(Shunji Iwai, 1995)
After losing her fiancée in a mountain climbing accident, Hiroko decides to write him a letter and mail it to an old adress of his, even though the house is not there anymore. A letter to Heaven, she calls it. Much to her surprise, the letter gets delivered, and soon after, she gets a letter back, signed by her fiancée. How could it be? As we come to learn, it just so happens that the letter had been delivered to a woman with the same name as him (Itsuki Fujii).
Not only that, they'd actually gone to school together. They were in the same class!
If this setup sounds stupid and contrived, it's because it is. It takes forever too, we're a good 50-60 minutes into the movie at this point and I'm about to die of boredom. What follows is a shift in perspective, as we start following Itsuki and her recollections of her teenage years spent alongside Itsuki #2. This takes the whole second hour of film. Past events relived, demons exorcised, epiphanies ensue; you know how these go, right? Hiroko talks to a mountain.
Ok? Also, pet peeve: jittery handheld shots of just two people having a conversation. It worked in
Undo in that it got progressively worse as the tension grew between the two characters. It's completely unnecessary here. Pet peeve #2: cloying, sentimental music at the most inappropriate times. Which is always. I'm surprised Hollywood hasn't remade this yet, it's just begging for it. I don't know what to make of you, Shunji.
(Johnny To, 1997)
WTF is it with the music in these movies. Enough already. This is on par with
Rescue Me as far as firehouse soap opera goes. Like, they're not even trying to hide it. In a scene that perfectly epitomizes the first hour of this movie for me, a firewoman leaves the bathroom in a rush to answer the fire alarm. As soon as she gets on the truck she pulls this out
That's right. It's not enough that there's a fire I have to attend to, I just found out I'm pregnant! Whatever fireman action there is during the first sixty minutes serve no purpose other than inflating the soap-ish drama. Like, the rescue of the suicidal woman turns into a meet cute
the baby rescue is just an excuse for the lady firefighter to decide she doesn't want to have an abortion after all (though it was still pretty awesome)
Stuff like that. It's a good thing To directs drama and romance as swiftly as he does action.
If you don't believe in me, forget it.What does that mean?Since you don't believe in me...Breaking up?You said it. DONE. Had he directed
He's Just Not That Into You, it wouldn't have lasted more than 15 minutes. Anyway, halfway into the proceedings, the crew gets trapped in a factory while attempting to rescue the people inside. I did not realise at the time, because there was still an hour to go, but this is the final set piece. A rescue sequence of epic proportions, 45 minutes long, everything's falling apart, the flames engulfing the actors in slow motion, it's beautiful. And, it totally makes the movie.
So, half a good movie is better than no good movie.
Lifeline moves on.