"Anyone could become Asura by chance" or "There but for the grace of god, go I"

This was a brilliant and profoundly deep movie experience for me. It blew my mind with how loaded it was. Watch past the closing credits as you get the final picture to the whole story. Before I go further TRIGGER WARNING – this movie does include scenes depicting mass shooting in a market place in the opening scenes and later on in the movie. There are also some suicidal themes.

Fascinating story ... I thoroughly enjoyed it ... it sent me on a deep dive into all sort of existential questions ... LOVED all of it and I was particularly taken with the black and white drawings ... the high contrast with the darks ... very emotive indeed. The movie has a "chaos theory" edge to it i.e. Edward Norton Lorenz's 'butterfly effect" - a tornado can be influenced by minor perturbations such as a distant butterfly flapping its wings several weeks earlier ... and so it is with this movie but in respect of people and the effect they and their actions have on other people's lives and actions. It was a truly fascinating watching this concept unfold ... very moving and deeply thought provoking ... it was very well done indeed.

I liked the different cinematography effects used, loved the use of symbolic imagery which was very powerful in the messages it conveyed ... sometimes a picture really does say a thousand worlds. The score was good and did not detract for the story. Nothing is superfluous in this story … everything links to everything else … even the robotic vacuum cleaner is pivotal.

The movie was partly inspired by three in depth articles about a random killing incident and an article on council estates. The screenwriters Lou Yi An and Singing Chen have truly crafted an amazing story around those articles. It is told in 3 chapters: Chapter 1 – Raging Zero; Chapter 2 – Goddamned Asura and Chapter 3 – Bridge to Hades.

Chapter 1 sets the scene for all that follows. It starts off with a mass shooting as seen through cell phone videos and then goes to a blank screen and then a series of beautiful and emotive black and white drawings over which the ML character Jan Wen says, “I dreamt that dream again. In that dream, all of humanity had disappeared except for me and Oreo.”

Oreo is a Border Collie dog that has been locked up in a small cage by its owner. Oreo's predicament is highly symbolic. Jan Wen does not have the words to describe his feelings but through videoing Oreo’s caged life he can, they are two different creatures but are living ‘parallel’ lives … in the mind of Jan Wen, all of humanity has disappeared except for himself and Oreo.

That Oreo is a Border Collie adds to the symbolism. Border Collies are highly intelligent dogs, probably the smartest dog breed out there. It was bred for an active outdoor life of herding and is a high energy dog of purpose and drive. Cage a dog like that ... limit where it can go ... limit what it can do ... it will go crazy, it will lose its sense of purpose and identity. Oreo has been in that small cage for such a long time. When it was set free it didn’t know what to do, it was reluctant to leave ... why? Because it had no idea what to do outside of the cage ... it had been disconnected too long from its instinctual behaviour and drivers. Oreo left only to be either caught again or go voluntarily went back to that horribly small cage.

Oreo’s situation is so similar to humans ... intelligent beings that need purpose ... cage them and they can go crazy ... limit what they can do ... where they can go ... and they can go crazy, lose their sense of purpose and identity. Set them free and most will either go back to the cage they came from or make a new cage to go into. Jan Wen is no different. Jan Wen wanted to escape from the cage his separated parents put him in and write stories with his friend Axing. When both of his parent wanted him to go overseas ... in one way an opportunity of freedom ... he doesn’t want to go and is desperate to stay. So creates his own cage by shooting people with an air pistol ... and is sent to another cage ... prison. His life parallels the life of Orea the border collie.

Everyone is in some kind of cage to one degree or another … be it physical, psychological or both. Individuals trapped by their families, trapped by location, trapped in addiction, trapped by poverty, trapped by violence, trapped by gaming and virtual worlds that give players a greater sense of control, a greater sense of value that they lack in real life. Even the robot vacuum cleaner is trapped … even it cannot do what it was made to do.

