| One of the key reasons why "The Godfather" (1972) is so memorable is the absolute corruption of Michael Corleone. At the beginning of the film he is this All-American great guy. He is a war hero, he has a steady girlfriend, basically he's the shining light of an otherwise black sheep filled family; by the end of the first film though he has become a lying, corrupt killer, hell bent on succeeding his father and becoming 'the Don'. Gosha Hideo's "Four Days of Snow and Blood" attempts the same transformation with one of the army generals involved--Ando (Tomokazu Miura), sadly, this film lacks anything that made "The Godfather" great.
"Four Days of Snow and Blood" details the attempted coup in Japan in 1936 following the invasion of Manchuria and the economic despair that the invasion brought with it. Hideo tells of the 18 or so 'leaders' of the coup and tries to show us the ethical and moral debates that ensued amongst the group following the assassinations of key Government members.
What we get is an incredibly un-dramatic, boring representation of something which should have been quite interesting. The action shots are all done off screen, the 'dramatic high points' are wrecked with terrible acting and a dreadful soundtrack but the worst aspect of this film is the terrible flashback scenes the viewer is forced to sit through. These flashbacks attempt to show the 'revolutionaries' in a homely environment. Frolicking with their wives on the beach, walking through the rain arm in arm under an umbrella, learning they are about to become fathers etc. Picture if you will, a dramatic bugle call, the bugle goes on, and on, and on. Cut to each member of the leadership; zoom slowly in on their face as they try to look pensive. Then, start playing the most trite banal music and make us sit through an insufferably long flashback. Then do it for each bloody member of the team. Fill out 10 minutes like this, then repeat 3 or 4 times throughout the 2 hours it takes to fill in four days worth of history.
None of the characters are memorable, or even really named. I can recall two names--Ando and Nonaka (Kenichi Hagiwara), and I watched the film 10 minutes ago. Ando starts off at the pre-coup meeting as being against the initial idea but oh! By the end of the film he's a full blooded "Do you Hear the People Sing?!" revolutionary and by Jove he's going to finish what he's started. Conversely it's the others who are starting to waver.
Even the sumptuous colours which tends to go hand in hand with Eastern Films (think "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" (2000) and "Hero" (2002), both films with beautiful cinematography) is present for all of about 3 seconds when we get the cherry blossom shot right near the beginning.
I have read one review of this film which called it a "wretched dog of a film", this is probably the most apt description I've heard, where the director had a story that could so easily have been developed into a fairly good dramatic action movie, and he chose to make tripe.
OVERALL:
Film: D- |
Reviews:
