Not Forgotten

[Don Brown]

For a film that painted a fairly nasty picture of war and the effect it has 
on those involved, it was rather contradictory to resolve the story with an 
act of swift and shocking violence, and a heroic one at that.  As Tom Mes 
said in his review on Midnight Eye, the introduction of the Utopia 
corporation was highly fictional and I did think it jarred with the 
leisurely matter-of-fact depiction of the main trio of protagonists.  
Perhaps there was a message within equating the mind control of Japanese 
militarism with cult/corporate fervour, but that was confused by the 
non-judgemental treatment of the soldiers themselves.  There were many 
different ideas and subplots straining for attention, perhaps to the 
detriment of the film's overall balance, but the charm and nobility of the 
lead actors did much to compensate.  I can't recall many recent movies that 
have given us such sympathetic and moving characters, and male ones at 
that.  I'm in agreement with Kurosawa Kiyoshi that this is the best film of 
the year so far, with Firefly Dreams and Electric Dragon 80000 in close 
contention.
  That brings me to another question: what was the worst Japanese film you 
saw this year?  
Don Brown

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