Chapter 2 - Goddamned Asura … the aftermath of the shooting. We see how all the characters are connected to each other and the effect their actions have on each other and how that fuels their future action. Powerful stuff … talk about degrees of separation.

Jan Wen is in prison but he doesn’t want to be imprisoned for life like a dog … he wants to die. His best mate Axing, who has an unrequited love for Jan Wen, is totally distraught with Jan Wen’s situation … he is deeply struggling to understand how this all came to be, he wants him out of prison. He thinks if he had of gone with Jan Wen then none of this would have happened. Axing’s “IF” is an “IF” that all the key players are thinking … if I had of … but Jan Wen tells Axing, “Don’t you know me? That day I just reached a critical point. I couldn’t take it anymore. I forgot how it started. However, I felt that it was the first time I gained control of myself … If I hadn’t done it [inadvertently killed Sheng] would things have been very different?” Such a profound questions ... that gets answered later on in the movie.

Everyone has a critical point … most don’t do what Jan Wen did, some do, most don’t as they numb themselves out before hand with alcohol, drugs, sex, games, bullying etc ... theirs is a kind of 'delayed' self destruction ... but even that has knock on effects to those around them. Jan Wen does not want this kind of delayed destruction, he just wants to die and Axing takes extreme measures to help him and to help himself understand Jan Wen.

Chapter 3 Bridge to Hades. WOW … just the smallest of things … the flutter of butterfly wings … can literally change a person’s life … this chapter is like a kind of “Ground Hog Day” … we go back in time to when Jan Wen, packing his pistol, walks down the stairs to go to the market place. One his way down the stairs he sees the robot vacuum cleaner … it was stuck before but it now manages to get itself unstuck and starts to vacuum up new places. At the same time, different place, Lin Lin’s drunken mother gets a pain in her ear and doesn’t throw the bottle at Lin Lin. These two changes in the lives of Jan Wen and Lin Lin have a domino effect on everything else causing a surprising change of events.

Sheng got to send the message to his girlfriend who came to see him in the marketplace … ironically their conversation ended with her hoping he got carved up by a nutter.

Jan Wen posts about Oreo who cannot escape from the cage, how he is 18 and fed up and that something needs to be done … and who comes walking by … Oreo. Jan Wen then sees “Zero” aka Lin Lin walking on the other side of the street … he calls out to her and she comes over and the reminisce about their days back in school.

After talking with Jan Wen, Lin Lin catches up with the reporter Mold and talks about the rage she feels about her poverty stricken life. Mold mentions his mother who was beaten up by her husband and died in jail. She had reached her critical point and nearly killed her husband … did the father go to prison for his constant assault on his mother … idk .. probably not. In just a few minutes of conversation the utter unfairness of life is laid out bare. Mold says that anyone could become Asura by chance … and so it was.

At the end of the day instead of ending up in prison, Jan Wen ends up in Axing’s tent … a changed man. He had made up his mind to be himself, not to go abroad, not to depend on his father, and retake the exam again so he can go to the same college as Axing … he might fail again but he will give it a go… a whole load of options Jan Wen couldn’t even conceive of under the previous circumstances of chapter 1 and 2.

Talk about the insane effect the vagaries of life can have. The smallest of changes - a robot vacuum cleaner getting unstuck … a bottle not thrown - can make such a significant difference … but it is not necessarily all for the good … sometimes it is enough to prevent a person from reaching their critical point … but for others it tips them over the edge.

For example, Lin Lin says to Jan Wen, “since you showed up, a lot of shitty things in my life have seemed to disappeared. So I want to thank you. You’re my angel”.

As for Axing … well his angel was Jan Wen whom he loved (unrequittingly) … after hearing Jan Wen and Lin Lin have sex and their post sex conversation … he sees his critical point so he goes off with the gun. He gets busted for shooting female mannequins through shop windows … Jan Wen gets busted because it is his gun; Lin Lin gets killed by Shining because she won’t give him back his money and Mold gets a flogging for the articles he posted. My god what a turn around … doesn’t matter what you do there is suffering one way or another. I am not a fan of any religion but I have to say Jesus Christ saying “the rain falls on the just and unjust” … and the Buddha saying “all life is suffering” comes to mind.

