Matsugane ransha jiken (Japan, 2006) – 4/5
Yamashita directing a mystery thriller after his mainstream hit Linda 3 didn’t sound like a good idea, but I thankfully I was wrong. In fact, Matsugane not even that much of a mystery thriller, it just sounded like one. Dark but slow moving small town comedy would be a better definition. The film isn’t as good as the director’s early works, and feels more slick, probably because of the bigger budget, but still, it’s very recognizable Yamashita. There aren’t really any obvious crowd pleasing elements other than the storyline which however isn’t nearly as bizarre as it could be. Some hippy promo pics and posters that had made me suspicious about the film turned out to be just an ad stunt, none of that stuff is in the film.
- dvd / Vap