Yudai Yamaguchi and Tak Sakaguchi have repeatedly collaborated through the years in various capacities, with their common efforts resulting in a number of cult movies, including “Versus”, “Battle Baseball”, “Yakuza Weapon” etc. Now they are once more coming together in a different action film that boasts a meta approach, while including “Hydra”’s Kensuke Sonomura in the role of the action director.
“One Percenter” is screening at Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival
Action film actor Toshiro Takuma has only one goal on his mind, the perfection of action film acting, essentially to achieve utter realism and not have screen battles that are essentially dancing. However, in an industry addicted to wires, CGI and quick editing to simulate speed, he expectedly finds himself ostracized. Eventually, with the help of his dedicated apprentice Akira, he decides to make a movie as he dreamt and for that purpose, they move into an uninhabited island to shoot unbothered. During the shooting, though, actual violence finds its way on the set in the form of yakuza mobsters headed by Kijima (a rather strong hitman who has mastered Jeet Kun Do) and Shishido, and Toshiro might actually have his wish of ‘Real Action’ come true. Real action though, also has real casualties, while the daughters of the Yakuza, who also appear on the set, seem to have plans of their own.
Yudai Yamaguchi creates a movie that is split in two essentially, with the invasion of the Yakuza providing the dichotomy, although retaining the meta element of the film-within-a-film throughout its duration. In that fashion, the film begins with Toshiro Takuma talking on camera about his idea of action on movies, also exhibiting some of his techniques, in a style that resembles that of the documentary, or even better, mockumentary. Continuing in the same fashion, the movie moves by presenting the behind-the-scenes of a samurai movie where Toshiro eventually finds himself clashing with the director, in a part that makes a comment about how the industry works, with the roles of the producer (as in the one who puts in his money) and his relationship with the director being particularly criticized.
The second part moves more into actual movie territory, with the Yakuza invasion and the scores of enemies Toshiro facing resulting in a series of intricate and brutal action scenes, while the presence of the two girls adds a sense of perversion that also works well in terms of entertainment.
This duality in the approach carries the movie from beginning to end of the already economical 85 minutes and also allows “One Percenter” to move much higher than the usual actioners, as its context is also quite rich. Regarding the action, the combination of Yudai Yamaguchi’s direction, Kensuke Sonomura’s choreography and Hiroyuki Ozawa’s cinematography results in an impressive combination, that benefits the most by the changes in shooting style as handheld cameras occasionally follow the action from very close, while other times highlight it through a distance, with both approaches being quite impressive visually.
Of course, Tak Sakaguchi and his ‘shoulder blades’ technique shines once more throughout the second part, both in the scenes when he faces many opponents and the one-on-ones close to the end, which are also induced with a very appealing sense of drama. Furthermore, the concept of ‘everything can be used as a weapon’ finds one of its apogees here, with the flashlight and the pliers definitely staying on mind. Togo Ishii as Kijima and Norihisa Hiranuma as Shishido provide great villains, with their stylish demeanor also working well for the movie. Lastly, the two girls, Kanon Narumi as Ami and Rumika Fukuda as Maria add both drama and a slight sense of sensualism through their evident beauty, which does not go further than that though, although the violence particular Ami exhibits is quite entertaining.
“One Percenter” will definitely satisfy fans of cult action, but at the same time, its meta aspect, will find appeal even among fans of arthouse and mockumentary filmmaking, in a duality that is greatly handled by Yamaguchi.
