Kohei Sanada (“Farewell Family”, 2018) tells a triangle yakuza story in the aftermath of a nuclear accident that does not fall for the tropes of sentimentality. Being born near a power plant in Ishikawa prefecture himself, the director draws an austere picture of the life around the evacuation zone.
Firing the Lighter Gun is screening at Camera Japan
Tatsuya (Yuya Okutsu) lives in a town on the edge of a nuclear disaster zone. He works for the yakuza that run the clean-up business. His former classmate and ex-prisoner Ryo and sex worker Mari (Arisa Nakamura) join him there. In their own way, they all try to hang on to their humanity and stay kind to each other amidst their grim surroundings.
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In the course of the film, it becomes apparent that Ryo and Tatsuya go their separate ways. Ryo becomes more and more violent and heartless. Tatsuya, who has to take care of his demented mother at home, feels out of place and becomes even more alienated when his boss gives him the order to pimp out Mari. This change is well performed by the actors. Mari's screen time is limited and her character stays behind the other two in terms of backstory and development. The three protagonists also have many hidden secrets from the past, that are unveiled in unagitated ways, almost in passing mentions. Therefore, the drama level is kept very low and Sanada tries to stay inside the boundaries of a realistic presentation.
By choosing this kind of pacing and authenticity, “Firing the Lighter Gun” pays its price. The minimal use of music and the rather dull cinematography do not appeal very appealing. Instead of being experimental and arty, the cynical aspect of the scenario is manifested through dialogue and is the most appealing aspect of the film. Kohei Sanada has no mercy for his characters. The nuclear disaster is not the center of attention, but the corrupt and broken system that led to the catastrophe and still runs the community even after the fatal consequences.
It takes a lot of courage to combine the explosion of a nuclear power plant with corruption, especially in Japan. “Firing the Lighter Gun” benefits from this fresh honesty and does not shy away from criticism, which bears many links to political and social accusations. The human drama, the illness of Tatsuya's mother, the murder case of Ryo, and Mari's unrequited search for love are wrapped around this mysterious cloud called nuclear disaster.
The multi-talented director Kohei Sanada, who studied at the Graduate School of Film and Media at Tokyo University of the Arts, is taking the stage step by step. His film “Icarus and the Son” (2015) won the Special Jury Prize at Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival and he continues to write and edit all his work by himself. For future projects, I wish for an aesthetic push forward. There are some very promising indicators in the usage of music and framing in “Firing the Lighter Gun”, that hold the potential to add a whole extra layer of meaning to the narrative. In combination with the outspoken straights of his scriptwriting, Sanada could be a wake-up call to many hot topics inside Japan.
