19 [2000]

Kazushi Watanabe’s idiosyncratic debut feature 19, based on his own 1996 short of the same name which in turn was inspired by actual events, is a film that at first glance looks like yet another addition to the ‘lost youth on a rampage’ canon. But closer inspection reveals a film that has less to do with social comment than with delivering an exercise in consistency. 19 is a film in which each element is linked to another, its starting point being the three enigmatic young thugs at the center of the whole story.

The premise is simple: a young man is kidnapped in broad daylight. The perpetrators are a threesome of amoral, twenty-something punks driving an old Fiat 500. They hoist Usami off his bicycle into the lace-covered backseat of the cramped little car and drive off to, well, to nowhere really. As Usami struggles to at first break free and subsequently come to grips with the situation, he is taken on a ride through the outskirts of Tokyo. The trio of kidnappers – one of whom never speaks while their leader (Watanabe himself) can hardly keep his mouth shut – go about their business; they visit the zoo, have lunch at a restaurant and go to the supermarket, all with a confused Usami in tow and a growing stack of polaroids in their pockets. It becomes increasingly clear to both Usami and the audience that his kidnappers treat him as an equal, and gradually the boy’s resistance ebbs away to be replaced by a sense of belonging.

World Premiere : 12 September 2000 (Toronto International Film Festival)
World Premiere : 21 April 2001(Singapore International Film Festival)
World Premiere : 27 September 2002 (Helsinki International Film Festival)
Release Date : 5 December 2002
Origin : Japan
Genre: Drama, Crime
Director : Kazushi Watanabe
Starring: Daijiro Kawaoka,Kazushi Watanabe,Takeo Noro,Ryo Shinmyo,Masashi Endo,Nachi Nozawa

Trailer

Posted in: Crime,Drama