A Third Death Note, Nazi Resistance, Alice Creed, Alice Reed and Olivia de Havilland Times Two

Over the three day Labor Day Weekend, I caught a trio of double features. I previously wrote about the Death Note films. By the way, there is a third Death Note film called Death Note: L, Change the World (2008). Ken'ichi Matsuyama reprises his role but the plot is largely independent of the events in the other Death Note films.

I saw Death Note on Saturday. On Sunday, I went to the Balboa and saw

Army of Crime; French & German with subtitles; (2009) - Official Website
The Disappearance of Alice Creed starring Martin Compston, Eddie Marsan and Gemma Arterton; (2009) - Official Website

On Monday, I drove to Palo Alto and went to the Stanford Theater to see

The Woman in the Window starring Edward G. Robinson and Joan Bennett; directed by Fritz Lang; (1944)
The Dark Mirror starring Olivia de Havilland and Lew Ayres; directed by Robert Siodmak; (1946)

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Army of Crime played at this year's San Francisco Jewish Film Festival. It was well received. The film is based on the real events involving a Nazi resistance cell led by French Armenian poet Missak Manouchian. The cast is large as several of the resistance fighers and their families are profiled. The very beginning of the film consists of a voice over roll call of the individuals with the declaration that they died for their country. Off the bat, you know thing won't end well for Manouchian and his group.

The film was a taut thriller but I didn't find it particularly memorable. Virginie Ledoyen who played Manouchian's wife stood out. I also found it ironic that the teenage Jewish girl informed on the cell. Actually, that part of the plot was the most interesting. Marcel Rayman (played by Robinson Stevenin) is a young man who is the most ardent of resisters. His girlfriend, Monique (Lola Naymark), escapes the roundup of the Jews but has to provide sexual favors from a French police inspector (Jean-Pierre Darroussin) to survive.

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The Disappearance of Alice Creed was memorable in the extreme. One of the best films I've seen this year, Alice Creed is lean thriller in which only three people appear on screen - Danny (Martin Compston) and Vic (Eddie Marsan) are two well-prepared kidnappers and their victim is Alice Creed (Gemma Arterton). The film chronicles the preparation of the crime, the period Creed is held hostage and the resolution of the events. On first impression, Danny is a little nervous, Vic is rock steady and possible sociopathic and Alice Creed is terrified. As the film unfolds, the backstory is revealed and there are several surprises which I won't reveal. The relationship between the three changes as the film progresses and there are enough twists to keep one guessing as to how the film will end. The three actors and director J Blakeson do an excellent job in prolonging the heightened sense of anxiety.

I've seen quite a bit of Marsan in the past couple years. Recent credits which I've enjoyed include a small role in the Red Riding Trilogy, a supporting role in The Illusionist and the unhinged driving instructor in Happy-Go-Lucky. I think he is quite a talented actor and his character in Alice Creed shows his range.

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The Woman in the Window was tremendously entertaining. Edward G. Robinson plays a bored college psychology professor whose family is away for the summer. Professor Richard Wanley dines nightly at his private gentlemen's club with his best friends: Frank Lalor, the District Attorney and Dr. Michael Barkstane, his physician. Next to the club, Wanley notices a painting of a beautiful woman. One night, while gazing at the painting, the woman appears behind him as she likes to admire her own image. Her name is Alice Reed (Joan Bennett). She and Wanley strike up a conversation which leads to Wanley having a nightcap at her apartment. Suddenly a man bursts in and starts attacking Wanley. In self-defense, Wanley kills the man. Alice informs him that he is a man she has dallied with. The only point of disbelief was at this moment. Instead of calling the police, Wanley & Reed decide to dispose of the body. I can half-way believe it since it would have been a scandal for the married Wanley to be involved in the death of a beautiful woman's acquaintance. Less believable is why Reed would go along with it.

