Review of The World of Kanako (2014) by Reini U — 16 Sep 2015
It's not the story which is interesting here. The typical japanese version of a pretty high school girl becoming a deadly femme fatal, most likely because of the bad character of the her father, our hero. And of course it's Koji Yakusho in the lead, the existentialist hero in modern japanese cinema. A typical Jim Thompson theme, the bad narrator blurring our empathy, which of course then can lead into Japanese existentialism. Which is a bit far fetched for an underground drama, but this is Japan. Koji Yakusho is still Kôji Yakusho, even if he plays now Choi Min?sik.
It's almost "Oldboy" and has numerous references to it. It's highly melodramatic of course, and unfortunately with a lot of blood and violence, which limits its western market appeal. But it's not as bad as the typical japanese midnight slasher.
It has the most refreshing look, editing and score since "Spun" by Jonas Akerlund. Excellent.
We start with fast crosscutting into the story development, switching between the camera styles of the moody "All About Lily Chou-Chou" and the gritty "Oldboy", intermixed with lots Tarrantino and Haskell Wexler references, and the sound editing has a lot of fun with us. It looks like the work of an excellent first-time director who wants to show it all, but Tetsuya Nakashima is already an old and established industry professional.
This review of The World of Kanako (2014) was written by Reini U on 16 Sep 2015.
The World of Kanako has generally received mixed reviews.
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