Japanese Reviews Reviews

Film Review: Company Retreat (2020) by Atsushi Funahashi

Funahashi's documentary/stage-play/feature approach manages to communicate the sexual harassment issue in the best fashion.

Atsushi Funahashi is an ever-changing director, who does not seem to shy away from any challenge, having shot documentaries, TV programs, and a Japanese-Portuguese co-production, among others. Thus, it is no surprise that his latest film, which will have its premiere at this year's Tokyo International, is a black-and-white, based on actual events, documentary-like production, which seems to share many common elements with Hong Sang-soo's style and deals with sexual harassment. Not to mention that he also took upon himself the roles of writer, DP, sound-recorder, and editor.

The film takes place in 2018, where a group of people working for a big hotel chain, gather at a company retreat building by the sea. The setting is idyllic and everyone seems ready to have a good time and relax, but a rather “dark cloud” is hanging about their heads. Saki, a female employee who works as receptionist, has fallen victim to sexual harassment, and has reported the incident, bringing a torrenting series of consequences, most of which have fallen on her, as she continues to get harassed, this time on social media. The girl is obviously suffering due to the fact, not being able to enjoy herself, and not even the coming-out of two men who are also in the retreat, Shu and Taku, seems to take anyone's mind away from the topic. Taku shares that the photos of Saki who have circulated on the web have come from someone within the group and Shinoda mentions that one could actually call the perpetrator through voice-over-IP, bringing the pressure among the group to a boiling point. Furthermore, the presence of a man who is recording the whole meeting for his online diary, Ozu, eventually brings even more strain.

Saki suspects Noda, one of the men present, as the perpetrator, but soon finds herself having to defend her attitude, since almost all men in the group accuse her of her behaviour, not only regarding the incident, but also because she makes them feel uncomfortable during their vacation. Kinoshita, another woman, is the only one who is supportive of her. The film makes a break (in color) to show what happened during the incident to her, before it transitions into another company retreat, where things become even worse for Saki, as the presence of another woman, Ushihara, ends up to a verbal attack towards her only “protector”, Kinoshita. The presence of a man who is in love with her, makes things even worse for Saki.

Atushi Funahashi directs a film where the incidents and conversations are based upon actual events, an approach that intensifies the overall realism that permeates the narrative. The movie unfolds much like a stage play, since, for the most part, it takes place inside a single room, although Funahashi provides some much required relief through a number of picturesque images of the area and the middle part, that takes place in a completely other setting. This overall visual approach, along with the dialogue-heavy narrative and the occasional sudden zoom-ins to people's faces is what makes the movie much reminiscent of Hong Sang-soo's works, although the context is much different than the usual of the Korean's, who is more playful, most of the time.

The element however, that mostly characterizes the production, is the sense of tension that quickly takes over. Starting with Saki's attitude, who cannot get into the “festivities” due to the issue she has to face, and continuing with the rest of the group turning against her, this sense of pressure and anxiety eventually becomes quite palpable. Through this approach, Funahashi highlights the ridiculousness and cruelty with which the intensely conservative and male-dominated Japanese society deals with harassment cases, as Saki is continuously treated with scorn and even anger, instead of receiving support. This comment becomes even more obvious in the middle part, where her higher up tells her to deal with insults by “smiling-and-nodding” instead of making a fuss, in a sequence that highlights Japanese mentality regarding the matter in the most eloquent way. That Ushihara actually is proud that she has moved up the ranks by implementing exactly this attitude, and her pragmatism regarding the male dominated company also comes as a shock, also due to the way she attacks both Saki and Kinoshita, even accusing them for being single due to their attitude.

The no-way-out situation Saki has to face probably finds its apogee with Kobayashi's attitude, whose misplaced feelings end up making him the worst among the group, in another testament on how much men misinterpret and in essence are ignorant of women's feelings.

Also of interest is the whole presence of Noda, whose somewhat shady attitude is cemented in the third part, which presents another take on the concept of colleagues having relationships.

Overall, Funahashi does a great job in presenting, in the most realistic way possible, how the #MeToo movement never actually reached Japan, with the ending titles that refer to more than 82.000 cases of harassment annually, and of which around half are never acted upon by the victims, showing the magnitude of the issue. At the same time, the atmosphere that permeates the film is relentless, essentially managing to communicate Saki's state of mind in the best fashion. 's performance in the role is another major factor, with her highlighting all her mentality impressively. The scene where she is confronted by Kobayashi, and the only moment she somewhat lashes out are the apogee of an overall great effort.

From the rest of the cast, as Taku and as Noda are the ones that stand out, although the whole cast does a rather good job, also highlighting their chemistry and Funahashi's ability to direct many people simultaneously.

“Company Retreat” is an excellent film, with Funahashi's documentary/stage-play/feature approach managing to communicate the issue in the best fashion.

About the author

Panos Kotzathanasis

My name is Panos Kotzathanasis and I am Greek. Being a fan of Asian cinema and especially of Chinese kung fu and Japanese samurai movies since I was a little kid, I cultivated that love during my adolescence, to extend to the whole of SE Asia.

Starting from my own blog in Greek, I then moved on to write for some of the major publications in Greece, and in a number of websites dealing with (Asian) cinema, such as Taste of Cinema, Hancinema, EasternKicks, Chinese Policy Institute, and of course, Asian Movie Pulse. in which I still continue to contribute.

In the beginning of 2017, I launched my own website, Asian Film Vault, which I merged in 2018 with Asian Movie Pulse, creating the most complete website about the Asian movie industry, as it deals with almost every country from East and South Asia, and definitely all genres.

You can follow me on Facebook and Twitter.

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