Rhapsodies

This week I decided to clear my palette a bit with some Japanese science fiction, or more accurately live action, kaiju free science fiction. Regrettably, I kind of rushed into the idea without enough research leaving me with films where whether they where science fiction or not may have been a stretch, or they weren’t a good pick to begin with.

The first film I watched, Hiroshi Teshigahara’s The Face of Another. It tells the story of Okyauma, (played by Tatsuya Nakadai) a man who has had his face destroyed in an industrial accident. Afterward, he becomes alienated from society and straining his relationship with his wife.

A plastic surgeon gives him the opportunity to try a perfect but experimental mask, that will let him pass as an ordinary person. At the same time, however, it gives him perfect anonymity. He quickly gets intoxicated by the possibilities and plans to take advantage of the possibilities and take revenge on the people he believes have wronged him.

This was a very interesting film. It’s beautifully done. Though at the same time it’s very artsy and has the feel of a philosophy treatise so as well done as it is I don[t think it’s quite everybody’s thing.

I was aware of Machine Girl for some time. I don’t quite remember when I heard of it. It was either a poster at a video store or I saw a trailer for it before an anime film. Either way I thought it would be an enjoyable second choice when the film on my list had not been available… Really.

Ami Hyuga (Minase Yashiro) is a typical high school student whose brother is killed by bullies with Yakuza and Ninja connections (yes really)  In the process she looses has her arm cut off. She replaces it with a machine gun attachment and goes on a roaring rampage of revenge.

This movie didn’t do anything for me. I have read it has been meant as a parody of a lot of schlock b-rated Japanese grindhouse movies. I even have a few friends who like it as such. For me, however, this was mostly splatter porn and difficult to watch.