Japanese Reviews Reviews

Film Review: The Depths (2010) by Ryusuke Hamaguchi

"I am not gay"

has been making quite a splash in the festival circuit for the last few years, with titles like “Asako I&II”, “Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy” and “Drive My Car” screening all over the world and winning a plethora of awards. Hamaguchi, however, is not a newcomer, since he has been shooting movies since 2003, with the latter film being his 15th. It is interesting, thus, to check the path that led him to the place he inhabits now in international cinema, and his third feature, “” provides a great chance to do so. 

“The Depths” is screening at Close-Up Film Centre as Part of their Close-up On Ryusuke Hamaguchi Programme

Bae-hwan is a famous Korean fashion photographer visiting Japan at the request of his friend Gil-su to take pictures of his wedding. Things take a strange turn though, when the bride disappears, and Bae-hwan ends up helping his friend in the photo studio he owns with his wife, where, however, he is also associated with some rather shady men. In one such photoshoot, the two men are introduced to Ryu, a male escort who is the most successful one in his “company” and has been brought to take some new image shots to be uploaded to their website. Bae-hwan is impressed by the beauty of the unusual-looking young man and asks him to abandon prostitution in order to become a model, even suggesting taking him to Korea upon his return. Gil-su, however, has his objections, and they seem to be revolving around something more than being afraid of Ryu's boss. 

The first thing that becomes evident here, particularly for people who have seen Hamaguchi's latest works, is that, at the time (2010) he did not have the command of the medium he exhibits now. This aspect is quite evident both in the writing, which emerges as particularly faulty, especially in the characterization department, and also in a lack of tension altogether, that makes the movie seem rather flat and lagging on occasion. Particularly the way the three men come together borders on the illogical, as if two different movies were brought together forcefully, with Hamaguchi seeming as not being sure of how to handle the homosexual aspects of the story. In that fashion, a number of arcs, mostly revolving around the wives of the story and Ryu's boss, seem totally disconnected from the main narrative, essentially tropes to progress the main story. Furthemore, the protagonists are all unlikeable, for various reasons, while the “trope” with the translation does not work particularly well. 

The aforementioned, however, do not mean that the film is without merits. The presentation of the “dark” aspects of photography and the way modelling works, and of male prostitution are rather intriguing if not necessarily realistic, while the movie definitely picks up as soon as the three men come together, in a rather unusual love triangle where nobody is sure of his orientation of feelings for that matter. The way these elements lead to sex, violence, and eventuallly, melodrama is captivating at times, while the comments about the pressures homosexuals feel to acknowledge the fact, first and foremost to themselves, along with the issues of (sexual) identity are eloquently portrayed. 

Furthermore, the bleakness of the cinematography, as presented by DP Gunyoung Kay Yang, fits the overall aesthetics of the movie to perfection, in a style much reminiscent of “Asako”. The editing could be better, since the movie lags on many occasions, but in terms of pace, it definitely works. 

as Bae-hwan is convincing as the rather cool, successful man, with the antithesis with the cowardice of 's Gil-su working quite well for the narrative, even if none of them is particularly likeable. as Ryu plays the archetype of the “apple of discord” and is convincing in general, but the issue is that his appearance, and the whole presentation of his character, does not justify the chaos he creates. 

“The Depths” is not a bad film, and Hamaguchi's eye for composition was still evident more than ten years ago. At the same time though, the “edge” and intelligence of his latest works is not particularly visible here, in a film that can be described as mediocre. 

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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