Cette critique peut contenir des spoilers
Hubris and Deceit lead to Tragedy
ML chooses to be selfish lying on 3 occasions that leads to an flawed but innocent man almost being convicted of murder and the death of his lover. ML wants to keep his family life and his lover, little conscience about his former patient being on trial for murder. When his lover attempts to break free after he realizes that he will never come before ML family life and position, he is killed by ML. FL is worst, she would rather save her family dignity ,she persuades her husband not to tell the truth and makes him swear not to tell anyone to help the innocent man. FL then decides to preserve the falsehood by killing her husband and denying his lover justice.Cet avis était-il utile?
Krimidrama o jednom lékaři, který vedl nevyjasněný život, nechtěl vypadat před společností a rodinou špatně, aby nakonec takto špatně nechtěla vypadat jeho manželka ... Film lehce nadprůměrný nebyl až tak typickým snímkem japonským a na jedno zkouknutí je vhodný i pro toho, který zrovna japonské filmy moc nemusí.
Cet avis était-il utile?
Cette critique peut contenir des spoilers
Sad ending , happy viewers?
I wasn't sure of what I was watching going in but quickly became aware of the type of bl I was watching. Affair related bls don't typically call my name or anything, but the story surrounding said affair helped to carry me through the movie. Main character is unlikeable and pitiful (atleast to me) Not once did I find myself cheering for this man's success. He is a liar,cheater and criminal and the fact that he kills Umezawa at the end is heartbreaking! I can't completely place the blame of the affair on ML so yes, I admit, Umezawa was also in the wrong but I will also support my belief that he did NOT deserve to die. Also so many characters are just open to committing crimes?? I'm so glad ML dies at the end, helps me sleep well at night.Cet avis était-il utile?
Cette critique peut contenir des spoilers
The review I would never have liked to write
If coming out is perhaps one of the most satisfying decisions in the lives of all homosexuals, for others taking this step is an insurmountable barrier. And if it is understandable that there are those who cling to continue pretending to be someone else for logical reasons, such as the fear of suffering homophobia and exclusion, the refusal to comply with social expectations that in one way or another influence our lives and decisions, to be intimidated by the possibility of accepting oneself before others, there will also be those who, in order to hide their homosexuality, go so far as to commit terrible crimes.The latter prefer to lie and even kill before allowing their truth to be exposed to the eyes of the family, especially in a heteronormative and patriarchal society, like Japan.
Directed by Asahara Yuzo in 2020, 'Kuroi Gashu Shogen - Black Art Collection - Testimony' becomes social criticism, while exploring modern Japanese society, especially with regard to the traditional family, social prejudices and acceptance of homosexuality in that Asian nation, where apparently honor, reputation and family image are matters important enough to commit a crime.
Screenwriters Asahara Yuzo and Ishikawa Katsumi adapt the short story "Shogen" (証言), by Matsumoto Seicho, in a 90-minute special for television, which combines mystery, suspense, drama and queer thriller, which does not lack the elements psychological elements present in the vast detective fiction of the prolific Japanese intellectual.
The story follows Doctor Ishino Teiichiro (Tanihara Shosuke), who seems to have a perfect life. At just over forty years old, the main character not only enjoys the respect, affection and admiration of his wife Sachiko and his two children, but also of the patients and medical staff of the clinic in Kanazawa where he works.
But the fragile bubble in which he lives soon bursts, when the murder of a woman occurs in a building near his workplace, and the secret he has kept for much of his life threatens to come to light, when he becomes a witness clue.
Teiichiro has been hiding from everyone for three years that he is in a relationship with Umezawa Tomohisa (Asaka Kodai), a young man who shares his art studies with work in a ceramics workshop.
The two men meet in places hidden from other people, especially Umezawa's house, to show their love. Umezawa, who is more liberated, wants Teiichiro to confess to his wife and children that he is homosexual and face the truth of their relationship. But the doctor refuses to come out of the closet. His interest in not losing his reputation is greater than any other reason that pushes him to hide his homosexuality.
But his secret could come to light if he confessed to the detectives investigating a criminal case that, precisely at the time of the events, he found himself on the street, dozens of kilometers from the scene of the crime, with his patient Sugiyama Kozo (Horibe Keisuke), the only suspect. At this crossroads, he decides to lie to the police and give false testimony.
Confirming the alibi would serve to exonerate Sugiyama, but it would also mean having to answer difficult questions, both to the police and to his family, since at the time of the meeting between suspect and witness, the latter was out for a walk with his lover after having had sex, while lying to his wife and children, who trusted that Teiichiro was working at the clinic at that time.
