Focus (1996)

Director:

Satoshi Isaka

Writer:

Kazuo Shin

Release Date:

12 October 1996 (Japan)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Plot Keywords:

Sex | Nerd | Murder | Wiretap | Electric Fan

Awards:

5 wins

Cast

Tadanobu Asano	...	Kanemura
Keiko Unno	...	Yoko
Akira Hirai	...	Iwai
Tetsuo Sano
Ikko Suzuki
Atsuo Nakata
Suki Tadaka
Yoshihiro Ono
Takeyuki Hirano
Hisami Saito
Kentaro Kawae
Gosuke Seto
Mikio Ryumoto
Wakako Matsuzaka
Akiko Hamada
Kazuhiko Nakamura
Noborou Shirai

Directed by
Satoshi Isaka

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Kazuo Shin

Produced by
Masato Hara	....	planner
Riuko Tominaga	....	producer
Nobutsugu Tsubomi	....	producer

Original Music by
Hiroshi Mizuide

Cinematography by
Tetsuo Sano

Film Editing by
Satoshi Isaka

Production Design by
Tomoyuki Maruo

Production Companies

• Ace Pictures
• Seiyu Production

Distributors

• EDKO Film (Hong Kong)

Other Companies

• Buzz Company  production cooperation

Also Known As:

Runtime:

73 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Company:

Ace Pictures

Media criticism veers off course

TV journalist Iwai (Shirai Akira) is shooting an off-beat piece with his small two-person crew of cameraman and lackey AD (Unno Keiko), about Kanemura (Asano Tadanobu) who uses gadgetry to pick up stray signals from mobile phones, police radios, etc. Shot exclusively through the lens of the TV crew's camera, we are invited to share and critique the voyeuristic and manipulative machinations of the quasi-reporting that passes for TV News in Japan. Our distaste for geeky Kanemura's obsessive eavesdropping pales in comparison to the nausea engendered by the moral vacuity of Iwai and his apathetic accomplices.

Isaka turns his budgetary constraints to his advantage through the clever use of his framing device, giving a sense of immediacy to events and creating a metaphor for our own complicity in consuming the undignified fare the wide-shows and tabloids dish up. Crackling performances from Iwai and Asano make the first 30 minutes tense and compelling.

Then suddenly a gun is introduced, and with depressing inevitability the audience knows it will get fired. When it does, the aftermath sees the manipulator manipulated, the geek become aggressor, and the apathetic forced to participate. At this point the criticism Isaka has sustained so well is compromised by his own wish to exploit the action (and his female actor) for cheap thrills. The turnaround is too pat, and Asano's slide into psychosis is too quick and convenient.

Fine acting and brisk pacing make Focus worth watching. Like In The Company of Men it sets up a trick that leaves a bad taste in the mouth, and will have audiences arguing its merits afterwards. That's no bad thing, and I hesitate to reveal more of the story because Focus works well on many levels. Ultimately, however, it loses its way in terms of message.