Is that the end … no … because it was all part of Raging Zero comic which Axing finally finished 🤣 … BUT I am sure that this all went down in some other parallel universe.

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The majesty and cruelty of Life ... inseparably intertwined

:･*:･ 10/10 MAJESTIC･:*:･ﾟThis movie was based on a true story written by Yang Liu Song. He was the first person to ever attempt to cross the Qian Tang uninhabited zone horizontally by foot. Zhao Han Tang plays "Yang" and Jiang Yi Yan plays "Lan Tian", who is also a real person who runs an inn in Lhasa. The scenes from the Qian Tan uninhabited zone were actually the real deal and my god, the cinematography of them was absolutely magnificent ... it was mind blowing awe inspiring. The landscapes, the vastness of land and sky ... some times you could not tell where one ended and the other begun ... the colours and the majesty of it all WOW ... profoundly beautiful, rugged and harsh and so 'true to itself' at the same time. The score matched the majesty of the vistas and the human struggle ... it was so in tune with it all ... magnificent and hauntingly beautiful ... such a visual and auditory feast
╰(*´◡`*)╯

The story itself was very thought provoking ... human existence ... what the hell is it ... why do we exist in the first place, for what purpose ... how long should a person 'keep trying'. Some dialogue that I thought was thought provoking ...

All my life I've wanted to do something that I actually want to do. Just like the old saying, many people die at 30, but they aren't buried until they're 80. I just want to feel like I'm still alive.
(Yang)

I have nothing, but I still have to give those inspirational speeches. I have to pretend to be optimistic! I know I am lying to myself, but what else can I do?! What else can I do to move on in life? ...I'm so tired of living. I'm just so tired ... ... You should have let me end my life, not help me achieve my dream. I've tried so hard in life, but I'm still full of despair. I can only use death to defy my cruel destiny. What's wrong with death?
(Lan Tian)

Lan Tian's spirit could survive and thrive in the wild but her body found it very difficult ... her body could survive in civilisation but her spirit found it really difficult ... what a sad and tragic contradiction ... Yang knew what she was going to do and I think he wanted to help her achieve her dream before she took that path. Lucky he did because it was a path she did not end up taking.╰(*´◡`*)╯

Yang later reflects: Why cross the wilderness? Perhaps I have been searching for what is right in front of me. In this vast universe and in this short life, building up the courage, doing what you want and becoming the person you want to be.

It is an amazing and magnificent story ... I whole heartedly recommend you give the movie a go, even if it is only to behold the magnificent vistas that were so beautifully filmed. Watch to the end for some interesting behind the scenes shots.

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The futility of rebellion ...

WOW ... this 1992 movie was very thought provoking and really really well done and is as relevant today in 2023 as it was in 1992 ... 31 years later.

The OS, a simple low repeating tune, and the amazing cinematography created a palpable sense of heaviness and dankness of a decaying world. Everywhere, inside and outside, was so confining ... so chock a block full of stuff but so 'dead' and 'empty'. The built environment, always in a state of decay and repair (which never seemed to make any overall difference), was mirrored in the trapped lives of the characters inhabiting it. Decay and alienation ebbed and flowed in their lives like the drain in Ah-Tse's apartment, like the low repeating tune that played in the background ... ever present ... ebbing and flowing ... every step forward they made, they were pushed back three ... never getting ahead ... always wallowing in decay. The alienated and dead pan looks on everyone's faces ... I wondered how they kept on going on when nothing seemed to make any difference .. not even rebellion made a difference.

