Hazard is a 2005 Japanese film mostly shot in New York City, written and directed by Sion Sono, starring Joe Odagiri and Jai West. It is the story of three youths who attempt to avenge their rights in a society of criminals and thugs.
Shin (Jo Odagiri), a Japanese university student, finds a book with a section about the hazards to be found in New York City. Otherwise leading a boring life, he eagerly heads to New York but soon finds out the hazards are true when he is mugged. Two Japanese-American punks, an outgoing thief named Lee (Jai West) and his shy sidekick Takeda (Motoki Fukami), help him out after the mugging, and together the three begin a life of excitement and danger. In the end, that gets them in trouble with the police, resulting in a death. Shin ultimately goes back to Japan with a new thirst for life.
Critical reception for the film was mixed to positive. Twitch Film praised the film, writing that director Sono's "grunge fantasy of New York is built up from impressions of the city through early Scorsese pictures makes no bones of its wish-fulfillment intent."[1] They made note of the film being shot "with long hand-held takes and an improvised feel of perpetual motion,"[1] and making use of non-actors in supporting roles to give the film a sense of vérité style "cleverly subverted to full blown fantasy."[1]Asia Pacific Arts called Hazard a "gritty, bilingual (even bipolar) film".[2]Film Threat also praised the film, writing that even with director Sono not liking the film and with his feeling it was the least of his works, the reviewer felt the film was a "brilliant" and "extremely well made romp through the criminal NYC underworld."[3]
However, Japan Times overall panned the film, saying that the movie "trades on tired cliches of American (or rather pre-Guiliani New York) criminality and racism, while betraying attitudes close to those it is ostensibly condemning".[4]
Release
The film was shot guerilla style in New York City in 2002, but did not have theatrical release in Japan until 2006.[5] The film debuted at the Sapporo Film Festival on November 5, 2005, and had theatrical release in Japan on November 11, 2006, and in South Korea on April 19, 2007. It screened at the Fantasia Film Festival in Canada on July 9, 2007[5] and at the Lyon Asiexpo Film Festival in France on November 9, 2007. Its most recent festival screening was at the Torino Film Festival in Italy on November 27, 2011.[6]
DVD
The American DVD features Japanese and English dialogue with optional English and French subtitles. DVD extras include a "making-of" featurette (in Japanese only), a video interview with the director, and a booklet containing a written interview in English.[5]
References
^ abcHalfyard, Kurt (July 11, 2007). "Fantasia Dispatch 5 -- Hazard". Twitch Film. Retrieved August 18, 2012.
^. Asia Pacific Arts. Archived from the original on 13 February 2012. Retrieved 16 August 2012.
^Knox, Jeremy. . Film Threat. Archived from the original on 26 June 2012. Retrieved 16 August 2012.
^Schilling, Mark. "Lots of noise, but saying little". Japan Times. Retrieved 16 August 2012.
^ abcMack, Andrew (July 16, 2009). "Sion Sono's 'HAZARD' on R1 DVD from July 14th". Twitch Film. Retrieved August 18, 2012.
hazard, 2005, film, hazard, 2005, japanese, film, mostly, shot, york, city, written, directed, sion, sono, starring, odagiri, west, story, three, youths, attempt, avenge, their, rights, society, criminals, thugs, hazardfestival, posterdirected, bysion, sonowri. Hazard is a 2005 Japanese film mostly shot in New York City written and directed by Sion Sono starring Joe Odagiri and Jai West It is the story of three youths who attempt to avenge their rights in a society of criminals and thugs HazardFestival posterDirected bySion SonoWritten bySion Sonooshi KumakiriProduced byTakeshi SuzukiStarringJo OdagiriJai WestMotoki FukamiHiroyuki IkeuchiCinematographyHiro YanagidaEdited byShuichi KakesuMusic byTomohide HaradaDistributed byEvokative FilmsEleven ArtsRelease datesNovember 5 2005 2005 11 05 Sapporo Film Festival Running time103 minutesCountryJapanLanguagesJapaneseEnglish Contents 1 Synopsis 2 Cast 3 Reception 4 Release 4 1 DVD 5 References 6 External linksSynopsis EditShin Jo Odagiri a Japanese university student finds a book with a section about the hazards to be found in New York City Otherwise leading a boring life he eagerly heads to New York but soon finds out the hazards are true when he is mugged Two Japanese American punks an outgoing thief named Lee Jai West and his shy sidekick Takeda Motoki Fukami help him out after the mugging and together the three begin a life of excitement and danger In the end that gets them in trouble with the police resulting in a death Shin ultimately goes back to Japan with a new thirst for life Cast EditJo Odagiri as Shin Jai West as Lee Motoki Fukami as Takeda Hiroyuki Ikeuchi as Won Rin Kurana Sayako Hagiwara Clark SaturnReception EditCritical reception for the film was mixed to positive Twitch Film praised the film writing that director Sono s grunge fantasy of New York is built up from impressions of the city through early Scorsese pictures makes no bones of its wish fulfillment intent 1 They made note of the film being shot with long hand held takes and an improvised feel of perpetual motion 1 and making use of non actors in supporting roles to give the film a sense of verite style cleverly subverted to full blown fantasy 1 Asia Pacific Arts called Hazard a gritty bilingual even bipolar film 2 Film Threat also praised the film writing that even with director Sono not liking the film and with his feeling it was the least of his works the reviewer felt the film was a brilliant and extremely well made romp through the criminal NYC underworld 3 However Japan Times overall panned the film saying that the movie trades on tired cliches of American or rather pre Guiliani New York criminality and racism while betraying attitudes close to those it is ostensibly condemning 4 Release EditThe film was shot guerilla style in New York City in 2002 but did not have theatrical release in Japan until 2006 5 The film debuted at the Sapporo Film Festival on November 5 2005 and had theatrical release in Japan on November 11 2006 and in South Korea on April 19 2007 It screened at the Fantasia Film Festival in Canada on July 9 2007 5 and at the Lyon Asiexpo Film Festival in France on November 9 2007 Its most recent festival screening was at the Torino Film Festival in Italy on November 27 2011 6 DVD Edit The American DVD features Japanese and English dialogue with optional English and French subtitles DVD extras include a making of featurette in Japanese only a video interview with the director and a booklet containing a written interview in English 5 References Edit a b c Halfyard Kurt July 11 2007 Fantasia Dispatch 5 Hazard Twitch Film Retrieved August 18 2012 AFM 2006 Capsule Reviews Asia Pacific Arts Archived from the original on 13 February 2012 Retrieved 16 August 2012 Knox Jeremy Fantasia 2007 Day 4 Film Threat Archived from the original on 26 June 2012 Retrieved 16 August 2012 Schilling Mark Lots of noise but saying little Japan Times Retrieved 16 August 2012 a b c Mack Andrew July 16 2009 Sion Sono s HAZARD on R1 DVD from July 14th Twitch Film Retrieved August 18 2012 Hazard Torino Film Festival Retrieved August 19 2012 External links EditHazard at IMDb Official website Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Hazard 2005 film amp oldid 1111825226, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
