THE WORLD OF KANAKO (2014)

Whew! This film was exhausting.  It wasn't the story (although it was depressing) that wore me out, but the fast editing and the non-stop tight shots.  I honestly don't think there was a single shot in the entire film that was over 15 seconds long.  I only counted one that was 12 seconds.  On the bright side though, the music and the acting are great.

Former detective Koji Yakusho's daughter has disappeared.  His ex-wife doesn't even tell him until after she's been missing for a few days!  He barely even knows his daughter, but nothing will stop him from finding her.  Even if it means he has to rape two women, sexually assault an underage girl, get shot once, vomit a few times, kidnap a woman, step on glass, shoot a guys hand off, get stabbed with a screwdriver, purposely wreck his car twice, kidnap a young boy and attack nearly every person he comes in contact with.  And was it all worth it?  Not really, because in the end he finds out that this daughter is pretty much the human incarnation of the demon Pazuzu from the "The Exorcist" novel.  This chick is pure evil.

Despite the frantic editing, I still enjoyed THE WORLD OF KANAKO.  At first it was pissing me off, but eventually I began to get used to it and got lost in the story.  Good performances by Koji Yakusho and Nana Komatsu, dark as fook story, runtime that was 20 minutes too long, great music (I especially liked "LSD" by Trippple Nippples and "Free Fall" by Yoko Kanno), male-on-female rape, male-on-male rape, some guy stepping on another guys exposed intestines, crooked cops, torture, sexual predators.  THE WORLD OF KANAKO isn't a feel good film by any stretch of the imagination, but if you enjoy dark crime dramas then you'll probably like it.  Just be ready for the editing.

TO LIVE (1994)

TO LIVE is a touching story about the unstoppable determination of the human spirit.

China 1940's. You Ge is married Li Gong. They have a young daughter and live in his family's home along with his mother and father.  A normal heterosexual male would spend his spare time trying to make sweet love to the beautiful Li, but You has a massive gambling addiction and instead spends his nights in a gambling den.  He's not very good at it and eventually looses all of his family's wealth (including their home) to the gambling den's owner.  Little does he know it, but this is the best possible thing that could have happened to him.

Zhang Yimou's TO LIVE is an amazing film and for somebody like me who knows very little about the history of the People's Republic of China it's a fantastic fictional introduction into what life was like for normal people in China during the "Mao era".  I'm sure millions of darker details were left out, but as it is I was still totally wrapped up in the ups and downs (mostly downs) that this family went through.

Masterful storytelling that made the 125 minute runtime absolutely fly by, wonderful direction, top level acting (especially by You Ge and Li Gong), beautiful music...I've watched TO LIVE many times over the years and each time I get lost in the story and think about it for days afterward.  Highly recommended.

Fun fact: I typed this entire review with my left hand since my cat (Susie) is asleep and snoring on my right hand/arm.