Rating: C-
Dir: Sonny Chiba
Star: Hiroyuki Sanada, Mika Muramutsu, Bunta Sugawara, Hikaru Kurosaki
a.k.a. Remains: Beautiful Heroes
Yeah, it is the Sonny Chiba, who made his directorial debut with this, under the watchful eye of legend Kinji Fukasaku. However, it proved a dismal flop at the box-office, personally costing Chiba much of his own investment. It would take seventeen years before he would direct another film. This is inspired by the 1915 Sankebetsu brown bear incident, one of the worst ever recorded series of attacks. Over the course of a week, a single animal killed seven people, though the version here is dramatized in some ways. For example, the film bear specifically goes after and eats women, a pointed nod to one of the themes here. Misogyny is not limited to the animal kingdom, it appears.
It also extends time-line for the attacks to over a year. We join them already in progress, with the bear invading a home to attack the residents. A posse is quickly formed to go after the beast, but the trap they lay is interrupted by a girl and her dog attacking it. This is Yuki (Muramutsu, who has an immensely annoying, shrieky voice when irritated), whose family became victims twelve months previously, and has not sworn vengeance on the bear responsible. She partners with childhood friend Eiji (Sanada) to that end, but her presence on the mountain is not welcomed by Kasuke (Sugawara), the head of the hunters. For the mountain is a sacred site, from which women are barred. Unless being dragged there by a bear to be gnawed, I guess.
The main problem here is the structure, which leads to dire pacing. After Yuki shows up, we are then subjected to a lengthy flashback, in which the movie all but forgets about the killer bear. Instead, we get what could charitably be called social drama, except it’s not very dramatic either. Instead, there’s stuff about Yuki’s escape from an abusive employer, her guilt over the death of her family, Eiji’s intended marriage to the far less bear-huntery Mitsu, environmental concerns courtesy of Evil Mining Corp, Inc. etc. And I say “etc”, because I got bored with it all, and stopped taking notes after a certain point. Pretty scenery and a interesting soundtrack, with which Sanada was also involved, can only sustain my interest so long.
I began to practice my bear mating call, in hopes of luring the animal back. This eventually succeeded, with it attacking a festival, though it makes so much noise leaving, you wonder how it managed to sneak into town unnoticed. This sets up the finale, where Yuki, now the only woman who hasn’t been evacuated, strips down to her undies to attract the bear. Or, at least, the unconvincing furry who plays the bear for the film’s climax. Chiba does what he can to shoot around this, and demonstrates the good eye for action you would expect from the martial-arts master. It’s the unwelcome and clumsy stabs at social commentary that drag this down. You will likely understand why it took Sonny so long to sit in the director’s chair again.