Went to watch this at Cinema Europa over at Vivo City on Friday with YD, who is the constant source of me watching non-blockbuster movies... So, this was an multiple award winning Japanese Film, on the crash of JAL 123, resulting in the deaths of about 500 people... Movie gets a 3.5 star rating from me...
And the poignant moment that stood out most to me - when one of the local rescuers tell the reporter, we could have saved so much more, but the authorities refused to give the go-ahead as they were trying to keep the location a secret from the press. The stupidest reason for extra deaths - Bureacracy.
Since I went to watch the movie without any idea, not even knowing that the poster looks soo... shitty... I was pleasantly surprised. It was quite an OK film, full of gaps and inner-thoughts moments, which is the norm for Japanese film. It was watchable, interesting and fun to be thrown back into an era where there was no internet. Hmm...
The storyline does jump between timelines (think Cape No. 7), but after the first 2 jumps, you catch up and just go along with the plot. It's actually a nice change from standard Hollywood movies, where everything is carefully explained and no gaps in the storyline is allowed. Not that I don't like the "everything is nicely explained by the end of the movie" approach, it's just a nice change.
*Sidenote, you may wish to note that the HSBC Prepaid card doesn't apply to Cinema Europa movies*
Synopsis:
On August 12, 1985, Japan Airlines Flight 123, crashed into the ridge of Mt Takamagahara, on Osutaka Ridge in Gunma Prefecture.
524 passengers turned to 4 survivors and 520 fatalities, making the accident the biggest single-plane accident in the world.
A roving reporter working for North Kanto newspaper name Kazumasa Yuki (starring Shinichi Tsutsumi) was preparing to climb Mt. Tanigawa with a colleague when the news of the crash got out.
In the ensuing excitement and chaos in the newsroom, Yuki is given the go-ahead to cover the story and receives tremendous pressure to beat out competing news organizations to the first with the scoop.
Not to be mistaken for a typical disaster flick, Climber's High takes a more respectful approach, and much of the films centers around Yuuki's difficulty balancing his duty as a reporter against the backdrop of such a staggering human tragedy and the subsequent conflicts with colleagues as he tries to deal with the event in the most journalistically responsible way possible.
Based on Hideo Yokoyama's best-selling novel, the film looks at the impact the country's worst airplane disaster had on a local newspaper as shock, excitement and chaos swirled around. What are news and a reporter? How should a man do his work and survive in a corporate hierarchy? What do family and friends mean to him? Climber's High is an intriguing story that will keep the audience on the edge of tension and reality.
For more info: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1110240/
A roving reporter working for North Kanto newspaper name Kazumasa Yuki (starring Shinichi Tsutsumi) was preparing to climb Mt. Tanigawa with a colleague when the news of the crash got out.
In the ensuing excitement and chaos in the newsroom, Yuki is given the go-ahead to cover the story and receives tremendous pressure to beat out competing news organizations to the first with the scoop.
Not to be mistaken for a typical disaster flick, Climber's High takes a more respectful approach, and much of the films centers around Yuuki's difficulty balancing his duty as a reporter against the backdrop of such a staggering human tragedy and the subsequent conflicts with colleagues as he tries to deal with the event in the most journalistically responsible way possible.
Based on Hideo Yokoyama's best-selling novel, the film looks at the impact the country's worst airplane disaster had on a local newspaper as shock, excitement and chaos swirled around. What are news and a reporter? How should a man do his work and survive in a corporate hierarchy? What do family and friends mean to him? Climber's High is an intriguing story that will keep the audience on the edge of tension and reality.
For more info: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1110240/
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