02-05-2024, 10:07 PM
This is the most recent film written and directed by Dave Boyle, who also wrote and directed House of Ninjas. It's a small film noir, a mystery that involves a Japanese mystery writer and a small town sheriff. Set in SF and some mythical place on the peninsula (think Santa Carla) it's a small film with great characters and a twisty tale that ends up in some surprising places. Like a good mystery, it kept pulling me deeper and deeper, and the final reveal was satisfyingly noir.
Large portions of this is in Japanese, as much as is in English. It gives it an unusual veritas as chraracters dart back and forth between languages. SF is jumbled up like usual. The writer hangs out at Vesuvios. At one point, she is chased and quickly dashes back to her hotel on Gough. That's like a dozen blocks away, right? She covers it in one cut. There are others, but we won't quibble. It does have some lovely recognizable shots of SF.
Intriguingly, the writer is played by Ayako Fujitani, daughter of one of the leading female aikido masters, Miyako Fujitani, and Seagal. Yup. That Seagal. And she's really good - a captivating actress in a complex role.
I must see more of Ayako and Dave. They've worked together on other films.
I am rethinking my initial appraisal of House of Ninjas.
Large portions of this is in Japanese, as much as is in English. It gives it an unusual veritas as chraracters dart back and forth between languages. SF is jumbled up like usual. The writer hangs out at Vesuvios. At one point, she is chased and quickly dashes back to her hotel on Gough. That's like a dozen blocks away, right? She covers it in one cut. There are others, but we won't quibble. It does have some lovely recognizable shots of SF.
Intriguingly, the writer is played by Ayako Fujitani, daughter of one of the leading female aikido masters, Miyako Fujitani, and Seagal. Yup. That Seagal. And she's really good - a captivating actress in a complex role.
I must see more of Ayako and Dave. They've worked together on other films.
I am rethinking my initial appraisal of House of Ninjas.
Shadow boxing the apocalypse