The 360 degree "cause and effect" and the interconnectedness of all the events that played out in everyone's lives was very well scripted and very thought provoking ... from that fateful meeting where the taxi mirror was smashed to the same taxi bringing the 'smashed' perpetrators back home ... the Father leaving the door to their apartment ajar after having slammed it in his son's face telling him he was not allowed in ... the hug between Ah-Tze and his girlfriend Ah-Kwei while standing in the overflowing drain water, both wanting to escape but having no idea where to escape to or even how to escape ... it really hit hard ... it felt so desperate and hopeless ... like a terrible oppressive black hole that mercilessly swallows up any joy and pulls you back in every time you try to escape ... the futility of it all.

At the end of the movie, feeling really emotionally depleted, I wondered ... how would things have turned out if Ah-Tze hadn't smashed the taxi mirror and Hsiao-Kang and his Father ended up going to the movies ... hmmm ... sadly, I think it would have only delayed the inevitable ... one way or another their souls will be consumed by the decay.

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Humans who are demonic and demons who are humane ... no "black and white" to this story

WOW I am giving this a 10/10 because it I found it so profound. The pace of the movie is a bit slow so I upped the playback, but still, it is not bad for a 2004 production. I thought the acting was a bit average ... but it didn't bother me because the story line was so compelling (for me anyway). I thought the visual FX were pretty good too for back then. There are slight differences between the movie and the anime (which I finished watching before I watched this movie), so I want to read the original manga (published in 1972) as this story has a hell of a lot to say about humanity; good and evil; god and demon etc. It reminds me a bit of Alice in Borderland ... I just love that kind of in your face mental / psychological challenge. Given the themes to this movie I found it rather ironic that the actors playing Ryo and Akira are brothers ＼(^ᴗ^)／

I thought the movie was very existential ... what is it to be human ... are all humans the 'same' ... should there be some distinction made between them (•ิ.•ิ)ゞ... do ALL lifeforms have the right to live or only 'designated' lifeforms ... and if so, who gets to designate and by what right (•ิ.•ิ)ゞ ... if there is a 'Satan' then who and what is 'god' ... if 'god' hates and has favourites then what kind of god is it ... is it just another entity with its own vested interests (•ิ.•ิ)ゞ ... so much to think about.

Seeing humanity release their own inner 'demons' like crazed rabid animals, makes you wonder who the real demons are ... killing indiscriminately and justifying that with a perverse hypocritical sanctimoniousness and irrationality ...it is just sickening. The devilmen had more humanity than the humans do. The movie is like a conglomerate telling of human history repeating itself ... the witch hunts ... ethnic cleansing ... religious purging ... political purging ... mob murders ... the vigilante groups ... bullying because of 'differences' ... humans have been doing this throughout its history and sadly has NOT learned anything in the process ... not 'advanced' in anyway.

The portrayal of mob psychosis and its blood soaked results is a terrifying portrayal of humanity and how easy it is for people to slip into that demented state. Is there another course of action (•ิ.•ิ)ゞ ... beautiful Miki and Miiko ... human and devilman ... emanate a type of acceptance and kindness that sees lifeforms not by their designation but by their heart ... seems to me that kind of approach to life can go a long long way to reducing the collective misery on themselves and other inhabitants of the planet ... but how come they have it but others don't ... is it something you are born with or can acquire (•ิ.•ิ)ゞ.

The ending was poignant ... the pure demon did not want to lose the human/devilman and the young human child and devilman woman come out from the rubble and walk into the future ... I wonder how they will go ... what will they do differently and is that even possible (•ิ.•ิ)ゞ ... they are kind of like a new "Adam and Eve" walking in hell.

I wonder if what we think of as 'human' is not so much a human body, but more of a "quality or state of being" that can be expressed regardless of the form an entity takes ... human, demon, animal, plant etc. (•ิ.•ิ)ゞ
Anyway, this was a profound and poignant movie and, for me, definitely rewatchable.

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Trust & Suspicion ... what if you get it wrong?

