Throw Down
Got to watch Sanshiro Sugata now dammit
This just had all the different kinds of things that make me happy
It’s trying hard and then it’s taking it breezy yk it’s not so reliant on going about its story very artsy like (but make no mistake, this is shot so excellently and had some beautiful echos and visual poetry throughout) but it’s got a dam story to tell and it does its thing so well
It’s got some cheesiness and a bucket tonne of little giggles
Very Kitano-esc in its dryness which is such a massive win in my books
It’s got a scene or two where the background music just kept going and I really thought it was work just as well without it
But goodness
This was just fabulous
That table to bathroom back to table scene was incredible
Brother Savage put a big fat grin on my face
And then some proper heart-string-tuggers here
It feels like it’s been forever since I’ve seen a film that unexpectedly carves a deeply compelling friendship
Even tho you can so imagine where the story may go, it just slips in
You don’t really see it approaching until it’s there and all the build up still works fabulously
The whole like ex-great to gambling addict to healing person thing could’ve been such a bore and like predictable-trope-chockablocked arc but it really wasn’t
They avoided that so well
Just threw you in there and observed his amusing and equally depressing flatness
Then uses the beauty of the language of film to imperceptibly run through his journey
It doesn’t need a full loop or a even some huge catalystic moment to propel the final stages of a failure-to-success arc
Just friends, groovy tunes, creativity, violence and heart-warming moments
If you get thrown down, you can get back up
Simple as