GU GU THE CAT (2008) - not what you think

GU GU THE CAT
(2008, Japan, Gou-Gou datte neko de aru)

Hollywood makes a lot of dog movies. I live in a nation of cat-lovers which doesn't make cat movies. I didn't know much about Gu Gu The Cat when I bought it, but I just fancied seeing a cat movie, figuring that if the Japanese are as cat crazy as the British, it could be fun. I was expecting something fluffy, trivial, with lots of cute cat action. Slightly right and mostly wrong.

If I was Japanese I might have known about Gu Gu from from its series of manga, which features a cat but centres around its owner. The story is actually autobiographical and leads us through a crisis point in the life of the artist/writer Yumiko Oshima.

In the story she's called Amiko and it begins with her finishing her latest manga. She supervises a team of four woman who help ink and correct all the final artwork at her home. After a late night deadline, when everyone's gone, she discovers that her 15 yr old cat has passed away while she was busy. Distraught at losing her companion, she completely stops writing, leaving her team out of work.

After several worrying weeks, her team are relieved when Amiko gets a new kitten, Gu Gu. But this new bundle of fun doesn't break her writer's block. On top of losing her old muse, her mum is pressuring her middle-aged daughter to go out and find a husband...

This is largely a lightweight comedy freewheeling along from day to day, portraying life well away from the centre of Tokyo in the district of Kichijoji, which is good for parks and creative types. It could be called a chick-flick, but doesn't conform to any Hollywood cliches, other than having a cast of mostly women. It's a little unconventional but not at all challenging. My favourite scene was a gently surreal dream sequence, where Amiko talks with her cat. This isn't done the usual Disney way, but far more mystically, serious and low key. A gentle comedy, it gets a little more serious when Amiko gets ill, just as the author did.


While the rambling plot establishes many characters and storylines, there are few payoffs. If the film wasn't called Gu Gu The Cat, you wouldn't even consider the cat was a main character. But this wasn't a problem as I was in an undemanding mood and enjoyed just drifting along with this slightly soapy slice of life, dreaming of living in suburban Tokyo. This an area renowned for writers and authors and it's interesting to see how Amiko is politely revered as a local treasure, and that the launch of a new manga is mounted as serious as any highbrow booklaunch. The ubiquitous Kazuo Umezo (who also popped up in Yaji & Kita) cameos in a couple of scenes - so that's where he lives!

It's a refreshing portrayal of the lives of several different modern day Japanese women, who are usually missing from the kinds of films that I usually watch. But I would still have liked to see more of Gu Gu the cat, despite his pivotal role. Throughout the film, a part-time narrator speaking in English and Japanese is slightly scary because of his faltering acting and his huge perm. Don't worry when he pops up to the set the scene at the beginning, he's not in it too much, and he improves as it goes along.

The Chinese DVD I watched had English subtitles on it, as does the Japanese release. In the extras it was also fun to see a TV ad tied to the film release, promoting a new sort of cat litter tray!

Here's another review at Lunapark6.

THE KEEP (1983) on the big screen in London

Michael Mann needs little introduction, but seeing this, his second feature is ridiculously hard. The Keep, is to get two rare screenings at London's BFI South Bank in August. It's a horror film set in World War 2, and pits a troop of Nazis against an ancient evil in a Transylvanian castle...

Mixing gothic horror with science fiction, using synthesiser band Tangerine Dream on a period film, and an extensive last-minute re-edit all lead to disfavour with critics and audiences alike. An unusual cast included Jurgen Prochnow (Das Boot, Judge Dredd), Scott Glenn (The Right Stuff) and an early film role for Ian McKellen (Lord of the Rings). But the rocky locations, gigantic sets and extensive special effects keep this unique film suspenseful, atmospheric and repeatedly eye-opening.

I saw it first time around on a limited UK cinema release, and expected it would always be around on home video. But the 2.35 widescreen cinematography (a Michael Mann trademark) has only been seen on the laserdisc release. Hopefully, one day, he'll have to time to remaster this for DVD. But in the meantime...

There will be two screenings in NFT3 on August 4th and 9th. For more details, keep your eyes peeled on the BFI website. I'll do a full Black

Hole review after seeing it again.

For a heap more info on The Keep, there's this extensive fansite, which is still promoting the aborted London screening of January 2008, which was hoped would prompt a debut on DVD.