WOW ... this was a very profound movie. Trust and suspicion ... it really is a case of walking on a razor's edge. How can you really know when it is safe to trust ... or when it is best to be suspicious ... and what if you get it wrong ... can you survive that, can you move forward or will you be consumed by rage and possibly contribute its perpetuation on to the lives of others?

This movie really plunged into the depths of these questions and the ensuing rage and despair when it goes wrong ... and if the situation is redeemable / survivable. It is gritty, confronting and very raw ... the way it was filmed, scripted and acted was nothing less than masterful ... it is like you are grabbed and literally thrust into the lives of the characters and forced to being a witness to the unfolding events which were so realistically portrayed and delivered to the screen.

TRIGGER WARNING: confronting rape scene. I had to skip the actual rape scene ... I couldn't just sit there and watch it without doing anything (ノಠ怒ಠ)ノ ... I was so wild about those rotten mongrel b@stards ... they were in positions of trust and are supposed to protect civilians ... not to get pleasure from brutally raping an innocent girl. Where is Sha Qing when you need him ... where is Ryuuk, write those b@stards' names in your Death Note and give them a very slow and excruciating death ... how about that for rage at the abuse of trust.

Hmmm which brings to mind something Orson Scott Card (an American author who wrote Ender's Game) said that really nails the connection between trust, suspicion and rage:

"There's a sort of rage a man feels when he's been deceived where he most trusted. It compares to no other anger."

And in the end, after all has been said and done, what is left ... 🤔 ...
loss, grief, rage, death (yours and/or others) <> forgiveness, relief, moving forward, alive

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I really loved this short movie ... it is a wonderful heart warming and life affirming story of Kagayaki / Hikari, that is skillfully and artfully told. It is a hard gig trying to find your place in what is often a very opinionated, cut throat world of conformity ... not everyone has the courage to embrace who they are and live their life with courage ... so applaud and support those who do, be kind to those who are not able to yet.

I loved that Ishizuka Yu played the lead for this movie. She is a transgender model and this was her movie debut. Very well done indeed.

I also loved the use of imagery and sound to convey the complexity of Kagayaki / Hikari's journey ... it was really artfully done and loaded with unspoken intensity and meaning:

- the incessant noisy and nasty world of social 'compliance' and how you just want to stop having to listen to the same shit over and over, like diving beneath the water where all those sounds become muted and all you can hear are the real sounds of real life ... your heart beating and your lungs breathing out the bubbles of your breath that float up to the surface.

- that dark silent alone place in your heart and mind where there is nothing but you, you facing who you are, you making a decision ... to be ... or not to be.

- that moment of acceptance ... to be ... where from that place of stillness you say FU and throw that soccer ball back at the naysayers.

- then moving from the dark into the light ... walking forward and shining from within ... you look back on your past and smile and then move forward radiant and confident.

The names of the main character are meaningful to the story. I am not sure what the kanji are that make up these particular names but, just based on the hiragana, Kagayaki (male name) generally means to shine, glow, sparkle, brilliance, glitter, radiance. Hirkari (female name) generally means to shine or to gleam. Male or female ... this person had their own kind of brilliance, own kind of radiance that was meant to shine and gleam out to the rest of the world, not to be hidden in a dark silent world overlayed by the incessant noise of bigoted social judgement.

A truly beautiful and profound little movie, beautifully brought to screen and well worth the watch and rewatch as we all have to face the truth of ourselves as some point ... with grace and dignity is my hope.

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What value is human life ...

WOW. This turned out to be a very poignant and moving story for me. Given the existing ratings it got on MDL, I didn't think it would affect me the way it did, I was deeply moved by it and have nothing bad to say ... it is brilliant on many levels. It had me pausing in reflection many times and is indeed as the closing song says, "Scenes from a family, which could be anywhere" ... even mine, thousands of kilometers away in another country, another culture, another family, another time.

