| Japan's Nikkatsu Studio, a production house with credits going back to the 1950s, attempted a big, commercial comeback in 1992, injecting money to the max and serving up an international cast (Diane Lane, Donald Sutherland and Hong Kong's own Yuen Biao) in the big screen adaptation of Rou Tomono's novel. Gaining directing reigns himself, this story of mixed alliances, love and opium in the war times of the 30s and 40s is to say the least something that didn't blew up. It bombed and deservedly so as Rou Tomono bringing to screen his cherished images from text form first and foremost really looks incredibly bad, production-wise. No sense of grand scale or big budget can be found and even if it was there, the direction is seriously hindered by lack of background to characters, basic coherence and viewer engagement. Thinking depth can be achieved via historical facts injected at points, Masayo Kayo's and Diane Lane's central romance amidst this war for the gold of the time is embarrassingly acted while Yuen Biao appears totally miscast as a Shanghai gangster. Why Donald Sutherland even had a part in the film remains a mystery too as he's in and out quickly but even if the longer Japanese version would explain his part of the intricate structure no one cares for anyway, it couldn't possibly save The Setting Sun. It sinks and sunk Nikkatsu. |
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