Hiroshi Tamaki is another actor that has recently turned director, as in the case of Kengo Kora. His own short has boxing as its main premise, but essentially deals with the concept of the self through a rather philosophical approach.
COUNT 100 is screening at Short Shorts Film Festival and Asia
Kago is a professional boxer that made it to the top, becoming the Japanese lightweight champion two years ago. Shortly after, however, he was defeated, and he never managed to bounce back from the loss. Currently he can barely box, while his girlfriend, who followed him to the city they live now to support his boxing career, is completely fed up with him. Beaten both metaphorically and literally, Kago receives a leaflet by a stranger on the street and decides to check it out, only to find himself facing a creature that soon assumes his own appearance, and promises to make his life better, if he only leaves it to take over completely. Kago accepts and becomes a spectator of his own life, which gets better and better in the 100 days since the creature takes over. Things however, do not go as smoothly as he expected.
Hiroshi Tamaki directs a movie about a man that seems to get his wish granted, only to realize that taking a step back and letting his life unfold without him meddling is not exactly satisfactory, in a rather philosophical comment about life and inaction. Furthermore, Tamaki seems to state that fighting with yourself is a necessary concept in life, although nothing guarantees win. Lastly, the “clone” seems to state what someone must do in order to excel in his own life, with the boxing match scene expressing this comment clearly.
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At the same time, however, there is an obvious scifi element in the movie about cloning, which turns the whole thing into a horror, while somewhat dulling the aforementioned comments, which were already not clear enough.
Where the movie truly thrives, though, is in terms atmosphere, with the noir-ish cinematography, the frequent edits and the overall use of sound being excellent, creating a sense of mystery and angst that works excellently for the film. The peaking scene in particular, as much as the one with the fight are particularly well-shot, in the highlights of the production.
Kento Hayashi in the double role is quite convincing, in both his completely opposite hypostases, while Saori Seto as his girlfriend communicates her frustration and transformation eloquently.
Hiroshi Tamaki needs to work on his narrative a bit more, but his eye for composition and his ability to create an imposing atmosphere are quite evident in “COUNT 100” , which is definitely a promising debut.
