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Avg. Rating: 4
It's Kiyoshi Kurosawa-- of course it's good!
Bright Future (Kiyoshi Kurosawa, 2002)
Kiyoshi Kurosawa gets away from the niche he's carved out in the atmospheric-horror genre for this odd little comedy/drama that features a seriously loaded cast and a truly absurd premise. Fans of Kurosawa should be warned that there aren't any ghosts, serial killers, or creepy crawling children to be found here, though you do get some poisonous jellyfish and a bit of senseless (and completely offscreen) violence. Also, those who come to this because of critics' likening it to the films of David Lynch might be best warned that this is not the best entrance point into the world of Kurosawa, despite its Palme d'Or nomination; the (justly) internationally-renowned Cure is a great place to start. Come back to this one, but make sure you do.
Nimura (Azumi's Jo Odagiri) and Arita (The Last Life in the Universe's Tadanobu Asano) are brothers who spend their time slacking off in arcades when not working at a towel factory. Their boss, Fujiwara (The Hidden Blade's Takashi Sasano) is a well-meaning guy, if a bit obnoxious. He certainly doesn't deserve to have his entire family slaughtered, but Arita does so, for no reason that anyone can discern, and goes to prison for life. He passes the care of the only thing in the world that matters to him-- a poisonous jellyfish he's trying to adapt to life in fresh water-- to Nimura. Their father Shinichiro (Tatuya Fuji, recently seen in The Man in White), shaken by Arita's act, attempts to heal the rift that's developed between Nimura and him.
Kurosawa is a fine director; if any of the new crop of young Japanese autuers deserves to carry the Kurosawa name, it's Kiyoshi (though he is no relation to the more famous filmmaker to bear that surname). His movies are sparse, understated affairs where far more goes on between the lines than in them, and Bright Future is no exception to this. Expect a slow, deliberate drama, and there's a lot to be gotten out of this; Kurosawa gets top performances out of his actors every time, and he retains cinematographer Takahide Shimanushi (Séance) , who's done fine work for him previously. The Lynch comparison comes in not only in the absurdity of the basic premise, but in the way Kurosawa and Shimanushi shot this film; Kurosawa knows chiaroscuro, and exploits it, much as Lynch (or, more recently, David Fincher) does. More stuff happens in David Lynch pictures, though. Here, you're just supposed to watch it, then spend a lot of time thinking about it. The payoff is great, though "understated" is perhaps not strong enough a word. A lovely little film. *** ½
One of Kiyoshi Kurosawa's finest films
Kiyoshi Kurosawa is becoming one of my favorite current filmmakers, and the further he gets from by-the-book J-horror (preferring to reach further into less categorizable reaches of his own cinematic imagination), the better I think he is.
Deeper meanings mingle with absurdist humor, and the kind of chance occurrences that enliven the fiction of Paul Auster and Haruki Murakami also figure heavily in Kurosawa's films; cinematically, everything from Lynch or Fellini to "Dirty Harry" can be a touchstone for further exploration.
BRIGHT FUTURE is like an improved CHARISMA - more refined, less loony, and considerably more poetic, but Kiyoshi Kurosawa's many thematic concerns - trashing of the environment, a sense of depersonalization (and discreet nihilism) in younger/future generations, the erosion of a society's cohesiveness (especially when that erosion originates within, and not from some external source) - are handled very well - the last shot offers his darkest and most ironic humor, with the cross-generational understanding becoming something quietly heroic evoking certain past masters of Japanese film. A sense that - if younger generations have drifted towards a nihilism that could destroy them or you, it is balanced by an equally withering take on the older generations that somehow let them down; this film in many ways visualizes the idea of getting over it, and moving on with life (after presenting some of the consequences for not doing so).
Tadanobu Asano's presence here is somewhat hyped (definitely on the DVD cover), undoubtedly due to his ascendant global stardom, but his performance here is eclipsed by co-stars Joe Odagiri and Tatsuya Fuji, who both deliver dynamic performances of great range and control.
Mysterious, poetic, beautifully shot (on DV), open to many interpretations, and one of Kiyoshi Kurosawa's finest.
-David Alston
great look at modern Japan
Having lived in Japan, I connected with this film immmediately. I would say that this type of Japanese filmmaking is a lot like the soaps that air on Japanese television. No incredible lighting effects, excessive props or music scores. The camera basically sits their and shows people and what they do. That's about it. I highly doubt anyone who is not Japanese or does not have an idea about what Japanese culture is like will like this film. I'm not going to go on like some people and talk about the "artistic value" of the film. The film is what it is, a story about a couple of guys who try to get a jellyfish to swim in fresh water.
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