NYAFF 2012: “Zero Man vs. The Half-Virgint” & “Goke, Bodysnatcher From Hell”

Time once again for another does of New York Asian Film Festival 2012 coverage! Next up; a double dose from Japan…

Zero Man vs. The Half-Virgin

From Sakichi Sato, the guy who wrote the screenplays to Ichi the Killer and Gozu (two of my fave Takashi Miike classics, especially the latter), and also both wrote and directed the live action adaptation of Tokyo Zombie (the original manga by Yusaku Hanakuma, and translated by my good buddy Ryan Sands, is a MUST read, btw), comes yet another masterpiece from Japan’s indie scene. One that has even an smaller budget than his aforementioned flick, or so it would appear. Zero Man is actually Sakuragi, a guy who, out of the blue, loses his memory. Eventually he’s able to put together the pieces: he’s a low on the totem pole beat cop in some small town, Oh, and he also has the magical ability to see how many sexual partners someone has, as represented by a number on the other person’s forehead. Two problems: first, he can only see this number when he himself is aroused, which means he has to masturbate to activate such a wondrous power. And second, it?s because of said magic ability that he realizes that he himself is a virgin.

Which prompts Sakuragi to go out and get some, and his rap with the women in his hometown (which is filled to the brim with fellow virgins, apparently) is fairly abysmal. At least it explains his lack of experience to begin with. Not surprisingly, discovering that the criminally young girl with the number 13 on her forehead (prompting him to believe that she’s a victim of sexual abuse, a logical conclusion) is actually the youngest mack daddy imaginable, does little for Zero Man’s already fragile ego. The gaijin that hangs out at the station, with the number 55 on his head, doesn’t help matters either. But enter The Half-Virgin, aka Yoko, who mysteriously has 0.5 on hers. Can someone be half a virgin? Apparently. Yoko also been seen starring at Sakuragi from afar, across the street from the station, prompting Sakuragi’s partner to theorize that this girl maybe has a thing for the Zero Man. Which turns out to be true; Sakuragi goes after Yoko, and the next thing you know, both of them are in bed! The sex scene is pretty intense, and much like the one in Gozu, where you’ll also think to yourself: “Jesus, are they actually f*cking?” It’s just one long, uninterrupted shot, making it seem all the more real (I’m pretty sure it was a way to add dramatic flair AND save money on production costs).

Anyhow, once Sakuragi sees the incomplete number on Yoko’s head become a whole digit, he’s happy to know that neither of them are their namesakes anymore. Except, when he checks himself in the mirror later on, he’s still zero. How can that be? Well, turns out, the number doesn’t indicate how many sexual partner one has, but the number of people who has been murdered. Yes, that means the little boy has killed 13 folks, and the white guy has slain 55 (who happily explain in not quite perfect Japanese that he used to be in the military). Eventually, Sakuragi discovers what his gift is truly meant to be, from the original Zero Man, but he?s been using it in the most selfish manner possible. So his successor is given a second chance, to track down Yoko, but instead he comes across her brother, who is a piece of crap that’s been sexually abusing her since she was young. But it turns out, it’s actually a ghost! And a regretful one at that. One who was a willing victim, in order to atone for his sins. So how exactly was Yoko able to kill her brother, while she was deflowering Sakuragi? Believe it or not, the explanation given makes a lot of sense! Okay, not really.

Sure Zero Man vs. The Half-Virgin is one masturbation joke after another, but it’s delivered with a steady hand, and the end result is a tightly constructed mystery that?s wrapped in a black comedy coated shell, which goes rather down well (save for the few genuinely offensive parts, like the one abortion joke). Still, highly recommended! There?s one screening left, tomorrow, Saturday July 7 at 1:30pm, at Lincoln Center.

Goke, Bodysnatcher From Hell

Imagine being on a Japanese airliner, and along with yourself, you had the following: a level-headed co-pilot, a demure stewardess, a dirty rotten politician, an equally slimy business man, his wife who is willingly handed over to the elected official as a sex toy in an attempt to curry favors, a shrink that is fascinated by human behavior but has little regard for people themselves, a supposedly crackpot scientist who believes in extraterrestrial life, an assassin, some young guy with a bomb, and the token gaijin, in this case a woman who is on her way to burry her dead army husband. Next, imagine a UFO flying by awfully close, causing the plane to go dead and to crash, in the middle of nowhere. Not only is the radio dead, how there’s no food or water, but a pile of silver-colored goo has split open the face of the aforementioned assassin, turning him into a alien life form that must feed on blood. That’s basically Goke, Bodysnatcher From Hell in a nutshell.

Given the circumstances, everyone’s survival instincts kick in, and it’s for the worst, with the only the co-pilot plus stewardess able to keep it together. There’s not much to say here regarding the plot, other than how danger lurks outside the downed aircraft, but thanks to the petty bickering inside, they practically serve themselves up to the vampire alien on a silver platter. Like any good disaster flick, the meat and potatoes is seeing people turn against each other, or simply lose their cools in general. One favorite part is when the white woman is freaking out, and the politician asks the pilot (who understands English) “What’s the foreign broad so worked up about?” he’s calmly told how Goke’s face is a reminder of her dearly departed husband, a victim of napalm in Vietnam, which ripped his face open like a pomegranate”. And like any good monster movie, the abomination that is Goke is a memorable one. And not just because he’s basically a dude with a vaginal slit on his forehead. Not unlike that one guy in Total Recall, except not as gratuitous, if that makes any sense.

Goke, Bodysnatcher From Hell is essentially a mix tape of the Japanese film scene, circa the 60s, just as the Golden Age was tapering off and the New Wave was starting to make waves, along with the Kaiju craze that was in full effect. Goke basically has it all; ultra atmospheric and genuinely creepy art direction (the blood red sky that opens the movie was the primary inspiration in some of Kill Bill: Volume 1‘s visuals). The aforementioned chemistry found in a disaster movie, enhanced by Japan’s special brand of social commentary and introspection (ant-war sentimentality was hard something new or fresh back then, but the way its dealt with in such a direct, stark manner, especially for a movie that’s about a blood sucking alien, is quite amazing). And once again, good old fashioned, campy sci-fi goofiness, well before conventions and tropes as they pertain to alien lifeforms were standardized before 2001/Star Wars/Close Encounters Of The Third Kind. Though Goke did come out during the same time as Planet of the Apes, and it’s influence is definitely felt at the end.

Like all the other NYAFF midnight screenings, this movie was only shown once, but it’s still easily accessible to anyone with Hulu Plus, courtesy of the Criterion Collection (so Goke is no slouch, in case you were still wondering). It can be viewed here.