The drama emerges when guilt leads Ishino Teiichiro to reveal to Umezawa the situation he is in, but he resists confessing a truth, which would automatically save the unfortunate man who is being unjustly accused of a crime he did not commit. The fear of coming out to society and their family weighs more.
To complicate everything, Sachiko enrolls in a pottery class, and meets Umezawa, the course's teacher.
Some time later, fulfilling an invitation from Sachiko, Umezawa visits her lover's house and discovers the apparent happy life of the doctor's family, so Umezawa decides to break up with him, unless Teiichiro comes out of the closet.
When Umezawa tries to break up with him after seeing his desire to have Teiichiro fully to himself frustrated, he is killed by the doctor.
With the weight of guilt, the main character finally confesses the whole truth to his wife, claiming that he had to kill Umezawa because he loved him.
Sachiko, who was already suspicious of Teiichiro's strange behavior, is surprised to learn of her husband's homosexuality. Feeling deceived and fearing that the truth will become known to everyone, especially her children, she also makes decisions that end in another tragedy.
By hiding his homosexuality, Teiichiro is able to lie: his first lie is to the police, which leads to an imperfect but innocent man being on the verge of being convicted for a crime he did not commit.
In an attempt to preserve his home life and his relationship with his lover, Teiichiro lies once again, this time to his family.
The third lie (or the first?) occurs when Teiichiro lies to himself, by refusing to acknowledge to others that he is the person he is. This lie is the trigger for the entire conflict.
But Sachiko is willing to lie and make her husband lie in order to protect the dignity of her family: seeing the state of mind of her husband, who is about to reveal everything because he cannot bear the weight of guilt and regret, initially tries both to get him to maintain the lie that could free Sugiyama from jail, and to not reveal himself to be Umezawa's murderer, because then he would have to recognize the type of relationship that both had.
Thus, fearing that Teiichi will confess, she decides to preserve the lie by murdering her husband and denying justice to the murdered lover and Sugiyama.
Behind a notable workmanship and solid interpretations, 'Kuroi Gashu Shogen - Black Art Collection - Testimony' has an atmosphere and temperament that captivates the viewer until the end.
Told linearly, the story (with an attractive script, but sometimes too mechanical) is a kind of ordered accumulation of situations that threaten to overflow on themselves as the narrative progresses: Umezawa's demands that Teiichiro be "brave" and accept yourself; the police investigation that can bring him out of the closet; the conflict of the doctor, who prefers to hide his homosexuality rather than save the life of an innocent man, murder for love...
Despite its virtues, and perhaps because of the cumulative vocation of the narrative, 'Kuroi Gashu Shogen - Black Art Collection - Testimony' presents some excesses that tend to relativize dramatic situations until they become melodramatic, or lighten the richness of the conflicts: Sachiko ( a Nishida Naomi very immersed in her role), who will not tremble when mixing sideburns and alcohol that will cause the death of her husband, giving it the appearance of a suicide; Umezawa looking for a new lover when Teiichiro has barely left his bed; the doctor's wife remembering how in the past she suffered sexual harassment by Sugiyama, which reinforces her conviction that he is the criminal; Saki Sugiyama (Takatsuki Sara), the daughter of the accused, locating and pursuing Ishino Sadanori (Yoshimura Kaito), Teiichiro's son, to ask him to influence her father "to confess the truth"; the fear (in my opinion) of not wanting to disappoint the creators of the saga of adaptations based on short stories written by Matsumoto Seicho, which began with the film 'Knock Down', in 1960, and continued with 'Matsumoto Seicho Series: Kuro no Kumikyoku' , in 1962; 'Matsumoto Seicho Series: Kuro no Kumikyoku', in 1965; 'Matsumoto Seicho no Shogen', in 1984; 'Matsumoto Seicho Suspense: Kuroi Gashu - Shogen', in 1992, and 'Matsumoto Seicho no Shogen', in 2004.
In the performances, Tanihara Shosuke gives us a versatile and contained performance. At no point does it show us a person who is struggling with their sexual identity. We will never see him as a being caught between the desire to be honest with himself and the fear of the repercussions of coming out.
Contrary to Teiichiro, Asaka Kodai's character fulfills his role as the person who knew how to face his fears and explore his sexuality through his relationship with the doctor. For her part, Nishida Naomi gives nuances to her role as a deceived woman capable of anything to preserve the honor and reputation of the family.
This turns out to be the review I never wanted to write. In MDL I publish others in which I celebrate characters in their process of coming out of the closet. In this, I condemn how the characters prefer to lie, take the blame, and even commit horrific crimes, before recognizing themselves as homosexual, or, on the contrary, before accepting others being revealed that a family member or person who has been part of their life be gay.
But the above does not stop you from admiring and recommending the work.
Cet avis était-il utile?
