Sabu

As mentioned in another review, this film should probably have been called "Eiji", because he is certainly the focus of attention. The slight plot revolves around a perceived injustice against him and its eventual resolution. The supporting cast are more sketches than characters, but the narrative survives the demands of this televisual simplification.

As a historical document it's beautiful. Perhaps Miike wanted to show, much like Kurosawa, that even in the era of the Samurai, ordinary people also led lives tinged with drama.

I felt that there was a hint of predetermined running time (perhaps two one hour episodes?) which led to a bit of a lull in proceedings around the hour mark. I resolved my putative ennui by resorting to the time honoured British tea ceremony. By the time I'd finished my refreshments, the plot had picked up again, and fortified by some quality tiffin, I thoroughly enjoyed the denouement. I'd guess that this is the Japanese equivalent of those great period dramas that the BBC excels at. I don't watch television, but I would if it could consistently offer a dramatic emotional diet as rich as this.

Takashi Miike has directed some very, very unusual films. Some have been hilariously strange and off-beat (HAPPINESS OF THE KATAKURIS), just plain odd (BIRD PEOPLE IN CHINA) or super violent (AUDITION and ICHI THE KILLER). As for me, I have loved some of his films but also found his violent films so sick and graphic I couldn't stand them--it's all a matter of taste--I just don't want graphic violence in my films. But, I wasn't at all prepared for SABU, as it seemed nothing like the other Miike films I'd seen. I was worried it would be too violent (it wasn't unnecessarily so) and hoped it would be weird and unconventional (it wasn't). Overall, it was a finely crafted but extremely conventional film about a man who is unjustly sent to debtors prison and becomes violent in order to cope with it--and praying for revenge when he one day is released. As far as this plot goes, it has some very interesting elements and twists (particularly towards the end), but the film also is a bit dull in spots and I was tempted several times to stop watching. While I am glad I stuck with it because there was enough payoff at the end to justify seeing it, it wasn't a particularly interesting film or anything that seemed out of the ordinary. I'm sure Miike's rabid fans out there would thoroughly disagree, but I think the ordinary viewer could take or leave this film.

Coming from the prolifically warped Takashi Miike, this is a surprisingly straightforward psychological period drama. As witnessed and protected by his self-effacing best friend Sabu (Satoshi Tsumabuki), pretty boy Eiji (Tatsuya Fujiwara) receives proper comeuppance for his arrogance through being wrongfully accused and punished for a crime inspired by his allure. The bootleg U.S. DVD by Ctenosaur is a work of love. Highly recommended.

Sabu is a simple, straight-forward friendship/love story with few surprises, very unlike Miike's more popular movies (which have been recognized as some of the most disturbingly shocking and violent films of all time). But what makes this movie better than just an average movie of the week is the direction. The opening 10 minutes are some of the most beautiful I have ever seen. And throughout, Miike shows everyone that he can handle a story without sex or ultra-violence with one of the greatest styles the cinema has known. The movie itself is worth seeing at least once, but the directing gives it replay value several times over.

This is a really instructive example of the directorial skills that Takishi Miike exhibits in most of his films. His abilities are often lost on many viewers because they're too infatuated with cowheads, necrophilia, and bazookas. A coherent, dramatically-charged jidaigeki like this might challenge the patience and attention spans of some Miike-devotees. There are long stretches of this film that feature two characters facing one another and speaking. Being more plot-driven than action-driven, I can see how some might be bored to death, but it's this more cerebral pacing that highlights the kind of mastery that Miike is capable of. This movie should go a long way towards silencing critics who accuse him of being too dependant on yakuza mayhem and the usual clichés (bestiality, scat, necrophilia, homosexual rape, mutilation, etc.) That being said, this is a competent period film that stands on it's own. It is only slightly apparent to the viewer that it was made for television - it really has all the trappings of a regular film (casting & sets). All of the actors nail their performances and the "making of" featurette included on the R1 DVD shows the care and commitment that went into producing it.