Once we move past that sticking point, the film moves into high gear. Wanley is fed information about the case in the form of gossip from Lalor. Repeatedly Wanley reveals information which only the killer would know but it is dismissed as coincident since Lalor would never expect his old friend of such a crime. Slowly, the investigation closes in on Wanley but a real monkey wrench is thrown into the works when Dan Duryea shows up to blackmail Wanley & Reed. Watching Robinson sink while desperately trying to keep his head above the fray was immensely enjoyable. The ending was a huge disappointment which would only be tolerated in Hollywood during the Production Code. However, Lang infuses the scene without enough tongue-in-cheek to make it barely palatable. Despite that, the film is one of the best suspense and even noir films I've seen.

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The least fulfilling of the four films was The Dark Mirror which stars Olivia de Havilland in dual roles. She plays identical twins - one good and one evil (and a killer). Fortunately for the audience, they wear monogrammed accessories to help distinguish them. That is until the decide to fool the psychiatrist (Lew Ayres) who is interviewing them for his research...and falls in love with one of them. But does he know which one is which? You get the gist of the plot. De Havilland wasn't bad but the plot was so contrived that it was difficult to appreciate the film for its merits. Thomas Mitchell, who I've recently seen in Stage Coach, High Noon and Dark Waters, shows up as the befuddled police detective. He provides some comic relief.

Death Notes

At the 2008 San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival, I saw Death Note. I enjoyed the Japanese suspense film which ended with a cliffhanger. I expected SFIAAFF to bring back the 2nd half of the film series at the 2009 festival. However, they did not. I was hoping they would screen part 2 at the 2010 festival. They did not.

However, Viz Cinema has presented Death Note and Death Note: The Last Name since its opening last year. I believe the screenings were part of the release of the DVDs. On September 4, Viz screened both films as part of the BlueRay release. I decided to watch Death Note: The Last Name and rewatch Death Note since I haven't seen it in 2½ years.

I didn't quite enjoy Death Note as much as before. It might have been that knowing the major plot points took away some of the enjoyment. I notice many films do not hold up to multiple viewings. More disappointing was that I didn't enjoy Death Note: The Last Name as much as Death Note.

The plot of Death Note involves a notebook which Light Yagami finds. He's a college student studying to be a lawyer. The notebook states that if a person's name is written in the notebook while the writer imagines the person's face, that person will die. Yagami tests the procedure with a vile criminal and is surprised to find the notebook really works. Yagami, increasingly disenchanted with the real-world application of the laws, becomes an epistolary vigilante. He metes out death to criminals and alleged criminals who have gotten off on technicalities. His work is so prolific that he becomes a media sensation dubbed Kira. He also garners the attention of the Japanese government who form a task force to catch Kira. Coincidentally, the head of the task force is Soichiro Yagami, Light's father (played by Takeshi Kaga who is better known as The Chairman in the Japanese version of Iron Chef).

Soon, Light goes mano y mano with L, the mysterious and unseen super detective who has joined forces with Soichiro Yagami's task force. At this point, the film(s) get a too cute by a half. There are a bunch of twists and turns involing Light's girlfriend, a Japanese FBI agent, a television celebrity who discovers a second Death Note(book) and two shinigami (or death gods).

The final result was a film that had too many plot twists to keep me fully involved. The film could have benefited by giving more time to the cat and mouse game between Light and L who becomes more suspicious of Light with each death. Ken'ichi Matsuyama as L and Tatsuya Fujiwara as Light Yagami give tremendous performances. Fujiwara gives a complex performance as Light loses his moral compass and becomes worse than the criminals he condemns. Matsuyama's L is more flamboyant with his addiction to junk food and rococo mannerisms. The scenes when Light & L verbally spar are the best part of the film. I also thought more could be done with Light's relationship with his father.

I am well acquainted with a few of Matsuyama previous works. He has appeared in The Taste of Tea, Linda, Linda, Linda and Detroit Metal City which is currently playing at Viz Cinema. The first two films are among my favorites and I've been anticipating Detroit Metal City for a few months.

