Another phenomenal film from Japan has yet again get screened at Indonesian cinemas. This time it was the the surprise hit One Cut of The Dead has been screened regularly since 28 November by distributor Moxienotion and Encore Films,with additional screening at Japanese Film Festival 2018 in several major cities in Indonesia. Directed by Shinichiro Ueda, with its unique take on zombie film and the endless laughs it presents, the film has became a trend that took Japan by storm. And astonishingly, most of the film’s production team consists of crew and actors/actresses that does not have much experience in Japanese film industry.
Wishing to appreciate its exceptional hilarity, two KAORI Nusantara staff have decided to review the film, they are Marwa Pranata (Yogyakarta) and Tanto Dhaneswara (Jakarta). Here are what they have to say about One Cut of The Dead, and spoilers beware.
Marwa Pranata (KAORI Newsline): “F*cking Crazy Film!”
Imagine if an “indie film” looks, sounds, and feel like a “professional film.” Can that film still be called an ordinary “indie film?”
One Cut of the Dead (called as Kamera wo Tomeru Na! or “Don’t Stop the Camera!” in Japanese) is an indie zombie film, a genre that should already be well-known by filmgoers, whether they only watch film in the cinemas every once in a while, or those who see the latest films every week, everywhere in the world. However, we are not going to discuss about the zombies in this film, or those opinions comparing this film with the film “Shaun of the Dead” from the English director, Edgar Wright. The reason for which, is kind of a spoiler of the film: this film is actually not a zombie film.
This film is an indie film, about indie filmmaking.
Akin to Quentin Tarantino with his first film, Reservoir Dogs, the director Shinichiro Ueda has managed to create a film that, despite having an “indie” impression and made with low budget, does look like a “professional” one with five stars quality. Just like Tarantino, the film could achieve it through genre awareness, creativity that grew out of limitation, and innovations that seems “new”, but actually comes from existing techniques, skillfully crafted into very entertaining and very brilliant 97 minutes.
One Cut of the Dead is basically a comedy film, which is full of brilliant jokes with excellent timing. There are two main “building blocks” that construct its powerful comedy; set up and relatability.
Set up is one of the main elements in comedy, in which jokes or gags are opened by introducing the condition of the characters or the environments. Imagine if someone falls due to stepping on banana peel. The situation would become funny if we have seen the person approaching the peel. The same principle is also used in the film where the first 37 minutes of the film is a set up for the jokes that are going to be used later. It’s a risky move, but it really pays off handsomely.
However, the comedy in this film will not succeed if not because of the second element, relatability. The majority of the jokes that are crucial parts of the film could basically be considered comedy of errors. But unlike other films whose jokes may have somewhat fantastic elements, the jokes in this film are very charming and amusing because the strange and odd behaviors of the actors feel so close with reality, especially to the audience themselves.
With these two elements as the building blocks, combined through the creative and natural acting of the actors this “cheap” film can feel classy and inspirational.
In brief, this film is very amazing and you won’t regret watching it at all.
“POM!”
