertaining as stick-it-to-the-man populist entertainment, but in the end, the film also demonstrates how it can be quite difficult to generate compelling drama out of a series of business meetings. Perhaps most fascinating for Western viewers will be the glimpse the film offers into Japan's wildly intense business culture, with characters getting viciously castigated at meetings and tearfully self-flagellating for failing to meet quotas. Beyond that, the film fails to generate a terribly memorable or compelling set of characters - barely a week later, I'm already struggling to recall the cast and plot specifics, which explains some of the obliqueness of this review. Ultimately, this is a fine enough way to pass two hours - particularly on an airline, where I saw it - but little else. I guess you get what you pay for.
