@ Odeon, Edinburgh, on Wed 22 & Thu 23 Jun 2016
(Part of the Edinburgh International Film Festival)
Eiji Uchida / Japan / 2015 / 110 mins
Tetsuo (Kiyohiko Shibukawa) is a horrendous human being. An independent filmmaker with one minor success to his name long ago, at 39 he ekes out his existence living with his parents, borrowing money he never intends to repay, and running a dodgy acting class for various no-hopers. He manipulates the young women into sex, promising them roles in projects that come to nothing. He’s not above borderline sexual assault if they resist. However, when a script by a genuinely talented writer falls into his hands, as well as a shy actress with raw talent, he thinks he may see a light at the end of the tunnel.
He exists in the murky underworlds of the zero-budget Japanese indies. It’s a place writer/ director Eiji Uchida knows well; the situations and characters he presents in Lowlife Love are based on his experiences and anecdotes from colleagues. Sex is a currency, exploitation is standard, and dreams are sucked into its vortex like sailors into Charybdis.
The success of Lowlife Love depends on your tolerance for vile people doing vile things to other people who succumb to vileness themselves. Ostensibly a black comedy, this is like being forced roll in a cesspool and then interrogated as to why you aren’t laughing. The story is absurd, but it’s the ring of truth that sits in the gut like a rock and leaves you feeling queasy.
However, Tetsuo somehow keeps the loyalty of enough people who retain a semblance of humanity, that one feels that he isn’t completely lost; and with tectonic slowness, he begins to edge towards redemption. This is largely down to being beaten at his own game by bigger, nastier, even less ethical bastards than him, but still we need to grasp at any glimmer of hope we can.
In fact, it’s the very uncompromising nature of Uchida’s film that’s its biggest asset. It can be fascinating seeing how low people would stoop for even a sniff of fame, even when they know they’re deluding themselves, and this is drama that is gripping and dripping with a constant throb of menace. It’s beautifully played by all involved, with admirable commitment. Shinukawa in particular can repulse as he gropes a luckless actress but inspire grudging admiration as he tells a director he considers a sellout where to go.
Lowlife Love is as uncompromising as the scene it depicts, and for that very reason its audience is destined to be somewhat limited, even if it is technically proficient and powerfully scripted. It’s very existence is down to crowd-sourcing and one suspects it may have been too close to the truth for comfort for a lot of potential investors. It is however, worth an uncomfortable investment of two hours at least once, not least for a harshly ironic ending that seemed fitting.
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