Movie Review

カメラを止めるな！

PETER BOND

Ueda Shinichiro’s debut film was released in 2017. It made some waves in Tokyo and was then released a little more widely within Japan. Word of mouth grew and grew as audiences continued to be confused, surprised and delighted by the film. It grew so big as to warrant an expanded international released under the english title “One Cut of the Dead”

The english title is far from a direct translation, rather they chose to underscore an essential idea of the film, the One Shot. The use of a single, long camera shot, surprising viewers and adding a type of flourish to the film has been used for decades. It’s a foundational film technique, and the movie in fact begins with one. A 37 minute shot. A woman screams, a zombie approaches and then a director calls cut. In an old water filtration plant, an indie crew is filming a zombie movie. Soon they are talking about the film, complaining during breaks between shooting and talking about old stories about this place. It’s not long before zombies actually start to descend on the film crew, and the director will not stop filming. It’s chaotic, wild and all continued in one long 37 minute shot.

It’s also kind of mediocre. Pretty watchable, but not special. However the movie has some tricks up its sleeve and is smarter than it lets on. I won’t spoil anything here but trust me when I say it’s worth a stream on Netflix.

After the opening 37 minutes, there is a tonal shift. The movie changes gears and we learn this was really an act one to a larger story. The story builds as you get to know the characters in a deeper, and different sense. You understand the movie is not truly about zombies, but more about the filmmakers, and the act of filmmaking.

After the staks are set the finale comes, and everything that has been set up just starts getting paid off like gangbusters.

You start to understand the entire film in a different light. It’s riotously fun and filled with great surprises.

Forgive all the vagueness, it would be a crime to ruin this film. If you are willing maybe to take a chance, to relish in the joy of indie filmmaking, and see a zombie or two, then I check out “One Cut of the Dead”