Keizoku: Beautiful Dreamer (2000) [Film Review]

Keizoku: Beautiful Dreamer; or, Deliver Us From Evil

     I will live on... and keep you in my soul... and thereby make you immortal.

After watching and reviewing the Keizoku drama series, I knew that I couldn’t miss the opportunity of seeing the theatrical movie, which serves as the conclusion of original series’ plotline. Many people regard it as a disappointing babble that does not provide any answers, but I count myself to the minority who liked the film. This is my review of Keizoku: Beautiful Dreamer.

Release Info

Directed by: Yukihiko Tsutsumi Starring: Miki Nakatani, Atsuro Watanabe, Nanako Okochi, Koyuki Kato

Language: Japanese Original Title: ケイゾク Runtime: 119 min

 

Synopsis

Shibata (Miki Nakatani) is promoted to the Section Chief post while Nonomura (Raita Ryu) is busy finalising his divorce. In the midst of it all, a girl called Isoyama (Nanako Okochi) arrives and claims that her mother is a survivor of Jinryumaru No. 7 luxury liner that sunk 15 years earlier. Allegedly, a daughter of the only people who did not survive the accident, Kirishima Nanami (Koyuki Kato), is inviting all of the survivors to join her on the Yakujin Island, which is known as the Japanese Bermuda Triangle. Kirishima supposedly intends to celebrate the 15th anniversary of their rescue. Worried about her safety, Isoyama asks for somebody to accompany her to the island. Shibata immediately volunteers and drags reluctant Mayama (Atsuro Watabe) with her. Fellow detectives don’t know that they are going to attend a supernatural blood fest.

 

Panties vs. Aspirins

Keizoku: Beautiful Dreamer continues the late 90s trend of issuing successful drama series out on the big screen, just like it was done with GTO: The Movie (1999) and Odoru Daisousasen: The Movie (1998). However, instead of appealing to new audiences and trying to branch out the franchise, Beautiful Dreamer rejects its theatrical momentum and from the very start makes it perfectly clear that it’s going to serve as a conclusion to the main characters’ story arc. A conclusion that is quite unevenly executed.

 

My main issue with this movie are the extreme shifts in tone throughout the first 20 minutes. The film opens with a death scene, then we get a foreshadowing vision, comedy, a little bit of exposition, comedy, and plot development. Inserts of wacky, out-of-the-blue moments worked perfectly in the Keizoku drama series, but here, they appear too quickly and seem forced. The best example is Nonomura’s subplot about marrying Miyabi-chan. Short mentions about that relationship in the drama were brilliant, but here these scenes are prolonged and overstretched. Instead of laughing, I was longing for the story to move on.

Indeed, the story moves on as Shibata and Mayama board the ship to the hellish island. The movie receives Agatha Christie’s flavour as people begin to die one after another. Even the humour picks up, especially thanks to Mayama’s uncontrolled badassery (locker room interrogation scene!). Resolution of the whodunit/howdunit mystery is satisfying, though it makes me suspect that the screenplay was initially conceived for a feature-length SP episode only to be adjusted to a theatrical movie later on.

Unavoidably, here comes the topic of the ending. Many commentators on the web disliked the movie for not providing straight answers about things which were set up back in the drama. Others, who were not that disappointed, sought explanations in the film’s psychological atmosphere. As for myself, I have to admit that I really liked the ending. I understand why it is being disliked, but it somehow managed to touch me inside. I liked its vagueness and supernatural approach. To me, Shibata and Mayama came such a long way together that clear explanations did not matter anymore at that concluding point of their story. If you want to read more on this, you can head over to my interpretation of Beautiful Dreamer’s ending.

Miki Nakatani undoubtedly gives her best performance in this movie. Right now, I really prefer the character of Shibata over Erika Toda’s Toma from Keizoku 2 SPEC. In addition, Atsuro Watabe is equally awesome as the formidable detective with a personal tragedy. Also, Nanako Okochi and Koyuki Kato deserve a mention for their masterfully played supporting roles. Music score by Akira Mitake is great to listen to, as most of the cues return from the drama and the main theme gets remixed.

 

Recommendations

If you haven’t seen the drama, you may feel left a bit in the dark. Yet, the Beautiful Dreamer is still enjoyable for its detective story component as well as the crazy dynamic between Shibata and Mayama. I liked it from beginning to the end, and the only regret I felt during the end credits was the realisation that Section 2’s adventures will never be directly continued. Nevertheless, I’ll live on... and keep Keizoku in my soul... thereby making it immortal.

Overall score: 8/10