The characters are well done and played, except for Yukari, the manager, i think this one doesn't match so well with a manager function and with the aura in the movie.
About music, there are some good things, both about music and lyrics. Special mention to Yukiya's music.
I just don't get the end...
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Although the actors may have not have performed at their best the cast suited their roles and had good chemistry. It was easy to tell the tension between characters
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'Bandage' is about a 90s indie band named 'Lands'. The story progresses with conversations, means in almost every scene there's two person talking. And that's all the information you get, so a lot is left for you to understand.
This film is intense, fast and never boring. It also is a example how one person's charisma can gravitate everything around it.
Akanishi Jin, red salute. Kora Kengo, amazing taste in scripts, first 'Fish story' than this.
A good film all the way. If you are looking for "not mushy mushy" type film centers around music, give it a go.
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The story revolves around LANDS, a five member rock/punk/pop band who hasn't made it big yet but is one hit away from a break through. Due to the pressure of showbiz the members start losing themselves and the reason they play music. Because some members in the band are more valued than others they also start losing faith in each other.
This is not a love story. Even though they are generous with scenes of the male and female lead connecting, it doesn't show the usual "boy meets girl" kind of love but rather the fine line between hating someone and loving someone with the focus on the frustration of losing yourself and becoming someone you hate. Because the movie is about such a sensitive thing the feel to it is very dark and gloomy. The colors are very grey-ish and faded and even though it does contain a lot of music, it has a few beautiful scenes with no soundtrack at all.
The acting is decent. There isn't much to say about it. Some scenes were better than others and some scenes were like watching a dog try to communicate with a fish, random, difficult to understand and confusing. Their feelings didn't always reach me while some scenes were surprisingly convincing and heart breaking. I wouldn't blame it all on the actors though. I think they did a pretty good job considering that the characters weren't as well developed and worked out as they should have been.
Since the selling point of the movie is to make you see the change in the characters as the movie goes, the lack of actual characteristics was a big miss. Instead of showing the audience what the people are like, they list it up in a conversation between the lead roles near the end of the film.
This is one of many details they didn't execute well for this movie, which made a lot of the scenes hollow and confusing. Personally i felt like i didn't know the characters well enough to actually sympathize with them and because of the constant time skipping I didn't really feel like i even had the time to process what was going on. This made it very difficult to understand the relationship between the characters and there for I didn't get as much out of it as i would have wanted.
I don't want to comment too much on the music since it's very difficult to judge but i think they did a good job creating the right atmosphere in some of the scenes. The additional music by the band is something I'm a bit more critical about. Since their intention is for you to notice the sudden change in the bands music, the film makers try to convince you that LANDS were playing rock in the beginning and then started playing pop after they sold themselves cheap. The reason I'm not convinced is because the songs played in the movie weren't really rock to begin with and they made it clear that the band members didn't know what they were doing either. That isn't all bad though. It actually made the feel to it more realistic, apart from the fact that they were supposed to have played for at least 10 years together already.
So to finish this review off,
The story was good, it had a lot potential and I think that the topic of losing yourself and becoming someone you hate is a very interesting subject to make a film about. Sadly the movie didn't really live up to my expectations because of hollow characters and lack of detail. There was a lot of time skipping which made it difficult to grasp the feeling of the atmosphere and understand the relationship between characters which made heart breaking scenes less heart breaking since I didn't feel like i could connect to the character or feel sympathy for them.
The scenes were beautiful though and the music was good and appropriate not to mention that some of the dialog was moving.
Over all i give it a 8.5/10 because I actually enjoyed watching it and despite my negativity, it was a pretty nice movie.
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I suppose that majority notice Natsu, but I'm interested in Ryuuji more. I don't know why, but he was amazing under this lamp and at the seaside.
As to LANDS' songs... I don't like this style, but it suits to the movie very much.
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Ich hab' ihn schon ... lasst mich nachdenken ... ein drittes Mal geseh'n? Und ich denke, dass ich ihn wieder ansehen werde.
Im Allgemeinen liebe ich Musikfilme, da ich Musik liebe.
Aus dem Grund würde ich euch diesen Film sehr empfehlen.
Zuerst eine kleine Warnung ^^:
Wie ich finde, ist der Film sehr eigen und er gefällt bestimmt nicht jeden. Ich beziehe mich jetzt auf den ganzen Film, da der Anfang doch recht "normal" erscheint.
Also für diejenigen unter uns, die nicht auf solche - wie soll' ich's sagen - auf solche düsteren Filme stehen, sollte diesen Film vielleicht nicht ansehen.
Genug mit der kleinen Warnung meinerseits.
Als ich zum ersten Mal den Film gesehen hab', hab' ich nicht viel verstanden. Ich fand ihn super. Die Musik war super sowie die schauspielerische Leistung. Ich will ja nicht zuviel verraten, aber das Ende war wirklich traurig.
Desto öfter ich den Film gesehen habe, desto besser hat er mir gefallen.
Also keine Angst und schaut euch den Film einfach an.
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I just totally love this film.
I have already watched it ... let me think ... a third time? And I think that I'll watch it again.
In general, I love music movies because I love music.
That's why I'd love to recommend you this film.
First, a little ^^ Warning:
I think, the movie is very unique and and the film certainly doesn't please everyone. I am now referring to the whole movie, since the beginning appears quite "normal".
So for those of us who aren't into such - how shall I say it - such somber films, maybe schouldn't watch this movie.
Enough with the little warning on my part.
When I first saw the film, I didn't understood much. The music was great and the acting. I don't want to reveal that much, but the ending was really sad.
More often I've seen the movie, the more I liked it.
So don't worry and just watch the movie.
P.s.: I'm sorry for the bad translation for someone who can't read german.
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The volatile, kind of onesided, relationship between Natsu and Asako is portrayed quite well even if they were frustrating. It is not some fluffy story of 'tru luv'. At that point in their life they were pretty incompatible and Asako explained it well during their conversation towards the end.
The band members aren't some bffs with a dream, they get into conflicts - some petty, some serious. The focus isn't just on the band members as musicians and their inner drama but on the business side of the music industry in the early 90s and its pitfalls. Is fame worth the price of artistic integrity?
The acting is strong even with Jin there. At first I was like 'why was he even cast, he can't sing or act' but looking at Natsu's character I understood why Jin worked. Even if this is the only type of role he knows how to act, it was a fit here. Perhaps he was playing himself and that's why it worked JK :)
I liked the music very much here. I would have liked it more if Jin was a better singer but the songs were catchy, I even downloaded them (I liked the song by Happies the most). Lands is one of two fictional bands to ever top the music charts in Japan.
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