Funuke, Show Some Love, You Losers

Introduction

I'm beginning to look forward to Third Window Films' release schedule. Over the past few months, they have been releasing some of the quirkier and less heralded pieces of Asian Cinema, those films that sneak under the radar, or are just ignored completely. If you take the time to seek them out however, you may uncover a delicious gem of a movie, one that becomes all the more satisfying as you become a member of a select group of fans to share a love for that film. However, Third Window's first releases back in January weren't technically appealing, and with the latest batch of discs, some annoying bugbears make a reappearance.


The tragic loss of their parents in a traffic accident brings a family back together again, but it's a far from pleasant reunion. Sisters Kiyomi and Sumiko became stepsisters to Shinji when their parents remarried, although life in a dead-end country town with no prospects wasn't easy. Sumiko has always dreamed of being an actress, and returning home for the funeral of her parents, means taking a break from those dreams and leaving Tokyo. It becomes worse when she learns that with the death of her parents, her allowance will dry up as well, and she may as well get used to living back at home. And home isn't the best place for Sumiko to be. Shinji has married since she left, but his marriage to Machiko is a loveless and abusive one. Machiko is cheerful, bright, bubbly, and has a distinct lack of social skills, and dotes on Shinji despite how he treats her.


The biggest problem is that Sumiko hates Kiyomi and the first thing she does when she gets back home is to start tormenting her again. She has good reason too, as four years previously, Kiyomi made a manga comic, based on her sister's desperate need to become an actress, got it published and even won a prize. In a small town like theirs, everyone read the manga, and the humiliation was too much to bear. Sumiko has blamed that manga ever since for her lack of success as an actress. Now with the four living under the same roof, tempers fraying, tensions rising and the torture of one sister by another resuming, Kiyomi is tempted to pick up the pencil once more. But Sumiko's best chance to hit the big time arrives when she begins to correspond with a famous director.

The Disc

The litany of what wrongs…

It's a single layer disc with over two hours of footage on… Compression

It's an NTSC-PAL transfer… Ghosting, soft, lower resolution…

It's a letterbox transfer…

It has burnt in subtitles (thankfully zoom friendly)

Just a Japanese 2.0 Stereo soundtrack.

The only extras are 14 trailers for other Third Window product.

It's a letterbox transfer… (So wrong that I had to say it twice).

Conclusion

Funuke: Show Some Love, You Losers may not be the catchiest of titles, but it's certainly a catchy movie, a wonderfully black comedy that takes you into the most dysfunctional of families, at their darkest moment of grief, then shocks, surprises, and even elicits some whole-hearted belly laughs. It's also one of those films where the delight is in watching the plot unfold, and I'm loath to elaborate on what I have already related in the plot summary.


It's the characters that are so compelling in this film. We have Sumiko, played with brilliance by Eriko Sato. This is my second Eriko Sato film in less than a week, and seeing this film is a revelation after seeing her camping it up in the pinker than pink Cutie Honey. Here she is the petulant, diva, wannabe actress who believes that the world should revolve around her, and even manages to make it do so. She apparently delights in tormenting her sister Kiyomi, can twist her stepbrother Shinji around her little finger, and is quickly abusing her sister-in-law Machiko's hospitality when it becomes clear that Machiko isn't the sharpest tool in the shed.


Shinji shows the greatest signs of being trapped by circumstance. While Sumiko escaped to the city to pursue her dreams, he's stuck in the country, running the household now that their parents are dead, working as a charcoal burner. He takes care of Kiyomi as a younger sister, but despite trying to put his foot down with Sumiko when it comes to the family's sudden lack of finance, and dealing with his late father's debts, he still folds to Sumiko's every whim. He winds up taking his frustration out on Machiko who he married dutifully as a son respecting the wishes of his elders, but who in fact he can't stand. Machiko on the other hand is an orphan who has finally found a family, and while she may not be too smart, she has a boundless enthusiasm and cheerfulness. All the while, her frustration at her husband's refusal to fulfil her conjugal needs keeps increasing.


And then there is Kiyomi, who is the antithesis of the extrovert and loud Sumiko. She's mousy, introverted, and spends most of her time in her room. The one talent she has is for drawing manga, but it was drawing manga four years previously that almost tore the family apart. She's been nursing guilty feelings ever since, not helped by a lack of forgiveness from her sister. It quickly becomes clear that she's torn between railing against her sister's torment, and feeling it a justified punishment for her previous transgressions. The fun is in watching this family combust, as the tensions rise and the past becomes revealed. There is also a wonderful examination of country life, and the strain it places of people who long to escape it. There is some beautiful scenery in this film, a rural idyll full of mountains and greenery, light years away from the city megalopolises that usually serve as settings for Japanese films. Alas the transfer doesn't do the cinematography justice in the slightest.


Funuke: Show Some Love, You Losers is one of those delightful gems that I mentioned earlier. It's a delicious dark comedy, surprising, shocking, entertaining and utterly engaging. It does take a while to get going though, and I must admit I was tempted to let my gaze drift towards the clock in the first half of the film. But it rewards the slow and steady build up and the careful character development, with a supremely satisfying conclusion. Once again, the disc is a disappointment, and once again, an anamorphic alternative can be sourced from Region 3. Either way this is definitely a film worth watching.