Big Bang Love

Year: 2006
Country: Japan
Director: MIIKE Takashi
Cast: MATSUDA Ryûhei, ANDÔ Masanobu, ISHIBASHI Renji, ENDÔ Ken'ichi, KUBOZUKA Shunsuke, SHIBUKAWA Kiyohiko and ISHIBASHI Ryô

also known as
4.6 Billion Years of Love (International: English title) (informal literal title)
A Big Bang Love: Juvenile (International: English title)
Big Bang Love (Singapore: English title)

I noticed that I always start most of my reviews with this >>>>>>> "I've finally seen it!!" . Cliche huh?… Well this time, I have no choice but to use the same intro but I would add a little drama ….. Let me try this ….  "At long last …. I've finally seen this mindblowing movie that is sooo effin marvelous!!!

I have been looking for this movie since May 2006. I forgot about it when I found no hope of seeing it last year. I was just so surprised when the chance for me to see it just presented itself while I was browsing the web for another movie…. enough of my crap and the so whats!!!!!

Umpisa pa lng mga tsong, nawindang na ko! I was astonished with how they thought of it . The first ten minutes was already a delight.

A hand  with a clapper appeared from behind and gave signal to one of the minor characters to start his monologue. In an innapropriate angle and subdued lighting, the man talked about lightyears and how we can see our past few lightyears away from earth. Then the screen bleeds, deep red and we see an old man instructing a boy about his rites of passage. The visuals were so strong and upclose. We are looking at a very thin boy, with a very clear and detailed view of how his heart beats from within. An image of a well built man, tatooed, wearing a red bottom ( I dont know what to call the outfit), started to dance in tune with the wild thumpings of drums. He was actually performing a modern dance and it was a breathtaking scene. His eyes were so fierce… deadly! His dance was so strong but at the same time poetic and sad…. and then repose…

We were then thrown to another scene. I beautiful man grasping a corpse on it's neck. He then confess that he was the one who killed him. With that,  our journey starts to clear the mystery of this man's death.

Jun (MATSUDA Ryûhei)  and Shiro (ANDÔ Masanobu) were brought to prison at the same day. Their crimes were not related to one another. Jun woks as a waiter in a gay bar and was convicted after he killed a customer who raped him. He mutilated the body reason for the crime not to be considered as an act of self defense. Shiro on the other hand displays extreme brutality and glows a mysterious youth the first time they met. He has this tatoos and eyes that reflects his loneliness and desires.

The first scene that their eyes met was heart-pounding. The movie has it's own universe and it's up to you how you would like to interpret the images that you are seeing on screen. We have the innocent looks of Jun, filthy with blood, sitting on a block as he daze the masculinity, the anger and the chaos that lives within Shiro. We then see a butterfly flutters, resting it's wings on Jun's head. I dont know, but for me, it means that Jun is the flower that Shiro needs to protect.

Well fine! I wont go through with too much details! If you guys have seen Nicole Kidman's Dogville, somehow the movie was made using that format. We have this black backdrop and Miike used lights and shadows for walls and barriers.  The visuals are simply stunning and the images are full and crisp.

 A typical moviegoer might have problems on how to dwell in this Universe that was made by Miike. Audience would be faced by non-linear flashbacks. Most of those are being repeated as to whose perspective we are considering. We would assume the identiity of the two investigators, confused, troubled and curious.

 One needs to look at details. There might be something that he missed that could be the key to the mystery. The symbolism and the richness of words would be really excruciating. It would be a drastic movement of thoughts and emotions. A poem dancing wildly on your mind.

Outside the prison cells, we have a space rocket that impatiently waits the time to blast-off. We also have a ziggurat on the other end whose endless steps are believed to lead to heaven. We have this deep conversation between the two characters of what they expect after death and it would be a struggle to pull out the sensibilty an the truth among them..

This homo-erotic prison drama was actually based on a Japanese manga "An Elegy for A Boy" (i am not sure). There were no love scenes, but the script is truly gay in nature. We are just fortunate to see the behind of these gorgeous leads for the movie. There were skins, lots of tempting scenes to have any of our senses granted privelege.

I love the scenes where Shiro knocks everybody off just to protect the innocent looking Jun. The confrontation scene where Jun asked why he was being protected was riveting. It was a moment of suppressed truth, revealed while wrapped in fragrant lies and ambiguity of words,

We are faced with gossips and rumors and a series of blurry events that refuses the truth from us. But slowly, and through Miike's wondrous ways of story telling, we could have the case figured out. Viewers would be given clear answers as to who killed who. But dont expect that everything would be in a loot bag to give out. That made me like this movie. It's ending still leaves a lot of questions and some of the scenes remain scrapped from the entire picture. Nevertheless, I am sure that Miike included those for a reason and it would be worth it if you could have it figured out.

The real treat about this movie would be its actors. Their performances are spellbinding.  Ando is my favorite in this movie. Though he shows the usual expressions that he does in his previous films like Battle Royal, he was such a gem for this production. He is actually 37 but he still managed to execute this role of a Juvenile perfectly. We were served well for having this good-looking actors for the movie and it was a feast indeed when they started to give life to this characters.

As for Miike , he surely is not a Wong-Kar-Wai. Miike has his own style that sets him aside. Miike should know that his reinvention and innovation are enough for him to be called great.

chow!!!!