Charisma (1999)

"What is it with this forest?" That is the question for disgraced Tokyo detective Goro Yabuike (Kôji Yakusho, Shall We Dance), who finds himself embroiled in a tense struggle revolving around a gnarled, forbidding tree. Goro has fled Tokyo after a hostage crisis escalates into tragic violence. He finds himself in a remote forest where the surrounding vegetation is diseased, the streams are polluted, and other trees are dying or dead. Is the solitary tree rare, or a mutation? An eccentric caretaker fiercely protects the tree from a group of forest rangers who want to profit from it and a botanist who insists that the toxic tree must be destroyed. Can Goro redeem himself, and "restore the rules of the world?" This provocative thriller is a dramatic departure for international award-winning genre filmmaker Kiyoshi Kurosawa (Séance), one of the brightest stars of Japan’s New Wave.

Kurosawa posits: Why limit yourself to only one genre?

It's hardly Kiyoshi Kurosawa's best or worst effort by any means - admittedly, "Charisma" is burdened with an uneven tone and occasional lack of focus. But the acting is quite good (Kurosawa's habitual casting of Yakusho, Osugi and Doguchi has always yielded interesting results), the photography striking and the story presents so many novel concepts and surprises that such a unique and challenging motion picture can't be dismissed. It isn't comparable to "Cure" or "Pulse" - not by a long shot - but it's well worth watching.

This is one of the better DVDs that I've seen in a while. The main menu is dominated by shifting, translucent overlaid images of trees scored by Gary Ashiya's haunting music. The format of the scene selection menu is something that I'd like to see more of: in lieu of numerous pages of screen still thumbnails, the selections consist of two lists of numbered scene titles. This is a faster, more efficient means of locating and viewing any particular scene.

The film looks and sounds as good as it did in the theater, eight years ago. The print is a bit grainy, but that's how I remember it and the rustic vividity of the cinematography is conveyed with its full luster.

The special features are also of interest. The first of these is an interview with Kurosawa in which he discusses the numerous obstacles that almost prevented this film's realization. He describes the story's numerous themes, and the many ways in which it was altered to suit both the constraints of the production's limitations and his own ever-changing conception of it. He also expresses a mild dissatisfaction with his finished product.

Thirty-four minutes of behind-the-scenes footage is included, most of it very watchable. Highlights of this feature include the antics of the cast and crew (I never knew that Ren Osugi was such a goof) and footage that details the execution of numerous special effects during the shoot. Clips from the movie are interspersed throughout for expository comparison.

The overblown Japanese video trailer for "Charisma," adequate French theatrical trailer for "Seance" and excellent U.S. theatrical trailer for "Cure" are also included. An extremely low-fi version of this last has been floating around online for years; it's nice to finally see a decent copy of it.

Subtitles are available only in English; French equivalents would have been a nice addition, considering that this movie was fairly popular throughout the Francosphere... October 19, 2008

Another Kurosawa success.

Charisma (Kiyoshi Kurosawa, 1999)

Despite my abiding adoration of Kiyoshi Kurosawa, I'm never entirely sure what I'm going to get when I see one of his movies. I think, with the exception of Sweet Home (which is sitting there waiting for me to watch it), I've now seen all of Kurosawa's movies available in the west, and no one is in any way like the other; Cure is a crime drama, Séance is a mystery (and a remake), Bright Future is... something unclassifiable, Pulse is a straight horror flick in the new Japanese tradition. I love them all, and all the other Kurosawa flicks I've seen. Enter Charisma, which is an odd blend of ecological flick, love story, and thriller.

Yabuike (Memoirs of a Geisha's Koji Yakusho) is a detective. Or he was. During a kidnapping, he misses a chance to take action, and as a result, bad things happened. His supervisor counsels him to take some time off, but instead of doing so, he simply walks off the job, taking a bus in a random direction, then getting off at random in the forest and walking, leaving civilization behind. Of course, there's nowhere one can really leave civilization behind in Japan, and he finds himself under the care of naturalist Mitsuko (Veronika Decides to Die's Jun Fubuki, who became a Kurosawa regular after this film). In the forest where she lives is a tree that he finds himself growing obsessed with. He's not the only one. One faction wants to steal it; another wants it to be destroyed, fearing that it's killing all the rest of the plant life in the forest. Former insane asylum inmate Kiriyama (Great Teacher Onikuze's Hiroyuki Ikeuchi) wants it protected at any cost. As Yabuike becomes more obsessed with the tree, he feels that his destiny is entwined with the tree's. Which would make things awfully simple, if he could figure out what he wanted for himself-- destruction, salvation, or to disappear, never to be seen again.

