
HKAFF: The Black Square 黒四角 (2013) – Japan / China
Review by: Andrew Chan FCCA AACTA FIPRESCI
Review Date: 7th November 2013
Directed by: 奧原浩志 Okuhara Hiroshi
Starring: 中泉英雄 Nakaizumi Hideo, 丹紅 Dan Hong
Reviewed at 10th Hong Kong Asian Film Festival 2013
Believe me, I am someone that can sit through the longest and slowest of films. Just earlier this year, I managed to sit through a 10 hour film at the Hong Kong International Film Festival. The Black Square suffers from a terribly prolonged first act that just seems to drag on forever, without purpose or intention. The audiences are simply bored or disinterested, people wanders around at a slow pace. Director Okuhara Hiroshi shot the film in a totally Japanese pacing style, despite setting entirely in Beijing, China. The film does eventually get back as it reaches towards the final 40 minutes, where an actual form of storytelling is being established. There are some moment where the audience can resonance especially in the final stage of this largely dormant film, but sometimes, a little too late, is precisely too late.
Hideo Nakaizumi is charismatic and equally stoic as the Japanese guy who walks through a black square and enters Planet Earth. There is a level of coldness about him that the audience cannot relate towards and it is not until near to the end of the film, where he begins to open ups a little, that we begin to understand his motivations. Still, Nakaizmi may stand up tall and look adequately cool, he is unable to justify the abnormally drenched running time of over 140 minutes.
All in all, The Black Square is the kind of film that fails largely on the engaging scale and almost inducing a sleeping effect on the audience. Despite a final act, trying to wrap things up and touching upon on a few life issues and playing with time. There is probably some sort of life defining message that the director is trying so hard to tell. By the end of the film, the audience is so exhausted from the uninteresting journey taken that nothing is really worth learning about. Despite the redeeming final act, The Black Square is really hard to recommend. (Neo 2013)
I rated it 4/10
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