[note: this is not a "review" in the critical sense - this is how I would explain the film to someone I know. Do not expect objectivity or a balance between positive and negatives. I can talk negatively about things I really love and disappointment is not equal to disapproval.]
2. I have to be honest, while watching it, I did think of the film Sakuran, without knowing of the connection, as it has a similar clean look with the static images and screen feeling saturated with colour.↩
3. A peculiar Japanese phenomenon where models join agencies that push them into many fields, such as acting and singing and they are accepted as being good at all these things even though are often not.↩
4. I had heard her name but I think she really made her name in a drama called "One Litre Of Tears" which I have seen part of - I would not have placed her in that at all.↩
5. Which, in itself, has definite similarities with Perfect Blue although that does not stop Black Swan being possibly my favourite film of the last five years.↩
6. Manga actually means comic but they are used as a much broader medium in Japan and so the "comicbook" story can mean something fundamentally different there.↩
7. And so this may need an update, if it does, I will do so...(right here). And watching for a second time, it was still astonishing. In addition, I noticed that there were not actually many genuinely static shots as a lot of it is hand held and that there is a lot more sex/skin than I remembered - especially at the beginning. ↩
I always found it quite interesting that, in speech at least, the Japanese word for pretty and clean are homophones (possibly the same word, but I'm no scholar) and so when children are told to clean up, it could also be heard as make it pretty. This could be a misunderstanding on my part, but one of those things I always use to create some form of cultural structure in my head.
Helter Skelter sees the "return" of both Mika Ninagawa, after her 2006 debut film Sakuran, and Erika Sawajiri[1], who has been off the scene since 2007, but I actually watched it slightly in error[2], but only slightly in error. My favourite Japanese actor (presently) is Kubozuka Yousuke although he has not been in so much, I thought he had such presence in "GO" (and also Ping Pong, but the love is from GO) that I have always been on the lookout for other films of his. I misread the name of the director as Miwa Nishikawa (who did Dreams for Sale [review] and Sway [review] which I've recently watched) and so it went a little higher in my "to watch" list. An enjoyable mistake.
It follows the career of Ririko (for some reason, written in English as LiliCo - possibly alluding to the commercial nature of her persona) - a fabulously popular model/talent[3] at the top of her game. As most of us know, when you are at the top, there is usually only one direction to go and as much as we love people at the top, we also love their demise.
The film starts showing Ririko's work life as an endless cycle of shoots, talkshows and "events" and her way of dealing with the stresses of it all. The main theme is actually about the sacrifices that she makes to go to the top and stay there but I would not say it is necessarily a sympathetic portrayal. Not at all.
The start of the film has a real pace to it and you are pulled through the world of fashion, quickly and without real exposition. I'm usually a fan of this kind of dizzying feeling to open films and with the almost hyper-real colours and the dazzling lights from flashbulbs, it brings you in to the world very quickly. Ririko is played by Erika Sawajiri[4] and she is astonishingly attractive, looking the part of a model that all girls are fixated on easily and the director's photographic experience surely helps capture her in such a way and there are some great sequences showing the photo-shoots which are kinetic and fun. She looks very defined (when supposed to) and taut in a way you'd expect of a model throughout the film and I'd be lying if I didn't say that it helps the suspension of disbelief when you can definitely imagine her being so popular - she often looks a piece of art (which she, essentially is). I think some of the advertising (having read some reviews after watching the film) was about her return and the amount of skin, but it is not gratuitous and always seems to have a point. For reasons beyond her control, those looks seem to be deteriorating and so she feels that she is to be overtaken and this has consequences on her mental state leading to paranoia and a descent of sorts - though that in itself is dependant on what you think is higher. This is not the only theme within it, but as she loses power, she seems to wield it more forcefully where she can with some very strange scenes with her manager/assistant. There is a definite feel throughout of the fleeting nature of beauty, power and youth and it being important to use them wisely while you have them as you live with the consequences when you don't have them any longer.
The film's tone changes with time and so there is less dizzying spectacle and more confusing anticipation. As I've said before, I am always a little unsure what will happen in Japanese films as it always feels like everything is on the table and it may become a totally different film with a genre switch. Ririko's eyes, at points, become haunted and she seems lost in her mind and capable of anything.
The film itself will remind many of Black Swan[5] although as the original Helter Skelter manga[6] pre-dates that film by almost a decade, it is not a story that has been copied from it. The themes are, of course, similar but the way the story is told is a little different with some other, external, elements to the descent where Black Swan is very much about the pressures taken on by, and placed on, Nina and so an internal unravelling.
A striking part of the film, and something that seems uncommon, is how female the film is - the main characters are all female and the audience for LiliCo is young and female. The only men are side characters (in the sense of boyfriends or helpers) which makes sense as the original manga was published in a comic aimed at women (note - women, not girls). This is, I feel more an investigation of the fashion/talent industries and the kind of culture that feeds it to be what it is with so much pressure placed on young girls, and young women, to conform but I am not sure that this is the kind of film that gives simple answers to that question - especially with the roles played by LiliCo's fans and her sister within the film.
I really loved the film, it looked fantastic, it sounded bold and confident and dealt with themes that I really like. Worryingly, and this is something I have noticed fairly recently, I really enjoy watching people's lives unravel and the deconstruction of someone's whole being.... Maybe you don't.
