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The Land Of Hope (2012)

Posted By: Someonelse
Date: 13 Aug 2015 11:26:00
The Land Of Hope (2012)

The Land Of Hope (2012)
DVD9 Custom | VIDEO_TS | NTSC 16:9 | 02:13:50 | 7,94 Gb
Audio: Japanese AC3 5.1 @ 448 Kbps | Subs: English (added), Chinese
Genre: Drama

Director: Sion Sono
Stars: Isao Natsuyagi, Naoko Ohtani, Jun Murakami

The award winning director Sion Sono’s latest film is not a documentary but Japan’s first feature drama depicting one family trying to face the hard but true reality of Tohoku Tsunami earthquakes and nuclear power plant explosion.

In a typical Japanese village, Yoichi Ono lives with his wife, Izumi and his parents. The Ono family lives a frugal but happy life as dairy farmers in the peaceful village. One day, the worst earthquake in history strikes, causing a nearby nuclear power station to explode. Their neighbours, who live within the range of the nuclear power station, are forcibly ordered by the government to evacuate. But the Ono family, whose property sits half in and half out of the designated range, must decide whether or not to leave their home.

Director Sion Sono has attracted both domestic and international acclaim through his recent films: "Cold Fish" (Venice 2010), "Guilty of Romance" (Cannes 2011) and "Himizu", which won the Marcello Mastroianni Award (Best New Actor Award) for the main actors, Shota Sometani and Fumi Nikaido.

IMDB | Wikipedia

The prolific and insanely busy Sion Sono returns with another tale centered on the aftermath of Japan’s devastating tsunami, The Land of Hope. While his last film, Himizu focused on two teenagers eking out a dystopic existence in their post-tsunami world, this latest is based on a family’s true story of survival in the aftermath of the nuclear reactor explosion. At times a tad overly sentimental, especially in the context of Sono’s own dark and challenging oeuvre, this is a mostly winning experience, perhaps best as a document of the ravaged landscape that still has yet to be revitalized even a year later, when this was filmed.

The Land Of Hope (2012)

Sono gives us a fictional location, the Nagashima prefecture, a small town butted up against a nuclear power plant. Yoichi Ono (Jun Murakami) and his wife Izumi (Megumi Kagurazaka) lead a peaceful existence tending to the farm run by Yoichi’s parents, Yasuhiko (Isao Natsuyagi) and Chieko (Naoko Otani). One day, an earthquake disrupts the reactor at the nearby nuclear power plant and their lives are suddenly forever changed. The government forces the population within a 20km radius to evacuate, and the Ono farms falls right outside the quarantine zone. Yasuhiko is well aware of what happened to many people in another recent nuclear disaster in Fukushima, and with his wife Chieko suffering from a degenerative illness, he decides to stay on the farm. However, Yoichi and Izumi have just become aware that Izumi is pregnant, and so they are forced to leave behind Yoichi’s parents for the sake of the baby. But even farther away, the threat of radiation looms, and Izumi develops a severe case of radiophobia, insisting on going everywhere in a hazmat suit, which frightens their new neighbors. Meanwhile, back on the farm, Yasuhiko is being pestered by authorities to relocate. We also get to know the Ono’s neighbors, the Suzuki family, evacuated to a shelter and briefly flashed back to intermittently.

The Land Of Hope (2012)

Filmed in the deserted Fukushima, there’s a striking documentary vibe to The Land of Hope, which feels both compelling and realistic. At times, the film does tend to dip into some forced melodrama concerning the unnamed illness of Chieko, though Naoko Otani does give a fine performance, often used as comic relief in many a scene. Another standout performance comes from Megumi Kagurazaka as the pregnant and paranoid Izumi. Sono’s film never feels exploitative or preachy, but simply relates the circumstances of an unfortunate tragedy that fell upon communities affected by the catastrophic devastation. Clocking in at a little over two hours, which is slim considering Sono, the film feels like it could have been trimmed for better effect.

