Dead Sushi

While not as gruesome as the directors previous film The Machine Girl, Dead Sushi still manages to have a lot of bloody violence on display as a lot of laughs due to its zany humour and cut price CGI.

Of all the questions this film raises, like: Why make it? Is it funny? I can't help wondering wondering why the title? Surely, 'Live Sushi' or Sushi - Its Alive' would be more appropriate, but no matter. Maybe like much of the film it is lost in translation. However no matter how silly, not quite as funny as the makers believe and over the top it is, it is something more than a little different. It is also very well made. The acting may not be of the highest calibre but it is not embarrassing and the film keeps moving, amazingly it zings by and does not, seem overlong, as I had feared it might. There are absolutely amazingly surreal moments with sushi flying everywhere and biting and causing massive tears in flesh and gushing geysers of blood. I did not find it hilarious but I did smile and the obvious dedication of all involved was infectious. No sacred cow was sacred to this lot either, from salary men and office progression to the way sushi is prepared and eaten - all is ridiculed mercilessly. Is the best way to eat sushi off the bare flesh of a bikini clad young lady? Probably not but it looked OK until it started to burrow! This, then is one of the quirkiest of the many quirky Japanese films I have seen and despite everything, well worth a look, though what you will make of it I cannot say.

The daughter of a sushi chef, Keiko (Rina Takeda), tries to live up to her father's demanding training in both martial arts and sushi making, but it proves too much for her and she runs away. She finds a job as a waitress at a remote resort hotel that caters to special groups, such as the president and some of his associates running a major pharmaceutical company. Unknown to them, Yamada (Kentaro Simazu), a former researcher at the company who was framed and jailed on trumped-up charges, is living in the area - and he's angry! His research had involved bringing dead things back to life, and he uses his knowledge now to create.... killer sushi! Set loose amongst the guests and workers at the hotel, only Keiko and former sushi chef Mr. Sawada (Shigeru Matsuzaki) have what it takes to fight back, with the help of little dead/alive egg sushi, Eggy, of course....

This is one of those highly entertaining, completely nonsensical and over-the-top gory and funny films that the Japanese seem to have a lock on these days; at one point a character says "this has finally reached a point where it makes no sense any longer" and the audience wonders how it managed to take that character so long to come to that conclusion! My favourite line in the film is from disgruntled researcher Yamada who, at one significant moment, states that "I have been reborn as tuna!" An immortal line in anybody's book, I think. What keeps this film from flying all the way apart is its gonzo spirit and absolute commitment to its absurdity, and there are also some excellent martial arts sequences, particularly from Keiko - Rina Takeda is a rising martial arts star, and she was still a teenager when she made this film. Some people might object to the excessive blood-letting, but it's done in such an extreme fashion that it's really just hilarious, not nauseating.

If the FantAsia International Film Festival needs a descriptive film to show what it's all about, "Dead Sushi" is perhaps that very film, and it is really only right and proper that it had its World Premiere at this festival. The film was introduced by its director and co-writer Naboru Iguchi, and Ms. Takeda was also on hand to demonstrate some of her martial arts moves live; Mr. Iguchi encouraged the packed auditorium to yell out "danger!" or "sushi!" at appropriate moments, and the FantAsia audience took him up on it with great enthusiasm. Easily my favourite film of FantAsia 2012 so far, and one that I hope gets a wide distribution because it has to be seen (and guffawed at) to be believed!

For as joyfully overdone as this is even in its first few minutes in every way - writing, direction, acting, music, and even the editing and effects - it's hard not to get our hopes up for a wild good time. The flick quite establishes its comedic stylings before its horror, predominantly with boisterousness that tends toward boorishness if not outright juvenility: grandiose accentuation of the culinary art of making sushi; wholly overcooked dialogue, scene writing, and characterizations; unabashedly ham-fisted, exaggerated direction and acting; physical comedy, and cheap jokes and gags surrounding sex and anatomy; and so on. For good measure cinematographer Nagano Yasutaka gets in on the ridiculousness with overzealous camerawork alongside Iguchi Noboru's cheeky orchestration of shots and scenes, and this is to say nothing of the infusion of martial arts and fight scenes that are sometimes equally cartoonish. Then, at last, there is the horror element, replete with purposefully bare-faced artificiality in the effects whether practical or digital, plentiful blood and gore, and of course, zombie sushi.

