As we have mentioned many times before, Takashi Miike is a director that can shoot anything, as his career and his ‘director-for-hire' style have proven repeatedly. As such, it comes as no surprise that Apple commissioned him to shoot a short film using only an iPhone 15 Pro, in order to highlight the capabilities of the model. The result was “Midnight” a film based on the homonymous manga by Osamu Tezuka.
Check the full movie
In intensely bright and colorful fashion, with the neon lights of Tokyo setting the tone, we are introduced to the protagonist of the 19-minute short, a late-night taxi driver named Midnight. As the movie begins, he is hosting a very noisy and in general annoying couple, who do get their punishment, however, almost immediately, in the most scary but also funny fashion. The film then starts moving in neo-noir paths, with a meeting of rather shady characters taking place, in a style that contrasts completely what is happening on the street. In the meantime, Midnight is looking to “punish” a careless truck driver this time, in a very intense chasing, which eventually, though, is proven to be something completely different as the driver is a woman in need and Midnight decides to help her. Not before he listens to her story though, which does include the girl's father played by Miike himself. Eventually, her troubles with the Yakuza become his problems also.
Takashi Miike directs another audiovisual extravaganza, highlighting, once more, that when it comes to manga adaptations he is definitely among the top, if not the best. As such, through a frantic pace dictated by the intense editing, he manages to include a number of favorite tropes of the category, in an effort evidently aiming at entertainment (apart from showing what the iPhone can do). In that fashion, the short includes a car chase, a battle between a motorcycle and the rather high-tech taxi Midnight is driving, martial arts, beam guns coming out of toy bears, and as usually in films of the category, absurd humor and even more absurd characters and events. The inclusion of pages of the actual manga, which actually mirror what we are watching on the screen, the fitting heavy metal soundtrack and the end credits that show how the film was shot conclude the rather impressive short.
Kento Kaku as Midnight appears purposefully cool in the most hilarious fashion, while Konatsu Kato, as the female truck driver gives a more grounded performance, at least in the present arc, with their antithetical chemistry working quite well here. The final scene, which also emits a nostalgic, “Tora-san” vibe is definitely the apogee of the acting here. The rest of the actors play their roles with the usual excessiveness found in manga adaptations, with Masayuki Deai in the role of The Killer being the one who stands out.
I am not sure how “Midnight” would look on the big screen, but for a home screen, it looks truly great. Furthermore, it proves once more that Miike can direct anything with the same artfulness.
