The endeavors of Asian filmmakers with European actors has been hit or miss through the years, with the result of such collaborations being dubious to say the least. As such, it is quite a pleasure watching Singaporean Eric Khoo‘s collaboration with Catherine Deneuve being harmonic, perhaps because she is actually one part and not the whole “Spirit World”.
Spirit World is screening at Tokyo International Film Festival
Let us take things from the beginning though. Yuzu is an elderly man who is obviously on the last days of his life, which he spends working, drinking and listening to the records of his favorite artist, a French singer named Claire. Around the same time, she is also coming to Japan for a concert, despite the fact that her psychological situation is not exactly the best. Yuzu dies and the same happens to Claire after the concert, although not before the former’s son, Hayato, a filmmaker who is also depressed, attends the concert as a tribute to his father. Yuzu and Claire actually meet in a newfound plane of existence, and soon take a trip along Hayato, who, unbeknownst to their presence, is going to meet his estranged mother.
“Spirit World” is a film that leans heavily on its cast, although not only on their acting, but perhaps even more on their real-life personas, which also add an intense meta level to the movie. Masaaki Sakai who plays Yuzu for example, is a Japanese actor, singer and martial artist, best known to English-speaking audiences as the title star of the TV show “Monkey” and also a member of the surf band, the Spiders, with his capacities actually dictating the story to a point. Catherine Deneuve, being 81, could be perceived as having many similarities with Claire, particularly regarding her latter’s angst whether her performances are still as good as when she was younger. Lastly, Yutaka Takenouchi as Hayato, a filmmaker with a block, could be perceived as an alter ego of Eric Khoo, who had not shot a movie since 2018 and “Ramen Shop”.
Regarding the more obvious level of the movie, however, the social/family drama that soon turns into a multileveled road movie is probably the best aspect of the narrative, particularly in the way the trip is built up and eventually unfolds. In that fashion, Yuzu is taking a trip to be with the artist he adored all his life but never got to spend time with, while also functioning as a kind of ‘afterlife’ mentor for her. Claire is taking the trip in order to finally acknowledge the fact that she is no more, and perhaps find a self she has lost due to the way she neglected the people around her in order to focus on her career. Lastly, Hayato is taking a trip to heal himself of the grief and trauma he feels for the way both his parents end up treating him.
In that fashion, Khoo talks about trauma, the difficulties in the relationships between parents who are popular and their children, how inspiration functions, and a number of other topics, in a rather rich context here.
As it becomes evident, the movie could easily turn into a tear-jerker, but Khoo’s steady directorial hand keeps it as far away from that as possible, mostly by implementing a number of humorous elements in crucial moments, which are also presented in a meta level on occasion. in that regard, one can only laugh with the way Denden plays his part close to the end of the movie, while Yuzo’s reaction upon their arrival is also quite amusing.
Adrian Tan’s cinematography captures the various settings with realism, without any particular exaltations, although some scenes by the beach are definitely quite beautiful. Matthieu Laclau’s editing results in a pace that is between the slow and the mid-tempo, in an approach that fits the narrative to perfection. Furthermore, at 93 minutes, the movie does not overextend its welcome at all, in a production that could easily be described as totally clean-cut, in another of the movie’s traits.
The acting is expectedly on a very high level, with Deneuve and Takenouchi being great to watch and Maiya Goshima in the role of the interpreter being a rather pleasant presence. One exception, however, is the one of Masaaki Sakai, who is particularly excessive in his performance, something that becomes even more obvious in a film that has essentially none of that.
This, however, is just a minor fault, as “Spirit World” is an excellent film, additionally because it manages to appear distinctly Japanese, including a number of traits of local cinema, stripped though, from most of its inherent issues
