Contrary to the drowning of the fifth generation of Chinese directors, the above two works are masterpieces, which can be called the double gems of Japanese films in 2008. The two films have a common background that is the financial crisis. Tokyo is expensive and difficult to live in, and it is even more difficult under the background of the financial crisis. At the beginning of the two films, the male protagonists are both laid off. The films tell the stories after being laid off. Here, the themes of the two films parted ways. Unlike the romanticism of The Undertaker, the Tokyo Sonata is stark realism. The film breaks apart the cruel side of this society and smashes it into pieces for you to see. Kurosawa Kiyoshi deserves to be born in horror movies, and there are ice balls flowing in his veins.
The male protagonist played by Teruyuki Kagawa is laid off and his job is taken away by a Chinese woman who is stronger than him and only gets 30% of his salary. I'm afraid this is a double whammy for him, knowing that Japan is a thoroughly patriarchal society. The cornerstone of a male-dominated society is naturally the work of men. In "The Hijacked Private Life", Seng Tang introduced that in Japan, men's income is higher than that of women, and some benefits and subsidies are only given to men. This leads to a situation where men dominate the family. A man's authority and face are tied to his work. The job was lost, the cornerstone was lost, and the result can be imagined, just like Li Hongzhang who lost the Beiyang Fleet, the Qing court did not fear him.
Of course, the hero cannot allow such a thing to happen, so he still works 9 to 5 every day, making his family think he is still working, but in fact he is just wandering outside like a beggar. The cornerstone of his authority was gone, and the pressure was overwhelming, so he passed it on to everyone in the family. In family life, he increasingly appears to be a tyrant and arbitrary. His behavior is a fear of a possible loss of authority, a self-comfort. Such behavior, however, makes the home feel like a room full of gas, then a few sparks, and then a "thunderstorm"-style outburst.
Many viewers disapprove of this outbreak, thinking that it is too dramatic and destroys the previous realism. However, drama is drama after all, not a documentary, it needs some passion, some hope or despair, and it needs to give an answer to all the questions before the film. Otherwise, the taste is not strong, and the aftertaste will not last forever. At the end, in one of Debussy's "Moonlight" piano sonatas, the whole world is quiet.
Speaking of actors, Teruyuki Kagawa is a great actor, his acting skills are beyond doubt, and his vision for choosing movies is even more sophisticated. When many Japanese and Korean actors joined Chinese blockbusters, he chose Huo Jianqi's "Warm" and Jiang Wen's "Devils Are Coming". His acting skills and vision allow him to be the vane of your choice of Japanese movies. I chose this movie because of Teruyuki Kagawa, and he did not disappoint me, neither in acting nor vision.
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