Manji (1964)
Picture: C
Sound: C Extras: C Film: D
Manji (1964) is a film that tries too hard to be
dramatic, stops being dramatic and starts getting ridiculous. After ten minutes of this film, I
immediately lost all interest in it and got bored with it. The acting is over the top and poorly
executed. The characters go so over the
top that in places you wonder if they could get you out any more of the movie. It’s a lesbian soap opera (and thought
police lesbian at that) that isn’t interesting or fun to watch. The Director, Yasuzo Masumura, takes no
time to allow the characters any sort of character identification. The sequences of the girls being upset
scattered throughout the movie are the worst and most painful scenes to
watch. Imagine a wailing Asian woman
crying and swinging her arms like a fourth grader who didn’t get his Spongebob
Squarepants toy.
This movie is bad in every way. It’s boring. Horrifically
acted. No nudity at all during any of
the sensual scenes that are so “important” to both of the characters. The story - an older lawyers wife
encounters a younger woman who she drew a picture of in an art class. The younger woman decides that the picture
doesn’t look like her and in the spirit of Cinemax Original Movies, decides
it’s a good idea to see her in “the flesh” so she knows what her body truly
looks like. The two in a “dramatic”
shot, the two women are seen holding each other in the buff. If this thin story
line isn’t enough for you, try a scene later in the film when the Older Woman’s
Husband overhears her on the phone with her lover when she announces that she’s
going to “ditch” her husband early in the morning so the two of them can “play
God”. Then it gets really bad. What really bugs me about this film is that I
hate when movies tease you with nudity.
I think it’s the biggest cop out.
It’s the same with violence in films being cut out. Would the death of Leon in Leon: The
Professional be as dramatic if you didn’t see his head being blown
out? What really doesn’t make a bit of
sense to me is that this is POINT of the whole movie to begin with is the
psycho-lesbian relationship the two have!
The anamorphically enhanced 2.35 X 1 image and Dolby
Digital 2.0 Mono sound quality on the disc are both average. The picture is less than perfect with many
shots hard to tell if they’re in soft focus or just transferred badly, not
doing justice to the cinematography of Setsuo Kobayashi. Less is to be expected from the older sound,
yet even Tadashi Yamauchi’s score seems to be getting short-changed
somehow. Even the extras on this disc
are limited: Original Theatrical Trailer, Yasuzo Masumura biography and
filmography, and a photo/stills gallery. There’s also a nice booklet that has
some insight into the film, but with hardly any film to enjoy, even that is
limited.
Overall, to repeat again, the film is not too impressive
in the least. It feels like a big cop
out. Not only with its lack of nudity
but it’s lack of purpose and being capable of giving a damn whether these
characters live or die. It doesn’t
matter how many times we see this girl cry, wail or get cut with knives - we
still don’t care. See it at your own
risk.
- James Lockhart
