Sitges ’18: Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure—Diamond is Unbreakable

Josuke (Jojo) Higashikata is a lot like Fonzie. He has the hair, but he can easily top Fonzarelli’s finger snap. Jojo smashes things up and then put them back together again with the help of his avatar-like “stand.” “Stand-wielding” is similar to the powers of the secret sub-species in the manga-based films Ajin: Demi-Human and Tokyo Ghoul, but Jojo’s franchise got there first, predating the other two by twenty-some years. Genre auteur Takashi Miike finally gives the series the live-action treatment in Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Diamond is Unbreakable (trailer here), which screens during this year’s Sitges Film Festival.

Jojo is the big man on campus in the fictional seaside town of Morioh. The powers of his stand certainly help, but it is mostly due to his hair. He certainly makes quite an impression on starry-eyed transfer student Koichi Hirose. In fact, he hardly notices his assigned study partner, Yukako Yamagishi, which shows highly questionable priorities.

Regardless, Hirose often happens to be around when Jojo uses his powers, but it is all an impossible blur to make out for anyone who is not a stand-user themselves. As it happens, there are many stand-users in town, including Jojo’s long lost nephew (who is old enough to be his uncle) Jotaro Kujo. In their case, stand-wielding is a family thing. However, the sinister Keicho Nijimura has a bow-and-arrow that converts average civilians into stand-wielders. Angelo Katagiri has been recently turned, but he already feels like he has a grudge to settle with Jojo and his family.

In many ways, Bizarre Adventure follows a roughly similar narrative to Ajin: Demi-Human and Tokyo Ghoul, but, on one hand, the stakes are considerably lower, while on the other, Jojo’s characters are much more fully fleshed out. It is rather amusing to watch Kento Yamazaki strut about as Jojo, making like everything makes perfect sense. He also develops some sweet and ultimately rather poignant chemistry with his police officer grandfather, Ryohei Higashikata, played with genuine warmth and dignity by Jun Kunimura.

Ryunosuke Kamiki’s Hirose is so appealingly earnest and guileless, it is hard to believe he is a teenager. Nana Komatsu is sadly under-utilized as Yamagishi, but the closing scenes coyly imply she will have a larger role to play in a promised sequel. Takayuki Yamada gets his creepy Doug Jones on as Katagiri, but Masaki Okada’s Nijimura is a bit bland for a stand-wielding super-villain.

Kunimura and Yamazaki are nice together, but much of the “Bizarre” narrative feels familiar. Still, Miike ushers us into a compelling fantasy world—very much like our own, but different in strange and idiosyncratic ways. Recommended for established Miike and Jojo fans, Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Diamond is Unbreakable screens this Friday (10/12), during Sitges.

Sitges ’18: The Liquidator

Apparently, it is tricky for Chinese film producers to bundle up character rights when they option a novel, judging from Lei Mi’s Evil Minds novels. Much like the competing adaptations of the Ghost Blows Out the Light books, a television series and its sequel already predate the two films that released last year in China, from completely different production teams. This one is running far ahead of its competition (titled Guilty of Mind), likely due in part to the involvement of super-producer William Kong. Following its American release, Xu Jizhou’s The Liquidator (trailer here) screens during this year’s Sitges Film Festival.

Despite his brilliance, Fang Mu was cut loose from the police force when he became a suspect in the disappearance of an accused child rapist. However, he was just too smart to let him go completely, so they keep him on as a side consultant. Mi Nan will be the latest cop to seek his gruffly arrogant consultation. Of course, they do not get on well at first, but they come to respect each other over time.

As things often happen in mystery novels, Mi Nan’s current case and the missing suspect that indirectly led to Fang Mu’s ouster may in fact be related. They soon discover there is a psychopath loose in the city. He preys on the notorious, whose actions brought harm to others, but escaped punishment, except for an online pillorying from the outraged Netizens.

Xu offers up some earnest finger-wagging regarding online shaming and harassment, but Liquidator has neither the seriousness or the heft of a film like Chen Kaige’s bizarrely under-appreciated Caught in the Web. For the killer, Jiang Ya (whose identity is revealed early in the second act), motivation and logic are rather slippery and inconsistent. Frankly, it makes no sense how he could continue to maintain his credibility as “The Light of the City” after a truly awful murder of a complete innocent. The crime is also a buzzkill for viewers, for multiple reasons.