The Land Of Hope (2012)

The subplot involving the plight of the Suzuki clan gets neglected, and, as time goes by, cutting to their own predicament feels like a distraction rather than a necessary thread. At times, Sono gets flashy with some overt symbolism, such as the sound of stakes being driven into the ground, signifying separation and isolation from family or others. But the lack of subtlety with these flourishes feels like we’re also being hammered into the ground with it. All in all, a worthwhile and satisfying film about one family’s struggle to stay together in extraordinary circumstances.
IonCinema
The Land Of Hope (2012)

The first fully fictional screen depiction of Japan in the aftermath of the Fukushima nuclear disaster, Sion Sono’s “The Land of Hope” courageously cuts through the respectful distance observed by most Nipponese documentarians with this subjective, personal focus on two families. Notwithstanding Sono’s penchant for overwriting dialogue and overstating metaphors, the account feels poignantly truthful. Akin in mood to the helmer-scribe’s elegiac father-son drama “Be Sure to Share,” the pic is a clean break from his sex-and-slasher films, though a sobering dystopian vision is expressed in odd flights of fantasy. Fest play aside, Metropolitan Film’s acquisition springs hope in niche Euro theaters.

The Land Of Hope (2012)

The Onos and Suzukis are neighbors who run dairy and produce farms, respectively, in the backwater town of Oba in fictional Nagashima prefecture. Their routine lives are short-circuited by a nuclear meltdown triggered by an earthquake. The Suzukis, father Ken (Denden, from Sono’s “Cold Fish”), mother Meiko (Mariko Tsutsui), son Mitsuru (Yutaka Shimizu) and his g.f. Yoko (Hikari Kajiwara) are abruptly evacuated to a shelter.

The Land Of Hope (2012)

But, in a scene exposing the government’s arbitrary policies, the Onos are left alone because their home lies inches outside the danger-zone’s 20-kilometer radius. Ono senior Yasuhiko (action star Isao Natsuyagi) decides to stay put with his dementia-afflicted wife Chieko (Naoko Otani), but practically evicts his son Yoichi (Jun Murakami) and daughter-in-law Izumi (Megumi Kagurazaka) for their own safety. Meanwhile, Mitsuru and Yoko, who lost her parents to the tsunami, sneak back into no man’s land. Conversely, Izumi and Yoichi, who are expecting a baby, decide to move as far away as possible. Their defiance and will to survive gives the film its glimmer of hope.

The Land Of Hope (2012)

Although the scenario is ostensibly a post-Fukushima future, in the light of the reactivation of Oi’s nuclear reactor in July, those who keep abreast of news or have seen documentaries about 3/11 will be hard-pressed not to recognize its chilling realism. Nor will they miss the allegorical import of a city named as a composite of Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Controversial scenes of government attempts to encourage denial of events, as well as citizen discrimination against disaster victims, also will shake up local auds.

The Land Of Hope (2012)

At heart, however, the film is a traditional affirmation of family ties, and both story and camera stay close to the eight protags’ plight, tracing how two generations who normally bury their affection beneath curt, offhand conversations, express unexpected loyalty and altruism. The scene in which Izumi bids farewell to her in-laws sparks associations with “The Ballad of Narayama,” lending the film gravitas and pathos.

The Land Of Hope (2012)

The pic is undercut, however, by Sono’s predilection for portentous symbolism. Moreover, while the thesps, especially the proud and passionate Natsuyagi, deliver sympathetic perfs, they occasionally fly into hysterics.

The low-key, documentary-style lensing is transcended by shots of Fukushima evoking a snow-blanketed wasteland of poetic beauty. Throbbing sound effects resembling hurricanes, rumbling machines and pounding hearts combine with Mahler’s stormy Symphony No. 10 to create the tension of a horror film. Other tech credits are pro.
Variety
The Land Of Hope (2012)

Special Features:
- Audio Commentary (in Japanese only)
- Interviews (in Japanese with Chinese subs)

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