Scrap Heaven (2005)

The lives of a young cop, a sanitation worker and a brooding pharmacist violently intersect on a bus that's hijacked by a suicidal political flunky, then cross paths again months later.

Director:

Sang-il Lee

Writer:

Sang-il Lee

Stars:

Ryô Kase, Joe Odagiri, Chiaki Kuriyama

3 wins.

Cast

Credited cast:
Ryô Kase	...	Shingo Kasuya
Joe Odagiri	...	Tetsu Katsurai
Chiaki Kuriyama	...	Saki Fujimura
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jiro Dan	...	Dr. Yoshida Seiichiro
Akira Emoto	...	Detective Yabuta
Tadayoshi Katô
Sôryû Konno
Hidekazu Mashima
Ken Mitsuishi	...	Shimada
Yoshiyuki Morishita	...	Nurse Sato
Akira Shoji
Sawa Suzuki	...	Misa Aikawa
Takama Suzuki
Tetsushi Tanaka	...	Bus hijacker
Tatsuo Yamada	...	Tetsu's father

Storyline

A cop, a sanitation worker and a pharmacist intersect on a late bus ride that's hijacked by a suicidal political flunky. Shingo is a miserable young desk cop bucking for homicide division. Tetsu is a restroom cleaning attendant who has a mentally ill father and a penchant for mischief. And Saki is a petulant druggist/chemist who was born with one eye and keeps her disfigurement hidden behind shades. Months after the hijacking, the trio reintertwine as they playfully seek revenge for their unhappy lives, until the games become deadly serious.

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Plot Keywords:

bus | 

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Genres:

Drama

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User Reviews

Perfect for what it is

Scrap Heaven is a beautifully-directed, well-acted, tightly-structured film about 3 people who are completely different except for their grim view of life, and they each want to cause their own form of revenge on the world. Their paths cross one night and then continue to cross willingly and unwillingly over the duration of the movie, and their similarities become more apparent as the film goes on. The end to each character's story isn't completely satisfying, and there is a lot of vagueness regarding certain motivations of the people in this film, but all in all the film remains a clever, dark, hilarious, and DIFFERENT viewpoint of modern Japanese society...

Yes, themes of emotional detachment, societal servitude, repressed thoughts and feelings are nothing new in Japanese films... but this film explores all these themes with a sense of humor and some ridiculousness. The end is a bit predictable, and the film seems to sometimes wander when trying to make its point, but I can safely say I was never bored with this film... and I've thought about it nonstop since I finished watching it. Just a really great film.

Also: I noticed, at times, a strange parallel between this film and Fight Club, actually, and I'm sure I'm alone in this. Some of the acts of anarchy, and one of the main character's blatant Tyler Durden-isms (including his choice of clothes) had me wondering. It's nothing that crazy or distracting from the rest of the film, just worth noting.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Japan]

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

October 2005 (Japan)

Also Known As:

スクラップ・ヘブン

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$760

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bandai Visual Company, Office Shirous, TV Tokyo

Technical Specs

Runtime:

117 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color