Five Guys and a Room

Five Guys, One Room. That's almost the whole premise of Kisaragi, a 2007 movie by Yuichi Sato. Under any other circumstance this kind of movie is a total bust. It almost sounds like theater on film. If you know me as a moviegoer, I hate theater on film. But excellent plotting and storytelling makes this a standout movie.

Iemoto, OdaYuuji, Snake, Yasuo and StrawberryGirl are five hardcore fans of the D-list idol Miki Kisaragi. They've come for a get-together in a small rented apartment for a reason: to remember and celebrate their favorite idol. You see, Miki Kisaragi died of apparent suicide a year ago under mysterious circumstances. Now one of the fans suspects that she was actually murdered, and thinks that one of the other four is the real killer...

I won't spoil anything else about the film, but what I can tell is you is that no one is what they seem at first to be. The joy of watching the film comes from each shocking revelation that takes place about either one of the five fans or Kisaragi herself. This layered plotting works superbly well and makes you want to learn want to learn every new thing that comes up. The most clever thing the filmmakers did is make the secret knowable seconds before it is actually revealed. You get chills down your spine every time you realize who is who.

The Japanese Idol phenomenon has been going on for more or less forty years, and it is a phenomenon that has its own Japanese flavor. Many aspiring young ladies (and young men too) enter the entertainment industry as Idols to hopefully break in and transition into acting, singing, modeling or some other field. While some are successful, others die out and fizzle into obscurity. Such is the fickle world of showbusiness.

In the movie you can see the fans' diehard obsession with the object of their dreams collecting their CDs, taking pictures, or keeping ultra-rare Shashinshuu (photobooks) not to mention other things that would be called stalker-ish behavior in some other country. As creepy as it sounds... well it probably is to you and me, the movie takes a heartwarming turn with it later in the movie. And for some reason, it works.

The actors are what make the movie succeed other than the excellent plot. Shun Oguri (Crows Zero,) Yusuke Santamaria (Doppleganger,) Keisuke Koide (Surely Someday,) Tsukaji Muga (lots of TV stuff) and Teruyuki Kagawa (whew. name your pick) round out the all-star cast. All of them succeed in their roles, transforming with every revelation.

All in all, just watch it. It does with five guys and a room stuff that billion dollar SFX extravaganzas can barely pull off.