Anrakkî monkî

This Japanese movie starts as a modern b-action, when two men are about to rob a bank. During the robbery, which probably doesn´t go as they´ve planned, only one man - Yamazaki - gets away alive, and while he rushes from the scene of the crime, he accidently stabs a young woman. From this point, the story turns more into a psychological drama, in which he tries to make up with his guilty conscience in different ways. The peak of the film is a long monologue with an off screen voice, where Yamazaki tries to convince himself that it wasn´t his fault, which results in the illogical conclusion that HE is the victim in this mess.

From this point, the film again turns into b-action, not that clever or exciting.

The ending, or should i say the four endings, is really bad. He makes not one closing scene, but a total of four long scenes with fading or an object disappearing in the distance, and yet not does the movie end. Frustrating and annoying.

Japan has produced much better films than this one, but it´s not the worst either...

I saw this movie a few days ago, but the memories have already kind of faded. Therefore I guess that it wasn't such a memorable experience as it seemed to be during the time of watching it.

The opening sequence, where a bag of money changes hands several times in an elegantly choreographed series of accidents is probably the best scene of the movie in my eyes.

After that, it wasn't really clear to me whether I was watching a comedy, a yakuza crime flick or a splatter film.

The movie in itself has several parallel storylines that crisscross from time to time, nothing unusual, mixed with the Japanese way of hinting at emotions very blatantly, in itself nothing unusual either, but the constant shifting between comedy, crime, philosophy and gore was a bit too inconsistent for my taste.

However, if you like Japanese movies based around the topics Yakuza, Identity-Loss, Action and Slapstick, you might wanna give it a try.

6/10

we are all just unlucky monkeys, bouncing from one strange situation into another. and that´s just what happens in the movie, sabu (monday) takes us on an bizarre tour de force, starting with a bank-robbery... go watch this movie, if possible. i think you won´t be disappointed.

I find this film fascinating for several reasons.Its the only Sabu film with social conscience,for one.Then,its the film where the human is shown from the darkest point of view,without the unnecessary violence.There is some violence,but its not graphic nor without reason. The dream scene is one of the deepest and best I have seen and it stuck inside me as well as the ending(and I hope it did with others too).

The ending is a bit hard to understand for some.Why does the dead man rise?Why does Tsutsumi's character so desperately try to end his life?Maybe because he has seen more than others and knows that this society is going towards the end.Its disturbing I know and thats why this film is so precious to me.Sabu cared,thats why he made it.This is not just another of his mad stories with weird plots and a sad ending.

The ending I don't find really sad and thats another reason why I love it.He found relief.What I found sad and heavy to watch is the scene where he wanders through the filthy streets and knows that he is truly lost.The beginning gives you an insight to why he really is lost.He tried to commit that robbery because it was a chance for him to get a better life.Maybe he wanted to move away from all that.And then found himself stuck right in the middle of it all.Its the last tale of human hell and the desperate road to redemption.Sabu,you really are a master. Shinichi Tsutsumi became my favorite actor after this film.He really is a special talent and a gift to Japan's film industry.I hope he will have a long and fruitful career.Without him,this film wouldn't be what it is,a Dante-ish tour de force.

This is basically imitation Tarantino. So, if you like that kind of thing, you might want to sit through this. There are, in fact, a couple of laugh-out-loud moments that arise from very dark situations. But, otherwise, very slow moving - lots of filler because he doesn't have enough story to fill two hours - and no strong links to reality. This is allegory all the way, although I'm not sure what the point of it might be. One difference from Tarantino: the main character does feel an acute sense of remorse and that becomes a major thread near the end. Recommended only if you're intensely interested in modern cinema from Japan.