The Ramen Girl

The Ramen Girl is a film with a lot of potential that unfortunately falls flat due to its weak female lead. Brittany Murphy (Abby) plays an American woman who ends up in Tokyo, Japan just before her boyfriend (whom she goes to Japan to be with) leaves her. Left in a foreign location, she struggles with the language as she goes about slowly but surely learning about the culture and traditions of the people around her.

The story feels a bit forced at times, almost taking everything for granted. So, when Abby suddenly decides that she wants to learn how to be a ramen chef, things around her seem to always fall in place except for the equally stubborn and tyrannical chef of the little diner who is to teach her the art of making the perfect ramen. The film is less about food and more about lessons in life. It's also about the viewpoints Japanese people have about the Americans and vice versa. While Abby faces language problems, her Ramen sansei, Maezumi, played wonderfully by Toshiyuki Nishida, makes her realize that life is not always about "me" and about living from the heart and not the head.

Unfortunately, while the story holds a certain charm to it, it lacks any direction. There are supporting characters, like the two expatriates Abby meets in a club, who are redundant to the story. Birttany Murphy doesn't always come across as the right person for the role. I feel the movie could have achieved a lot more had it had a much stronger character actor in the lead. In fact, I could imagine Scarlett Johansson at times in the role and thinking that she might have played the character much better considering her Japanese outings in Lost in Translation.        

The film also fails to make the most of its location. Focusing mostly on the interactions between the characters and more so on the emotional breakdown of Abby as she tries to rediscover herself leaves very little space to experience the city and it seems like a missed opportunity considering that Tokyo has a lot to offer visually.

The Ramen Girl proves to be an average affair with relatively poor performances by most of the American actors and some brilliant performances by their Japanese counterparts. Take away the excessive almost superficial breakdown of Abby and add on a bit more of non-clichéd humor and this could have been a wonderful little film.

Rating 2.5/5  

The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino

So, I've decided to do book reviews. Why you say on a blog that is meant for films? Well, the simple answer to that is that I'll review books that are in one way or another related to films.

The Devotion of Suspect X has been a best selling book in Japan which led to a high grossing film with the name of Suspect X being released. Although, I am yet to see the film, according to news sources on the net it is being remade into a Korean film as well.

While the book might lead you to believe it is a murder mystery, it really is a love story with a difference. There is no mystery right from the start. The readers know everything. They know who is murdered and who is the murderer. When Yasuko Hanaoka's ex-husband, Shinji Togashi, visits her after a gap of few years, she knows that it the start of the same anxiety and pain she suffered while she was with him. Unexpectedly arriving at her apartment, Togashi is killed by Hanaoka and her daughter Misato (from a previous marriage). It is now that her neighbor and “admirer” Tetsuya Ishigami enters the story, taking charge and helping them cover up the murder. The brilliance of the story is that although it lacks mystery for the audience, initially, the play of events keeps the reader intrigued and interested. The introduction of new characters and the suspense of the police catching up onto the killers are good enough to keep the pages turning.

What follows after the murder is a battle of wits. It's a battle between the investigation officer Kusanagi and Ishigami as Ishigami plays one card after another in his master-plan. More importantly it is a battle of sciences between an ex-classmate of Ishigami, Manabu Yukawa, who being a physicist approaches the murder from a different angle compared to Ishigami who is a math genius. The Devotion of Suspect X at times resembles another Japanese Manga/anime/film, Death Note. While the stories are worlds apart, it too relies heavily on a mental battle between the two protagonists. It's almost like the reader is given a chance to see into the minds of the two academic geniuses as one puts together a puzzle while the other works towards decoding it.

The book is well written and easy to read. It might seem less complex for adult fiction at times, but keeping it simple gives the readers a chance to immerse themselves in this game of one-upmanship and even try and guess the outcome. The story might lack the gore and shock used by other Japanese fictional writers like Ryū Murakami (whom I recommend only if you have a strong stomach), but it still presents a window into the fascinating culture, morals, and traditions of Japan.

Now, as I mentioned the book is not a murder mystery per se. The audience is aware of everything, or so it seems. What the books lacks in suspense in the beginning, it makes up for by the twists and revelations arriving in the last few chapters, and mind you they don't stop till the very last page. As the final pieces of the puzzle come together it is as much a revelation for the characters as it is for the reader.

Poster of the movie based on the book, Devotion of Suspect X

The Devotion of Suspect X is an outstanding way to introduce oneself into Japanese fiction, especially murder mysteries. Not hiding away from shocking and the eye-squinting stories, Japanese fiction has at times been lost worldwide due to translation. But, with the recent popularity of films based on books and books being translated, I'm glad to see it receive the much deserved accreditation.  

The Devotion of Suspect X is a must read book whether you like mysteries or intense thrillers. It's also a story of devotion and the extent to which people might go for their love. Now I can't wait to get my hands on the film which I'm told does justice to the book.

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