Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Jumbled 'Before We Vanish' [Review]

Kiyoshi Kurosawa, the Japanese filmmaker behind “Cure,” Pulse” and “Tokyo Sonata,” tackles the sci-fi thriller in his latest venture entitled “Before We Vanish.” Adapted from Tomohiro Maekawa‘s play of the same name, which has been revived on the Japanese stage many times, the film has echoes of “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” which also had its invaders draining brains and ultimately trying to take our much beloved planet.

The first scene is definitely an attention-grabber as teenager Akira (Yuri Tsunematsu) is seen covered in blood and deemed to be the only survivor in the murder of her entire family. We know something is clearly off in her head when, instead of alerting authorities, she goes straight to the highway and causes “Carrie“-esque telekinetic mayhem. It’s a rousing, but deceiving start to Kurosawa’s imperfect blend of sci-fi and philosophy.

The movie’s main protagonist Narumi (Masami Nagasawa), an illustrator by trade, has a complicated marriage with her husband Shinji (Ryuhei Matsuda). They barely speak to each other nor do they have any real sense of affection. The bulk of the action starts when Shinji comes home a changed man, literally. He can barely communicate with Narumi, has a dead look in his expressionless eyes, has lost all memory of himself and others, and just seems suspect. Narumi thinks Shinji is faking his amnesia, but she eventually looks at his peculiar behavior as a positive. Their marriage was on a neverending freefall anyway and, who knows, maybe the new Shinji, whose body we learn has been taken over by an alien life form, can bring a spark to their union. Bad idea on Narumi’s part? You’d be surprised.

beforevanishShinji’s host intends to learn about human behavior through Narumi, but the unlikely bond they create has her “husband” actually grow attached to her. What are all these emotions I’m experiencing, he asks himself? It becomes such a perplexing topic that he enters a church to ask a pastor what love is and what its meaning signifies in human behavior. The intriguing aspect of all this is that these are questions that we all share as human beings, universal but not necessarily answerable. Love is one of the great mysteries of the human condition and its beauty and mystery cannot be explained. It all leads to a touchingly unexpected ending which shows a side of Kurosawa we haven’t necessarily seen before.

Nagasawa’s performance towers above the rest here. It’s engaging and romantic work filled with an abundance of passion seen through the character’s undying love and forgiveness. She carries the movie with Matsuda, being the ideal counterpart, despite the limited dramatic nature of his role.

Kurosawa depicts human beings as uncaring, egotistical creatures. In the film’s other story, Amano and Akira, two aliens that have taken host in the bodies of two humans,  plan an invasion of our planet, but they know they can’t  do that without understanding who we are. They download key traits of the human brain into their own: “Property,” “Work” and “Love.” The political satire of the film, having to do with Amano and Akira consistently engaging in Linklater-esque metaphysical discussions, fails to ignite any attention-grabbing drama. The slow-paced, conversational nature of the dialogue feels forced and lackluster, especially when compared to Narumi’s story which grips a firm hold in the viewer. It’s a real shame that Kurosawa continuously jumps back and forth between both narratives when only one truly works. Also, Kurosawa’s decision to squeeze in multiple genres (sci-fi, romance, thriller, drama) into the film proves decidedly ineffective.

2017 Before We VanishEventually, Kurosawa lets all hell break loose in the finale, which pits every possible alien invasion battle cliche into a colorful and entertaining fight sequence. There’s enough guns, drones and bombs to make Roland Emmerich blush in envy. This is when Kichi Takahashi‘s messy editing and Kurosawa’s fluid camerawork prove to be effective.

“Before We Vanish” is a profound, well-meaning work for the 62-year-old Kurosawa, but it’s not groundbreaking in the least bit. In his attempt to painstakingly try to understand the unanswerable questions that bind humanity together, Kurosawa has made a jumbled mess out of his ideas, but one which is nevertheless fascinating in its mad-cap ambition for answers. [C+]

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