| Language: Japanese Director: Tetsuya Nakashima Running time: 105 min Release year: 2008 |
| Cast: Koji Yakusho, Ayaka Wilson, Satoshi Tsumabuki, Hitori Gekidan, Jun Kunimura, Takaya Yamauchi, Anna Tsuchiya, Eiko Koike |
Movie Review:
Tetsuya Nakashima certainly made a splash with his 2006 film “Memories of Matsuko.” That movie delivered a sensory experience like so few others have before and packed an emotional punch that most plain-jane tearjerkers could only dream of having. Since that time anticipation for his next film grew precipitously, especially so when it was revealed his next film would be “Paco and the Magical Book” - a fairytale like story set in a mental institution. The possibilities of what Tetsuya Nakashima could accomplish in this setting seemed boundless. Having a cast of Koji Yakusho, Satoshi Tsumabuki, Akkna Tsuchiya, Sadao Abe, & Ryo Kase also made the film seem like a can’t miss prospect. In theory at least.
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In “Paco and the Magical Book,” a cantankerous old man, Okunuki, collapses during a board meeting and is sent off to the hospital. He grew his company from a small time shop to a mega corporation by having the personality of a pit bull. At the hospital, Okunuki is put off by everyone around him. The cast of characters include a transvestite, a former child actor now a suicidal adult, and a scarred man shot from a mysterious bullet. He then comes across young Paco. The cheerful young girl asks Okunuki to read out loud her favorite picture book. At first he refuses, but relents after more prodding. What Okunuki doesn’t know is that Paco suffers from severe short term memory loss. After a car accident that killed her parents Paco can only hold new memories for one day.
The next day, Okunuki comes across Paco, but Paco doesn’t recognize Okunuki. Paco again asks Okunuki to read to her, but Okunuki becomes furious believing the girl is playing a child’s prank. When Paco pulls out a lighter that Okunuki mistakenly believes she stole from him, he becomes even more enraged and punches her in the face.
The following day, Okunuki meets Paco again and again Paco doesn’t recognize him. Okunuki then realizes that girl wasn’t playing a prank and for the first time in his life he starts to feel guilt. But is it too late to make amends?
While the setup seems like a marked departure from "Memories of Matsuko," when you watch "Paco & The Magical Picture Book" you can't help to immediately think of "Memories of Matsuko." Nakashima reuses all of the same techniques from Matsuko but with more intensity. Faster edits, more bizarre characters, more color, more everything. The narrative also unfolds through flashbacks, with the story told by a family member. All of this ends up giving the movie a feeling of listening to a 33rpm record on 45rpm speed. Satoshi Tsumabuki is always screaming or crying, the camera suddenly zooms in on Anna Tsuchiya's angry punk-goth face, Sadao Abe and his handlebar mustache quickly jumps onscreen and off, and sweet little ole' Ayaka Wilson repeats the same lines over and over. Because of this, the connection between any one character and audience becomes distant at best. Koji Yakusho does give a fine performance and is nearly unrecognizable in his Albert Einstein meets Bozo the Clown garb, but just about everything else becomes lost in translation (and this is coming from someone that didn't find Mika Ninagawa's "Sakuran" overbearing ).
There’s actually a solid story of redemption in “Paco and the Magical Picture Book.” Unfortunately about 80% of the film is more focused on a particular style which drowns out the chances of the story striking a chord with the viewers. Basically “Paco and the Magical Picture Book” is “Memories of Matsuko” on steroids. If you loved Nakashima’s “Kamikaze Girls” and were impressed by the style of “Memories of Matsuko,” then you should certainly give “Paco and the Magical Picture Book” a try. I now remember why I couldn’t finish “Kamikaze Girls.” If this was only a 60 second commercial …. |
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{ Recommended Japanese Movies } |
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Battle Royale (Batoru rowaiaru) |
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Director: Kinji Fukasaku; Cast: Takeshi Kitano, Shin Kusaka, Ren Matsuzawa, Gouki Nishimura, Shigehiro Yamaguchi, Taro Yamamoto |
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Princess Mononoke (Mononoke Hime): Animated feature film |
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Director: Hayao Miyazaki; Cast: Yôji Matsuda, Yuriko Ishida, Yûko Tanaka, Kaoru Kobayashi, Masahiko Nishimura |
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Cafe Isobe (Jun kissa Isobe) |
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Director: Keisuke Yoshida; Cast: Hiroyuki Miyasako, Riisa Naka, Kumiko Aso, Mari Hamada, Toshihiro Wada |
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Love Exposure (Ai no mukidashi) |
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Director: Sion Sono; Cast: Takahiro Nishijima, Hikari Mitsushima, Atsuro Watabe, Makiko Watanabe, Sakura Ando |
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Memories of Matsuko (Kiraware Matsuko no issho) |
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Director: Tetsuya Nakashima; Cast: Miki Nakatani, Eita, Yusuke Iseya, Teruyuki Kagawa, Mikako Ichikawa, Asuka Kurosawa |
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Still Walking (Aruitemo aruitemo) |
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Director: Keisuke Yoshida; Cast: Hiroshi Abe, Yui Natsukawa, You, Kazuya Takahashi, Shohei Tanaka, Kirin Kiki |
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Tokyo Sonata |
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Director: Kiyoshi Kurosawa; Cast: Teruyuki Kagawa, Kyoko Koizumi, Yu Koyanagi, Inowaki Kai, Haruka Igawa |
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