casting an incredibly hot sexy j-pop idol as a homicide detective in is unoriginal and makes it hard for the viewer to believe her to be the character she plays.
+her acting sucked she was so empty and shallow and the repetitive boring zooming into her face made it worse.
Hard to believe that this was directed by Tsukamoto
Agree and disagree. Had no problem with the fact that Detective Kirishima is played by "an incredibly hot sexy" woman. But I was bothered by the fact that her character is such a tedious, monotone cypher. And I don't think the problem is Hitomi's acting -- not exactly, or not entirely. I say that because Tsukamoto undoubtedly insisted that her performance be withdrawn, mechanical and free of human affect. Her robotic flatness is too consistent, too clear an expression of the film's themes, and too damn strange to be unintentional.
During the very brief moments when she's actually permitted to act a bit, Hitomi is actually fairly credible. I'm thinking of her flashes of camaraderie with Masanobu Ando's Detective Wakamiya, and of her confrontation with her own red-dressed alter ego at the film's climax. In those scenes, she lets the mask drop and does a fine job.
I can see why Tsukamoto might have chosen this approach. The idea that a bright, charming and effervescent j-pop idol would turn in a stern, cold and utterly charmless performance is perversely amusing. And he's always been interested in the mechanical aspects of humanity and human society. But it doesn't work. Kirishima's relentless flatness robs an otherwise intriguing film of its power. Especially since so much screen time is given over to Hitomi's catatonic non-performance, at the expense of a strong supporting cast.
But Hitomi doesn't turn in the film's worst performance. That honor goes to Ryuhei Matsuda as the titular "Nightmare Detective", Kyoichi Kagenuma. He's not only flat, awkward and tedious, he's incredibly annoying. A palid, sniveling slug of a man who drains the life from every scene in which he appears. Again, that's almost certainly intentional, but it nonetheless nearly destroys the film.
Will never for the life of me understand why Tsukamoto didn't cast Ando (who's fantastic in this) as the dream detective and relegate Matsuda to a supporting part...
You must have been so afraid, Cassie... Then you saw a cop.
I agree with this post 100%.
"None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free."
- Goethe
Well, I think its because you knew her background as a J-pop idol, I didn't, so I had no problem with that, now she isn't a great actress sure, but I don't think she did a horrible job.
" Look, there's two women fuc*ing a polar bear!" - Fear And Loathing in Las Vegas 1998
I agree it is unoriginal to cast a sexy looking bimbo to play a heroine or one of the main
protagonists in a film.
That's the only thing you can say in their defense of doing so.
Others have done the same annoying and useless thing before so they aren't the only ones
guilty of such an act.
History will be kind to me for I intend to write it.
-Sir Winston Churchill