Jam films (JAPAN. 2002)

Another crappy typo ridden Re-Run from 2002!? I know. It sucks. Blame it on the Writer's Strike from a few months back. It's their fault! *cough*

When venturing into the land of the omnibus film, you always have to open the door with your finger cocked on the safety catch. Especially when you’re reviewing a film in the sub-genre of “Put 7 directors in separate rooms, give them a big budget, then stick all the pieces together and pray for a return on the final product.” It’s almost impossible to review “Jam Films” as a whole for that simple reason. With all the shorts dabbling in different areas (The only one missing being “Action”) you have to view it all with an open mind. And review it the same way. Which is why I'll only be discussing my favorite shorts, and vaguely mention the other one’s. “Jam films” dosen't pretend to be anything else than it's title. A collection of short films by the top director’s of Japan dealing with whatever subject fit there fancy. A jam!

First off we have “The messenger”, a short by Ryeui Kitamura. As usual, it’s filled with the stylish clothes, stylish weapons and a final twist. It was with a bit of disappointment when I realized no action was going to take place. But lowering my expectations helped the final product. “Kanade” is a fun little short which fits perfectly the tone of a light hearted, 10 minute romp. The story sets forth that two people exchange packages accidentally and one of them gets a lot more than he bargained for. No threats or suspense of any kind ever happens, but it was fun while it lasted. “Cold Sleep” is a strange, but mysteriously enjoyable on the first glance through. Like all the other shorts it doesn’t beg to be repeated, but the jokes are twisted (Including the ending) enough to make you laugh on the first run through. “Hijiki and “Justice” are each quirky and funny on there own. Both of them lacking on the plot side of things, but making it all up on the visual corner.

Each director has left his individual mark on his respective short. Watching all of the small segments separately (If possible after refreshing yourself with a film by that said director) is a much wiser choice than doing it all in one sitting. What this film needed is a bit of structure, or a theme which runs across each segment. Instead of just leaving everyone free reign to do what wanted, the choices should have been made with a little restraint.

As usual I’ll end with the answer to the question “Is it good enough to purchase?”. If you’re a big fan of any of the director’s on display (As I am of Kitamura), you should break down and buy it as soon as possible…Even if the film may turn out to be just another failed experiment.

DVD:

WOW! This LE DVD case kicks ass. It comes in a large DVD-SIZE slip-case which is huge and solid (Extremely thick). All of the shorts screenplays (Sadly without pictures) comes included in the box. The English subtitles are crystal clear (Without a spelling mistake in site) and the short Making-Of’s for each individual short are much appreciated. But hurry up! As usual this one is going to go out-of-print mighty fast.