There’s a well known rule of gangster films that once someone decides to call it quits they will inevitably get pulled in for one last job, indeed that is how we are introduced to A Road Stained Crimson, but, for Tetsuhiko Nono’s film this is a rare concession to convention. His Japanese gangster tale has far loftier ambitions than to be connected to anything as drab as convention.
Our wannabe retiree is Ken; is a laid back motorbike mechanic keen to turn his back on his more brutal sideline carear, that is until his boss catches wind of his plans and attempts to reel him in for one last job with a visit from the psychotic and unpredictable Akira. There are sub-plots and unexamined stories along the way like the death of Ken’s father at young age which seems to have shaped our protagonist but is never spelt out for us. Yoko, an elder colleague has more than a colleagues interest in the brooding Ken, again there is only a hint of a clue as to why while her relationship with the local (Colombo style) detective seems to have more to it than face value suggests with both seemingly connected to Ken’s life from a very young age.
A stonily silent teen shares Kens burning anger and is soon taken under his wing as the two take to the road in an attempt to bide some time before the inevitable explosive conclusion. On route the two share the surrogate father-son relationship they were both denied as the pressures of hit-man duties start to ease and Ken, for the first time, looks content.
Specifics are secondary here, Nono’s focus lies far more in injecting the worn genre with a tone unfamiliar to the countless gangster films of years gone by. Wearing his garage rock credentials on his sleeve, the soundtrack by Japanese band Snakes on the Beach creates an all-together more considered atmosphere to the guys and guns blueprint, going further to include footage of the bands gig which Ken attends. Far from being the only touch of lightness on show, the music is joined by a host of directing, editing and camera techniques adding an element of art house to the genre. Stills, slow motion, jumpy handheld cameras and flashbacks are all used extensively alongside brilliant cinematography and some beautifully crafted shots.
Sadly the directing styles only mask the script which never quite reaches the highs it occasionally promises. While the lightness of touch used by Nono is new to the genre, sadly the same can not be said for other elements, particularly in the form of the loose-cannon Akira or the dialogue which, while sparingly used, plays second fiddle to the Mallick-isms on show of plants and sunsets which go some way in covering the scripts flaws. It would be too harsh to describe Nono’s debut feature as style over substance as there are a number of promising signs pointing to a strong career, one that starts, however, on a bit of a subdued note.
Matthew Walsh
Rating:15
UK Release Date: 2nd October 2012 (Raindance Film Festival)
Directed By: Tetsuhiko Nono
Cast: Hirofumi Arai, Ryômei Niinobu, Jun Murakami