R100 ( Hitoshi Matsumoto 2013): Japan

Reviewed by Jim Saell. Viewed at AFI Film fest 2013.

R100 is a really strange movie about a normal family man named Mao Daichi (Nao Ohmori) with a normal life that joins a mysterious club signing a weird contact with a club called Bondage.  The contract lasts for 12 moths only but there is a single rule that he has to follow: He can’t cancel it under any circumstance. What he doesn’t know is that this contract turns out to be the worst thing he’s ever done. We see a woman that’s smoking in a restroom as the opening scene. She finally finds Takafumi and starts to beat and kick him.  Takafumi lives in Japan with his son, there is no mom, that’s why Takafumis father always helps out with his little son, who’s around 6-8 years old.
This movie is pretty difficult to figure out the message behind it. And also what genre it is. I thought R100 was going to be really boring because of the lightning (Witch I didn’t like) along with the actors witch i didn’t like either. It’s made in a way that you would think is funny but it actually doesn’t look as funny, once again because of the lightning is bad. But the deeper you got into the movie the funnier and better it got. The First thing that made me laugh was when his face stared to go in waves and swelled up at the same time.

The very imaginative Hitoshi Matsumoto who is the Director of this movie really did a good job with this movie. Not only is it funny and quiet exiting, but also its one of those movies you really have to think for yourself for a bit, what does he actually mean. What I also liked about the movie is that they have “fillers” that’s randomly thrown in to the movie. For example, all of a sudden you see 5 people just walking to some couches and sits down to smoke and just don’t say anything till next scene, and that’s when we “returns to the movie”. In that way you start to think about what these 5 people is going to do, the next think you know is returning to the actually story with more excitement then before.

I can’t really but a genre besides Comedy/Drama to this movie. I would recommend it to every one over 15 years old. Great movie where you have to think a lot but still funny. Not the best lightning and not the best actors. But still really good.

Here is some other movies/ series he has done:
Scabbard Samurai -2010
Big man Japan – 2007
Symbol – 2009

R100 – Hitoshi Matsumoto