Survive Style 5+ (2004)
Survive Style 5+ (2004)
DVD9 | ISO+MDS | PAL 16:9 | 01:59:55 | 7,40 Gb
Audio: Japanese DTS/AC3 5.1/2.0 @ 755/448/224 Kbps | Subs: English
Genre: Fantasy, Mystery, Romance
DVD9 | ISO+MDS | PAL 16:9 | 01:59:55 | 7,40 Gb
Audio: Japanese DTS/AC3 5.1/2.0 @ 755/448/224 Kbps | Subs: English
Genre: Fantasy, Mystery, Romance
Director: Gen Sekiguchi
Survive Style 5+ is the kind of film that is rarely made because it is so out of the box that producers and financiers have no interest in taking a chance on it. It's difficult, in fact, to even categorize this film into a genre. It contains dark comedy, but also elements found in action, horror, science fiction, and drama. In this bizarre film, five seemingly independent stories somehow come together: A man kills and buries his wife only to find her quite alive when he arrives home–over and over again; A salaryman, with a wife and two kids, sees a famous hypnotist only to be permanently turned into a man who thinks he's a chicken; An advertising executive loses it and comes up with some of the most vulgar commercials ever seen; A gang of young criminals find out they have homosexual tendencies; An English assassin (played wonderfully by British soccer player Vinnie Jones) looks for new clients.
IMDB - 7,6/10 from 6 636 users
Survive Style 5+ (2004)
Every so often, a film comes along without much fanfare and quietly knocks your socks off. Survive Style 5+ is one such movie. Sure, it's yet another wacky and stark-raving mad Japanese flick, but this one's just that little bit different. In fact, it's very different and so much so, that it's rather difficult to describe. I'm not even sure what it's all about, but there are definitely a few messages in there. You'll probably just have to see it more than once to get them all, but believe me, it's worth it.
Survive Style 5+ (2004)
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The film's title derives from five interweaving tales, each of which focuses on a person or persons whose lives aren't quite like your average run-of the-mill Joe.
First of all, we have Aman (Asano Tadanobu from Ichi The Killer) who has just murdered his wife (Reika Hashimoto) and buried her in a forest. When he returns home, he finds the wife he's just buried, sitting at the kitchen table, very much alive and waiting for him. His initial confusion quickly subsides when she attempts to kill him, so once again, he has another go and buries her a second time. Yet again, she returns, attempts to kill him and so on. A seemingly endless cycle sets in…
Survive Style 5+ (2004)
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The next tale follows with Yoko (Kyoko Koizumi), a shallow advertising executive who makes television commercials and finds inspiration everywhere she goes, but can't convince her boss (played by the legendary Sonny Chiba) or his clients to give her a break…
Then there's average working man Tatsuya (Ittoku Kishibe) who is about to lose his job, but has just secured tickets for himself and his loving family to see famed hypnotist Aoyama (a hilarious Abe Hiroshi), and upon attending the show, Tatsuya is hypnotized in to thinking he is a bird. In a tragic turn of events, Tatsuya's hypnotized state cannot be reversed and his family is forced to deal with his bizarre condition…
Survive Style 5+ (2004)
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Then there's the bumbling twenty-something small time crooks, Tsuda (Kanji Tsuda), Morishita (Yoshiyuki Morishita) and Jae (Jae West) who have a very strange relationship with each other…
And finally in the fifth tale, we have an obnoxious British hit-man (played by none other than Vinnie Jones) and his translator (Yoshi Yoshi Arakawa) who land in Japan to deal with some very strange and deadly business that may just involve some of the other characters we've met along the way, to each of whom Jones enquires, "What is your function in life…?"
Survive Style 5+ (2004)
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This hyper kinetic and rather extraordinary film really is a delight. With its cartoon-like production design, vivid use of colour and laugh-out-loud humour, Survive Style 5+ is impossibly entertaining. Whilst some may be unable to relate to the sometimes oddball Asian sense of humour (and indeed it can sometimes be very oddball), here the dialogue, scenarios and general themes are universal, and often laugh-out-loud funny. There is a terrific energy to this film and Gen Sekiguchi's background as a director of television commercials works well in this, his first feature. Sekiguchi also served as the film's editor, and whilst it purposefully harks back to the MTV-era technique of manic cutting, it's never overdone and instead, produces an exhilarating pace that never becomes confusing, especially given the multiple, occasionally intersecting storylines. And speaking of intersecting storylines, I can almost hear you all shouting, "Pulp Fiction!" But rest assured, folks, we're talking chalk and cheese.
Survive Style 5+ (2004)
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Performance-wise, all participants are excellent right across the board. Of course, Vinnie Jones does Vinnie Jones very well, but there's terrific work from the enigmatic Tadanobu Asano as Aman, Japanese recording artist Kyoko Koizumi as Yoko, Sonny Chiba giving up street-fighting for company executive Kazama and fellow veteran Ittoku Kishibe playing against type as Tatsuya, who spends half the movie perched and chirping like a bird. Most importantly however, it's the scripting that matters in a film like this and screenwriter Taku Tada doesn't miss a trick, with sharp shots at commercialism, the definition of family values, exploring taboo issues such as homosexuality, etc, to the search for one's true self and finding acceptance in an ever changing society. These themes and more are explored in this multi-layered movie, and whilst blackly funny, it's ultimately also a very sweet and melancholic work.
Survive Style 5+ (2004)
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Survive Style 5+ is unlike any Japanese film I've seen. It's a delirious, wildly imaginative ride that is alternately hilarious and poignant. Guaranteed to put a smile on your face, this one has tremendous replay value and comes highly recommended.
Survive Style 5+ (2004)
Special Features:
- Making-of (28:22)
- Theatrical Trailer
- Manga Attacks Trailer Reel
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