Charisma (The Movie)

Hello all, hope that you are all well, today, a quick movie review, and in essence a follow up to this earlier post, which went through all of the Kiyoshi Kurosawa movies I've seen. I don't want to alarm anyone, but this is a review for another one that I've seen. Today we review: 'Charisma,' another movie starring Kurosawa's bitch, Koji Yakusho. Spoilers kind of follow.

A reasonable movie poster, though not a great one. [source]

The movie has been viewed as a potential sequel to 'Cure.' Though only if the implied ending of Cure is ignored. The finale of Cure shows Koji as a detective and possible a hypnotist / murderer, while at the beginning of Charisma, he is a regular detective. We meet him at the beginning negotiating a hostage situation, which goes wrong, leaving both the hostage and the kidnapper dead. The hostage, referred to as an MP, seems to have a terrible, decaying office block for his office, another trait of Kiyoshi Kurosawa: hideous, dilapidated and claustrophobic building interiors. When put on extended leave for his misconduct, our detective misses his bus home and ends up in a bizarre forest

Artistically sound, though almost completely useless at describing the movie itself. Better. [source]

In this forest there is a bizarre conflict occurring, in which Detective Yabuike comes to take an active part. The forest is decaying: saplings die, seemingly healthy trees fall over at will, and only one tree seems to thrive. This tree is 'charisma' described as a 'monster' and as a 'most compelling tree' - it is tall and spindly, and is created by mutations which mean that its own life depends on it slowly killing the rest of the forest. Three parties in the forest fight over whether to kill or protect this tree, and each of them is allegorical for some aspect of society. The following is my interpretation, which I'm willing to admit is wrong. 

This movie, not to be confused with Charisma Carpenter, a now forgotten 90s lust object. [source]

For Charisma to thrive, it will kill the rest of the forest, and we are told that it has already made all of the forageable foods carcinogenic. What is better, one brilliant, compelling tree or a happy forest? I took this as a view of the Japanese view of society being more important than the individual, and the war within Japanese society between this dichotomy. We can also see a more straightforward ecological message.

This is the tree that acts as the next charisma tree, it's not as nice. [source]

The three parties who fight over what to do with Charisma are: the government-sponsored tree-planters; the hermit in an abandoned hospital (another great Kurosawa setting); and the biologist who lives with her sister in a fancier house on the edge of the forest. The biologist poisons all of the trees in the forest, hoping to make Charisma thrive, which would allow her to study primitive plant life as though it was free of human intervention. Secondly, the tree planters, working for a seemingly murderous government agency, want to destroy the plant to sell it on, making a profit and allowing the rest of the forest to thrive again. Finally, the young hermit wants to continue admiring 'charisma,' which he believes has special powers. It's hinted that the struggle between these three opposing sides has been ongoing for some time before Yabuike arrives. Before long he has sided with all three parties, and they realise that his final choice is the most important when it comes to the fate of Charisma. He debates the duality of predator and prey, and comes to the conclusion that some trees will be predated and others will be the predators, there is nothing he can do about it. This stoic message was, to me, at odds with his actions, as he tends to and protects Charisma, which he describes as a 'special tree.'

Here, Yabuike msunderstands tree biology. [source]

The movie's conclusion seems to suggest that Yabuike is responsible for the Armageddon brought about when Charisma 2 is destroyed. This would seem to run simultaneously with the similar apocalyptic themes evident at the beginning of Kairo (Pulse). Certainly it seems that if Cure could be seen as the indirect prequel to Charisma, we can easily imagine a world where decisions made in Charisma lead to the events of Pulse. This indirect trilogy would be really entertaining but would leave me a little woozy.

However, Charisma is more than just an intellectual and allegorical exercise, it is atmospheric and intelligent on its own. More importantly, despite hearing that this was one of Kiyoshi Kurosawa's weaker pieces, I enjoyed it much more than say, Retribution or Seance, or even Tokyo Sonata. Added to the appeal of the story, the desolate scenery, the excellent cinematography, and interesting music, there is a heavy sense of very dark comedy, notably through the multiple uses of bear traps on Yabuike.

In conclusion, although the plot seems insane, with a seemingly philosophical treatment of how to deal with a single tree, this movie is much deeper than it should be. It comes recommended if you like thought-provoking concepts within a more straight-forward movie.

That's enough, thanks for reading.