Whether you would want to watch it or not on that basis should also be balanced by the fact that it really does look great. It has really well designed shots and very high production values with the outlandish design of Ririko's world captured very well on screen but still being believable within the stage. It is not often I would watch a film that I enjoy throughout actually watching it and it is thought provoking enough for me to consider it afterwards too. I'll probably watch it again in a few days - and for me, praise does not get that much higher[7].
It follows the career of Ririko (for some reason, written in English as LiliCo - possibly alluding to the commercial nature of her persona) - a fabulously popular model/talent[3] at the top of her game. As most of us know, when you are at the top, there is usually only one direction to go and as much as we love people at the top, we also love their demise.
The film starts showing Ririko's work life as an endless cycle of shoots, talkshows and "events" and her way of dealing with the stresses of it all. The main theme is actually about the sacrifices that she makes to go to the top and stay there but I would not say it is necessarily a sympathetic portrayal. Not at all.
The start of the film has a real pace to it and you are pulled through the world of fashion, quickly and without real exposition. I'm usually a fan of this kind of dizzying feeling to open films and with the almost hyper-real colours and the dazzling lights from flashbulbs, it brings you in to the world very quickly. Ririko is played by Erika Sawajiri[4] and she is astonishingly attractive, looking the part of a model that all girls are fixated on easily and the director's photographic experience surely helps capture her in such a way and there are some great sequences showing the photo-shoots which are kinetic and fun. She looks very defined (when supposed to) and taut in a way you'd expect of a model throughout the film and I'd be lying if I didn't say that it helps the suspension of disbelief when you can definitely imagine her being so popular - she often looks a piece of art (which she, essentially is). I think some of the advertising (having read some reviews after watching the film) was about her return and the amount of skin, but it is not gratuitous and always seems to have a point. For reasons beyond her control, those looks seem to be deteriorating and so she feels that she is to be overtaken and this has consequences on her mental state leading to paranoia and a descent of sorts - though that in itself is dependant on what you think is higher. This is not the only theme within it, but as she loses power, she seems to wield it more forcefully where she can with some very strange scenes with her manager/assistant. There is a definite feel throughout of the fleeting nature of beauty, power and youth and it being important to use them wisely while you have them as you live with the consequences when you don't have them any longer.
The film's tone changes with time and so there is less dizzying spectacle and more confusing anticipation. As I've said before, I am always a little unsure what will happen in Japanese films as it always feels like everything is on the table and it may become a totally different film with a genre switch. Ririko's eyes, at points, become haunted and she seems lost in her mind and capable of anything.
The film itself will remind many of Black Swan[5] although as the original Helter Skelter manga[6] pre-dates that film by almost a decade, it is not a story that has been copied from it. The themes are, of course, similar but the way the story is told is a little different with some other, external, elements to the descent where Black Swan is very much about the pressures taken on by, and placed on, Nina and so an internal unravelling.
A striking part of the film, and something that seems uncommon, is how female the film is - the main characters are all female and the audience for LiliCo is young and female. The only men are side characters (in the sense of boyfriends or helpers) which makes sense as the original manga was published in a comic aimed at women (note - women, not girls). This is, I feel more an investigation of the fashion/talent industries and the kind of culture that feeds it to be what it is with so much pressure placed on young girls, and young women, to conform but I am not sure that this is the kind of film that gives simple answers to that question - especially with the roles played by LiliCo's fans and her sister within the film.
I really loved the film, it looked fantastic, it sounded bold and confident and dealt with themes that I really like. Worryingly, and this is something I have noticed fairly recently, I really enjoy watching people's lives unravel and the deconstruction of someone's whole being.... Maybe you don't.
Whether you would want to watch it or not on that basis should also be balanced by the fact that it really does look great. It has really well designed shots and very high production values with the outlandish design of Ririko's world captured very well on screen but still being believable within the stage. It is not often I would watch a film that I enjoy throughout actually watching it and it is thought provoking enough for me to consider it afterwards too. I'll probably watch it again in a few days - and for me, praise does not get that much higher[7].
Why do the gods give us youth and beauty...then take them away?
They're not the same.
Youth is beautiful, but beauty isn't youth.
It's more complicated, packed full of other things.Trailer below:
Note: If you are interested in other similar matters, please use the categories/tags below to see posts within the same grouping.
1. For multiple, interesting reasons - including London!↩2. I have to be honest, while watching it, I did think of the film Sakuran, without knowing of the connection, as it has a similar clean look with the static images and screen feeling saturated with colour.↩
3. A peculiar Japanese phenomenon where models join agencies that push them into many fields, such as acting and singing and they are accepted as being good at all these things even though are often not.↩
4. I had heard her name but I think she really made her name in a drama called "One Litre Of Tears" which I have seen part of - I would not have placed her in that at all.↩
5. Which, in itself, has definite similarities with Perfect Blue although that does not stop Black Swan being possibly my favourite film of the last five years.↩
6. Manga actually means comic but they are used as a much broader medium in Japan and so the "comicbook" story can mean something fundamentally different there.↩
7. And so this may need an update, if it does, I will do so...(right here). And watching for a second time, it was still astonishing. In addition, I noticed that there were not actually many genuinely static shots as a lot of it is hand held and that there is a lot more sex/skin than I remembered - especially at the beginning. ↩
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