User reviews

I only recently started getting into Japanese film and drama, and decided to follow Masaki Suda's filmography, as his performance in Mr. Hiiragi's Classroom was stand out. This is his 3rd work I have seen, and its incredible how different each of his character are - in this he is the wild and angry Senji, at times an unlikable character who evokes passion in his found friend Kenji.

Both leads are well rounded characters and were acted extremely well by both actors. The boxing scenes were incredible, the tension and realism to each fight was palpable.

I loved the atmosphere and cinematography in both movies, a slight noir feel to them that somehow creates a nostalgia for the past. The music was appropriate but not memorable, and the side characters ranged from likeable to completely unnecessary. The anti-suicide subplot was so weird and seemed very disconnected to the main story line.

The movies really could have been combined into one, had the frequent (and in my opinion wholly unnecessary) sex scenes been cut and the subplots been shaved down as well.

Note: there is a TON of sex scenes in this, just an FYI.

The biggest flaw for me though was the ending. I felt like perhaps I missed out on a message the movie was trying to tell its viewers, but by the end I really felt like what was the point? I missed it for sure, and it made me question why I even watched these movies in the first place.

The acting and atmosphere of these movies are incredible, but the ending completely fell flat for me, and so I wouldn't recommend investing the time into these movies.

I watched this film with a running time of 5 hours, but the time flew so fast! Among modern Japanese films, without doubt this is best.

Wilderness portrays several social problems in Japan, its title means this country where we live. In this wilderness, the lonely people live hard desperately seeking relationships. I was really moved by their attitude, even now when I think of them I get teary.

Furthermore, all actors did most fabulous acting ever. Especially, Masaki Suda, who played the lead role as a slum-dog boxer came out on top of young actors.

By the way, the reason for watching this film was my favorite actor Satoru Kawaguchi, who had been in Bollywood film Rangoon directed by Vishal Bhardwaj, appeared as a supporting role.

His character named Kazutoshi Ishii aka'Nidaime' is a second-generation president of a real estate company who is very well off. His health has been delicate, so admired Kenji (one of the lead role who played by Korean actor Yang Ik-june) who struggled to overcome his handicap and became a boxer.

Then, Nidaime became a patron of Kenji. I guess he loves him. His eyes say more than his mouth... I'm sure that this role became one of his masterpieces as well as Hiromichi in Rangoon.

Wilderness became my best film which always gives me courage. Rightly so this film won Best Film Award at two festivals recently, I'm convinced that will continue to win. Worth watching!