Hello Junichi! (2014) // Sorasoi (2008) // Norioka Workshop (2022)
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Welcome to Sensei Sensibility! You are the hungry mind yearning to devour quality Asian cinema; I am the (questionably) knowledgeable Sensei, more than happy to satiate your cinematic appetite.
The great thing about the Katsuhito Ishii Collection Box Set from Third Window Films is that the works selected show the staggering diversity and continued growth of the director they're highlighting. Everything from violent, hyper-surreal, stylized V Cinema pieces to charming, heart warming coming-of-age movies. The genres may change, but Kasuhito Ishii stays very much - wonderfully - the same.
Hello Junichi! (2014):
Who doesn't love a Little Rascals-esque coming of age story that shows the beauty of friendship but in a cool, non-saccharine way? The lives of wimpy third grader Junichi Hayashida (Amon Kabe) and his little pals are changed forever when a sassy new student teacher Miss Anna (Mitsushima Hikari) enters their classroom.
The divisive Miss Anna is worshipped by the young male students, and their fuddy-duddy old teacher Mr. Achikita (Yoshiyuki Morishita), but loathed by the female students. Anna is fabulously trashy, smokes, and boldly shares inappropriate anecdotes about her romantic exploits with the class. Inspired by her vigour, the pupils embark upon a series of small-scale adventures resulting in big-scale wins.
From hunting a car-vandalising stalker, protecting a rabbit shaped eraser totem, first forays into shoplifting, running afoul of high-school bullies, putting together a live pop group, and experiencing the bitter sting of puppy love, Junichi and co. obliterate their comfort zones and run full throttle into the great unknown. With hilarious results.
While not afraid to touch on darker social issues affecting the youngsters, Hello Junichi overall portrays a more uplifting and tender side of Ishii than we're used to - but with all his hallmark stylings: uninterrupted scenes, long static camera shots, and flashes of the surreal. There's genuine heart here and some valuable life-lessons for the viewer too - "when a bad thing happens, there's a good thing behind it, you'll see one day". The comedy is understated but on-point, and all the kids look like they're having enormous fun and are great little actors to boot.
At around 90 minutes this film doesn't overstay its welcome and is a feel-good film that manages to keep the audience engaged consistently. Perfect for fans of Summer Time Machine Blues and Non Non Biyori.
Sorasoi (2008):
Seeking escape from the city and her troublesome boyfriend (the Hawaiian shirt wearing scum bag Ken), mysterious beauty Yuri (Sayuri Ichikawa) books a stay at the shabby hostel Sorasoi in Shimada and crosses paths with the hapless university dance troupe Potente.
Potente are there for an intensive summer camp where they'll train tirelessly in advance of a prestigious dance competition. It's just a pity that the girls of the group are more interested in leching over their attractive mentor Coach Tabe (Sota Aoyama) than dancing, same with the boys who are absolutely teeming with hormones. None so much as student Ryu (Ryu Morioka) who quickly develops a soft spot for Yuri, the feeling isn't exactly un-mutual.
*Deep Voice Movie Guy Style* This summer - romance is in the air.
Sorasoi isn't really "about" anything per say. We're invited fly-on-the-wall style to observe the day-to-day goings on of these exceedingly normal people over a brief period of time, witnessing the petty frictions and shifting social dynamics of the group. In fact, such is the hand-held camera work Ishii gives us an almost voyeuristic viewing experience. Also, the actors names are incorporated into the script for the extra authentic feel.
The location is divine, an out of the way seaside village surrounded by verdant mountains (special mention the picturesque Cape of Love and Lover's Bell); and the film lazily unfolds with a rustic, percussive soundtrack as its guide, and the overly-loud background ambience of the sea and nature noises bring the audience on an immersive audio journey. All these components have an ASMR-esque effect on the viewer and as such watching Sorasoi is quite a peaceful undertaking.
There's subtle, clever humour and dextrous physicality from the actors, the laughs drawn from the viewer are from the naturalistic exchanges, dialogue and mild physical comedy. (Let's not forget the OTT comedic sound effects.) A comedy highlight for was the impromptu - and slightly ludicrous - "choir" scene, I guarantee you you'll get a good laugh out of that one.
With some gentle surprises at the end, over all Sorasoi is an enjoyable slice of escapism. Ideal for fans of: GO and Anime Supremacy!
Norioka Workshop (2022):
"Us actors are conmen by trade"
Starring Ryu Morioka who portrayed Ryu in the above Sorasoi review, Norioka Workshop is Ishii's latest film - centring around mid-tier actor Norioka's acting workshop that goes disastrously wrong.
Norioka is a disingenuous actor who hosts acting classes in his fabulous IKEA-showroom-style home and is a big star, really big, so you totally should have heard of him. Honest. However, the age-old adage "you can't kid a kidder" comes into play when our thespian meets his match with troublesome students Nami-chan (Yuka Harada) and Mari-san (Suki Taniuchi).
Despite Norioka's earnest efforts to impart his wisdom of stage, small screen and big screen (Yakuza role? Shout loudly! Detective role? Pop your collar and chain smoke!), the class descends into an uproariously physical farce. There's plot twists galore as everyone is lying and no one is as they seem, but hey, they all end up happy with how the events unfolded, so all's well that ends well?
Shot hand-held camera style in real time and set in the one room, this is a quirky and entertaining offering from Ishii that shows us that while he may no longer trot gun-toting bequiffed gangsters in red leather around the screen, he's still a master of his craft.
Fans of Seance and Punk Samurai will love this.
The Katsuhito Ishii Collection Box Set drops from Third Window Films in July. Limited to only 2000 copies - you do not want to miss out.
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