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room 707

Bermuda

room 707

Bermuda
For Love's Sake japanese movie review
Completed
For Love's Sake
5 people found this review helpful
by room 707
May 13, 2016
Completed
Overall 7.0
Story 7.0
Acting/Cast 8.5
Music 6.5
Rewatch Value 6.0
Looking at the comments, I seem to have an unpopular opinion of this film lol. Surprisingly, I honestly really enjoyed it. I first watched this film about 3 years ago but I only got to the second song before I was thinking 'what kind of a weird ass film is this??' lol. Of course, I didn't finish it. However, for some reason, I decided to give it another shot and I am sooooo glad I did. Before I really get into my review, in my opinion, this film's MDL description doesn't do it justice. The description actually seems to be closer to the plot of the original manga that the film it is based on, rather than the film itself. The film does have the basic outline of the manga's plot, BUT this film is a Takashi Miike film, so you shouldn't expect this story to be told in a relatively normal or straightforward way. It also should be noted, since it's not tagged on here, that this film is a musical and also a comedy. With plenty of delinquent school boy (and girl) fights. When watching this film, I think it's important to remember the title, which in English is referred to as 'For Love's Sake' and in Japanese is called 'Ai to Makoto', which translates to 'love and sincerity' (which is not so coincidentally the names of the two main characters). Throughout this film, love is depicted in its various forms through each character - unrequited love, new love, lost love, naive love, lack of love, love, love, love, love, etc. When you think about love, one of the most popular forms of expressing it is typically in song, right? I mean, aren't most songs on the radio specifically about love? I could be reaching here, but for that reason, I believe that that is why the singing/dancing wasn't some pointless or distracting thing. Having each character express their feelings and thoughts on love through song, was actually pretty fitting. Yes, some of the songs and dances were weird but I honestly felt that that was all apart of the satire. Personally, I thought each song was hysterical, more so, than annoying. Even when you take out the singing, this is still a pretty solid film. The overall plot was entertaining and despite it being relatively outlandish at times, it does get pretty touching towards the end. I felt that there were quite a bit of interesting and diverse characters - each character having pretty much their own background and purpose in the film. It's my belief that Ai (who, ironically, most seem to find annoying) represents that kind of naive, ideal and cheesy love that is usually depicted in shojou manga, anime, films and dramas. Makoto, on the other hand, he's violent and filled with anger and pain (mainly because of his past) and doesn't seem to have a real interest in love, but despite that, there is still a sincerity. I believe the actors did a great job in this film. Tsumabuki Satoshi was a pleasure to watch and did a beautiful job at portraying Makoto's complex feelings. Takei Emi also did a good job as I thought she brought a perfect amount of clichéd cuteness to her character. The supporting cast as a whole were very good as well. Since it is a musical, I guess it's pretty obvious that I should talk about the music too, huh? Lol. Well, for me, the songs throughout the film were representative of each character and I felt that they did their job giving the viewer a taste of that character's personality and mindset. Some of the songs were corny and some were pretty over-the-top but they fit their character so I didn't have a problem with it. Honestly, I'd bump the soundtrack to this film if I had it (just another musical soundtrack to add to my playlist - move over West Side Story!). This film also deserves kudos for having great cinematography and set design. Each shot was beautiful and well thought out. To summarise, I thought this film was funny and entertaining. I think there's definitely more to this film than what first meets the eyes. But hey, I've been told I have weird tastes and I do tend to overthink. But, I mean, if you like some cheesy songs and dance numbers, can suspend your disbelief for 2 hours, and just wanna laugh, then this film might be for you. It's definitely a guilty pleasure lol.
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