5 reviews
Based on a true story of second-generation Japanese baseball players who are eternal losers until their captain Reggie figures out a way to level the playing field against their taller, beefier, Caucasian Canadian opponents. Their strive for success gives heart to their put-upon community, while also generating conflict across cultures and families.
The waterfront Japantown of early 20th century Vancouver is lavishly recreated in a sprawling set, but that scale is at odds with the modest ambitions of the narrative. Eternal underdogs finally having their day is a well-worn sports genre. Inter-generational conflict in immigrant communities is similarly familiar fare. The heroic arc that would be foregrounded by a Hollywood movie is eschewed here, apparently deliberately, though in favour of what emotional replacement it is difficult to say. The Asahi did go on to penant success, and that fact is depicted across one season when the Asahi turn around their fortunes. In the climactic game, the tension is created by Reggie stealing bases, and his teammates abandoning the bunt plays that have served them well over the season. But then we go to slo-mo, the sound drops off, and when we return to normality the season-clinching moment has passed. The umpire has made his call - off-screen - the opponents are leaving the field, and the crowd is cheering. The Asahi players stand around bewildered, as if they can't believe what has happened. It is a bathetic moment, one that jars because it suggest that the whole project of building self-belief has, in this moment of triumph, collapsed. This moment may be a fumble in the storytelling, or a bold attempt to show the everyday prosaic nature of such moments; either way, it makes for a less than satisfying viewing experience.
The moment is symptomatic of missed opportunities to provide catharsis for the audience. Reggie's sister Emmy has her hopes high for receiving a scholarship, but is refused because of her race. The news is delivered by her teacher and mentor, the woman who nominated her and knows her worth more than most. The mentor forced to deliver news that she considers unjust and goes against her own principles, to a brilliant, blameless student whose life will be changed forever by this decision. Two women, friends, forced apart by cruel social circumstances. The moment is ripe with drama, and yet the Caucasian actress - possibly an extra - delvers her lines flat, is hardly seen, and after a quick reaction shot of Emmy we are back to the baseball. The film is a montage of such missed opportunities and missteps.
The saving grace here is the acting. Satoshi Tsumabuki astutely realises less is more in his portrayal of reluctant leader Reggie. Koichi Sato as his pugnacious, ignorant father is cast against type but pulls it off. Mitsuki Takahata excels, her Emmy being humane, vulnerable, but also exhibiting some steel that inspires the players. A cast of famous Japanese supporting actors keep the level high.
Unfortunately, the script gives them very little to work with. There are various little melodramas swirling around the immigrant families and the failed assimilation of the community, but they are lite fare that are less than involving. Strangely, there is not a single romance subplot. Instead, we get a husband who prefers baseball practice to his bean paste family business. A son despairs of his father's return to the motherland. A hotel busboy is laid off. These stories are all surface level moments, with no depth, layers, or nuance. A cast of bar customers provides a Greek chorus on events, so the presence of a second chorus, hookers-with-hearts-of-gold who do no more than look down on the games and smile, is superfluous and time-consuming. The players are all supposed to be second-generation Japanese but their English gives the lie to that, while the Canadians seem mostly to have been cast from gaijin extras, exacerbating the gap with the Japanese pros who shine in their use of meagre fare.
Domestic audiences will enjoy the triumph of Japanese guile over gaijin brawn, though that message is somewhat tempered by the background newsreels of Japan's expanding military aggression. When Reggie thanks his father for bringing them to Canada, you sense he is more grateful for missing the Japanese draft than for any intrinsic attraction to Canada. International audiences will be less appreciative of the made-for-TV feel to the narrative, and the lack of emotional pay-off.
The waterfront Japantown of early 20th century Vancouver is lavishly recreated in a sprawling set, but that scale is at odds with the modest ambitions of the narrative. Eternal underdogs finally having their day is a well-worn sports genre. Inter-generational conflict in immigrant communities is similarly familiar fare. The heroic arc that would be foregrounded by a Hollywood movie is eschewed here, apparently deliberately, though in favour of what emotional replacement it is difficult to say. The Asahi did go on to penant success, and that fact is depicted across one season when the Asahi turn around their fortunes. In the climactic game, the tension is created by Reggie stealing bases, and his teammates abandoning the bunt plays that have served them well over the season. But then we go to slo-mo, the sound drops off, and when we return to normality the season-clinching moment has passed. The umpire has made his call - off-screen - the opponents are leaving the field, and the crowd is cheering. The Asahi players stand around bewildered, as if they can't believe what has happened. It is a bathetic moment, one that jars because it suggest that the whole project of building self-belief has, in this moment of triumph, collapsed. This moment may be a fumble in the storytelling, or a bold attempt to show the everyday prosaic nature of such moments; either way, it makes for a less than satisfying viewing experience.
The moment is symptomatic of missed opportunities to provide catharsis for the audience. Reggie's sister Emmy has her hopes high for receiving a scholarship, but is refused because of her race. The news is delivered by her teacher and mentor, the woman who nominated her and knows her worth more than most. The mentor forced to deliver news that she considers unjust and goes against her own principles, to a brilliant, blameless student whose life will be changed forever by this decision. Two women, friends, forced apart by cruel social circumstances. The moment is ripe with drama, and yet the Caucasian actress - possibly an extra - delvers her lines flat, is hardly seen, and after a quick reaction shot of Emmy we are back to the baseball. The film is a montage of such missed opportunities and missteps.
