Father and daughter relationship, corporate vs rock, fear of aging and near-death experience are only some of the hot topics that TV and commercial director Shinji Hamasaki has chosen to tackle and turn them into a madcap comedy in his first feature film “Not Quite Dead Yet”.
Not Quite Dead Yet is screening at Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme
Nanase Nobata (Suzu Hirose) is a brilliant scientist, fresh from University and with a dad who is president of the Nobata Pharmaceutics, a leading pharmaceutical company well known for their research on a rejuvenation drug called Romeo. It could be an ideal situation for Nanase if a little detail wasn't in the way; Nanase hates her father and she would like to see him dead. So much so that she has written a song about it for her idol death metal band Soulzz. She despises him at the point that a “no-trespassing” red tape splits the house they share in two distinct living areas. On the other hand, her father Kei (Shinichi Tsutsumi) is a sort of mad professor with his head is in the chemistry element cloud. He still hopes and pushes to see Nanase at the company but doesn't make a real effort to understand her reasons and her passion for death metal music. To keep an eye on her, he sends Taku Matsuoka (Ryo Yoshizawa) who works at his pharmaceutical company, to spy on Nanase and send him regular photo reports.
Taku who is nicknamed Ghost as nobody ever notices him, accidentally witnesses a conversation between Kei and his head of marketing: in an attempt to discover who is leaking information about their research data, Kei is going to take a drug that simulate dearth for 2 days (aptly called Juliet) and see if the mole makes a fax pas. Little he knows he's talking with the mole himself and the baddies from the competitor Watson Pharmaceutics are ready to take over the company, cremate him before his resuscitation date and steal the Romeo drug data. Taku now must help Nanase to disrupt the deadly plan and save both the president and the company. But will Nanase agree to save the man she always wanted to see dead?
Silly and over the top, “Not Quite Dead Yet” is also jam-packed with heavy themes and subjects. Death, first of all, is everywhere, from the death metal band to Nanase's angry song about her father's death, to the ill-advised prank of faking dead, to the ghostly presence of Nanase's late mum; and not to talk of the sought-after rejuvenating Romeo, that is basically the ultimate death-defeating drug. Moreover, the father daughter complex relationship between Nanase and Kei could be a source of deep considerations about communication, nurturing and the necessity to speak up love and feelings.
Good news is that the whole ensemble is as light as a feather and available to be taken however seriously you want to. This is a comic family drama with a pinch of romance, peppered with some pop rock and scattered with pleasant cameos from a mix bag of fun-to-spot celebrities, like the beloved and ubiquitous Lily Franky playing the other-worldly guide Hino, veteran star Naoto Takenaka, wrestler Togi Makabe playing a chained dumb thug, Yukiyoshi Ozawa who was the infamous Long Long Man in a series of hilarious commercials for Sakeru Gummy in 2017, boy idols Jun Shison and Takeru Satoh and Satoshi Tsumabuki as a reluctant venue manager. All these ingredients are whipped to an airy and fluffy concoction that is at the least harmless fun and at the most a heart-warming hot chocolate.
Tech credits are adequate, and they all contribute to the madhouse spirit that pervades the story, included the original soundtrack by Kenichi Maeyamada (as Hyadain) and the effervescent costumes by Kayo Hosomi for Nanase in death metal Lolita attire and her band friends. Set in the three days running up to Christmas, “Not Quite Dead yet” is a perfect festive candy. Light, fun and relatable.