There's more here on the Michael Mann fansite, Manhunter.net.

Here's a very cramped-looking full-frame trailer...

LOVEDEATH (2006) action comedy from VERSUS director

LOVEDEATH
(2006, Japan)

Very disappointed by this. I like director Ryuhei Kitamura, because of Azumi and Godzilla Final Wars. He also directed Versus and Midnight Meat Train. So I was looking forward to this. The trailer for LoveDeath makes it look very exciting, sexy and fun, but the movie simply wasn't.


It looks good, great cast, sexy leading couple, but... humour I didn't get and not much action up to the director's usual standards. It has a meandering and underplotted story. The characters, mostly comedy yakuza, are chasing a suitcase of money. Not very hard to follow, but also not very rewarding for an epic 2 1/2 hours running time. Like, I couldn't understand why if the yakuza boss wants his money (and his woman) back so desperately, why not send his own men rather than a corrupt policeman he's only just met? I guess it was another gag I didn't get.


Logic is repeatedly ignored in favour of rather simple humour. Mostly people getting shot accidentally.There's also a few recurring dick jokes and a lot of talk about sex. But despite a nicely-designed vibrator/pistol getting waved around (a lot) and the very sexy runaway couple, there's actually no nudity and little or no sex. So, lots going on but not very engaging. Possibly aimed at a crowd who'd find the sight of a vibrator-gun funny. Granted, it almost steals the film...


After years of waiting, I've only just found this subtitled on a Taiwanese DVD (pictured here). Good translation, but the subs are way too big. 2.35 widescreen, anamorphic.

Now it makes more sense why this hasn't been picked up for DVD in the US. It's not worth it, which is a great shame.

Still, a great trailer...

HELL GIRL (2005) - Where are seasons 2 and 3?

HELL GIRL
(2005, Japan, Jigoku Shoujo)

An updated guide to the girl with the internet site hooked up to hell

Jigoku (hell) Shoujo (girl). I got into the Hell Girl anime series, but not the Death Note movies. Though the themes are very similar, there's been a lot of noise about one but not the other. It's been a while since I last talked about this dark and addictive anime. So here's an update...

Her name is Ai Enma. She lives with her grandmother in a nice little house by the river, bathed red from the eternal twilight. All very picturesque, but... her little house is IN HELL. She has a COMPUTER FROM HELL and a MOBILE PHONE FROM HELL. Her father is Enma, LORD OF HELL (a figure in Buddhist writings). I don't know what that makes her creepy grandmother, but it can't be good.

She waits for e-mails from the land of the living. Her Hotline To Hell website only appears at midnight to desperate souls with a grievance. All they have to do is enter a name. Hell Girl answers their call by taking revenge for them, by whisking the nominee straight down to hell. But if you summon Hell Girl, you have pay her terrible price... with your soul.

Each episode tells a different story of human cruelty. In the first episode it's a really bad case of bullying at school. As the bullies get more and more creative in their victimisation of one girl, she cracks and seeks revenge the only way possible. She thought that the schoolyard gossip about Hell Girl was just an urban myth, until she checks out the internet... Hell Girl appears, lays out some apt hellish justice, and the girl is bullied no more. But now she bears Hell Girl's mark, guaranteeing that she too will be going to hell when her time eventually comes.

The first series started off with a repetitive string of inhumanity, with Hell Girl's brand of instant justice sorting it out. Each episode ends with her victim being quietly sailed down the river Styx through the gate to hell. While formulaic, it was certainly, strangely satisfying. Not until halfway through the series does an actual story arc appear, when a young journalist starts investigating the truth behind this urban legend...

It's hard to believe that so many would use this solution, considering the price. But it's satisfying to see bad karma going around so quickly. As the series progresses, the stories of revenge get less clear cut, ethically. The anime could even be read as a discussion about capital punishment! Or you could just relax and enjoy its dark charms.

The music is beautiful and eerie (a CD soundtrack has been released for all three anime series), the atmosphere is creepy and the punishments nightmarish. The layouts are colourful and dynamically framed, conjuring up an otherworldly feel.


The anime was quickly remade as a live-action series, using some of the same stories in faithful recreations. There were twelve episodes in all, more frightening than the anime, but retaining the atmosphere and even the same musical themes. This is one of the best Japanese horror TV series I've seen, considering how many awful low-budget 'short story' compendium programmes have been released on DVD in the US. Sayuri Iwata played Ai Enma (pictured above).