This is the kind of movie I'm not sure any modern director save Kurosawa could actually pull off. It's absolutely ludicrous, when you write it out like that, much as Bright Future and Pulse are ludicrous, but put it into Kurosawa's hands and you get a thrilling, absorbing work of art that tugs at the heartstrings every once in a while. I'm not exactly sure why this is. Some of it certainly has to do with the bleak atmosphere and matching lighting, the sound mix, all the little technical details that contribute to a movie's atmosphere as much as does the dialogue or the character development. Some of it has to do with Koji Yakusho's performance, which is stellar. Some of it has to do with the tree itself, which is an ugly ducking par excellence, and makes you want to root for the underdog, whether it's "evil" or not. Part of it is just the ineffable nature of Kiyoshi Kurosawa's directorial excellence. All sum up, as usual, to far more than the value of the parts themselves, and what we get is another superlative Kiyoshi Kurosawa film. Highly recommended. ****

August 19, 2008

Charisma of Kurosawa !

I have seen about 7 Kurosawa films. I own 4.
I always thought that "Pulse" would remain my favorite... until I saw Charisma.
I won't go into the plot. You can read some of the other reviews. This film is so suspenseful and singularly unique in a world dominated by bad hollywood movies, that it should win best thriller worldwide for the year it was released.
I'd rather just say, if you like really beautifuly directed, photographed, well written, highly provocative, and simply a fun ride for the emotions and mind. See this film! You won't regret it. If you are a fan of Kurosawa's films and haven't seen this one. Do so as soon as you can.
It's not for everyone I'm sure....but everyone should see it just the same. It will make you re-examine certain pre-conceptions that you have about life and even death.

I will always have a copy of this until the day I die.
Best in asian suspense/horror. 5 stars! April 19, 2007

A Metaphorical Film: Not For Everyone!

Kiyoshi Kurosawa's "Charisma" is not for everyone. If anything it does tend to be difficult to understand at times, however, this is typical of Kiyosihi Kurosawa's films. [No relation to the cinematic master 'Akira Kurosawa'] As for myself, I really enjoyed the film. However, others may find the film drags a bit and may be hard to follow: But it is still an interesting film nonetheless, and I would recommend that you at least rent the DVD before purchasing the film. Moreover, the film may require repeated viewings.

The film stars one of my favorite Japanese actors (Koji Yakusho). There is something about his personality on the screen that I really like. It doesn't seem as if he is acting; but like a hidden camera is following his every move. [At least to me anyway]. The film begins with Goro Yabuike (Koji Yakusho) as a disgraced Tokyo Detective leaving everything behind in his life and going to a remote forest. It is here that Goro encounters a mystical tree. There is something about the tree that mystifies Goro. What is it about the tree? A botantist, and others believe the tree is the cause for a creeping disease spreading throughout the forest: Apparently, all of the surrounding vegatation in the forest is diseased, and the streams are polluted. Everything it seems points to the tree.

Goro becomes fascinated with the tree, and to him, its mysticism. There is an eccentric person who takes care of the tree in the forest, and will not allow anyone to cut this tree down. Why? As the rangers continually persist in trying to have the tree removed, the tree's caretaker is joined by Goro in resisting their attempts. The tree is named Charisma, and whether or not the tree should be cut down is one of the central themes of the story. But it is also the story of Goro, and his attempt to restore the natural balance of not just the forest, but his own life as well. The film is not for everyone, however, I was intrigued with the film. And as usual, (Koji Yakusho) gives a stellar performance. Recommended with caution. December 16, 2006

Apocalyptic Japan

An awesome movie by auteur genius, Kiyoshi Kurosawa. Think "Princess Mononoke" meets Kafka. Enjoy. September 15, 2005

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