Deng Chao is just okay as the shaggy, world-weary Fang, but Ethan Juan Ching-tien is only incrementally darker and more intense as Jiang. In contrast, Vicky Chen (Wen Qi), who was so extraordinary in Angels Wear White and The Bold, the Corrupt, and the Beautiful, is again altogether electrifying and heart-breaking as Liao Yafan, the victim of the missing perp, who Fang subsequently adopted. Karena Lam is also quite haunting as Jiang’s (almost literally) petrified wife, Wei wei, while Cecilia Liu Shi Shi is appealing tough and forceful as Mi Nan (and she has a nifty opening chase scene).

Ironically, The Liquidator really makes us curious to see Guilty of Mind, because it has a lot of promising elements, but neither Deng or Juan really click in their roles, despite the spectacularly brutal fight scene between them Xu stages. It also takes itself a bit too seriously, missing the irony of its rousing defense of the rule of law (surely all the human rights attorneys and HK booksellers being held incommunicado would desperately like to have a little bit of that). Still, there are a few shocking twists and several terrific supporting turns that redeem The Liquidator as a VOD movie, but everyone in Sitges should prioritize newer films when it screens tomorrow (10/8) as part of the festival.

Sitges ’18: Seder-Masochism

Religion is supposed to hurt a little. That’s how you know its working. Like a medicated balm, first it stings and then it soothes. Animator Nina Paley maybe doesn’t quite see it that way. She explores Exodus, Passover, and her own family’s ambiguous relationship with Judaism from a feminist perspective in Seder-Masochism (trailer here), which screens during this year’s Sitges Film Festival.

Paley’s endlessly inventive feature debut, Sita Sings the Blues, was such a blast of pure animated delight, it is inevitable her sophomore feature will look like disappointment in comparison, so let’s try to set Sita aside for the present moment. In some ways, Paley repeats the same formula, mixing animated mediums, as well as the sacred and the profane. The net results are nowhere near as charming, but there are plenty of raucously funny and strangely beautiful moments.

Paley goes Old Testament on us, but her soundtrack is hip and hummable, including Gene Kelly & Donald O’Connor’s “Moses Supposes,” Louis Armstrong’s “Go Down Moses,” Josh White’s “Blood Red River Blues,” John Lennon’s “Woman,” Led Zeppelin’s “Your Time is Gonna Come,” and Pat Boone’s “The Land is Mine.” Frankly, watching Paley match up music to each segment is a good deal of fun. In fact, it is probably safe to say this film can claim the greatest use of “Free to Be You and Me,” probably ever.

On Paley’s drawing board and animation imagers, every notable event in Exodus eventually segues into a lavish MGM-style production number, which is cool. At its best, it is a slightly tasteless religious comedy, in the tradition of Mel Brooks’ History of the World, Part I and Wholly Moses!—the sort of amiably tasteless film that probably couldn’t be made with live actors anymore.

Sometimes Seder is quite droll, but there are times when Paley sabotages herself by introducing real news footage, including scenes of carnage from the many wars of self-defense Israel has been forced to fight. Honestly, nothing kills the mood quicker than September 11^th footage. No matter what her intentions that just creates all kinds of bad karma.

Still, there are some droll moments in the interviews Paley recorded with her late father, wherein he explains why he still observes the traditions of his Jewish heritage, even if his own faith is a bit iffy. She also creates some wonderfully sly and subversive images. However, the film lacks the joyous uplift that made Sita so special (ultimately, there is just no avoiding comparisons).

Paley is an extraordinary animator, who is drawn to big, significant themes. However, Seder will probably be regarded over time as a relatively minor work from her. It is worth seeing for her visual artistry and taste in music, but fans of Sita should temper their expectations. Amusing but not transcendent, Seder-Masochism screens this coming Tuesday (10/9) during Sitges and Friday (10/19) as part of Animation is Film in Los Angeles.