A common trope in action movies, the storyline of the retired individual who wants a life of peace only to find forces against his will bringing him back into the old ways, is used pretty frequently. Heroes from Gary Cooper, Wesley Snipes, and Steven Seagal have all attempted the setup for themselves to varying degrees of success, and while not normally a true man-of-action to their degree, veteran actor Dean Fujioka offers his own take on the style in Daishi Matsunaga's latest film “Pure Japanese” screening at Nippon Connection.
“Pure Japanese” is screening at Nippon Connection
Following an accident on set, actor Daisuke Tateishi (Dean Fujioka) decides the time is right to focus on his career as a high-quality stuntman in numerous action films in the industry. When his latest shoot takes him to a small village, he meets up with Ayumi (Aju Makita), a high-school student who's being targeted and harassed by members of the local yakuza and Chinese brokers who requires saving from Daisuke to get away alive. When several more encounters continue to bring them together, he realizes that the series of confrontations have awakened a bloodlust within him that he had long buried and sets out to protect her in a manner that proves nearly as extreme as the criminal behavior.
“Pure Japanese” has a lot to like. One of the strongest factors here involves the use of a traditional storyline setup from writer Tatsuo Kobayashi that works incredibly well as a standalone effort. The familiar set up on the old guard resorting to a life of peace only to get dragged back into the action when he sees someone who needs his help, is given a fine touch here with a parental overview of the formula. That we're given a healthy backstory into Daisuke's past involving the tragedy on the film shoot that resulted in his long-running loneliness and hesitation towards romance starts us on his character quite well. Realizing that Daisuke is connecting to Ayumi as a means of getting past that trauma adds a heartwarming touch to the story. Ayumi being targeted by the gangs and thugs in the area adds such a sympathetic turn to her that makes for an appropriate trigger for Daisuke to launch into a rage, completing the storyline.
That setup gives “Pure Japanese” its other enjoyable factor in the high-energy action scenes. Daisuke has a lot of great fun within the confines of the movie shoots we see him undergo, as the sets are enjoyable and chaotic in the best way possible. The stunt work involved as well as the purposeful stage-fighting we see as he demonstrates his skills as a performer give this a solid background to the later scenes involving him and Ayumi meeting up together against the criminal gang after her. Given the chance to see the intensity kick up with the real-world implications contrasting obviously with the fake film sets where the events take place. There's a series of fun brawls and confrontations that take place here which have a nice energy contained and come across nicely when Daisuke gains a fury and intensity to fight back. Alongside the frenetic pace due to its short length, these factors are what give the film a lot to enjoy.
While there are plenty of enjoyable factors, “Pure Japanese” does have some minor issues. The main one is the general overfamiliarity present with the storyline by Kobayashi. Here we get the whole concept of the loner who's decided to give up a part of himself following a personal tragedy and suddenly finds himself forced to go back to his old ways. This concept has been utilized in numerous other films in this style which makes this setup feel overly familiar, especially with the on-set accident that starts Daisuke's detachment from society. It feels suitable as an instigating factor to trigger everything but from that point on, there are little surprises in store in terms of where the storyline goes. That becomes especially so as the introduction of Ayumi comes about and her story involving the gangsters taunting her becomes apparent that we're getting such a familiar storyline. The only other issue comes from the low-budget qualities featured , from the cramped sets and special effects work to the overall presentation that screams indie film.
An overall enjoyable and entertaining effort, “Pure Japanese” has quite a lot of positive points to like about it which are only somewhat hindered by a minor set of flaws that may not even apply to most viewers. Those who are engaged by the setup or are plain unbothered by those negatives will have the most to like with the film overall.