Hell Girl's popularity also lead to a second anime series, Jigoku Shoujo Futakomori (2006) which is also 26 episodes long. This time, she's joined by a younger girl, possibly Ai's little sister. But while Ai is quite moral, Kikuri is a playful infant, with an evil sense of mischief. At one point she tries to touch grandma's spinning wheel - the sense of impending disaster is subtle, but you almost don't want to find out what would happen if it ever stopped...

Hell Girl Futakomori explores the lives of Ai's three followers, their backstories, and how they first met Ai. There are also some more difficult cases where Hell Girl's rules are stretched to their limits, not helped by Kikuri getting involved. Again, the series ends with a tense, continuing story over the final episodes, where a young (living) boy gets blamed for Hell Girl's abductions.


In 2008, a third anime series Jigoku Shoujo Mitsugane reached another 26 episodes. The world of Hell Girl is really starting to pass us by. While the first series is out on DVD in the UK and US, the bad news is that nothing else is. No series two or three, or the live-action series.


There are of course Japanese DVDs of all of these, but none have English subtitles. Presumably the stumbling block is the huge expense of dubbing each batch of 26 episodes into English. Annoying for those who just want to watch with subtitles. In Malaysia, I did see a Hong Kong DVD release of the live-action series (pictured above). Meanwhile volumes of a Hell Girl manga (inspired by the anime) continue to get translated. Hopefully, the saga will continue on DVD as well.

Hell Girl overview here on Wikipedia.

Hell Girl season 1 is available as a box set from Amazon and from their Video On Demand service (US only).

KIMERA - a South Korean diva turns opera into disco

KIMERA - THE LOST OPERA
(1985, music promo video)

I promise not to do this too often.

I think I have a pretty good taste in music (doesn't everybody?). But I also really enjoy really bad music. Enjoyably bad, that is. So, at the risk of worsening diplomatic relations between the UK and South Korea, here's a pop video that has tickled me since first seeing it around 1985...

Kimera calls her music popera, a musical style combining her astounding operatic voice, a full symphony orchestra and disco... (note that Malcolm McClaren had chart success around the same time, when he artfully combined opera and pop music on the album Fans, mostly a reworking of the main themes from Puccini's Madame Butterfly. I'd also recommend this album, but for very different reasons).

The rage for disco medleys was a brief and painful fad lead by dutch group Stars on 45 in 1981. Sidestepping copyright problems, they recreated many classic pop songs and segued them together to a plodding disco beat. Both catchy and annoying, it's difficult to tell their clips from the original recordings. This tiny musical genre is haunting me at the moment and I can find very little Stars on 45 anywhere to reassess it. For some reason, the London Philharmonic Orchestra also jumped on the bandwagon with Hooked on Classics, mashing classical hits together, to a disco backbeat. The last straw was the music of The Portsmouth Sinfonia, who played similar medleys of classical music but very, very badly.

In 1984, Kimera belatedly used this Stars on 45 approach for a medley of opera hits. Kimera and her Operaiders released her first album, single and this colourful pop promo (in 1985) that seemed to land from outer space. I didn't know what planet it was from but I liked it, for the wrong reasons. Not a fan of opera, I enjoyed the eardrum-piercing genre getting a disco assassination. The music was authentically sung, the music catchy, but all entirely undermined by a drum machine and crass editing which reduced the history of opera to one pop song. The promo video looked expensive but deliriously OTT. Made in France, I think.

On YouTube, the music doesn't stay entirely in synch with the video (why is that?), but you'll get the idea...

For the climax of The Lost Opera promo, Kimera appears in darkness but is made up with luminous paint. A startling effect, undermined by the rest of the video, a car crash of live editing, colour effects, a blue-screen trip around the world, and an oriental garden set, with small birds being thrown past the camera. A stuffed tiger floats past close to the camera, as if being moved on a large turntable. It seems to be smiling. Why is it there? I'd like to know. She seems to be enjoying herself though.

So now I eventually learn that Kimera is the stage name for Hong Hee Kim, a South Korean who discovered her voice could range over four octaves. She moved to Europe, and recorded her first album with the esteemed London Symphony Orchestra. The same London-based orchestra that John Williams conducted for the Star Wars soundtracks. Serious money, but for pop. While Kimera may not have had a hit in the UK, she's successful somewhere, having cut 12 albums.

