Takagi is your everyday (especially on Mondays) Japanese salaryman. Yet on this particular Monday, instead of heading to the start of the working week, he finds himself waking in a strange hotel room at the conclusion of a manic weekend. But there's one problem: he has no idea how he got there. Going through his personal artefacts, he gradually starts to piece together the story of what happened.
Starting off at a funeral where he inadvertently causes the corpse to explode, he then alienates himself from his girlfriend with some strange behaviour, before ending up at the wrong bar. Alcohol soon proves to be his downfall with each additional drink seeing his situation grow worse and worse. Turning on the television, he sees the reality of what happened to him, finding himself the centre of attention with no way out.
'Monday' is a stylish film, with good camera-work for some tasty angles, but is laced with humour throughout, particularly Tsutsumi Shinichi's dance scene as the drunken Takagi descends into drunken madness. Jaunty editing blurs the line between sophistication and stupidity nicely. This is a satire towards the film's conclusion, questioning the right to murder, hold a gun, but most importantly, the right to use being drunk as an excuse - one I am particularly fond of.
There are some clunky moments throughout the film. The speed of the descent, the slow-acting police at the film's conclusion; though these do add to the sense of surreal humour in the film, in a slow- paced, distinctly Japanese brand of cinema, where unbelievable scenarios are met with a very everyday sense of disbelief.
Tsutsumi Shinichi - often the lead in early SABU films - gives a charming performance as Takagi, who goes through every emotion going on his weekend roller-coaster, with cameos from everybody's favourite supporting actors in Japanese cinema, Susumu Terajima, Ren Osugi and the beautifully named Tomorowo Taguchi.
Drinking like there's no tomorrow will only lead you to not like what the morning will bring, and this is what SABU explores in 'Monday'. Stylish and satirical, this is one Monday you won't not like.
politic1983.blogspot.co.uk
Starting off at a funeral where he inadvertently causes the corpse to explode, he then alienates himself from his girlfriend with some strange behaviour, before ending up at the wrong bar. Alcohol soon proves to be his downfall with each additional drink seeing his situation grow worse and worse. Turning on the television, he sees the reality of what happened to him, finding himself the centre of attention with no way out.
'Monday' is a stylish film, with good camera-work for some tasty angles, but is laced with humour throughout, particularly Tsutsumi Shinichi's dance scene as the drunken Takagi descends into drunken madness. Jaunty editing blurs the line between sophistication and stupidity nicely. This is a satire towards the film's conclusion, questioning the right to murder, hold a gun, but most importantly, the right to use being drunk as an excuse - one I am particularly fond of.
There are some clunky moments throughout the film. The speed of the descent, the slow-acting police at the film's conclusion; though these do add to the sense of surreal humour in the film, in a slow- paced, distinctly Japanese brand of cinema, where unbelievable scenarios are met with a very everyday sense of disbelief.
Tsutsumi Shinichi - often the lead in early SABU films - gives a charming performance as Takagi, who goes through every emotion going on his weekend roller-coaster, with cameos from everybody's favourite supporting actors in Japanese cinema, Susumu Terajima, Ren Osugi and the beautifully named Tomorowo Taguchi.
Drinking like there's no tomorrow will only lead you to not like what the morning will bring, and this is what SABU explores in 'Monday'. Stylish and satirical, this is one Monday you won't not like.
politic1983.blogspot.co.uk