Jason says: “The
folks who made KEPT don’t usually do this sort of thing; their names
usually show up on light-hearted but bloody genre movies. The
same lo-fi methods and sensibilities are in place here as Maki Mizui
makes her first film as a director, even if the subject matter trends
toward real-world horrors.
“Those threats don’t come with a whole lot of warning; Misasto
(Mohoma), a woman in her early twenties, is walking home from work one
evening when she is snatched off the street, blindfolded, and taken to
a quiet area by an anonymous man who is about the same age (Ken
Koba). Misato starts talking to her abductor, whether from nerves
or figuring it will make him less likely to do something even more
violent, and maybe that’s part of why things go the way they do over
the next several weeks or months.
“Mizui could have followed a number of well-worn paths – the
procedural, the revenge thriller, the drama emphasizing others’
reactions – but instead half the movie seems to go into a state of
shell-shock. It’s a thorough enough withdrawal that when new
characters are introduced, they almost seem like complete replacements
of the previous protagonists, setting up a structure akin to
PSYCHO. It’s not quite what Mizui is going for, creating a bit of
confusion later on, but it works on other fronts.
“There’s plenty to ponder as the movie plays out after its opening
act. The publicity materials mention that Mizui based this on
events from her own life, which I wouldn’t wish on anyone, and she does
not flinch from things that may make audience members think in ways
they may want to retract immediately. There are a couple scenes
with the nameless (I think) attacker and his girlfriend designed to
make one think ‘man, if she hadn’t been so frosty…’ before hopefully
taking a moment to consider why people are so willing to transfer blame
away from the actual criminal in these situations, including onto the
victims – with the victims themselves not exempt.
“That last situation gives rise to a few sequences in the second half
which had me thinking things site got weird quickly as a look inside a
character’s fractured psyche gives producer Yoshihiro Nishimura and his
crew a chance to use their makeup/FX skills on something other than the
immediate aftermath of violence. While the exact symbolism of
those scenes isn’t always immediately obvious, the general feel is, and
they are striking. Mizui and company seem to use their
horror-movie experience in other interesting ways, too – the way Misato
being blindfolded and gagged renders her almost literally faceless is
something that makers of more mainstream fare might not want to do in a
serious movie, but which is extremely effective.
“The B-movie background of the filmmakers often shows – KEPT is short,
cheap, and has a cast filled with single-name ‘idols’ not likely to
rise much higher in Japan’s high-turnover celebrity culture. It
works, though, in large part because of its legitimate lack of
polish. Even the fantasy sequences feel grounded and honest, a
way into the heads of the character and filmmaker, and not just a
chance to use something ugly to show off. 4 cats
“Seen 28 March 2014 in the Brattle Theatre (BUFF 16, digital).” |
