Title: Sore demo boku wa yatte nai (Even so, I did not do it)Official website: here
Official blog: here
Shown from: 20 January 2008
Cast:
Kaneko Teppei (Kase Ryo)
Sudo Riko (Seto Asaka)
Arakawa Masayoshi (Yakusho Koji)
Saito Tatsuo (Yamamoto Koji)
Kaneko Toyoko (Motai Masako)
Doi Yoko (Suzuki Ranran)
Sada Mitsuru (Mitsuishi Ken)
Aoki Tomio (Takenaka Naoto)
Shinzaki Kozo (Omi Toshinori)
Miyamoto Takashi (Kitami Toshiyuki)
Oomori Mitsuaki (Masana Bokuzou)
Muroyama Shogo (Kohinata Fumio)
Yamada Koji (Oomori Nao)
Review:
This movie had won many awards and was said to be of extremely high quality. However, the problem with such accolades is that they increase the expectation of the viewer and when it gets too high for the movie's good, disappointment arises.
In this case, I feel that if I had not heard so much about this movie, I may have enjoyed this a bit more. Indeed, the quality of the movie was relatively good but the ending was an anti-climax.
For those who are unaware of the storyline, here's a brief synopsis:
Kaneko Teppei is on his way to a job interview and boards a crowded train. However, disaster strikes when he is accused of being a groper by the victim who is a junior high school girl. This marks the start of his struggle in proving his innocence and he starts to realise that the laws may not be in the favour of the innocent...
The highlight of the story is the courtroom scenes so there would be long dialogues between the lawyers and the witnesses. As there are a lot of difficult terms, understanding the dialogue is of essence. Otherwise, not being able to grasp the meaning would reduce the level of satisfaction when watching the movie. For people who do not like hard-to-understand themes or are not interested in courtroom dramas, this movie might not suit your taste after all.
Now, why did I say that I would have liked this movie better if the ending was better? Well, the developments of the story did live up to its reputation. The story was closely-knitted and everything fell into place logically. However, the open-ended manner how the story finished just made it seem like the main character's fight for innocence was for nothing and everything was back to square one. In case you are hoping that Teppei will be let off the hook, you will be terribly disappointed. However, when you hear how the judge came to the conclusion, you will probably agree why the decision was made.
After watching this movie, it just set me thinking. For a case like groping or molest where there is no physical evidence, it only depends on circumstantial and eyewitnesses to determine who the culprit is. Although the stance of the legal system is to assume that the accused is innocent unless otherwise proven, the circumstances seem to suggest otherwise. In addition, those who profess their innocence seem to be at a bigger disadvantage than those who admit to their deeds and get off the hook with a fine only. That is indeed unfair. In the story, those who do not plead guilty get locked up and are coerced into making a confession. Is the legal system really like that in Japan?
For the victim, they have to bear the emotional impact of such a despicable act. However, there have been cases of people putting on an act and framing innocent people so as to blackmail them for money. On one hand, the law cannot discriminate the real victims who are the majority but on the other, there are indeed people who are indicted for crimes which they did not commit. It will be a never-ending discussion as to how the law is going to handle such cases.
As for the acting, Kase Ryo was rather competent for his role as Teppei but I thought Yakusho Koji was more eyecatching. No doubt the latter had lesser airtime, his onscreen presence and his way of potraying the character showed the difference in experience. In time to come, Kase might do even better but first of all, he's got to do something about his image. The gloomy face with a laid back image just doesn't open up new opportunities for him. I would say that he does suit the image of Teppei though. Another surprise package was Yamamoto Koji. I didn't recognize him at first until the time when he first took off his cap. The first judge during the lawsuit was also quite interesting until Kohinata Fumio took over. In fact, the actor, Masana Bokuzou won an acting award for this role!
And my ratings for this movie...
Story: 8 out of 10 (good but could have been better if the ending showed a future with more hope instead of giving the impression that everything is back to square one)
Acting: 7 out of 10 (good acting both from the lead and the supporting characters. it was a pleasant surprise to see many familiar faces as guests.)
Theme song: 3 out of 10 (BGM or a central theme song seriously lacking, a good song could relay the message of the film in a better way)
Visual effects / Scenery: 5 out of 10 (mostly courtroom drama and some scenes of the detention centre so not too appealing, visually)
Teamwork / Chemistry: 7 out of 10 (I like the interaction among the characters but it wasn't really to the extent of sparks flying between them. Can still be improved.)
Total score: 30 out of 50
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