Pikunikku (1996, Shunji Iwai) against Love in the Time of Twilight (1995, Hark Tsui)
Pikunikku
Three young mentally challenged people, 2 boys and 1 girl, all patients at an institute, confuse the publication date of a bible copy to be the deadline for the end of the world. They set out in an attempt to find the perfect spot to view the spectacle. They do not take roads or sidewalks but rather stroll on ramps, walls and the rails of bridges to make it to their destination.
Combining drama, some laughs, dynamic camera movement and editing, strong acting and an impressive score, Pikunniku challenged me like few movies can. I was very impressed with the film as a whole, its story and how the latter played out in the end. I was unsure of what to expect when I chose the film for this current verdict. The result was a very pleasant surprise. It is a strong story with characters that I grew very found of by the end.
I don’t know what to say about this film. I just really like it. It finds a balance between character development and storyline within a very particular context, that of having three mentally ill characters as protagonists as opposed to secondary characters. Here there is no choice but to have them as layered people rather than cardboard crazy cut outs. It is an intriguing premise and the end product rewarded me with dividends I won’t soon forget. A good example of a film that has interesting potential but doesn’t squander it. Rather, it finds continuous inspiration from it.
Love in the Time of Twilight
Fooled by an attractive title, I yet again subjected myself to a film that, much like Justice My Foot! And Out of the Dark, sends more time offering gags on a level of humour that my funny bone is heavily shielded against.
A young woman who is a member of a dance theatre group, and a young male bank clerk stumble upon each other early in the film in rather bumbling fashion and take a great disliking to each other. Desperate to find a lover, the bank clerk hooks up with a complete stranger that same night. The stranger presses him to deposit some jewels at the bank the next day. It turns out she handed him pistols, as she was merely part of a scheme with a band of thieves to rob the bank in question. The bank clerk perishes in the process and, for reasons I’m not entirely clear on, returns as a spirit to the theatre dancer he hated at the beginning to help him rewrite history and prevent his death.
As mentioned above, the elastic face, ‘shit ghost’, intentional funny voices, slapstick humour rarely, if ever, earns any warm reception from me. I tend to go into these Far East matchups ‘cold’ as they say, which is a strategy I’ll need to change since 30% of my matchups so far have involved movies like this. I did begin to have fun once the theatre dancer and the bank clerk travel into the past in a wild attempt to rewrite history. As one can guess, there is a BTTF II vibe, with both characters trying to avoid contact with the past versions of themselves. It makes for some clever moments. Another sequence as both characters stuck on each other’s bodies, with their fronts sticking out on both sides (no backsides basically. I won’t explain how. If anyone is curious enough they can check the movie out). That also is funny, but the story shoots itself in the foot immediately afterwards with an overly dramatic romance twist. All in all, good moments, but just not the kind of film I like.
Verdict: Pikunikku