9 Souls (2003)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Toshiaki Toyoda

Writer:

Toshiaki Toyoda (writer)

Release Date:

19 July 2003 (Japan)

Genre:

Drama

Plot Keywords:

Escaped Convict | On The Run | Japan | Number In Title

Cast

Yoshio Harada	...	Torakichi Hasegawa
Ryuhei Matsuda	...	Michiru Kaneko
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Genta Dairaku	...	Ichiro Ushiyama
Eita	...	Noboru Kaneko
Yû Fujiki	...	Restaurant Owner
Asami Imajuku	...	Kishin
Jun Inoue	...	Nakayama
Itsuji Itao	...	Fujio Kamei
Misaki Ito	...	Yurina
Chihara Junia	...	Kazuma Kuruma (as Kôji Chihara)
Kazuki Kitamura	...	Tamori
Jun Kunimura	...	Yamamoto
Kotomi Kyôno	...	Yoshiko
Akaji Maro	...	Owner of Candy Shop
Takako Matsu	...	Yuki
Fumihito Minamitsuji
Onimaru	...	Shishido
Kiyohiko Shibukawa	...	Saruwatari (as Kee)
Anne Suzuki	...	Genko
Takuji Suzuki	...	Shinichi
Miako Tadano	...	Misao
Mame Yamada	...	Hidemi Shiratori

Directed by
Toshiaki Toyoda

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Toshiaki Toyoda		writer

Produced by
Miyoshi Kikuchi	....	producer
Keisuke Konishi	....	producer
Chiapang Sun	....	executive producer

Cinematography by
Junichi Fujisawa

Film Editing by
Mototaka Kusakabe

Production Design by
Mitsuo Harada

Sound Department
Kiyoshi Kakizawa	....	sound

Production Companies

• Eisei Gekijo
• Little More Co.
• Tohokushinsha Film

Distributors

• Artsmagic (2005) (UK) (DVD)
• Gold View Company Ltd.

Also Known As:

Nine Souls (International: English title) (alternative spelling)

Runtime:

Canada:120 min (Toronto International Film Festival)

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Certification:

Australia:MA (TV rating) | Japan:PG-12 | Singapore:R21

Company:

Eisei Gekijo

David Soul tragically not included.

Here is another great film critics will love. The problem is that it is not a very good movie.

The films premise is simple. Nine convicts escape a prison after the tenth one goes crazy and tells them where the treasure is.

The first half has a lot of slapstick some of it very broad while the second half is a character driven descent into fantasy and melancholy.

The two halves simply don't mix. Individual scenes do work very well (The guys crashing a friends house who has a new Filipino bride is hilarious While a later scene with the big guy working in the restaurant tugs at the heartstrings.) They simply don't mesh with each other.

The movie as well is missing entire set-ups. One scene shows the guys desperately looking for change under a deserted vending machine to buy a snack. The very next scene has the whole crew in drag sitting down in a restaurant. Where did they get the dresses and wigs? (The crew includes both the big guy and a midget) How did they get all the clothes and money to buy the meal? And most puzzling is why are they in drag? They are clearly guys in drag and lets face it is there anything more memorable to witnesses than a big guy and a dwarf eating a meal dressed as women? I mention the big guy and the dwarf because besides the old guy everyone else seems to blend into each other. (In fact they wear matching white jumpsuits throughout most of the movie) The movie has very little character development in the first half and as a result the second half really lacks an emotional punch. As we are often trying to figure out who is who in their individual payoff scenes.

Speaking of a drag the second half has all those wonderful sweeping camera shots and big emotional moments and great symbolism that makes a great film. It is also excruciatingly slow which makes for a boring movie.

9 Souls is a big disappointment, the reviews gush about a great film and it's in there somewhere, good luck finding it yourself.