Soredemo boku wa yattenai

Obviously, this is not an entertainment film, or your typical narrative film, and should not be critiqued at that level. It is most relevant to those living in Japan, or those who have an interest in what the Japanese judicial system is like. Rather, it is an almost documentary-like investigation into the intricacies of the flaws in a judicial system.

What Suo has done here is a public service worthy of the highest praise.

I lived and grew up in Japan for 13 years, and understood that it was not a good thing to get involved in the legal system, but Suo has given viewers a clear understanding of what it is like to be held, accused, and tried for this crime (and indirectly, other crimes). It is pretty much an introduction to Japanese court procedure. This is not something that you get to see on an everyday basis. As Suo is pointing out by making this film, it is something worth trying to understand.

As for the fairness of the Japanese judicial system, the film speaks for itself. I have no knowledge of the Japanese legal system, but what I witnessed when watching this film is the sharpest, cutting social commentary on the incredible and unbelievable flaws in the legal system, and ultimately, its lack of humanity.

Some people have commented that they do not know whether it is an accurate portrayal of the judicial system. It is, although it focuses only on this one case. Suo spent four years of intensive research to make sure that the film was completely accurate. (see: http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20070202a6.html and http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/ff20070105a1.html)

If you are planning on living in Japan, have lived in Japan, or are living there right now, watch this movie. I am not aware of how the legal system has changed since this movie was made, but you need to understand the flaws of the system which you are a potential victim of, just as the protagonist of this film was. He is just one representation of the many people who have been charged and tried just as he was.

A man falsely accused of groping fights for his innocence. Groping leaves no evidence, and the Japanese courtrooms are heavily biased against the offender.

"Soredemo" is one of the greatest Japanese film I've seen to date. This movie deals with the horrifying truths behind the Japanese court system. Life-altering and inspirational movie. I haven't seen Kase Ryou in film before, but he handled this difficult role perfectly, excellent control of his emotions. The supporting cast is filled with actors I consider to be the most talented in acting skills, and they all gave great performances. Casting was incredibly well-done.

This movie was directed by the same person who did "Shall We Dance?" and the lead actor in that movie, Yakusho Kouji appears as the main lawyer. Direction, screenplay, and the story were absolutely perfect.

A must-watch film.

Two ironies attest to critiquing this film a year after it was submitted to the 2008 Oscars for Best Foreign Language Film. First of all, this year, 2009, saw the Japanese feature Okuribito scoop that very award, a film directed by a man whose early credits include a long-running 'train molester' series, a sniggering look at the titillation gained from the sport of groping vulnerable-but-loving-it females on crowded commuter trains.

The second irony is that the Japanese Supreme Court recently overturned a guilty verdict on a man convicted of such a crime, citing the lack of evidence and due procedure on the part of police and prosecutors.

Okuribito's debt to Suo's film is tenuous, but the Supreme Court decision seems unlikely had Sore Demo not been made. The film highlights the primitive and highly dubious procedures that infest the Japanese judicial system, where habeas corpus is trampled upon and a benign and apathetic populace conspire by neglect in the crushing of innocents. The scale of the molester problem is apparent to any visitor to these shores who spends time on commuter trains - Women Only carriages are now the norm at rush-hour, a far cry from the halcyon days previously celebrated by the director of Okuribito, when 'how to molest' programmes were broadcast on mainstream TV channels. Times have changed, and how.

Suo elects to tell the tale as an Educational film, attempting to edify his audience on the corruption of the Japanese judiciary from the base assumption that they know nothing. Such stylistics have come unstuck before in Nihon no Ichiban Kuroi Natsu, where the didactic tone fails to encapsulate the social ramifications of the material it addresses. But Suo's film does not go off on that tangent, presenting as its innocent in need of education a single man falsely accused in a groping incident. He is a decent, loved man who finds circumstances piling up against him in a country he previously, naively, accepted as fundamentally good. Ryo Kase does excellent work as meek Teppei, who puts up with his treatment initially unaware of the hole that is being dug for him. His resolve not to opt for the easy 'guilty' verdict that will secure quick release is a deep moral core by contrast lacking in the police, judges, fourth estate and even his own solicitor.

The preaching can be a bit heavy-handed at times, and the film is at least 30 minutes too long. Some dubious side characters are overdrawn, such as an effeminate cell-mate thrown on stage to provide giggles and more leadership for Teppei. Such small qualms aside, this movie is an epochal event, an important film, that highlights an incredible, mean-spirited flaw in Japanese society, that the recent Supreme Court decision may finally relegate to history.

Suo's direction is spare and unobtrusive, his actors given space to reveal the consequences of such judicial brutality, which they do with aplomb. Brave, important film-making, that history will take note of.

Japan's foreign-film entry to the 2008 Academy Awards is a doozy and arrives from one of the country's preeminent filmmakers, Masayuki Suo. In his first film since 1996's "Shall We Dansu?", he brings the same discriminating eye back to Japan's cultural and social norms and in "I Just Didn't Do It", zeros in on its oppressively rigid judicial system. Observed on a level that can only be described as stark realism, a true departure from Suo's august social comedies and a distinct legal procedural going by its narrative trajectory of showing the inciting incident, investigation and to the courtroom in its various stages of due process – Teppei Kaneko (Ryo Kase) is accused of molesting a schoolgirl on his way to a job interview, subsequently coerced by weary detectives to accept the charge and pay the fine instead of pursuing vindication – a system that Suo notes as the reason for Japan's almost perfect conviction rate and institutionalised prejudice against the accused.

The film follows the procedures of an unfortunate man as he is arrested, indicted, and tried for groping, a criminal offense. Throughout, the audience is confronted with moral dilemmas, questions on the most basic, most fundamental principles of the justice system and court procedure. Of course, the basic tenet is "innocent until proved guilty," but how does a court truly guarantee such? How does a justice system work efficiently without error? How should the justice system correct itself when there is a mistake? And how should the defendant act when he is wrongly accused? These questions are relevant to any nation, not just Japan.

Despite all the considerations of a highly developed democratic system, the main character, Teppei, still finds himself in the most unfortunate situation of being indicted for a crime he did not commit. Japan has checks and balances different from the United States or other western nations. Most innocent people are freed in the Kensatsu (something similar to the prosecutor) and are never indicted. In a sense, there is a court involving investigation, before the actual court. That a defendant, before entering a court room, has already been found guilty in two separate investigations renders the court a place to merely decide what the punishment should be. This is the reality of 99.9% guilty rate (which includes those who plead guilty). Teppei finds himself in the unlucky situation where he actually gets indicted despite being innocent.

After seeing this movie, many people, especially non-Japanese, will get the wrong impression of the Japanese justice system, which is a lot more fair than this film gives credit to. Regardless, the film presents a very valuable and justified perspective of the way criminal cases are handled in Japan and forces us to contemplate the concept of courts regardless of nation.