Wow. Amazing. I really appreciated and even loved this movie. It was endearing, misleading, non-linear and fascinating without quite being a masterpiece. I love that it was not a masterpiece. You can't love masterpieces; You can only admire them. To love something there have to be flaws to latch onto and adore. 'Fish Story' has flaws and for that I really quite like it. (I've said this before for something, but it remains true.)
Now, how does a failed punk band's iconic swansong in 1975 manage to save the world from a cataclysmic meteor in 2012? Well, I can't tell you as that would spoil the whole thing. 'Fish Story' tells four flashback stories - which may or may not be connected - within the framework of a present day story of three men in a music shop. Two of those men are happily talking music as the rest of the word futilely seeks refuge from the meteor, its ensuing deadly consequences and the end of everything, while the third has been tootling around on his wheelchair and knocking over motorcycles with his stick. Why is he so stroppy?
The mystery behind this movie is what drives it onward. Why is a ship's cook who calls himself a Champion of Justice important to our plot? What is the relevance of that guy who hears a scream in the infamous minute of silence within 'Fish Story'? Why did Gerekin break up after recording that song? Does any of it mean anything at all? Rest assured that it does mean something, and that it's an excellent movie in the unravelling. The unravelling is all once you've seen it and that unravelling is sweet.
Now there are many things that naturally remain mysterious in a foreign language movie. One has no idea of how well the actors are performing or whether the spoken dialogue is much superior or inferior to the subtitles or whether it's an authentic representation. These are all things that get swept away by the language barrier. It's entirely possible that this is a cheesy mess of a movie for someone who speaks Japanese but I really don't care. The different mini-stories are all interesting, the movie as a whole is arresting for its running length of 112 minutes, and the actors all seem solid. As a British person I was confused briefly by the 'is that the same guy I saw earlier?' confusion of similar Asian features once or twice but they're mostly quite distinct.
The narrative or narratives are straightforward, although there are misleads that you don't realise until the end and that makes it all the sweeter. The best misleads are the ones you don't spot as misleads for a long long time. What else can be said without spoiling? The music consists of almost only one song, 'Fish Story', which is played many times and doesn't ever wear. That in itself is very interesting and revealing. The atmosphere of the movie stops the song from wearying in our minds, and that atmosphere actually transitions between each story. It's fascinating. The atmosphere actually changes numerous times. Sometimes the director's horror film background dribbles through effectively and sometimes a fairy tale glimmers through and it all works. There is a flat period in the middle, as there is in every movie but it never entirely lets you go.
Summing up, 'Fish Story' is the best of the (two) Japanese films I've seen and now I'm really very curious about all the others. 'The Seven Samurai' really didn't work for me but it's due a re-viewing as circumstances on the last were less than ideal. Here the acting is great, the plot fascinating and intricate, the direction solid, production values excellent and the music arresting. In short, I think you should go get it.
'Fish Story' rocks. And it's hard to write a non-spoiler review.
O.
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