At the time, I could only find this album on cassette (pictured at top). Now, in a spate of updating my music to digital, I've found MP3 downloads of six of her albums from CD Baby, including The Lost Opera. It's also available on CD from France, like at Amazon.fr. Ah, internet shopping. All those years browsing through record shops, wasted.

Now living in Spain, Kimera's website is here and includes video clips, and press cuttings.

Just thought I'd share that.

RUSSIAN ROULETTE (1975) - not on DVD

RUSSIAN ROULETTE
(1975, Canada/UK)

George Segal plays a disgraced policeman caught between the KGB and CIA during a Canadian visit by the Russian premiere. What starts off as a simple undercover operation grows into a very messy assassination plot. Being a mid-budget mid-seventies thriller, there's naturally helicopter action, a car chase and stunts galore. In fact, so much is going on in the finale that it starts getting ridiculous.

Russian Roulette isn't a must-see, but there's plenty to recommend. It played well on TV for a while and I've yet to tire of it. Having first seen it in the cinema on a double-bill with Diamonds in early 1976, I've tracked the whereabouts of both films ever since. Diamonds, starring Robert Shaw and Richard Roundtree, has earned a DVD release as well as a CD of Roy Budd's soundtrack.

George Segal is now better known for comedy, particularly the TV show Just Shoot Me. But in the 1970s he mixed humorous roles (The Hot Rock, the original Fun With Dick and Jane) and tough guy leads (The Terminal Man, Rollercoaster). In Russian Roulette, it's a happy medium.

Co-star Cristina Raines is the token female sidekick, though she has a standout moment in her fight scene... Her movie work peaked in the seventies when she was going out with Keith Carradine. Which I'm assuming had something to do with her roles in Robert Altman's Nashville and Ridley Scott's first feature The Duellists. In 1977, she starred in the poor taste Michael Winner horror The Sentinel.

In contrast, Louise Fletcher (Brainstorm, Exorcist II, Invaders From Mars) has little more than a bit part, as a switchboard operator for the mounties! This was the same year as her Academy Award-winning Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest!


Being a UK/Canadian co-production, the rest of the cast is unconvincingly swarming with British actors. Nigel Stock (a convincing Dr Watson to Peter Cushing's TV incarnation of Sherlock Holmes) sports a very poor American accent. Gordon Jackson plays a senior policeman, pre-dating his famous role in cult TV series The Professionals (1977-1983), Brian Clemens' popular follow-up to The New Avengers.

Best of all, Denholm Elliott (Vault of Horror, The House That Dripped Blood, To The Devil... A Daughter) plays a consistently seedy CIA operative. When he's not nicking cigarettes and blagging drinks, he's lying through his teeth with the two-faced smile he does so well.

Director Lou Lombardo indulges the cast to throw in improvised dialogue to add to the realistic feel. The best example is a scene where Segal tries to get an old lady to remember a really important message. The worst is his throwaway line to a traumatised Raines in the middle of a car chase, "How do you feel, killing a man?". Sometimes his comedy touch makes the film a little lighter than the subject deserves.


It looks mostly, if not entirely, shot on location in Vancouver. The grand Hotel Vancouver takes the centre stage for the climax, with some excitingly shot low-flying helicopter action. Ah, the seventies...

The music sounds a little like Roy Budd (Get Carter, Fear Is The Key) but it's Michael J Lewis (Theatre of Blood, 11 Harrowhouse, The Legacy). Instead of Budd's trademark sax, Lewis favours electric 'wacca wacca' guitar to ramp up the car chase excitement. Extensive reworkings of the Soviet national anthem form the majority of the score, but it's still a soundtrack I'd happily buy.


While other, less exciting Canadian thrillers of this period get DVD releases (yes you, The Kidnapping of the President), Russian Roulette is still trapped on VHS. Germany has a full-frame DVD (with rather generic cover art) but no English subtitles or soundtrack - that's dubbed German audio only. Not good enough to keep it off my not-on-DVD list!

There's another positive review on the Permission To Kill spy movie site. Hopefully proof that it's not just my nostalgia talking.

Oh, and no-one actually plays russian roulette in the story, in case you were expecting it.

Unpredictably, the first seven minutes are on YouTube. Er, great!