Rokuyon: Zenpen

This review applies to parts 1 and 2.

First of all I want to preface that I have not found any good English subtitles for this movie, so I had to watch it with pretty much incomprehensible ones. Thankfully there are a few summaries of the book online, so I was able to piece together what was going on. That definitely diminished the experience a bit though.

Despite that I have to say, while the movie is very well done in terms of cinematography and acting, there was just too much focus on internal politics and infighting between the police department and the press and way too little focus on the actual crime story. At least for my taste. There is almost no detective work, like looking for evidence, questioning witnesses or chasing the killer. The movie does have some historical relevancy, but you'd have to be a Japan insider in order to understand and appreciate that. I just found it a bit boring unfortunately.

64 (six-four) is quite an ambitious film considering in total, the running time is around 4 hours. It was split into two parts with the first being released in May and the 2nd part being released a month later. I watched both parts back to back, so this review treats both parts as one film.

64 opens up with a kidnapping which takes place around the same time as the end of the Shōwa period as Emperor Hirohito has passed away. It draws you in from the beginning with a fast paced "wild goose" chase as the father of the kidnapped child travels from place to place under the direction of the apparent kidnapper who is giving directions over telephone.

The initial kidnap plays as the backdrop to the entire film. The majority of the film is set in 2002, 14 years after the events at the start, but the story consists of flashbacks which reveal more about the events in 1989.

Kôichi Satô plays the central character. He is a PR officer in 2002 but was part of the Investigation unit looking into the kidnapping in '89. He also has a personal anguish of his own, which becomes more significant as the film develops. Satô is one of the highlights of the film. You feel sympathy for the character as he tries to juggle his day to day work (which is proving difficult with the press to handle) whilst dealing with his own inner demons surrounding the case in '89 and his own personal circumstances.

Their is a large cast of characters, but they're all played very well. The PR crew are all likable and the motivations of the different units of the Prefectural Police Department are well developed. A special mention also has to go to Masatoshi Nagase for his portrayal of the grieving father.

The story develops well in the 2nd part, although my only criticism is that part one felt well paced but part two struggles a little with maybe too much attention paid in the first half to the disgruntled press and then the second half feels a little rushed as things draw to a conclusion.

Overall, I would highly recommend 64. It's a smart thriller with great acting. The 4 hours will go in quickly if you decide to watch both parts back to back.