GOLDEN SLUMBER
July 8th, 2010 by Planet Chocko
Golden Slumber, a mystery-thriller movie with hints of comedy & action was a nice introduction back into Japanese cinema for this neophyte! I thoroughly enjoyed the film with the few twists & turns offered into the plot even if it was mere fantasy than believable! I can’t wait to watch Yoshihiro Nakamura’s(Director of the movie) previous film, FISH STORY! Golden Slumber shares its name with one of the Beatles’ famous songs from the 1969 album “Abbey Road”. There were quite a few references to the Beatles in the film with the common theme of finding a way back home for the main character! The skinny of the movie is about a 30 year old delivery man who is framed for the assassination of the Prime Minister of Japan, & his elusive tribulations in disappearing into the Sendai community with the help of old friends from school, a fireworks maven, his supportive parents, & an old school original gangsta boss recovering or falsely recovering in a hospital?! The film starts off with a scene that is really the finale of the movie ala Quentin Tarantino style. Aoyagi, the main protaganist in the movie is a delivery boy who is publicly known because he thwarted a robbery attempt of a famous pop songstress! He went from being zero to hero in a quick whim of a judo leg takedown! The meat of the story begins with the reunion of Aoyagi’s old buddy, Morita going on a supposed fishing trip together. Aoyagi & Morita end up having lunch in their car parked close to the parade that the Japanese Prime Minister will march in & end up losing his life at. A primary bomb is setoff by a remote control helicopter which takes the life of the Prime minister. A second bomb would go off in Morita’s car with Aoyagi escaping the grasp of death that would link the 2 stories together. So, begins the tale of an innocent 30 year old happy go lucky japanese man who is framed by the CIA for the assassination of their prime minister. Stories of remote control helicopters, Aoyogi’s friends who are coerced by law enforcement to set him up, a plastic surgeon who performs surgery on the imposter that shows up on the video evidence, & a young killer in a hood who helps aoyogi, starts to surface! The movie had their fair share of quirky characters in the movie like the cold stoned killer with the shotgun at hand with his sensitive ears, the old man river gangster in a wheelchair, the death note like killer in a hoody, the father who beat up men that groped children on the train, & the ex-girlfriend who buys a battery for Aoyogi’s Toyota Corolla & manages to elude law enforcement with her young daughter by her side as an accomplice in order for her to install the car battery. More peculiar, but entertaining nooks & crannies develop when Aoyogi goes underground in the sewer system to hide like the Ninja Turtles without the special martial art powers with the help of the old gangster navigating the underground. The live TV broadcast of Aoyogi’s plea for innocence & the help of Aoyogi’s IPOD would soon come into play! A smattering of fireworks would be setup in a professional pyrotechnic manner that would aid in the escape of the young delivery boy! Aoyogi’s, Golden Slumber in the Beatles variety would soon be realized, but the question remains to Aoyogi, SO DID YOU DO IT? Did you sex up the pop star when you saved her life from the clutches of the robber? Film goers of GOLDEN SLUMBER will chuckle at this question!
–Mr. C
Tags: aoyogi, fish story, golden slumber, new york asian film festival, subway cinema, yoshihiro nakamura
Posted in movies, mr. c | Comments (0)