The saving grace here is the acting. Satoshi Tsumabuki astutely realises less is more in his portrayal of reluctant leader Reggie. Koichi Sato as his pugnacious, ignorant father is cast against type but pulls it off. Mitsuki Takahata excels, her Emmy being humane, vulnerable, but also exhibiting some steel that inspires the players. A cast of famous Japanese supporting actors keep the level high.
Unfortunately, the script gives them very little to work with. There are various little melodramas swirling around the immigrant families and the failed assimilation of the community, but they are lite fare that are less than involving. Strangely, there is not a single romance subplot. Instead, we get a husband who prefers baseball practice to his bean paste family business. A son despairs of his father's return to the motherland. A hotel busboy is laid off. These stories are all surface level moments, with no depth, layers, or nuance. A cast of bar customers provides a Greek chorus on events, so the presence of a second chorus, hookers-with-hearts-of-gold who do no more than look down on the games and smile, is superfluous and time-consuming. The players are all supposed to be second-generation Japanese but their English gives the lie to that, while the Canadians seem mostly to have been cast from gaijin extras, exacerbating the gap with the Japanese pros who shine in their use of meagre fare.
Domestic audiences will enjoy the triumph of Japanese guile over gaijin brawn, though that message is somewhat tempered by the background newsreels of Japan's expanding military aggression. When Reggie thanks his father for bringing them to Canada, you sense he is more grateful for missing the Japanese draft than for any intrinsic attraction to Canada. International audiences will be less appreciative of the made-for-TV feel to the narrative, and the lack of emotional pay-off.
- LunarPoise
- Jan 5, 2015
- Permalink
This film is about a semi-pro baseball team that played in Vancouver from 1914 through 1941--a team you most likely never heard of, even if you live in Vancouver today. The Asahi was made up of mostly second-generation Japanese-Canadians and they were incredibly successful against their white counterparts.
If you want a history lesson that gives you all these facts, this is not what you're in for with The Vancouver Asahi. Instead, it looks at this time period through a 21st century lens and paints it more as a battle against racism and acceptance as opposed to a story just about the team and its accomplishments. To do this, the story is greatly simplified and the events greatly condensed--and it makes the movie a tad confusing chronologically speaking. Additionally, several subplots involving Japanese women's rights and the traditional male roles in Japanese homes are interspersed throughout the movie. As a result, you get the impression that the team was hated because of race prejudice and that just when the Asahi were finally becoming popular and accepted, the team was disbanded due to the outbreak of World War II. In some ways this does diminish what the team did. Think about it. The players were generally much smaller than their Canadian counterparts, so instead of trying to keep up by out-slugging them, the Asahi soon learned to play smarter--bunting, stealing bases and using finesse to more than make up for brawn. And successful they were--winning 10 championships due to their teamwork and skill. And, they WERE accepted and loved by many. Overall, I'd say this is a very good and technically well acted and directed film but could have been better had the script simply stuck with the actual story of these amazing men.
If you want a history lesson that gives you all these facts, this is not what you're in for with The Vancouver Asahi. Instead, it looks at this time period through a 21st century lens and paints it more as a battle against racism and acceptance as opposed to a story just about the team and its accomplishments. To do this, the story is greatly simplified and the events greatly condensed--and it makes the movie a tad confusing chronologically speaking. Additionally, several subplots involving Japanese women's rights and the traditional male roles in Japanese homes are interspersed throughout the movie. As a result, you get the impression that the team was hated because of race prejudice and that just when the Asahi were finally becoming popular and accepted, the team was disbanded due to the outbreak of World War II. In some ways this does diminish what the team did. Think about it. The players were generally much smaller than their Canadian counterparts, so instead of trying to keep up by out-slugging them, the Asahi soon learned to play smarter--bunting, stealing bases and using finesse to more than make up for brawn. And successful they were--winning 10 championships due to their teamwork and skill. And, they WERE accepted and loved by many. Overall, I'd say this is a very good and technically well acted and directed film but could have been better had the script simply stuck with the actual story of these amazing men.
- planktonrules
- Jul 17, 2015
- Permalink
- dan-843-657853
- Oct 31, 2014
- Permalink
Saw a Japanese movie after a long time. The popular satellite channels have no time or space for non English movies. Saw it on long flight. Superb detailing, inspite of a small screen one could see the depth and colour of the sets. Narrative is more or less linear, not too many sub plots to distract you or vie for your attention. Acting is superb, characters are well etched, agony of first gen immigrants versus the need of the next gen to merge with the society will find an echo with many. The story is simple but well crafted, background music, just apt. Story of underdogs winning against Goliaths has been done many times but this real story is one gem. See if it if you find it. I don't know the actors but I am sure would be well recognized in Japan.
I really enjoyed watching this movie. It isn't your typical sports movie, because it is happening before World War II. It talks about a part of history that is not often told (or not at all here in Europe), and because of that it is an important story to see. Great movie, especially if you like Japanese movies.