SUMMARY
Nine men have
escaped from a Japanese prison.
Their leader, Torakichi decides to recover a great fortune hidden by
his cellmate. The plan is, once they get the money, they will go their separate ways.
When fate deals them a series of strange coincidences, they find
themselves taking a long hard look at their own lives. Are they just a bunch of killers and hoods, or are
they normal people who made some wrong choices when facing insurmountable
odds?
For these 9 souls, the truth shall set them free.
WIDESCREEN
REVIEW
STORY: If you were
expecting a
violent film about escaped prisoners, you would be dead wrong.
Toshiaki Toyoda's story is an examination on what really makes a
man. This existential question is expertly blended with comedic
situations, and powerful dialogue. While the first half is
more like a comedy, the second half turns towards the dramatic, giving it a
much darker tone.
ACTING: With a cast this large and this talented,
it's hard to pick out any one person that surpasses one another. All
of them play their parts with the right mix of comedic timing and deep
emotional fervor that the script calls for.
Personally, the one I was most impressed with was
Ryuhei Matsuda. He gives a remarkably underplayed
performance. He fades into the background so easily, you almost don't notice
him. When we finally get to his story, he completely switches
from a timid wall flower to a
different kind of man all together.
FAN SERVICE: A cute girl dancing in a peep-show is
all your gonna get.
CONCLUSION
9 Souls is
nothing like I expected. I
figured it was either going to be a horror film, or a violent film
full of gunplay and sex. Instead this is a compelling tale of sadness,
loss, truth, and redemption.
The movie starts simply enough with a young man
named Michiru. He has just arrived in cell block 13 to serve
out his sentence for the murder of his
father. He isn't there long when he and the other 8 men in the
cell escape. After getting a change of clothes, and some wheels,
they head off to recover a stash of counterfeit bills, hidden by a former cell
mate.
When
they discover that the key to happiness isn't a big wad of counterfeit money,
the nine of them decide to stick together until they decide to
split. As we go with them on their journey, we learn many
things about these nine souls. Not only do the tell why they
were in prison, but more importantly, why they decided to escape. For
some, it was the chance to be
reunited with a loved one. For others, it was to atone for
their past sins. The only one we don't know why he escaped
with them, or what he is feeling Michiru.
Most of the time, Michiru
sits in the back of the van, quite as the grave. The only time
he really breaks out of his disconnected state is when
Torakichi starts to get
bossy. Next thing you know, Michiru is lashing out at the old
man with a rage that borders on the insane. It takes half of
them to pull him off Torakichi, and the other half to keep the old man
from punching the kids lights out. Once the fight is over,
Michiru reverts back to his introverted self, until the very end of
the movie, when we discover the reason he escaped.
With
a cast this large, most directors would focus in on the two "principle leads", and give
the rest enough
characterization to keep them interesting. Not
Toshiaki Toyoda. He deftly weaves in each man's sad story
ensuring that each man gets his 15 minutes. You learn all about these
criminals, minus the long drawn out speeches about
their current predicament. Toyoda also resolves each story with a
ironic, nihilistic, twist worthy of "The
Twilight Zone".
While the characterization is top
notch, the actual plot meanders a little too much. When 9 felons
are in search for hidden loot, the movie is about the journey to get
there.
Thanks to Toyoda, the main plot point is resolved in the first 40
minutes. From there, we are faced with a series
of coincidences that are a little too convenient. Perhaps
Toyoda believes in the "chaos theory" how disorder actually
has order. Perhaps these bizarre incidents are supposed to symbolize the randomness of life. What ever the
reason, I found the lack of focus a little hard to swallow.
That being said, the acting far outweighs the deficiencies in the
telling.
If you are in the
mood for a kick ass action flick, then "9 Souls" is not for you.
If you want an intelligent and touching film about what it truly
means to be a human being, then look no further.
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