Hana

This film was produced by Shochiku, a studio that I'm told is renowned for it's middle-of-the-road part-comedy/part-pathos films. Hana fits squarely in that territory and is Kore-eda's most commercial film to date.

Set in the slums of 1702 Edo (now Tokyo), the cinematography and attention to period detail were excellent. The story itself is fairly lame. A young samurai, incompetent with a sword seeks revenge for his father's death, but finds himself unable to carry out the act.

There's no doubting the competence of the director and the film's visuals are a joy to behold. It's not something that particularly engages me, but is the sort of film I would love to take my six year old son to. The blend of humour and almost slapstick action would certainly be enjoyed by him. Mind you, this is not really a children's film, even though it has the appeal of a Japanese version of a Disney film. Many adults would enjoy it, but it's not my thing.

A film that redefines the falling cherry blossoms' association with the samurai tradition. What Kore-eda does here is examine the validity of the samurai philosophy of revenge, violence and associated monetary/financial outcomes. A pacifist film, where education dominates over swordplay. The lead performers are endearing, so is the Renaissance type music composed by Jun Kawabata. The production design is laudable. A film that parallels William Fraker's oft forgotten "Monte Walsh" (1970) which looked at the Westerns and the lifestyles of its heroes. Kore-eda adds wistful comedy, while Fraker dealt with wistful nostalgia. Both deal with changing values and economies.

I watched this one because the two female leads were from 2 of Yoji Yamada's film - Twilight Samurai and The Devil's Claw. However, this film was a complete disappointment. I already knew going in that this is not a traditional samurai film, but it is geared towards comedy and drama. Sadly, it failed even in that regards. The humor were tasteless, such as the toilet humor, and much of the drama was dry and boring.

I thought it would be closer to something like When the Last Sword Is Drawn, which was a great combination of drama, romance, action, and comedy. However, Hana was unbearable to watch and ultimately put me to sleep.

I bought Hana on CD because it had been compared to some of the great modern Samurai movies (Twilight Samurai, When The Last Sword Is Drawn, The Hidden Blade, Love and Honor, etc). I love those movies, so I was very enthusiastic about this one.

And then I watched it.

There is very little plot here. It's a character driven movie, and, in truth, it isn't a samurai movie at all. Sure, the main character is a samurai, but he's kind of a samurai who has given up on the Bushido code and dropped out of that life. He's directionless, aimless, and, really, a bit of a coward.

The biggest problems with this movie are that it's boring and the characters are almost all unlikeable (including the main character). Being a character driven movie that second problem is a major flaw.

It's not a horrible movie, it's just horribly flawed and utterly boring. It's tedious. The humor falls flat, and the story takes place in a bleak, unpleasant setting with characters who have little to offer the story.

If you're looking for something different, and would find a movie about people in 1700's era Japan who live in abject poverty interesting, then this one may be for you. But if plot and character matter it would probably be best to skip this one.

It's one of those films you come out of smiling a wide happy smile - it's so delicate and subtly funny (alright, it does feature a lavatory, but none of the "standard" toilet humor), it's also kind to characters and makes its point(s) in a sly, unobtrusive manner.

It's a celebration of human values over the way of the samurai, especially as it has been presented in Japanese and Western popular culture in the past few decades. A joy to watch visually, too. I thought it might be Koreeda-san's best film so far, although some viewers may find it a bit more conventional/Westernized than, say, Nobody Knows or Maboroshi (which is not at all bad).

I will deliberately leave it at that, to avoid revealing any of the plot, which often overturns expectations.

It was the second film out of 17 I saw at the Toronto International Film Festival, and it still remains a highlight for me.