All this is just a reflection of what to expect from 'Dead sushi' and does not necessarily pertain to its quality. The blend of horror and comedy sometimes rides a fine line, and it can take little to push the amalgamation over the edge into either clever and fun if gnarly frivolity, or sheer puerile and/or overcharged raucousness. So how is the end result? For better and for worse, this picture rides that indicated line very consistently in that it has one foot on either side as it advances through these ninety-odd minutes. In its use of practical effects, in its most unapologetic and lighthearted cheesiness, and in the coy wit that says "you know what, sure, let's just go for it," this is actually very funny at times and kind of charming in its silliness, and these feelings extend to the cast and all others involved. In its use of very obvious computer-generated imagery, in its most tiresomely inane and childish bits of humor (e.g., fart jokes), and in its unbridled immoderation that lacks the discerning sense to ground it, this becomes dull and exhausting if not outright aggravating, and I wonder how those involved subsequently feel about their participation.

It's a very mixed bag. From one moment to the next the movie might be enjoyable, or it might try our patience, or maybe it will perfectly split the difference. To be a little of both, however, is not the sort of balance that a horror-comedy needs to be able to work. Moreover, if we're being honest, then insofar as the final product is a function of the good, the bad, and the questionable, the bad and the questionable work in concert to staunchly counterbalance the good, and threaten to overtake it entirely. The detractions aren't so severe as to completely drag down the viewing experience, and just as some aspects are especially bad, some are especially great. There was a lot of potential in the concept, and there really is a lot to like here, including the practical effects and special makeup, the spirited commitment of the cast in their performances, Fukuda Yasuhiko's music, the stunts and choreography, and other minutiae like the production design, art direction, and costume design, hair, and makeup. I'll even say that I appreciate Iguchi's screenplay, for aside from the utmost intemperance, there a lot of delightfully impertinent sparks of ingenuity all throughout - yes, in the dialogue, characterizations, scene writing, and the narrative at large.

So it's just unfortunate that the low-key brilliance we see when the film is at its best is not more fully represented throughout the length. The sprightly irreverence of embracing the goofiness succeeds only when the gleeful creativity of absurdity supersedes bombast of any sort. When all is said and done I think 'Dead sushi' can claim a fairly strong finish with its third act, and though we can endlessly debate the precise extent, I'm inclined to believe the sum total is slightly better than not. Why, as outtakes greet us over the end credits, it's evident that cast and crew alike had a blast making this, not least star Takeda Rina, and I'm glad that I can share that joy in some measure. I wish I could share it more wholeheartedly. In fairness, maybe all this is nitpicking anyway - there was a very low probability that this title was ever going to be a must-see riot, and having nevertheless served its purpose in providing entertainment on any level, is that not enough? Maybe so, or maybe not, since I can recognize how it might have been better. Ultimately I do like 'Dead sushi,' and I think it's worth checking out for something light and uncomplicated on a lazy day; perhaps that's all it ever needed to be in the first place.

You should know one thing: This is OTT high camp, that only has one goal: To be as crazy as it can be. If you read the outline, you know what you let yourself into. Fun and silly, nothing more and nothing less. We shouldn't talk too much about acting in this movie of course. I think for a comedy of this sorts, it's more than decent. Something you can expect to see in here.

If this is the first Japanese over the top movie you're going to watch, you're either in for a treat or you will very soon find out that this isn't your cup of tea (or sake for that matter). Of course I'm not suggesting you should get drunk for this ;o) (though that might be an idea for a sequel .. Dead Sake!)