Released in Japan on October 9, 1982, “Kidnaping Blues” is a Japanese road movie directed and written by Shinpei Asai, who also handled the cinematography and lighting, in a particularly personal production that bears the clear stamp of his background as a photographer. The movie was produced by Mineko Okamoto and Shiro Sasaki for Birds Studio and ATG, and distributed by Toho.
“Kidnaping Blues” was developed within ATG’s attempt to revisit its famous low budget model, with the project reportedly conceived under the idea of exploring what could still be done with a 10 million yen production. Asai’s personal connections helped bring together an unusually rich cast, while Tamori is said to have appeared without a fee, with many of the other performers working under similar conditions. The movie has retained a peculiar reputation as a semi hidden ATG work, partly because its premise could easily be read as the story of a child abduction. It was released on VHS, but did not receive a DVD edition until 2008, before later Blu ray releases restored its visibility.
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Morita is a middle aged man who used to work as a musician but now spends most of his time drifting through life, earning money almost like a professional pachinko player rather than holding a regular job. He lives near Mai, a lonely latchkey girl from a single mother household, and has quietly taken notice of her isolation. When Mai murmurs that she wants to see the sea, Morita responds almost impulsively, taking her there by bicycle. During that outing, they meet a jazz pianist, whose casual suggestion that a child like her might benefit from a journey gives Morita the idea to continue traveling with her, without a clear destination and without fully considering how the world will interpret his actions.
Their journey gradually expands across Japan, as Morita and Mai move from place to place, meeting strangers who appear briefly before disappearing again into the flow of the road. A pachinko parlor, a farmer who believes he is not cut out to be one because he likes drinking and women, a weirdo in a bathhouse who insists he is a celebrity, a reunion celebration in a hotel, a nude photoshoot on a beach, and an udon seller who insists he is actually a poet are some of the people and locations the two interact with. However, because Morita does not know Mai’s mostly absent mother, and because the mother eventually files a missing person report, the trip is soon treated by the authorities as a kidnapping. Due to Mai’s wish to see snow as well, though, their journey continues.
Shinpei Asai directs a road movie based on a concept, essentially a child kidnapping, that would obviously not pass any scrutiny nowadays. At the same time, the story is quite thin, essentially unfolding as a collage of episodes with very little connection among them, apart perhaps from the fact that the two seem to move constantly northwards. One could say that Asai was trying to show various cultural aspects of Japan along with the beauties of the country, with the episodes frequently focusing on different types of entertainment one could find there. Bathhouses, pachinko, street food, hotels, the beach, and the snowy mountains essentially point to a tour guide as much as an actual movie.
The relationship of the two, though, is quite tender, with Morita obviously caring about Mai, as the brief train departure sequence eloquently highlights, while the girl feels particularly comfortable with him, her guide across everything she ever wanted to see. At the same time, the whole concept could be perceived as a comment on single parenthood, with Mai obviously being neglected before she meets Morita, although no one knows if the experience actually helps her, considering the unavoidable conclusion such an endeavor would have.
Music, mostly jazz, is heard almost constantly, and some knack for this particular type of fusion is definitely a must in order to watch a movie that also unfolds in the same rhythm. In that regard, the motif of what happens during the day and what happens during the night remains quite steady.
Kazuyoshi Tamori plays the ultra cool guy with gusto, becoming an unusual father figure for Mai, although his knack for nighttime drinking is also rather evident. Mai Yamato as Mai is adorable in the role, with the chemistry between the two being among the best aspects of the movie.
Shinpei Asai’s cinematography is also among the movie’s strongest traits, with him capturing the different settings with documentary like realism, while additionally offering images of noir beauty during the night sequences. A couple of long shots he implements throughout also stay in mind, along with the finale implying ending, which is one of the most impressive sequences in the whole work. Masaharu Yoshioka’s editing results in a slow pace that essentially mirrors the music, although the connection between the episodes remains quite thin.
“Kidnaping Blues” is a weird movie, and it is not exactly a good one, or even interesting for that matter, while the fact that it has not aged well is painfully obvious. As a tour throughout Japan and its everyday leisures, however, there is definitely a trait here, while by the end, many viewers will probably start thinking if the movie actually inspired Takeshi Kitano to shoot “Kikujiro”.