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Death Note starring Ken'ichi Matsuyama and Tatsuya Fujiwara; Japanese with subtitles; (2006) - Official Website
Death Note II: The Last Name starring Ken'ichi Matsuyama and Tatsuya Fujiwara; Japanese with subtitles; (2006) - Official Website

Bad Girls and Wild Women, Death Metal and Death Notes

Patrick Macias and TokyoScope return to the Viz Cinema on September 13 with an eye-popping program. In fact, it is being called "TokyoScope Talk Deluxe" - not just a talk but a happy hour and a feature length film screening.

Join host Patrick Macias (Editor, Otaku USA) for a unique look at sexy Stray Cats, Female Prisoners, Delinquent Bosses and other captivating and sexy bad girl roles from Japanese cinema. The evening will be complemented by a theatrical screening of the lurid prison film Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion.

Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion is a 1972 women's prison exploitation/pinky violence film directed by Shunya Itō and starring Meiko Kaji.

If the poster is not enough get you to the Viz on September 13, then maybe the synopsis for Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion will do the trick.

Raped by a gang of yakuza, sacrificed and betrayed by the corrupt cop that she innocently gave her virginity to, Nami Matsushima (played by the stunning Meiko Kaji) finds herself in a women’s prison, watched over by monstrous guards determined to crush her indomitable, vengeful will. Matsu, nicknamed Scorpion by her fellow inmates, seeks not only revenge on the men responsible for her fall from grace, but justice for her tormentors within the prison walls.



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During the week Hole in the Head played at the Viz, they ran trailers for upcoming films at the Viz. The trailer that got the best audience response was Detroit Metal City. The film is playing at the Viz from September 18 to 27.

Based on the #1 death metal comedy manga series by Kiminori Wakasugi. Negishi (Kenichi Matsuyama) is a sweet and shy young man who dreams of becoming a trendy singer songwriter. But for some reason, he is forced into joining the devil worshiping death metal band “Detroit Metal City” (DMC). In full stage make-up and costume, he transforms into Johannes Krauser II (Sir Krauser) the vulgar-mouthed lead vocalist of the band. Against Negishi’s will, DMC rises to stardom. Now the legendary king of death metal Jack Il Dark (Gene Simmons) himself is challenging DMC to a duel. What is the fate of the innocent Negishi as he climbs to the top of the death metal world?.



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In 2008, the San Francisco Internation Asian American Film Festival screened Death Note. Asst. Festival Director Taro Goto wrote the summary that year.

Light Yagami is a brilliant law student who’s disillusioned with Japan’s justice system. One evening, he discovers a mysterious book—dropped by a God of Death—enabling him to kill anyone by writing a name into its pages. Incredulous at first, Light decides to use his newfound gift to execute criminals throughout the world and thereby strike fear into the hearts of evildoers. With crime rates dropping, the public anoints the invisible enforcer a messiah. Police efforts to find the serial killer prove futile, until they’re joined by a cryptic investigator, known only as “L,” who pits his cunning brain against Light’s in a spectacular cat-and-mouse game of one-upmanship.

Death Note is the first of a two-part feature, adapted from the wildly popular manga series of the same title that’s become a phenomenon in Japan and across Asia, even spawning an animated TV series as well as a spin-off movie featuring “L.” Director Shusuke Kaneko, a veteran of the Gamera series and other sci-fi action fare, abridges the byzantine plot of the original without sacrificing any of its mind-bending intricacies, and inserts enough unexpected twists to keep even the most avid fan on their toes. That the film avoids any profound discussion of the ethics of vigilantism is easy to forgive when you’re busy keeping up with a grip­ping battle of wits for the ages.

I recall enjoying the film. It was screened at the Castro to a crowded house. I assumed SFIAAFF would screen the second part in 2009. They did not. Nor did they screen it in 2010. For 2½ years, I've wondered how the story ends. The waiting can end on September 4 with the screening Death Note and Death Note II: The Last Name. In addition to the screening, New People is selling a 3 CD, Blue-ray package including both films plus 2 hours of behind-the-scenes footage and admission to screenings of Death Note and Death Note II: The Last Name. If you don't want the CDs, admission to the films is $10 each or $15 for both.

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[1] Cronin, Sarah (2009-04-01). Electric Sheep Magazine