The movie is based on the true story of Hashimoto Kouji, who is a screenwriter and broadcaster in Japan. He used to work in a cash truck and in 2001 he opened up a comedy theatre called "Lumine the Yoshimoto". It was here that he became a theater seated writer and later a screen and broadcast writer. "Blank 13", is his story about his father who went missing for 13 years. When they 'found' him thirteen years later, he only had a few months left to live. Hashimoto's life is portrayed by Takahashi Issei in the role of Matsuda Koji.

From what I can gather, this movie was Saito Takumi's directorial debut, and, in my opinion, he nailed it beautifully. Saito has an eye for the profound and subtle ... he quietly captured so much of the nuances and complexities of human existence ... each scene was loaded and yet flowed so effortlessly from one to the other. The sets; the lighting (in some scenes the lighting was like the chiaroscuro effect used in a Rembrandt or a Vermeer painting); the flashbacks; the beautiful music which flowed like a stream helping you to move along as the story progressed; the actors ... all perfectly portray the sadness, the struggle and the melancholy of ruined lives ... the stunned disbelief at what it was that others valued the deceased for, the latent resentment and sadness of the remaining family members and their pain at never having 'what could have been' ... all contrasted at the end by the little life that was yet to be born. It is a masterpiece of portrayal.

The title, "Blank 13", refers to the 13 years of Matsuda Masato's life that was a 'blank' to his former wife and sons ... though I personally think Matsuda Masato's life was probably to one degree or another, 'blank' even when he was with them. However, the story is really about the effect on the family when they learn about what those 13 missing years meant to the people who were in attendance at his funeral. On the one hand, it was pathetically comical, while on the other hand it was a stinging slap of pain, betrayal and hypocrisy, all laced with a profound sense of disbelief. To find out that their father was admired for his magic trick of turning paper into a baseball, respected for his collection of porn centerfolds; appreciated for the money he provided for 500,000 yen buddha beads for a fellow in trouble and for the medical expenses of his roommate's mother ... smh ... there is really no coming back from that ... even the letter Matsuda Masato wrote and sent to some person to read it out at his funeral in return for 5 out of 6 platinum teeth that were in his head ... it was hollow, just meaningless sounds coming out of a stranger's mouth ... Matsuda Masato was nothing less than despicable.

Yoshiyuki's words at his father's funeral were totally understandable - "I never found a way to like this man ... I tried to forget ... mother was put through great hardship ... I hated him to death and yet listening to what everyone said ... "

Koji's following up on Yoshiyuki's words, saying it was nice to know (belatedly) that his father was the kind of person who practiced magic; the kind of person who helped people in trouble when he was broke himself; the kind of man to hold on to Koji's composition that won a prize; the kind of man who sung the song "Atonement" ... so heartbreaking ... things that Koji wanted from his father but never got. Koji goes on to say that he also despised his father but after hearing from all the mourners, he felt like he might like him a little ... but he is conflicted and finally says that he actually may feel like he might be sad. It is sad ... so terribly heartbreaking and tragic ... if it was me, I would have left like Yoshiyuki (in fact in real life I did).

What value is a human life ... is it is the number of attendees at their funeral ... is it their legacy ... does the 'value' come from being present in someone's life or does it come from being absent ... or maybe it is both? One thing for sure, the value of someone's life definitely doesn't come from how many people attend their funeral. As for their legacy ... present or in absentia ... who knows what the knock-on effect of that is across the myriads of lives that have directly or indirectly been 'touched' by that person ... it will be different things to different people at different times ... and so maybe in the big scheme of things, there is value to all existence ... who knows.

Finally, after all is said (and not said) and done, Matsuda Masato's body is relegated to the crematory fire and is turned into smoke and ashes. A Shakespearean end in a way ... life going up in smoke, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. BUT ... from ashes, new life can spring forth. Koji is like the ashes of Matsuda Masato's legacy ... and from that he and his girlfriend have spawned new life ... hope they did/do a better job than his father Matsuda Masato.

A masterpiece.

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