Tweet
Released by: Artsmagic
Released on: 8/30/2005
Director: Shinji Aoyoma
Cast: Mickey Curtis, Akikio Izumi, Jun Kunimura, Eiko Nagashima, Yuna Natsuo
Year: 1997
The Movie:
A former boxer named Hiroki Sakai (Kosuke Toyohara of Godzilla Vs. King Ghidorah!) now spends his days working in a Pachinko parlor as a pin setter, spending his nights alone doing puzzles and drinking a couple of beers with his dinner. His simple life, which he discarded professional boxing for, becomes considerably more complicated with the local Yakuza decide that they want to take over the Pachinko operation from Sakai's boss, Kenzo (Mickey Curtis).
Seeing as Sakai has become close friends with his employer and has also started to develop a bit of a crash on his pretty young daughter, he decides that he should do something about this problem before they're all out of a job. It's not long before Sakai's boss is kidnapped and a mysterious video tape shows up on the scene that may or may not hold the key to Sakai's success in putting all of this commotion to rest.
This one is all over the place. Part crime drama, part love story, part comedy, part character study, Wild Life introduces a lot of characters very quickly but then moves on at a very slow and deliberate pace. There's little character development outside of the lead, Sakai, and a lot of the supporting characters show up for reasons that are never really made clear (the kid in the parlor being a prime example... who is he? Why is he here?). This results in a film that can get a little confusing and a little muddy at times but that is at least an interesting movie in that its evolution happens quickly and with some notable originality.
If you're able to look past the muddiness of certain plot points and characters, however, you'll find a pretty interesting film. Kosuke Toyohara does a fine job in the lead and his character is sympathetic and interesting. While we don't really find out why he left the world of competitive fighting we do know he wanted a quiter, more relaxed life and he had it until the Yakuza moved into the scene.
Shinji Aoyoma does a fine job of keeping the movie looking good, making use of some very nice cinematography and throwing a twist or two in the film that keep things somewhat suspenseful. The end result isn't a masterpiece by any stretch but it is an entertaining, if at times rather unusual, film that is worth a look for fans of modern Japanese cinema.
Video/Audio/Extras:
The back of the keepcase states that this interlaced transfer is 1.85.1 anamorphic widescreen - it's not. It's 2.00.1 anamorphic widescreen, or somewhere close to that. There is some mild motion blurring that mires what is an otherwise decent job on the visuals. Overall though, the colors look quite good and the black levels stay fairly strong. Some mild edge enhancement is present but there aren't any issues to complain about in terms of mpeg compression artifacts. It's a shame that the transfer isn't progressive scan but at least the blurring isn't too overbearing.
Take you pick - you've got a Dobly Digital 2.0 Surround mix or a Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound mix to choose from. Both tracks are in their native Japanese language and come with optional English language subtitles. No problems here in regards to the quality of either mix, as dialogue sounds nice and clear and the background music and sound effects are balanced properly. A few scenes could have used a little bit more bass and as such sound a bit on the flat side but these are exceptions and not the rule - overall the audio is quite good on this release.
Another excellent Jaspar Sharp commentary track adorns this DVD as an alternate audio mix available via your remote or through the set up menu. Sharp, as always, makes some keen observations about the film and its participants. He points out some interesting foreshadowing and makes a few notable technical points as well, taking the time to detail facts relating to the filmmaker and some of the crew members as well.
Up next is an eighteen minute video interview with director Shinji Aoyoma, again clad in a racing cap and looking rather pleased with himself on camera - he seems like a pretty happy guy. He gives us some background info on the film, disucsses its origins and talks about some of the casting choices. He compares it to some of his other work and gives a nice general crash course in the history of the movie.
Rounding out the supplements are a few biographies and filmographies for the key cast and crew members.
The Final Word:
Wild Life is a nice blend of action, humor and drama. The characterizations are strong, the story flows nicely and the visuals are slick. Artsmagic provides yet another obscure Japanese genre film with a very nice release.