Release date: 8th March 2010
Certificate: 12
Running time: 135 mins
Director: Shinji Higuchi
Starring: Kou Shibasaki, Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, Mao Daichi, Etsushi Toyokawa
Genre: Action/Drama/Sci-Fi
Studio: MVM
Format: DVD
Country: Japan
Based on a 1973 novel by Japanese sci-fi writer Komatsu Sakyo, Sinking Of Japan appears strangely timely - the apocalyptic action movie, in which seismic shifts threaten to sink the archipelago of Japan, saw its UK release while an earthquake hit off the coast of the Maule region of Chile, triggering a series of tsunamis. The warning message at the beginning of the film (“One day soon. Maybe tomorrow”) suddenly rang true.
Sinking Of Japan is straight in with the action: Toshio Onodera drags himself through the debris of an earthquake to rescue a young girl, Misuki Kuraki, from an imminent explosion. As a power line collapses and falls towards a pool of petrol, a figure emerges through the smoke and flames. Reiko Abe, a female rescue worker, carries them both to safety. True love is born.
Meanwhile, Dr Tadokoro, Toshio’s boss, is discovering that Japan is sinking, and will soon have proof that there are but 338.54 days left to figure something out. A series of unlikely events are set in motion as some of the population are evacuated while others die in their millions, and still more wander around looking vaguely unconcerned.
In the midst of the carnage, someone has the good sense to ask Dr Tadokoro if he has a plan, which, of course, he does. It only has a very slim chance of success, and nobody questions why it was not set in motion a couple of days earlier, but then it is a disaster movie after all…
In the tradition of American disaster films, Sinking Of Japan relies heavily on CGI explosions as city after city falls into the sea. The destruction of the archipelago is depicted by a series of shots from space charting the spread of volcanic eruptions and the seas encroachment. These become somewhat repetitive and take time away from the development of a cohesive storyline.
In order to justify the ‘sinking’, the start of the film is chock full of scientific explanations, something that would be brushed over with a broad “scientists say…” kind of statement in other films of a similar nature. This comes across as slightly heavy-handed, is pretty indecipherable, and makes it feel like you are watching a scientific documentary – a feeling that grows as statements such as, “Data analysis predicts time of geological event,” appear on the screen to explain the action.
The human relationships that should add emotion and drama are often badly drawn and lack depth. They also appear contrived. Dr Tadokoro’s ex-girlfriend just happens to be Takamori, an important Government Minister, who ends up running the country after the Prime Minister dies and the acting Prime Minister flees to safety. Luckily, this allows her to implement Tadokoro’s plan to save Japan. Convenient.
The music score is awful. During the emotional final farewell between Toshio and Reiko, a duet is sung in the background, the lyrics are subtitled, and all feeling is drained from the moment by the sickly sweet words. At other points during their relationship, desperately dated strings intrude to ruin the mood, implying either a very confusing ‘70s cop show, or possibly something verging on the pornographic.
However, the sentiment of the film, that slightly wimpy Toshio can only sacrifice his life to save Japan when he has Reiko to protect, is pretty enough, and Reiko, as female action hero, is endearingly unconventional. There is also a veiled jab at Korea, as it is mentioned that all of the world’s countries have agreed to take in Japanese refugees bar North and South Korea. There is even a shot of the migrants being turned away from Korean ports.
In general, the cinematography of the film is strong. The opening sequence is a montage of Japan’s landscape through the seasons. There is also a particularly impressive scene in the flat shot from the inside looking out, with Toshio and Reiko framed by the windows as they stand on the balcony with the sunset behind them. Of course, there are lots of buildings collapsing, as well, leaving the outlook appearing convincingly bleak, and the director makes good use of all the moodily grey ‘stumbling through ash’ moments, as characters miraculously travel miles, apparently on foot (possibly with some swimming through flooded areas), to arrive at exactly the same place as their loved ones without any from of communication.
Sinking Of Japan tries hard but ultimately fails to deliver. Higuchi manages to complicate and confuse what could be a relatively simple plot, and in doing so fails to make an innovative or challenging contribution to this well worn genre. EM
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